Member Reviews
A woman has a run in with a beautiful stranger and they agree to meet in 10 years at that same coffee shop to see if both followed their dreams.
Every year something goes terribly wrong and terribly right on the anniversary of that day.
A fun twist on common tropes
Would recommend.
This was a cute, fluffy good romantic comedy read that was perfect for summer. I think I would have liked a bit more character depth; however, the pacing was quick and I was entertained.
Aspiring screenwriter Olivia meets a handsome actor in a coffee shop who saves her from a creepy man hitting on her. They part ways without exchanging names and agree to meet back at the coffee shop in 10 years (meet-cute a la Hollywood). As the years go on, that date every year is the lens through which the reader learns about her career, love life, family, and friends. This was a light Rom-Com read with guest appearances by some heavy Hollywood hotties. And Olivia learns that she can be a leading lady in her own lift for god's sake!
For Fans of "The Holiday", Alanis Morissette's "Ironic" and good clean fun!
Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for an e-galley of Plot Twist.
Where to begin? I loved this book from start to finish. It may sound daunting to some when you realize this book spans 10 years, but with a twist. Each year is only covered on February 4th - the day Olivia Ross has dubbed Ironic Day. As we meet up with Olivia every February 4th, we uncover what made the day ironic to begin with and how things continue to defy logic.
Olivia is an aspiring screenplay writer who is moonlighting (aka it's her full-time job) to write greeting cards. One fateful day, an aspiring actor sits down next to her in a coffee shop (it's February 4, 2003) and makes her promise to meet him back there 10 years late. Him with an Oscar in hand, and her with a screenplay that has been sold. Will fate actually bring them back together in a decade?
This is my first book by Bethany Turner and I’m looking forward to getting to read more from her!
Overall, I really liked the book and characters. I appreciated the friendship between Olivia and Fiona. Lots of fun Hollywood/movie references in addition to engaging dialog and plot. The ending is especially great! This did remind me of One Day in December, with the angsty back and forth decisions to commit or not commit.
Plot Twist is listed as Christian but there are not references to God or anything else having to do with religion. It is a “clean” read, no language, some kissing.
I’m a little confused by the low ratings on this book, I can see how it’s not for everyone, but I would encourage you to push through until the end if you get bogged down by the back and forth, it’s worth it!
Thank you to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.
DNF at 25%. Writing style isn't for me, the time jumps are too abrupt, Olivia is a bit insufferable.
This was such a fun and light rom-com read! I enjoyed Olivia, things were over the top sometimes but she was relatable and funny. I liked that this book existed only on the course of one day over a 1o year period. It was such a fun and lighthearted take. It meant that you weren't bogged down with mundane details but what you did get was enough to fill in the gaps and continue to propel the story forward. A fun read, highly recommended!
After reading several historical fiction novels, it was fun to lighten things up with a romcom. Plot Twist was just the right book!
The book takes place always on February 4 over 10 years. Olivia works at a greeting card company, but she is an amateur screenwriter in her spare time. She meets a up and coming actor in a coffee shop on Feb 4 and they make a plan to make her film a reality with him starring. She never catches his name, and she gets little clues each year on the same date. A few years in, she figures out his name is Hamish Macdougal, a pretty big name in movies.
The book also has a lot about Olivia’s other relationships. Her BFF Fiona, her romantic relationship with Liam, and her brother, Brandon. I loved all the real names used in the book such as George Clooney, Ralph Fiennes, Vera Wang, Eva Longoria, etc. These just added so much for me!
I do wish there was a little more to each year. We only get a little glimpse of Olivia and I really wanted more from her year in Italy. But overall, I found the book really fun and easy to read. I would absolutely read more from this author!
Last year I read my first Bethany Turner book, "Hadley Beckett's Next Dish." I loved it! I then began to devour all of Bethany's books. I enjoyed them all. So I saw this book cover (which I love) and decided to get a copy as quickly as possible. This book is not quite what I expected.
Lines in the book that summarize it better than I could (I don't think these are really spoilers, but just a heads up that it does reveal things):
"He sighed, and I could smell the peach from my nambypamby tea on his breath. 'I guess I wish I knew how to convince you that you're as worthy of love and romance as anyone else.'"
"Turns out Fiona Mitchell and I were actually the loves of each other's lives." (this is not a reference to any homosexuality)
The book summary read to me like a fun romance/romantic interlude that builds over the course of ten years. What it read as was year after year of Olivia's martyrdom and often unhealthy friendship with her best friend, Fiona, and even her other best friend, Liam. It wasn't really funny to me, and I honestly felt kind of sad as I read it. Year after year, until she's 40 years old, Olivia shows how unworthy she feels of anything good, has conflicts with those she's closest to, sacrifices her happiness for Fiona's, all while Fiona is out there living her best life. Fiona doesn't mind doing whatever she wants to, because she knows that Olivia will be right there. I was waiting for the plot twist. When it happened, I was confused. The romantic aspects throughout the book were sabotaged by Olivia's insecurities, so when true romance presented itself, I almost couldn't believe it.
I rarely write a negative review because I know that authors pour their heart into their books. I respect that. I will say that this book did make me feel things, even if they weren't the things I necessarily wanted to feel, so I give the author credit for that. I will continue to ready Bethany's books, and will probably go back and reread some of her previous ones, but this book just wasn't my cup of tea.
**I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in order to give my honest opinion, which I did.**
DNF'd this book. I really wanted to like it but I just didn't. I read through 40% and just could not get into it.
It's a lot of plot twists, actually! Good for fans of clean romance stories. The romance drags on a bit too much for my taste, but overall a fun, romantic story.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance e-copy! The opinions are entirely my own.
Book Review: Plot Twist by Bethany Turner
This book was cute! I loved the same day each year progression after their meet cute. It reminds me of One Day by David Nicholls but an American and Hallmarky version. I'm loved the play on Hallmark and that she wrote greeting cards; it made for some cute quips.
Definitely a good to read if you need something sweet and uplifting. The ending is not what I anticipated which made the story better and less cheesy.
Thank you #netgalley for this advanced reader copy.
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Plot Twist is such a sweet story of a young writer, of greeting cards, whose chance encounter changes the trajectory of life for 10 years. Olivia and famous actor Hamish McDougall, speak briefly about life and what not and at the end of the conversation Hamish says they should meet back at the coffee shop, in 10 years and he will act in her movie. She can’t help but believe that would be awesome if only she can get her life together long enough to finish her screen play. She hasn’t been so luck in love or in life. She appears to always have terrible timing. She not only try’s to change her living arrangement, she moves to Europe, she also has to work on friendships new and old. Every year for 10 years, we see Olivia on February 4th, and each year brings her a an amusing amount of what if’s and happen stances. All connecting her to the original February 4th. Could all these events really be coincidence? Is she missing all the signs to guide her life? Will it ever be her turn to love and to shine? Bethany Turner keeps the reader totally engaged, wondering what if? I couldn’t put this book down because I had to see how the 4th went, in the end.. I really enjoyed this story, such a sweet fast read. Just what I was looking for in a summer story. This was a four star read for me and I have shared my thoughts on my Instagram page and on other book review platforms. If you are looking for a fast paced, love story this is the book for you. Thank you to Netgalley & Bethany Turner for my copy of Plot Twist, for an honest review, it was my pleasure to read and review!!!
“Let’s take a big leap for no other reason than maybe we can believe in each other’s dreams when it gets tough to believe in our own.”
So, I had really high hopes going into this rom-com. The synopsis made the book sound like it would be a new favorite of mine - an aspiring screenwriter has a meet-cute with an actor at a coffee shop. The two end up forming a pact to meet again, 10 years later to hopefully make a movie together (and maybe fall in love). That’s usually the recipe for a book that I tend to adore. Unfortunately, I found Plot Twist to not be the rom-com I was anticipating - the book ultimately missed the mark for me.
What I Liked:
✨Older Heroine - The book starts with Olivia at age 30 and then checks in with her, once a year on the anniversary of the pact, until she’s 40. I really appreciated seeing Olivia at all these different ages, especially since rom-com heroines tend to be on the younger side.
✨The Pop Culture References - Various actors, movies and even Alanis Morissette, were all mentioned a ton. I loved seeing them sprinkled throughout the course of the book!
✨The Book’s Plot Twist - no spoilers, but you have to read the book's final chapter to get the plot twist payoff.
While I did find myself enjoying a few aspects of the book, I ultimately found myself disliking a larger portion of it.
What I Didn’t Like:
⚡️The Pacing - I love stories that follow characters throughout the course of many years, but this book felt way too drawn out and slow moving.
⚡️Olivia - While I appreciated Olivia being an older, rom-com heroine, I found it extremely hard to like her. She was very selfish, immature, fickle and petty - she made it so incredibly hard for me to want to root for her.
⚡️Not Enough Romance - Even though this book spans 10 years, there was hardly any romance, which drove me nuts (since the book is being marketed as a romantic comedy). The story often lended itself to more of an over the top drama, than a rom-com.
⚡️The Ending - While I liked the story’s twist that came towards the end, I felt like the overall ending was far too tidy, especially considering everything that had transpired leading up to its conclusion.
Overall, while I thought Plot Twist was going to be a laugh out loud, Hollywood style rom-com, it just wasn’t that at all. I finished Plot Twist feeling like I had just read a very cringe-y, jaded take on a Hallmark reminiscent romance. I’m really sadden that I wasn’t able to like this one more.
Thank you to @thomasnelson and @netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
The perfect cute summer read for any rom com lover. I enjoyed all the different movie references in this one & how the characters grew throughout the years. The ending was perfect and I have never wanted that ending more then I did while reading this book! Looking forward to reading more from this author in the future!
*Thank you to Thomas Nelson publishers, Bethany Turner and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*
I want to preface this review by saying I did not realize this was a Christian publisher nor does it affect how I feel about the book. There are no references to Christianity though it is a "clean" book. There are minimal references to kissing and no sex.
Olivia is 30 years old when she meets a man at a coffee shop and they make a pact that in ten years they will meet back at the same coffee shop. He is an Actor who promises he will make it big the next time he sees her and she is a screenwriter who promises to have her screenplay ready for him to be the lead in. In the next decade, February 4th, the day she met this man becomes a strange day. There are continually six degrees of separation regarding the man Olivia thinks is the stranger. Over the next decade, there are so many missed opportunities and disasters that the date becomes notorious to all of her friends, including Liam, the one who got away.
The book is written in a way that is different, as each chapter begins on February 4th and begins another year of Olivia's life. Each chapter covers just one day in Olivia’s life across a decade. Ten years, ten days, ten chapters. Bethany Turner has done a wonderful job at writing a book which I can imagine is difficult, getting to know a character through only 10 days of her life.
While I enjoyed 'Plot Twist', I wanted more; more depth into her relationship with Liam. I don't love "miscommunication" themes and this was such a huge one. I loved her relationship with Fiona and it felt realistic with the ups and downs they experienced. The ending was surprising and definitely a "plot twist".
Plot Twist by Bethany Turner
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
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Story Notes
Bethany Turner takes readers on a ten-year journey to find love that was right in front of you all the time.
This book is a zany ride through 10 years of Olivia Ross' life; from 30 to 40 and all the happenings in between. We begin on February 4, 2003, the day that she determines to write a screenplay and make it into a major motion picture. She meets a handsome stranger who not only rescues her but promises to meet her at the coffee shop they're at in 10 years time, but he will also star in her movie. She promises to meet him and bring it for him to read and they both go their separate ways. So starts the craziness that will be known to Olivia, her best friend Fiona, and her current boyfriend, Liam, as Ironic Day - after the Alanis Morrissette song. As we travel with Olivia through the ten years, she learns many lessons, meets lots of people and loses her heart to the man she let get away - Liam. But nothing seems to work out how she planned it and so she decides, with just two years left on her promise, to finish her screenplay and make it into the movie she's dreamed of for so long. And when it comes down to the promised day, she will have the chance she always wanted, for much more than she ever dreamed she could have. I loved this hysterical and odd-ball story. It followed no rules about story-telling and could have been an absolute disaster of a story had anyone but Bethany Turner been writing it. It's hard to cover ten years in 400 pages but she did it with wit, excellent plot lines and a lot of fun along the way. The name dropping of celebrities was so much fun and all the situations Olivia found herself in each February were just the most fun. The ending was just perfect with lost of swoon and plenty of snark. I'm so very glad this story was recommended to me and I'll happily recommend it to others so they can enjoy it too.
I received this temporary, complimentary E-book from Thomas Nelson Fiction via NetGalley in order to provide a fair and honest review. I will receive no fiscal compensation for this review and the opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 50%.
I received a free eARC of Plot Twist from the publisher through NetGalley, and I tried to finish it, reading several more chapters than I would normally, since it was an ARC provided by the publisher.
It's an interesting take on the relationship fiction novel, one that takes traditional relationships, builds on them, and draws the plot from those relationships. There's some minor romance, but I wouldn't call it an important part of the story, more as an incident. It was a fun read. That being said, it never quite grabbed me, and I'm not sure where the author is going, or who Liv is going to end up with (I'm hoping Liam). It was a fun read, but it didn't quite grab me and hold my interest.
If you are a movie buff then you are going to enjoy this book! Unfortunately I'm not a movie buff so a lot of the clever lines went straight over my head. The story takes place over 10 years and pinpoints February 4th each year. It did seem to bog down for me somewhere in the middle but the last chapter made up for all of that. During the reading I found myself rooting for Olivia to find her true love. (I wanted Fiona to find it too for the record.) But the part of the story that I found most captivating was the enduring friendship of Fiona and Olivia. I thought the author did a wonderful job of portraying what a true and lasting friendship looks like. It is messy and beautiful at the same time . . . and I loved reading their story!
There were some bright moments in this - I really enjoyed the actual plot twist in the book. However, there were a few things that just made this not right for me as a reader. The story is told over 10 years and you just see 1 day in each of those 10 years. I had a hard time following and catching up. It just seemed disjointed and I felt like I was missing so many pieces of the story. The character growth was so slow and at her age and the length of time, I would have expected more from her. The character acted more like a 20 something than a 30 something. It just didn't work for me but I really liked the idea of this one and the ending was good.