Sophie Lyon, romance author, hot mess, and victim to a viral video of her drunkenly confessing she has never been in love. It is not that Sophie hasn't dated, she has had a handful of relationships in her time, but none of them worked out. She is way past due on the deadline of her next novel and on the verge of losing her career. In comes her landlord Dash Montrose, her best friend's brother, and former teen throb actor, who gives her the idea of capitalizing on her viral fame. Sophie is going to meet up with her exes and find out why it didn't work out between them while documenting it all on social media, and maybe getting over her writer's block and rekindling something with an ex. Dash is dealing with his own issues, with alcohol and his sobriety, and a family that is Hollywood royalty. As Sophie and Dash start to get closer, will their issues hold them back, or will they learn they are both worthy of love.

I love a good best friend's brother romance and this one did not disappoint. This was miles better than the first novel in this series. I really felt the chemistry between the characters, and the banter was wonderful. I loved the more serious topics explored in this one, and though I don't know for sure the addict representation felt authentic. And honestly Dash really did it for me in general, and the cover art especially.

This book was cute, and i liked the idea of it, but the constant conversation about tiktok and social media really pulled me out of the story, I wanted to be immersed in it, but I struggled a lot to focus.

A romance novelist looking for her happily ever after - who could resist?
Plot Twist was everything I wanted it to be and so much more. It covers difficult subjects beautifully - from strained family relationships, to addiction, La Rosa manages to be respectful and honest about the hard things while balancing it with light and sarcasm.
The representation in this book is also incredible to see. We get a plus size FMC, a male love interest with artistic and creative hobbies, and several women in positions of power and leadership.
There is so much to love about this book. The characters are funny and flawed, the dialogue is witty and real, and the communication and growth between characters is so heart warming. Plot Twist shows the importance of introspection and asking for what you want and need from a partner.
All in all, Plot Twist is a beautiful mix of serious and steamy that will have you falling in love faster than Dash can down a bag of candy.
Thank you to Erin La Rosa and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

A modern, funny, SPICY, easy-read romance. I really liked both of the main characters and was quickly invested; their daily struggles were real and relatable. The story did feel somewhat cheesy and rushed at times and I didn’t love how superficial some of the relationships seemed. I wanted a little bit more but overall I really did enjoy this book!

★★★☆

I enjoyed the premises of this story and the tropes involved. Sophie and Dash were really good together. Their story touches on some topics that can be sensitive to some such as alcoholism and dysfunctional families.

Sophie is on a time crunch and must finish her romance novel in six weeks. But there is a problem: she's found herself battling writer's block. She has also found that her lack of love in previous relationships may be a factor as to why she cannot write. Sophie has also gone viral on TT for her confession of it. Therefore, in a journey to get herself out of writer's block, she reaches out to her exes to figure out where things went wrong. Though Dash is not one of her exes, he becomes closer to Sophie in her journey.

Dash is a former teen actor, heartthrob, and ongoing recovering alcoholic. He has been making arts and crafts on TT anonymously and supporting Sophie on her videos. He offers to help her in her journey to find love and whatnot. They both don't admit that they want each other past being friends with benefits. He doesn't believe that he's good enough for her. She gets confused about her feelings.

Though I did enjoy this story for what it was, I found myself skimming in some areas (and even skipping). I don't know if it was because it dragged on too long or if it was because I haven't read in the third person in a while. And for the readers who absolutely hate social media mentions in books, this one mentions TT alot.

☞︎︎︎𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔+𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔☜︎︎︎
• artistic romance (former actor x author)
• love triangle
• grumpy x sunshine
• best friend's brother
• close prox
• friends with benefits
• LGBTQ+ themes

Synopsis:

Sophie Lyon is a romance author who's never been in love. With a deadline looming, she makes a plan to overcome her writer's block by reuniting with exes to learn why she's never fallen in love and document it for her online followers. Her landlord, Dash Montrose, ex-teenage hearthrob, from a family of Hollywood royalty, has social media figured out and is willing to help. What he doesn't mention is that he's an anonymous online crafter, a hobby that helps maintain his sobriety. As they grow closer, they discover a spark but neither is relationship-ready so they decide on a friends-with-benefits arrangement.

Review:

This was a spicy and entertaining read. I loved the diversity of the characters - Sophie is pansexual and Dash is working on his sobriety. I also enjoyed the landlord-tenant dynamic because they can't help but see each other and it keeps their connection moving. Dash making pottery sounds HOT - why don't more guys do pottery?! I felt frustrated by the Hollywood family because they were very superficial but I can imagine that it might not be far from reality - Dash's mom gave me Kris Jenner vibes. All in all, I enjoyed this book - the perfect amount of spice and romance and heartwarming moments wrapped up into one book!

Thanks to HTP Books for my ARC!

Not so many twists.. Okay so Plot Twist was a cute read. I enjoyed seeing Dash come out of his shell and Sophie learn to ask for what SHE wanted. It just seemed to be missing SOMETHING. There was no build up, forgotten plot lines, and instalove.

I WANTED to like this book SO much! I adored Dash and his storyline, and I loved that the author chose to highlight the struggles of a recovering addict. HOWEVER, I really disliked Sophie and the whole “I need to revisit my exes and find out what I did wrong storyline”.

I was given an ARC by NetGalley and Harlequin. All opinions are my own.

1 star

I wanted to love this book. The synopsis and cover had me sold. But it was not meant to be. I ended up not finishing this book after reading about 50%. It might be a me thing, but I did not enjoy the portrayal of Dashs sobriety. It was very much important to him, but did not seem important to Sophie. I did not enjoy the representation (or lack thereof) of his recovery and how he managed his addiction. I would be willing to try another book from this author without this plot point.

This is another one of those books that will deceive you with it's cute cover. Not only was this hilarious, it was also emotional, difficult, and OH THE SPICE. When their banter and communication is added to spicy scenes it just took them over the top.

Sophie is an author struggling with her second book and facing the realization that she's never been in love - after an embarrassing viral moment she goes on a journey through the past to help the future. Part of that viral debacle brings her closer to her landlord and best friend's older bother Dash. Dash is...struggling. Family pressure and expectations led him down paths that didn't make him happy, and eventually, a struggle with alcohol. When we meet him he's still actively in recovery, but knows how precarious it is. Despite his commitment, his opinion of himself isn't great. The way they fit together, what they bring out and build up in each other, and the way recovery is treated in this book were all so special.

I was delightfully surprised, I teared up, and the best part: I was in love with their love.

This was a cu tee and easy read. Sophie a struggling author with writers block decides to talk to each of her exes to find out what went wrong with their relationship and why she didn’t fall in love and hasn’t to this day. It’s a cute journey and her landlord is her best friends brother who is an ex Actor.

They get talk talking and sparks unexpectedly fly. He has his own personal and family issues that he needs to work on. And together they conquer her book, and those issues. It’s just a cute simple easy read. Nothing too special about it.

I would say this is a 3.5 star book rounded up.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thanks to Canary Street Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!
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I finished this book in just a few days, and then started another the same day I finished. I’ll be honest, I enjoyed reading this book, but the details were gone from my memory near immediately. It’s a good thing that I kept notes in my reading journal, or I might have no idea why I liked it! Sophie is a romance writer, with writers block trying to finish her second novel, and to make matters worse she announces to the world that she doesn’t actually believe in love. Now she’s on a mission to find out from all of her ex’s why they broke up, and documenting it on tiktok.
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Sophie’s landlord, Dash, jumps in to help her navigate the wild world of tiktok, despite being a former Hollywood actor trying to avoid the spotlight. Just for some extra chaos, they decide to add in a friends with benefits situation. There’s a lot going on in this book to say the least. I didn’t actually care about Sophie’s journeys to meet up with her ex’s as they all more or less said the same thing, but Dash’s story was fascinating and I constantly wanted to learn more about him and what he was going through.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing the ARC.

After seeing all of the positive reviews for this book, I couldn't wait to jump in. But this book felt overwhelmingly "meh" for me. The writing was subpar and the story was not cohesive and lacked direction.

It felt like two different stories were happening at the same time: one about Sophie's journey to figure out where her past relationships went wrong and one about Dash's struggle with sobriety. I felt like if the author had focused on one story, the book might have felt more fleshed out, as opposed to two halves not quite meeting together.

There were also some choices made by Sophie that felt really juvenile and immature. It really took me out of the story because she just kept digging herself a deeper hole. There were also other aspects of the story that were included that either did not need to be there or did not have a resolution, leaving the reader in limbo.

Overall, this book was not a good read for me.

First time reading a book from this author and although I did not read the first book in this series I did not feel like I was missing anything. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a fun read with some nice breakaways from usual tropes and issues. The only thing I didn't like as much was 3rd POV but that's personal preference.

Such a cute friends to lovers romance! I loved the bookish girl fmc and how that came across. And Dash??? So swoony.

What’s holding this back for me is 3rd person pov. I don’t usually gravitate towards 3rd person in contemporary settings.

Thank you so much for the arc!

I loved this one! I did not realize it was the second in a series, but I loved it anyway. I really loved Erin La Rosa's writing, she really made you fall in love with the characters from page one. The beginning was a little slow for me, but I was so obsessed with the characters that it kept my attention and picked up pretty quickly. There was a few moments where I didn't totallyyy love Sophie, it just felt like she was leading Dash on a few times. Like acting as though she was all for him and what he offered but then turned around and was like "oh yeah I'm totally with xyz", I didn't loveeee that. But Dash was a champ and expressed what he needed and/or was willing to give and I loved that. It was a fun read and I loved that Sophie was able to rediscover her love life and learning that it isn't bad to ask for what you need and deserve. I love Dash and his story, there were definitely moments where I wanted to cry over Dash. He was just so sweet and he deserves the world. Dash is the newest edition to my 'best book boyfriends' lineup. Immediately downloading For Butter or Worse as I need more of Erin La Rosa's writing.

**I received an ARC copy of this from NetGalley. This is my honest review.**

This was a solid 4.5 star read for me. What pushed it into the extra .5 star category is that the male MC is a recovering alcoholic who has been sober for some time but still is working on staying sober. I really loved that representation and how believable that struggle was displayed in his relationships.
Also I loved the effortless queer representation and representation of a character with a pacemaker. Nothing felt forced into the storyline.
I also am always fond of a romance involving an author. The twist here is Sophie is a romance author who has never fallen in love. Over the course of the book, and several meetings with her old exes, she discovers what she needs to do in order to make the romance of her dreams possible.
This romance focuses a bit heavier on the relationships between the MC's and their family/friends but it still makes time for heartfelt and spicy moments.

BOOK: Plot Twist (Book #2 in The Hollywood series – can be read as a standalone)
AUTHOR: Erin La Rosa
PUB DATE: 11/14/23, by Canary Street Press
PAGES: 336
RATING: 3.5 stars
GENRE: Rom-Com Fiction

A BIG “Thank You” to NetGalley and Hachette Books for gifting me this advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review!

SYNOPSIS: She’s written off more than she can chew. Romance author Sophie Lyon’s ironic secret just went she’s never been in love—and it’s ruining her reputation. With a manuscript deadline looming, Sophie makes an ambitious plan to overcome her writer’s block and reunite with her exes (including her last girlfriend Carla, the one person she could have loved) to learn why she’s never fallen in love, and document it all for her millions of new online followers. Luckily, Sophie’s reclusive landlord, Dash Montrose—a former teen heartthrob—has social media all figured out and is willing to help. What he doesn’t mention is that he’s an anonymous online crafter, a hobby that helps him maintain his sobriety. No one knows about his complicated relationship with alcohol, and with a family that’s Hollywood royalty, Dash has to steer clear of scandal. As Sophie and Dash grow closer, they discover a heat between them that rivals Dash’s pottery kiln. But Sophie needs to figure out who she is outside her relationships, and Dash isn’t sure he’s stable enough for the commitment she deserves. So, Sophie suggests what any good romance author a friends-with-benefits arrangement. Surely a strictly casual relationship won’t cause any trouble…

REVIEW: This is my first book to read by this author. It is the second in a series, but this is a standalone, so it can be read without having read the first one. It was a cute RomCom with a decent amount of spice, it’s just a very slow burn. If you’re looking for a sweet love story, with a little heat and a semi-flawed MMC & FMC, this may be just for you!

TROPES:
Friends-to-lovers
Sloooow burn
One bed

Happy Reading!

This was absolutely delightful! I loved their connection and banter and I thought the fact that he was short was a rarity in romance. I really enjoyed this one more than this authors first book!