This book was so good. While reading it I found it so compelling, I loved the setting, and it definitely had a lot of hard-hitting topics with a lot of great communication between the love interest. It follows an author, Sophie, who has writers block and after a drunken night and a viral video she has to find a way to get back on track with her new book, so with the help of her landlord, neighbor and best friend’s brother, Dash she begins revisiting old loves to find out what went wrong and maybe finally can finish her new book.
The bookish setting was so fun, and I loved Sophie's adventure, but some of it I felt she put way too much stock into what her ex-partners had to say. Sophie was really there for Dash who was really struggling in a lot of personal ways. While Dash supported and helped Sophie with her career. They made a heck of a duo, and the journey was so very heartfelt too. It really had me tearing up at times.
Dash also happens to be an actor and his whole family is in the business, but I liked that this was not your typical movie star romance and did not shine a light on that piece of the story. Dash was so sweet, and he had such a creative side and really channeled his emotions into it.
This book addresses issues about substance abuse so please be aware going into this book but I thought how this topic was handled was great and it did not gloss over it or just read about it after the fact. I think it added a lot of depth to this romance and how everyone handled it.
The pacing and writing kept me engaged and engrossed. The development of the romance was spot on. Sophie and Dash slow build was just what I needed, it was an amazing time, and I would highly recommend reading this book.
Trigger warning: Substance abuse
I received this advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley for this book.
My favorite romance of 2023. In this novel we are falling the story of Dash and Sophie. Sophie is a romance writer who has writers block and who rents a place from Dash. Dash is a former actor who loves pottery and is a recovering alcoholic. Sophie has had a crush on Dash since she was young watching him in movies growing up. Sophie decides to reconnect with her ex’s to find out why each relationship failed and document it on TikTok in order to finish her newest book that is due in a few weeks. Dash helps her with her TikTok’s since he makes some for herself. Sophie begins going on dates and starts to believe that she has unrealistic expectations of a relationship and Dash tells her that she doesn’t. Sophie and Dash decide to drive to her hometown to meet one of her ex’s and they end up staying with her ex and his wife after Dash’s car dies. Sophie and Dash grow closer and kiss. That ex reveals that Sophie’s sister decided to freeze her eggs and her sister gets upset. They return home and have a moment in Dash’s yard. They decide to give their relationship a chance until Dash reveals that he is recovering from alcohol addiction and isn’t ready to commit to a relationship. Sophie decides to try and rekindle her relationship with another ex and realizes she is comparing Cora to Dash and they break up. Sophie helps Dash write a speech for his dad’s acting award. His mom wants him to get back into acting even though he is done with it and he hasn’t revealed about his alcohol addiction to his family. His mom leaks that he went to rehab to try and help him but ends up damaging her relationship with her son. His dad apologizes for his mom and his mom makes the family start family therapy so they can help him since they care more about career then family. His sister Poppy is there for him but was upset that he was dating Sophie without telling her since Sophie is her best friend. Sophie goes with Dash to his dad’s awards ceremony and after finding out what his mom did he goes back to drinking. Sophie, poppy, and Dash’s friend Chris, go to his favorite bar to help him and he decides to go to rehab. Sophie goes to visit him and tells him that she loves him too. Sophie tells him that she is publishing a book based on their relationship. One year later they are happily dating and Dash has opened his own pottery store and Sophie has published her newest book and has already written another one that is available for preorder. This book is so sweet and I loved every minute of it. I am definitely going to get a physical copy of this book when it comes out.

Although billed as a rom-com. I would classify it in women’s fiction. The story as about a book writer with a writers block, admitting she has never been in love. Her next door neighbor is an alcoholic in recovery and a former actor.. At his suggestion, she returns to all her past relationships to find why they didn’t work. The start of the book and premise were engaging enough, however the book became a tedious read for me as it continued. The story does deal with some weighty issues of alcoholism, self examination and the trauma of living a public life at a young age. Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin publishers for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Such a cute story. Sophie Lyon is a romance writer that has never been in love, and thanks to a viral TikTok of Sophie having a breakdown during karaoke, the whole world knows it. She goes on a journey with her exes (Sophie is pansexual and I love the LGBTQ+ rep!) to unpack what went wrong and why she hasn’t been in love.

That journey comes at the prompting of her neighbor, former film star Dash Montrose, part of a family of Hollywood royalty, and Sophie’s landlord, and her best friend’s brother. Hot as sin Dash has his own secrets and struggles, and Sophie and Dash just might wind up healing each other.



Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review- my opinions are my own.

In this, we follow Sophie, a romance writer who accidentally tells the world while drunk that she is a fraud as she has never been in love. She wants to know why this has never happened, despite being in multiple relationships in the past. In order to answer this, and to potentially help her writer's block in time for her deadline, she decided to meet up with her exes and talk about what went wrong.

Along the way, she enlists the help of her best-friend's brother, and landlord/childhood movie start, for a quid-pro-quo. Dash Montrose has to give a speech at his father's event but is not good at writing, or social interaction since he started recovering from alcoholism with eighteen months under his belt. As new acquaintances, they quickly realize the attraction they have, but are hesitant for many reasons.

I enjoyed having the dual perspectives from both main characters. It gave helpful insight into the characters' lives and emotions. The author included some fun plot twists (lol :)) such as towards the end with Dash and his mother and then his relapse. I thought that was very encouraging to show how the road to recovery isn't a straight line, nor is doing cold turkey realistic.

With that, I did struggle with how clean his recovery was, especially as a young adult who continually was put in difficult situations by his family. I wanted to see more from Dash as a character. While this story mainly centers in Hollywood, I did not appreciate how everyone seemed to be famous, but Sophie. There were the Montrose's, her sister, and most of who we interacted with. I thought there were some details that were glossed over, such as her open heart procedure, that were going to play a larger role than they did; instead, seemed to be a character detail to make her more unique but was underplayed overall. This and her reunion with Ned and his retaliation.

Overall, I gave this story 2 out of 5 stars mainly due to the fact that I did not connect and I would not read again. I enjoyed the concept and parts of the story but it was just not for me. I would consider recommending this to others depending on what they are looking for.

This book was cute and an enjoyable read. The cartoon romance cover strikes again! I had a great time with this read and appreciate the opportunity to read an advanced copy!

This book was okay. It wasn't bad, but it had nothing special about it. Honestly, I was kind of bored reading it, and I forced myself to finish it so I could write an honest review. I didn't feel a connection to any of the characters. The subject matter was pretty intense, and yet the book didn't elicit the necessary emotion for me to actually care about the outcome of the story and the romance.

I don’t annotate books often but this one…THIS BOOK! This book is the perfect mixture of spice and life, everything about this book was chefs kiss. The trouble with Sophie’s life and the deep topic of Dashes sobriety makes everything so much more interesting.

Plot Twist by Erin La Rosa is a fast paced, witty, contemporary romance. Sophie is a romance author with writers block. When a TikTok video about Sophie goes viral and she decides to interview her exes to get to the bottom of what went wrong. This was fun and spicy and full of tropes however I didn’t feel strongly about it.

I read 32% of the book, and I decided not to finish it. It is well-written, but I think this genre isn’t aligning with my personal interests right now, so I struggled to connect and feel engaged with the story. I do believe that this book will find its audience and many readers will love it. The cover and title caught my attention, and I may return to this later, but for now I’m putting it on pause.

Not for me. If I’d known how big a role tiktok played in this book, I would’ve skipped it. I feel like books that rely so heavily on social media really date themselves, and it’s not something I enjoy reading. I also thought this book relied on the ideas of tropes, and while it IS about a romance author, I found myself rolling my eyes when phrases like “enemies to lovers” or “friends to lovers” and “only one bed” were used. The tropes only work if they fee natural to the story, and for me, they didn’t feel natural here. I didn’t enjoy the characters, and I wanted more of the plot to actually focus on the main character reconnecting with her exes. And the random stalker side plot was just odd. I didn’t see the point of Dash being a former child star. It didn’t seem to add anything to the story and, again, simply felt like the author was adding in another trope.

3.75 ⭐️ Rounded up. This is a sweet contemporary romance about a romance author with writers block and her handsome movie star landlord. It’s a fast-paced story with some spice, enjoyable characters, and a bit of depth.
Author Sophie Lyon has a looming publishing deadline and writers block. To top it off, a tiktok video of her darkest secret (she’s a romance writer who has never been in love) goes viral. At the suggestion of Dash Montrose, Sophie takes to TikTok and begins a series of interviews with her exes in an attempt to see where her romantic endeavors went wrong.
This book has plenty to offer, from spicy encounters, queer characters, to struggles with alcoholism and familial expectations. Definitely a quick, fun read.

Unfortunately I couldn’t really get into this one. I do admit it was the cover that really drew me in.
The writing was alright! But while reading, it kind of felt like there were TOO many tropes trying to be put into this book at once. Brothers best friend, one bed, “let’s just do it and get it out of our systems”, then the MMC ends up with a stalker too.
What are the odds of her brothers best friend being a celebrity AND her landlord?
This book just seemed like it had a little bit of everything and it just wasn’t for me :(

Plot Twist by Erin La Rosa is a fun best friend's brother trope romance with the twist that he happens to be super famous. Throw in a heroine who is a romance author in a rut and you have a winner. This goes heavy on issues of sobriety and self-confidence issues.

This was such an amazing book! An absolute page turner! It really does live up to its name with a plot twist around every corner, I never knew what to expect or what was coming to happen.

Super cute read and loved seeing glimpses of Nina and her man. Seeing the two mc’s realize they had to grow into their own person in order to be able to move forward was amazing. In the end everything was worth it and they both grew to know how to be there for each other.

I am sorry but this just wasn’t my favorite read. I didn’t dislike it but also didn’t love it. The writing was okay. The cover was cute at least. Literally no other thoughts.

Personally, this was not a captivating read for me. It was too pop culture and trope heavy. That is a personal preference so I know some people will enjoy this book,. The plot was cute and the writing was good so it was not a bad read by any means!

Fun and cute with lots of heat! I enjoyed a lot of the interactions with the side characters, and the focus on addiction, but I did find the main character, Sophie, unlikable. A lot of her inner dialogue made me roll my eyes BUT would still recommend to someone hoping to escape in a fun, summer romance book.

I love Erina La Rosa's debut For Butter Or Worst and her second book doesn't disappoint. It's a perfect, spicy read to take to the beach or just about anywhere.