dnf @ 30%

The cover made me request this one, but I have regrets...

I struggled through a third of this and couldn't keep going.
1) Too many tropes. I felt like this book was written around tropes rather than the characters and as a result, the characters suffered
2)Sophie is kind of a mess but in a boring way? Her exes also clearly don't like her. It seems awkward and she doesn't have the self awareness to realize SHE is the problem. I lowkey didn't want her to end up with the love interest because he's clearly trying to get his life together and he doesn't need her problems...
3)Too many social media/pop culture references, which I usually don't mind but it felt forced here. Not sure how this book will age with the inclusion of so many references.
4) It just kind of dragged...waiting for things to pick and nothing.

This was my first book from Erin La Rosa. It was very entertaining and I overall enjoyed the chemistry between the two main characters. I give it a solid 3.5! Definitely won't be my last by this author. Super cute beach read.

Definitely better than the first - I actually liked both main characters, so that's pretty dope. One thing that I didn't like is how Dash used sobriety as an excuse for a lot of things without really explaining what that meant, to be "working" on his sobriety, until way later in the book. As someone who has not experienced alcoholism first-hand, I would have appreciated a small scene earlier on that explained what that meant and why working on his sobriety precluded him from, for example, being in a relationship or having a job. It came up enough times that I feel like more detail would have been nice than just him continuing to repeat that line over and over. A 4/5 for me.

Plot Twist was delightful, quirky, and so very real.
Summary: Sophie has a rapidly approaching deadline to complete her second romance novel… except she suddenly can’t find inspiration to write about a feeling she has never experienced. Enter Dash, her best friend’s brother and her landlord/neighbor. Sophie is on a journey to discover why she’s never fallen in love. As a ex-child actor living in his older brother’s shadow, Dash is on a journey to discover what he wants for himself in life while secretly working to earn his next chip and turn his life around. What happens when Dash agrees to help Sophie with her writers block in exchange for her award-winning speech writing skills? An adorable, relatable (and spicy) love story!

With a diverse cast of characters with very real flaws and struggles, this was an amazing and refreshing read. I loved getting to meet all of Sophie’s ghosts of relationships past, I found Dash to be heartbreakingly relatable, and Chris is just a delight.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing me with an eARC of Plot Twist in exchange for my honest review!

As an aspiring writer myself, I'm partial to books that revolve around writer MCs, so it made it easier for me to initially dive into Plot Twist—a contemporary romance that, as a whole, I found to be charming, even if I had some issues that prevented me from fully enjoying it. It starts out in a very tropey fashion with friends-to-benefits (which I can be iffy toward) and forced proximity (which I love), but I found them to be endearing in spite of how much the book hammers these tropes into my head. I'm not wild about Sophie's whole plan to reconnect with her exes in order to find out what problems had plagued their relationships, especially since said plan involves passing down the details to her TikTok audience. It just came off as cringey and contrived. That's why I ended up leaning much more toward Dash's side of the narrative as he strives to maintain his sobriety and wrestles with the significant toll that his dysfunctional family has taken on his emotional and mental health. Dysfunctional family crap is fairly commonplace in rom-coms, but we don't get as many characters who are trying to stay sober, so that was satisfying to read about. As for the chemistry between Sophie and Dash, I liked it well enough, although I think the spicy scenes could have afforded to be even steamier and woven into the plot a little more smoothly.

Overall, I'm officially rating Plot Twist 3.25 out of 5 stars. I may not have fallen in love with this book, but I had a pretty good time with it—enough that I'll make sure to check out Erin La Rosa's previous rom-com, For Butter or Worse, in the future, particularly since it's already been on my TBR pile for a while.

this book was a fun read, i think it handled the topics of sobriety and difficult family dynamics fairly well. it did feel like it was maybe trying to subvert some common tropes, or at least give a sort of meta, self-aware, wink-and-nudge to the reader, like "oh this character *knows* theyre in a romance". some of those references were like a fun little addition, but some did feel sort of forced, or ham-fisted in. overall, a pleasant read, im just not sure it was as successfully quirky as it might've been aiming for.

It took me a few chapters to get into this book, I almost DNF but I stuck it out and I'm glad I did because I did enjoy it.

Sophie is a romance author who has writers block while writing the ending for her latest novel. She figures it's because she's never actually been in love before. While at karaoke one night, someone records her drunkenly announcing on stage that she's never said "I love you" and the video goes viral on TikTok. With help from Dash, she decides to make a counter video and meet up with her exes to figure out what went wrong in each relationship and documenting her self research on TikTok.

Dash is a former actor, recovering alcoholic, Sophie's childhood crush/landlord/neighbor and also happens to be Sophie's best friends brother....phew. But he has his fair share of secrets too.

It's a best friends brother, friends with benefits, one bed trope.

I liked the LGBT representation, but also kind of felt that the author rushed it and tried too hard. Every side character (Sophie's exes) was a different LGBT representation and were so quickly in and out of the story that I don't even remember them. There was just so much going on in the first half of the book that it was hard to get in to. But once Sophie and Dash connected on their trip, The story started to come together.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Canary Street Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book had a cute premise and some of my favorite troupes best friends brother/sisters best friend, the put together guy with the messy girl and the one bed troupe!
I struggled with it a bit but I think that’s because third person romance isn’t always an easy read for me. Over all a cute story and I love the tiktok references

This book toes the line between cute and cringe, which aren’t comparable, I just say tow because I know she’s trying for cute. The tropes are very in your face, they almost break the fourth wall.
I love the lgbt rep and the alcohol recovery rep. Substance abuse is very difficult to overcome and this book does a great job at highlighting the daily struggles and how others might not realize that someone is struggling silently.
It did feel like she was forcing him into sexual relations, he kept saying he wasn’t ready and then she’s giving him a handjob two sentences later saying it’s for “book research” pretty manipulative.
Overall, this book has its moments, I think it could use some edits to fix the issues with the tropes and the sexual advances. I don’t dislike the TikTok references hut unless you have one you may be lost.

This book was so cute!!!
I loved that it was a bit different than all of the other romance books that are out/ popular currently.

Sophie a struggling romance author needs to beat her writers block and write a 2nd book before her fast approaching deadline. She has one major problem she has never been in love. Sophie feels like a bit of a fraud being a romance author who writes books about love when she has never know love. She makes it her mission to meet up with all of her exs to find out why things never worked out with them, and even rekindle a relationship with one.

Dash is Sophies neighbor, landlord and best friends brother. He was a child actor who has a secret of his own. He is a recovering alcoholic. Dash comes from a family of actors and his mom wants him to get back into acting but acting is what lead Dash to turn to drinking in the first place. Problem is only Dash's best friend knows about his issues.

Dash and Sophie come together to help each other out. This lands them in a friends with benefits situation. After each of them comes to terms with each of their own struggles Dash and Sophie fall in love.

Tropes: Best friends brother, Second chance romance,

TW: Addiction

ARC provided by NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Canary Street Press in exchange for an honest review.

Girl next door falls for boy next door - but girl is a struggling romance writer who's never said "I Love You" and the boy is a former Hollywood actor who's recovering from alcohol addition. Sophie is fast approaching the deadline for her 2nd romance novel to be submitted and can't come up with the fictional Happily Ever After. Maybe she's got writer's block, or she's just jaded from her own failed romances - none lasting more than a year before it dissolves. But maybe the jolt she gets for writing a quick speech for her next door neighbor (and landlord), Dash Monstrose, will be enough to get her creative juices flowing - and maybe other juices too!
For fans of "Never Been Kissed", this sweet and hilarious romp into a right couple - wrong time relationship is a worth curling up with.
I just reviewed Plot Twist by Erin La Rosa. #PlotTwist #NetGalley

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Canary Street Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Plot Twist" was one of those books that you don't really get into, but you can't put down for some reason. It was enjoyable, but it didn't leave me wanting more.

I enjoyed this title! It was a little slow in the beginning but definitely picked up at the end. What Sophie did for Dash while he was "away" was so touching and lovely and I now have to go back and read Nina's book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC

*Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Great book!

Plot Twist was one of the CHEESIEST books I have ever read. The characters were very plain. There wasn't a lot of depth to them or their relationship. I felt like it was rushed and disliked the plot. It wasn't terrible, because I did finish it, but I just found it to be very dry.
It was also super predictable and didn't make me want to keep reading.

Wow! This was romantic, deep, and so beautifully honest! I loved all the discussion about sobriety and things going viral and how that impacts life, and seeing how it impacted Sophie and Dash's relationship. Both characters were well developed and the romance was believable. I think this will be a hit with a lot of people, and was a beautiful sophomore novel in the Hollywood series.

Oh, hello meet cute with a fun "plot twist." While Dash has been in Sophie's life for awhile, they re-meet each other and find out they can offer each other something each needs: Sophie needs help finishing her second romance novel, accidentally goes viral on TikTok, and Dash suggests she work on her social media image and offers his help; Dash is trying to live his life outside of the spotlight aimed on his Hollywood royal family while recovering from alcoholism. When he is asked to give a speech at an event honouring his father, Sophie offers to help him draft it. Both Soph and Dash has complicated relationships with the people in their lives and the book does not shy away from their mental health struggles. There were some really steamy scenes in this novel and while I wish the ending hadn't been so over the top, I enjoyed the novel as a whole!

I adored the first book in this series and loved Friends Don't Fall in Love even more. Craig and Lorelai's relationship sparks right from the beginning. Erin writes fantastic and believable friends-to-lovers romances. Lorelai was one of my favorite characters when she featured as Shelby's best friend side character in the first book and I am so glad she got her own story. I was instantly hooked on her struggles to fit into the Nashville/country scene while still standing up for what she believes in. I adore Erin's writing and can't wait to see where she takes us next.

Thank you so much to St. Martin's and Netgalley for providing me with an e-arc of this wonderful book..

I enjoyed the book, it was very cute in the beginning, although it felt like it was falling off midway. The romantic tropes were nice in the book, lil cute banters, but I feel that as much as the tropes were there, it was more towards a friendship between them and it didn't feel like the chemistry that they were having with each other was coming up naturally. they had arguments that would mess things up between them but contradicted themselves at the same time too. I feel like the female main character just didn't have much character development because it was like she was still static in character-building throughout the story. in addition to that, it just felt rushed.

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This was a fun little rom-com. Here’s what to expect:
- FWB / best friend’s brother / one bed
- A lot of references to TikTok and social media in general
- A romance author who’s “never been in love” and now has writer’s block
- An ex-actor from a famous family working hard to stay sober
- Pansexual FMC
- The FMC also has a pacemaker and it wasn’t really part of the plot but I thought it was nice to include because I feel like that’s not commonly represented, especially in younger people

Some of my critiques would be:
- Some of the pacing just felt off to me, I kept looking at how far I was in the book and then I was like “Omg I’m only at 50%???”, just felt like it dragged at times
- This book was spicy (which I love!) but I didn’t like the smut writing 🥲 just some words that really make me cringe and made it so that I couldn’t enjoy
- Some really cheesy / punny lines (which again, I don’t normally mind but for some reason they made me cringe!)
- For how old the main characters were, I felt that they were very emotionally immature at times, including interactions with each other & their friends/family

So, I did enjoy the book at times! Other times I just wanted to finish it and be done. The MMC (Dash) was working through some really serious shit, and the friendship and then vulnerability he developed with the FMC (Sophie) was really nice to watch since it didn’t seem like he normally let people in close like that.

I would add that if alcoholism / sobriety / relapse & rehab are anything you’re sensitive to, proceed with caution. But if you like reading about others’ (albeit, fictional) experiences, you may still connect with this book. Message me if you want details!

I’d recommend this to people who like Tessa Bailey, Elle Kennedy, and the like.