Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This quirky and cute romance is just what I needed.
During a night of drinking and karaoke with her friends, Sophie, who is struggling to finish her next romance book, accidentally comes clean about never being in love.
Her landlord Dash, former teen heartthrob and son of Hollywood royalty, agrees to help Sophie turn her embarrassing confession around by using social media to take her followers with her as she goes through her past relationships and find out what went wrong.
I loved all of the characters in this book. I was rooting for Sophie and Dash from the start and enjoyed going with them on their journey.
This book was easy to read, and I didn’t want to put it down. I would recommend everyone pick this one up.

Hooo boy where do begin…I’m super picky about my contemporary reads and unfortunately this is another I have to chalk up as cringey. How old are these characters again? My guess, they acted like high schoolers.

The writing was okay but I think it would’ve faired better with another round of edits to flesh out the characters. It reads like a super cheesy YA novel more than an adult contemporary.

I feel like this book tries too hard to cover too many tropes. Dash is Sophie’s best friend’s brother, her landlord, a famous child star, a successful tiktoker. It’s honestly so much and could’ve just chosen one to stick with.

Why does everything Dash feel or do needs to be a secret. His sobriety-a secret, his TikTok- a secret, the way he feels about Sophie- a secret. And it’s always slipping out. It’s exhausting to read about.

Sophie mentions her ability to keep Dash a secret yet she struggled to keep her sisters secret. Seems contradictory.

I’m confused why Dash thinks a relationship means relapse. He just says most people in AA wait a while but not any reason why. Did people he was in a relationship in the past make him drink? It seems like a poorly constructed plot device to make Dash not commit. When Dash is talking to his mom about his sobriety he just says it’s complicated as a way of not explaining.

The psychology being using AA shows that more likely than not it aids in relapse. Sure some people can use AA and remain sober but for the majority of people you are going to meeting surrounded by people sharing stories talking about their time abusing substances. It’s the opposite of the phrase “out of sight out of mind”. If people keep talking about what you got you there you’re more likely to crave it and your sole motivation will be to seek it out. Chris, his sponsor, being in Dash’s life still could have happened through a program from rehab. I just don’t like the use of AA as appropriate coping mechanisms for substance abuse.

It was very refreshing to have Sophie’s sexuality not be a big deal or a plot device. To add tension Sophie could have been chastised for dating all genders especially being so vocal about it on TikTok, but she wasn’t. Here’s to hoping for a world where this happens more often.

Overall this is was just alright. Nothing special and probably won’t pick it up when it comes out.

I love tropes. But they have to fit organically in the story, and as much as I love Booktok, when a book so clearly caters to that audience that it almost takes you out of the story is just meh. I love social media references, but it was a bit too much of this story, especially because as time goes on, it will date this book.

Although, this wasn't a book for me really there was just so much I think could have been better. Overall, my two stars is based on the main characters but the story and writting fell short.

Okay - AGAIN, I am SUCKED in by book covers and this one inhaled me.

Plot Twist is a sweet and spicy romance with so many twists and turns. It was hard to put down once I started with all the banter and tension between the two MCs. The tension usually resulted in some steam, which let's get real - We all devour. I wasn't expecting a spicy read, but I got one! Plot Twist helped me get out of my reading slump and I'm pretty pleased about it.

Sophia and Dash are both in their thirties. Sophia is an author who has writer's block and thinks exposing her lack of love life will spark inspiration for a new book. She's one hell of a people pleasure and decides to expose her love life on TT (TIK TOK OMG). Then enters Dash who is showcasing his craft on the clock because how else do we spend our time these days? Did I mention he used to be an actor and a total babe? Anyway - They have their own obstacles that they have to overcome until their paths ultimately cross. I love that it wasn't an immediate "omgILoveYou" confession and it took time to develop. Being able to experience that "true love" feeling through writing is always such a good feeling. I also really loved that the Author included important key points like family, mental health, and addictions/obsessions.

The story itself kept my attention, even though I found myself wanting to push Sophia into traffic; these characters are still enjoyable to read. Sophia and Dash are flawed, but BOY do they keep you entertained. I really enjoyed La Rosa's take on the LA lifestyle and bringing Tik Tok into a novel. We all know the influence TT has on social media as well as your social presence, so experiencing Plot Twist was a delight!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the Author for an ARC and my honest opinion. Add this spicy romance to your TBRs!

I requested this ARC purely for the cover. That pink is scientifically mixed to bring me joy. And you know what they say about not judging books by their covers.....I hate it. I will never not judge a book by its cover. Sometimes I'll read books whose covers I don't like, but I will still judge them for it!

I have a lot of feelings about the book in general. I really enjoyed the chemistry between Dash and Sophie. Dash is a childhood actor struggling with alcoholism. Sophie is an author struggling with writer's block. And the chemistry between the two of them is HOT. I have only good things to say about the romantic and spicy scenes between the two of them.

I love a good trope. I love a sibling's best friend. I love when there's only one bed. I do understand that as a romance author, it made sense for Sophie to call out the tropes that she sees in her real life. But it did seem like there were some moments when she was expounding on tropes a bit much.

Then we have Sophie's journey with her exes. I have so much to say about it. I don't want to put spoilers, but this was rough. I know that characters have to be flawed for the story to be interesting and all of that. But like the writer's block was enough.

And then there's Dash's struggle with alcoholism. It was really hard to read. I have watched people that I care about struggle with addiction, and the daily struggle to keep it together and stay strong rang true. The only thing about this that I didn't like was when Sophie decided to stop drinking as well. The way it was written it was an unconscious choice after learning about Dash's struggles. But I wish that it would have been more of a conscious choice. Like she was actively choosing not to drink to support Dash. Rather than the way it was written. Part of Sophie's issues was that she wasn't true to herself in her past relationships, so immediately starting to unconsciously do what she thought Dash wanted felt.....not great.

Ultimately, I really enjoyed this!! I do recommend. And I really think one of the best parts are the spicy scenes. I love a good role play. :)

Omg I absolutely adored this!! This is my first time reading this authors work and I can’t wait to read more💗💗💗

In Plot Twist, we think we are looking at your typical best friend’s brother trope, but this story is a lot more. We meet Dash, who is a former actor from a great acting family, and we meet Sophie, a romance writer who has never been in love.

Dash is Sophie’s landlord, and the brother of her best friend, Poppy. He is also a recovering alcoholic, which he keeps a secret from his family. When Sophie goes viral on TikTok for her confession of never being in love, Dash offers to help her figure out her problem, and maybe be able to finish that book she needs to write,
Sophie and Dash are such complex characters, and I enjoyed reading their story. Sophie is pansexual, which I really loved seeing, and she is trying so hard to solve her problems. Dash is very supportive as a friend and partner, and you really feel his pain and struggles.

I also enjoyed the supporting characters and Sophie’s journey through her exes.

This was a great, touching story, and I look forward to reading more by this author. I see it is part of a series, and I am going to read Nina and Leo’s story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Canary Street Press for the ARC of this book.

I was swooning from beginning to end! I really enjoyed this one!! Erin La Rosa brings the romance and the spice at the perfect levels!!! SO good!

This was my first book by this author, and it won’t be my last 💞 A former teen movie star and a romance writer who’s never been in love??? She used to have a crush on him AND they live next door to each other??? *screams*

This book has:
• Grumpy x sunshine: Dash is a grumpy hero with a heart of gold, and Sophie is the sunshine heroine that he can’t stop thinking about
• Best friends brother trope: This trope added in a forbidden element, and all the pining was ✨ chefs kiss ✨
• Close proximity (Dash is her landlord)
• Friends with benefits: There’s nothing I love more than seeing characters fail to stick to their friends with benefits rules 😌

Overall, I enjoyed this book, and these two leads SO much. I rooted for Dash and Sophie since their first interaction and the grand gesture at the end was so heartwarming 💞

Thank you to Harlequin and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

DNF 2%
It’s me. Not you. Third person perspective isn’t for me in this type of book. I could tell from the first page it wasn’t the writing style for me.

Book Thoughts
Plot Twist by Erin La Rosa
Pub Date: November 14, 2023
Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️💫3.5/5

What I Liked
~LGBTQIA+ representation
~Dash and his crafting and his sensitive soul…sigh
~This book touches on dysfunctional families, anxiety, and addiction which I wasn’t expecting in a romance but it was done nicely.
~The journey that both our MCs are going through are different but the way the support each other felt a little bit like real life.
~An overall quick read and cute story that has some serious topics.
~A little spice

What I Didn’t Like
~It doesn’t feel like a story I’ll remember.
~The TikTok emphasis.
~The Hollywood connection…I just don’t particularly like reading about movie stars.
~There were a lot of tropes in this…
~The stalker felt really unnecessary.

Thank you to Net Galley and Harlequin Trading Publishing for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

The cover is not something that would normally grab my attention at the bookstore or on Amazon but I like that it isn't overwhelming. I had a hard time with the beginning of the book and felt like while the characters experience with the night before was common, I don't feel like making it such a focal point in anything is very appealing for me personally. I'm sure this will change once the book is nearing release but I didn't love that there was no index to switch back and forth more easily. I loved that it switched perspectives but it felt a little slow and the beginning was sort of awkward, I do not feel like this is something I personally would grab from a bookstore.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Plot twist was an... interesting contemporary romance book that started out seeming to be a sweet and cute rom-com. We follow love interests Dash ( A former child-actor who is a closet ceramic artist focusing on maintaining his sobriety post rehab) and Sophie (a romance author suffering from writers block and struggling to identify why she has never been able to fall in love). Dash's struggles with sobriety seem to be mindfully represented along with his strained and dysfunctional relationship with his family who also are involved in Hollywood. His motivations to maintain a closeted closed off life and the emotionally abusive relationship with his family make sense for his character arc and how he is the way he is, the grumpy to Sophie's sunshine. It was also nice to see the LGBTQ+ representation in Sophie as a pansexual female who has had relationships with women, men and trans people whom we see her interact with in the story itself.

This book started out with a lot of promise, it had all the tropes that I enjoy in romance books. Grumpy/Sunshine, relatively forced proximity, best friends brother. But it feels as if the book relied heavily on the tropes it wanted to present rather than let the story flow organically. I enjoyed the introduction to the book, the build up where we are learning the characters and the obstacles that are standing in their way, but it slowly started to get repetitive and the relationships never seemed to fully grow and evolve. I understood the use of TikTok and social media as a driver, it's huge in modern society and would seem strange for a contemporary setting, particularly in LA to not include it. But it felt disingenuous?

I understood the premise of Sophie's journey, she was stuck on not being able to give her book with a big deadline the HEA that is known for the romance genre because she herself has never experienced love, that gave us the timeframe of the storyline as well. It was an interesting idea having her return to her ex's and find out why their relationship died. However, these encounters never really held any weight to the story, Sophie learned more about her trust issues from her interactions with her sister and her best friend than she did with any of these unnecessarily written interactions with her ex's.

My interest started to fall off around the 50% mark of the book when things seemed to fall into a stall pattern with just repetitive interactions. I didn't understand the constant reminder of her elongated canine, it was a weird choice for "adorable flaw" and got frustrating seeing it repeated. Also while I know this story is about Dash and Sophie and their romance, it felt like their interactions was heavily overshadowed by their messy lives that their budding love fell flat and it didn't really feel like they interacted much and just never made much sense. I would classify it more as falling into lust or like rather than love.

The lacking of emotional maturity, even with perceived trust issues, was also a hard struggle. From my understanding up until the epilogue the timeline spans 6 weeks, and so far with them both keeping their distance and rarely interacting for extensive periods of time I couldn't get behind the anger, hurt and sudden distrust over "lying" by having personal boundaries with not wanting to divulge life stories within a newly forming relationship that has yet to even be classified as such? Sophie had so much potential and the plot of her learning to overcome her trust issues (which is briefly explained near the end of the book in a singular sentence) and finding her way to her first love while coming back to writing was so fun! but she just seemed to fall flat and never actually grow.

The writing itself was fine. Like previously stated the book appears to rely heavily on popular romance tropes to move the story along. There is spice in this book, they were fine, the last sexual encounter read a little awkwardly written but that could also be my waning interest. This book has some cringey dialogue and I feel like could've been developed a little more. It wasn't my favorite romance, it was ok, fairly easy to get through quickly and had some entertaining elements. I do also appreciate the compassion the writer took in writing about addiction and emotional abuse within a family dynamic.

I would recommend this for romance readers who don't mind cringey dialogue, enjoy a moderate level of spice and want a quick, easy, trope heavy contemporary read.

Plot Twist is a cute rom com that shows perhaps the most important part of life and a relationship is asking for what you want.

I found the primary story to be that of the MMC, Dash, rather than the FMC, Sophie and I absolutely loved this. Dash’s journey with sobriety is very powerful and his insights to his the stigmas of social drinking culture and how hard it is to refuse a drink were excellent observations of our society. Similarly, I liked that the book touched on fertility struggles, IVF and egg freezing. I loved the unique elements of pottery and crafting woven into the story as well, and the amount of detail that went with many of the character hobbies. I feel like Dash carried this story, and if he been less dynamic, I think I would have rated this story much lower.

The book felt very Inception-y at times because ultimately La Rosa’s For Butter or Worse is Sophie’s first book, and the line between author and character was difficult to define at times. I found this both refreshing and frustrating. Additionally, although a central theme of the story, I did not enjoy the heavy social media influence of TikTok and “going viral” and think the story could have been executed just as well without it. Social media is difficult in books because although it is relevant, it’s so trend-heavy: by the time you’re jumping on it, the world is onto something else.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC and the opportunity to read and review this title.

A romance about being there for one another even when you need to try again. I love that the story give a realistic view of hollywood and that it's not all you see on screen. I love that both main characters Sophie and Dash become fast friends and stick by each other even though they are both experience trust issues and yet they both encourage each other to do their best. There are situations in the story that keep testing Sophie and Dash and make them doubt they will be able to have a relationship. However as they go along with the relationship, their love life becomes more involved and somehow they decide that their relationship is worth it.

I want to thank Harlequin Trade Publishing, Canary Street Press and NetGalley for an advance copy of this great summer read.

I really love the beautiful cover and was so excited to read this one! The synopsis of the story is right up my alley, and I love books where the lead is a celebrity.

However, I had a really difficult time getting invested in the book and had trouble connecting with the characters. The plot at time felt very rushed and the ending was not totally believable. I want to root for the characters of every book I read, but in this one I found myself not caring very much.

First, a big thank you to NetGalley and Canary Street Press/Harlequin Trade Publishing for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I think it's important for those who rely on trigger warnings to really take caution with this story, especially when it comes to themes of addiction and relapse!!

I was completely drawn in by the adorable cover and synopsis of this story and was even further intrigued by the opening scene. We meet the handsome, ex-indie film star, Dash, and the quirky, hot mess of an author, Sophie, through a very embarrassing encounter. I was intrigued and immediately wanted to know more about Dash's reclusive tendencies.

From the first scene alone, we gather that Dash has zero interest in being in the public eye or around anyone outside of his family. Privacy is his top priority, as is staying sober. He's serious about this, folks!!

Sophie, on the other hand, is a train wreck. Not only is she getting dangerously close to missing her book's draft deadline, but to make matters worse, she went viral on Tiktok. Why? Because she's never been in love. However, she is determined to work through her issues and focus on discovering the truth within herself that's preventing her from loving.

Yet, the promises the leading characters make to themselves that they are not ready for romance are almost immediately thrown out the window (as well as the"slow burn" that's hinted at) as they have a spontaneous hookup that happens within the first 80 or so pages? Give or take? This continues to be a theme throughout the story, the scenes happening at times that seem inappropriate or in contradiction to what the story is supposed to accomplish. A lot of back and forth, I got whiplash!

The supporting cast was interesting, but I felt that this story heavily relied on the spontaneous/ill-timed spice and tiktok drama to keep the story moving. It got a bit old, especially when it felt the pacing was off and the story didn't follow a clearly defined rhythm. (why are we flip-flopping between conflict and resolution constantly throughout the 30-85% marks? there isn't enough time to adequately address all the issues or come to a believable conclusion)

3.5 stars
This book was cute I enjoyed the characters and the growth and the depth to them. It was really good. Thank You NetGalley for the ARC.