Thanks to netgalley and publisher for this arc!

This wasn't what I expected but was a touching real love story. The chemistry was great and he was just swoonnnnn in so many ways! I've never read a romance book like this that touched on serious struggles. On the surface this seems to be a girl getting with her celeb crush/landlord/best friends older bro, that's what sold me I love the older bro trope and celeb/fan trope but this was much more.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Plot Twist. I enjoyed this story, the main character were likable and had believable flaws. I think the ex’s story line dragged on a bit too long and some things were just not really resolved (leaked stories, and stalkers, these just… went away?) and I didn’t really like any of the side characters. But this was a cute celebrity romance and I would recommend it as a good spicy read.

I unfortunately wasn't a fan of this book. I couldn't connect to the characters and felt like I was losing interest quickly. I loved the cover so am bummed this didn't work out for me.

I didn't know who Erin La Rosa was, but I do now! It has everything and more. She manages to cram a lot of tropes into one book -- best friend's brother, friends to lovers, and pessimistic/optimistic-- but somehow it still works without being cliche. She also incorporated LGBTQ instances with proper preferred pronouns without making it pushy and overdone. This was truly a GEM of a read.

Publication Date: 14 Nov 2023

Genre: Romantic comedy

Helpful hints: Features a male main character in recovery from alcoholism and a female main character who considers herself to be pansexual (and has dated mostly women)

Prefer closed door romance? Skip Chapters (half of) 14, 15 26, 27

This was my first time reading an Erin La Rosa book, and I must admit that I found myself feeling like I'd jumped into the middle of something without knowing the background of the other characters. When I looked it up on Overdrive, I discovered a book about the female protagonist in Plot Twist's sister, Nina. I'm now on hold for it, (because Plot Twist was great!) but Plot Twist might make slightly more sense if you read the first book in the series, "For Butter or Worse," before this one. With that being said, there was enough information for it to still be able to be read as a standalone.

Anyway. Plot Twist is the story of bubbly Sophie Lyon, a romance author, and her seemingly grumpy neighbor/landlord Dash Montrose, a former movie star and recovering alcoholic. When Sophie gets drunk and bashes love during karaoke, she goes viral on TikTok. Her best friend Poppy sends her brother Dash over to check on a very hungover Sophie, she vomits all over him, and against all odds, they become friends. Join Sophie and Dash as he helps her navigate the world of TikTok, she attempts to learn why she's never fallen in love, and he does his best to remain sober. Hijinks and shenanigans unfold with a plot twist I probably should have seen coming but somehow didn't. Not going to lie, with as many books as I read, it's hard to surprise me these days lol. My favorite random feature was Richard the squirrel, who has an inexplicable disdain for Richard Gere. 😂

Somehow this book manages to cram a lot of tropes into one book -- best friend's brother, friends to lovers, AND grumpy sunshine -- but somehow it still works without being cliche.

Thank you to NetGalley, Erin La Rosa, and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Make sure to mark your calendar for November 4th, if you are interested in this one. 📆

Sophie is a charming, pansexual romance author with serious writer’s block following her first published hit which chronicled her sister’s love story. The problem is that Sophie has never found true love and has never uttered those three little words. Sophie heads down a journey of reuniting with her exes and sharing with her findings with her TikTok fan base. Her landlord, Dash, who also happens to be the brother of her best friend, Poppy, is a former actor and teenage heart throb struggling with sobriety and keeping his passion secret from his family and the press. As their relationship evolves, Sophie and Dash find themselves in unchartered territory, navigating their identities, trust, honesty, and healthy boundaries.

It is a sweet romcom that hooks you from the start. I couldn’t help but root for these characters in all their flaws and quirks. I enjoyed that the narration shifted between Sophie and Dash and the little winks to the reader, pointing out the romance tropes at play. There are some very steamy bits for those seeking 🔥. For those sensitive about alcoholism, rehabilitation, and recovery, enter with care.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5463945115

What do you get when two perfectly imperfect characters fall in love? A sweet, honest and caring couple with tons of personal baggage. Plot Twist is not your ordinary rom com. The characters have issues that aren’t easily solved or even resolved in 250 pages. Dash is an alcoholic trying desperately to stay sober. His family is a nightmare, and his mother is the worst. Sophie has major abandonment and trust issues. Despite all the reasons they shouldn’t, they fall in love because they are honest with each other and authentically themselves with one another, even when they aren’t with anyone else.

I found these characters both refreshing and frustrating. Dash is incredibly sweet to Sophie, and oh so sigh worthy. But the way he let his mother walk all over him without standing up to her was super frustrating. I wanted to yell at him sometimes but mostly I just wanted to give him a hug.

I will definitely keep my eye on this author in the future.

{Disclaimer: I was given a copy of Plot Twist from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.}

I really enjoyed Plot Twist! It was funny, sweet and sexy. I flew through it in record time. It was just one of those books that I never wanted to stop reading. I couldn’t get enough of the adorable romance!

I didn’t know that this book was a companion to For Butter or Worse. I haven’t read it (I’m going to now though because I loved Nina!) but that didn’t affect my feelings for this one. Plot Twist can totally stand on its own.

Both characters were on their own separate journey and I really enjoyed seeing them wok through it. Sophie is a romance author who has never been in love. She has writer’s block and to help her get out of it she meets up with her exes to figure out what went wrong. Along the way she learns a lot about herself. Dash, a former actor and Sophie’s landlord, was discovering his self worth while also maintaining his sobriety. He had so much going on and ugh I just wanted him to be happy.

Sophie & Dash were a perfect match! Together they were able to be open & honest about their struggles. They were supportive of each other during the toughest times. Their chemistry was a 10/10 and the steamy scenes were chefs kiss.

Other random things that I loved:
-The TikTok aspect! It is a huge part of publishing right now so it felt relevant. I also thought it was cute that Dash helped Sophie learn how to use the app.
-I loved Chris! He was such an amazing friend to Dash.
-Sophie is pansexual. I do not see that representation a lot so I was excited!
-The Abby Jimenez reference. She is one of my favorite authors!
-Richard…if you know you know!

Plot Twist was a beautifully written romcom by Erin La Rosa about Dash and Sophie. I laughed out loud many time reading this and giggled like a little girl.

This book had many tropes including best friends brother, one bed, and grumpy sunshine.

I absolutely loved this romcom. I usually don’t like when the modern world gets put into stories but this read was my only exception. How could I not fall in love with Sophie and Dash?? The spicey scenes were amazing and I loved the plot.

I will say, this book had a lot of “will they… will they not” so that made me drop a star.

Overall amazing romcom and I’ll definitely be looking into reading more of this authors books!

*Thank you NetGalley for this arc in exchange for a review!!*

This book was great, I didn’t know what to expect going into it. It was my first time reading a book by Erin La Rosa but I am now a fan.
This book has a bit of everything. It’s funny, romantic, spicy and even has some heavier moments. So there is so much to keep you engaged and wanting to turn to the next chapter.
It’s listed as the second book in The Hollywood series so I will be going back to read the first book. Though this book does seem to stand alone really well which makes happy that I didn’t miss out on any thing that was part of Sophie and Dash’s story,
I also want to shout out the cover because it’s cute and would look good on any shelf.

I feel so fortunate to have the chance to review this book early. What a fun read! Plot Twist has easily wormed its way into my heart. I mean, how could you NOT immediately love Dash Montrose? Steamy, funny, sweet, heartfelt, this book will be loved by fans of Ava Wilder's HOW TO FAKE IT IN HOLLYWOOD.

This was impossible to get through. Unfortunately, I had to mark it as dnf at 35%. The main character Sophie was a mess. And not in a good way, she was leaving all of her problems for other people to solve (mainly her love interest Dash.) She was so irritating. And Dash was okay I guess, but there wasn’t much to him. He was kind of bland, I get what the author was trying to do, but it all fell kind of flat. I did not enjoy this at all.

This was a fun read ◡̈ I was definitely drawn in at first by the cover and think it's so cute. As for the plot - I'm someone who loves tiktok but with how much it played a story in the plot, it just always took me out of the book:? I didn't love how much it was involved. While this book had a lot of tropes, I'm a trope lover and I think this book ultimately did pull it off!

✨Book Review✨
Plot Twist by Erin La Rosa
4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
PUB DATE: Nov 14 2023

First, thank you to @netgalley and @harlequinbooks for my eARC copy of this book for my honest review.

I really adored this read! I loved Dash and Sophie. Their story was so sweet! A best friends brother troupe with good character development.

My only 🤷🏽‍♀️ moment while reading was the age the characters were supposed to be didn’t really match them per se but I still found it enjoyable. 💕

I will definitely be reading more from this author in the future!

Here’s a synopsis:

She’s written off more than she can chew…

Romance author Sophie Lyon’s ironic secret just went viral: she’s never been in love. Though her debut novel made readers swoon, Sophie’s having trouble getting her new characters to happily-ever-after, and she blames it on her own uninspired love life. With a manuscript deadline looming, Sophie makes an ambitious plan to overcome her writer’s block: reunite with her exes to learn why she's never fallen in love—and document it all for her millions of new online followers. Which also means facing her ex-girlfriend Carla, the one person Sophie could have loved.

Luckily, Sophie’s reclusive landlord, Dash Montrose—a former teen heartthrob—has social media all figured out and offers to help. But he doesn't mention 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 he intends to keep it that way. His family is Hollywood royalty, so 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 would: a friends-with-benefits arrangement. Surely a casual relationship won’t cause any trouble…

Check it out! And as always, happy reading! 💕

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to receive an ARC of this book. Sophie Lyon is a romance writer who has one hit novel but has never been in love, but not only that (gasp!) believes that love isn’t real and shouts it to the world on a video that of course goes viral. She has six weeks to deliver her second novel and is nowhere close to being done. Enter Dash Montrose, her “dash”-ing landlord / brother to her best friend / former teen heartthrob / current closet crafter encourages her to respond to her video on TikTok. She challenges herself to contact her exes to determine what went wrong, what held her from being able to say those 3 little words, and report back to her followers on TikTok. I love the premise and the synopsis sounded like something I would fly through. The book started out a bit slow for me and I t lost me with the number of subplots that existed under the main characters. Overall there were very cute (and definitely steamy) moments and I really wanted to love it but I just didn’t get there.

Loved this book so much! Didn’t realize it was part two so I bought the first one to read next!! I will definitely be following this author closely to read other books they release.

i’m so sad i did not even up liking this book. it started of great and the characters have chemistry but i’m a girl who loves character driven books. and while this book tried to be, it failed. the issues and realization these characters have did not make sense and no matter how much i jump to rationalize their actions it just… did make sense. i was just left confused

This is review is for the READERS, not the author!!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased opinion.

First off, I did enjoy this book- don't let the 3 stars confuse you. I did like the book, but I do not think it was the best thing I have ever read.

The Characters

Sophie Lyon is a rising romance author who.... has never been in love. I loved the irony of this. That being said, I did think she as a character was irritable at times. She was not a bad character, necessarily, but she was annoying sometimes.

I did love Dash and I thought his character was written well. His struggle with alcoholism was written pretty well but did feel flat in some parts.

The Plot

I did like the idea of him helping with her social media but that aspect was hardly in the book. Her going back to her exes was interesting but I found it to be pretty boring. I did like the setting of Las Angelos and the celebrities and fame.

I LOVED the inclusivity in this book (Sophie is pansexual and one of her exes used they/them pronouns). I believe that inclusivity is an important thing to include.

Writing

I did not think this book is wonderfully written, just mediocre. I thought some of the plotlines were underdeveloped and random. All of sudden there is an earthquake and she even says "I've never felt that strong of one" but then it is not even mentioned again. I do realize that earthquakes are common in California but I assume that big ones are at least talked about or at the very least, not brushed off like it was.

I feel like Sophie WAYYYYYY overreacted about one of the plotlines that was really not that big of a deal.

The Romance

At first, I thought they went from 0-100 quickly but by the end, I do not think it was insta-lovely. I think they fit nicely together. I loved that he called her "Soph" and told her things he didn't tell anyone else. I felt that Sophia did seem a little uninterested in comparison but she was fine by the end.

Overall, it was not my favorite book- it was just fine.

You know how some make authors tend to write women characters, and it kind of drives you crazy. Like you can tell, I’m reading a book written by a male author.

Well this book is like that but the opposite. You have a male character who you can tell can tell was written by a female author and it kind of drove me nuts.

This is a modern, tik tok influenced, love story. The book wasn’t for me but I can see how it’s for someone else.

Thank you to the publisher for letting me read the book on NetGalley for an unbiased and honest review.

This was absolutely adorable, and such an enjoyable read, even with some of the more serious undertones. Sophie and Dash both have their own faults they need to work on independently, but seeing them encourage and be there for each other, while both being their authentic self, helped make their friendship turned relationship seem more real, and have more depth. At one point I was worried the pining and “will they won’t they” was going to drag on, but I was happy to see it didn’t, and thought an appropriate amount of time had passed. There was a lot of conflict with side characters and while they made sense, I felt as some additional resolution went unaddressed. I was, however, glad to see a seemingly accurate portrayal of addiction, recovery, relapse, and the struggles that come with maintaining sobriety and how truly important a good support system is.
Overall I enjoyed this and definitely recommend a read once it’s released!

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Erin La Rosa for providing me with the opportunity to receive this ARC in exchange for an honest review!*