This was an enjoyable enough read, but personally it was a little too much "fluff". Again, this is my opinion, I enjoy more tension between the main characters. That said, the book was enjoyable as a whole and I can imagine it as a great summery read.

thank you NetGalley & Headline for the ARC! (Australian release date: March 28, 2024)

first of all ... need to quickly address the elephant in the room; the cover for Plot Line is almost an identical replica for Emily Henry's 'Book Lovers'. like almost identical 🤨

Besides that... I really enjoyed this! Set primarily in Ireland, we follow Becca, who after a tragic death decides to move to a small town in Ireland to meet her online friend & stay with them for a while, for a writers retreat of sorts. Somehow, she didn't seem to realise that he is a guy, as she assumed that he was a woman... awkward! Riley, our MMC, is a single dad, yoga enthusiast and romance writer, which made him out to be a pretty cool character. Riley, being an author, is struggling to write his second book, and Becca, is attempting to write her first. So they have their little writing moments whilst Becca essentially uses Ireland to 'escape' everything going on back in Glasgow.

We follow Becca on a journey of grief but also see the romance develop between her and Riley, along with the obstacles thrown their way. This is a friends to lovers story, and I loved the original friendship between Becca and Riley. They have great banter, especially in the early stages of the novel. Seeing them develop into love was lovely to read, even though I think it could've been developed just a bit more. The vibes are somewhat similar to Beach Read by Emily Henry, you can't really deny the similarities but Plot Twist does hold it's own.

There's also some chapters written in the perspective of 9/10 years ago, that correlate to the storyline surrounding why Becca left Glasgow. I wasn't as interested in these, but they serve their purpose.

Overall, the plot is pretty entertaining, I never felt bored, however Becca as a FMC is slightly annoying, not in an obnoxious way but she is tolerable. Riley is great, the side characters are great. Drew sucks though.

Fans of Beach Read, any Emily Henry and other lighthearted-ish contemporary romances will really enjoy this, so I recommend. Great debut from Breea Keenan and I look forward to reading any other works she puts out in the future!

Thank you again NetGalley & Headline for the ARC, I appreciate it so much <3

Plot Twist was such a fun, easy read. I devoured the book in very little time because I just wanted things to end well for Becca and Riley. They are such lovable character, but to me the thing that sets the book apart from many other feelgood books, is that the side characters were all so nice. Personally I would have liked some more complications for the main characters, but I could 100% imagine myself with this book at the beach during summer and that's definitely what this is all about. If you like single dads, books about books, small town romance and just want a fun, cute little read, this is the one!

I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more from Breena Keenan. I do wish there had been more depth to the romance and at times it felt very "fluffy."

Book Review 📚
Plot Twist by Breea Keenan - 4/5 ⭐

A slow burn romance that's so real life! The situations and emotions they face along the way are so realistic. It actually shows it's not all "happy-go-lucky" in a relationship.

I rather enjoyed the slow burn romance to this story, it's not thrown in your face and making out that all is perfect. It was a nice pace and easy to finish, more so because I didn't want to put it down, but same thing right?!

The character development was amazing, they had an awesome love/hate relationship on the go and it worked so well! The writing was amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for allowing me to read this ARC - this is an HONEST review from my own personal opinion.

Thank you for the author and published for chance to review!

I want to start by saying I enjoyed the portrayal of realistic relationships, not all sunshine and roses and easy roads. It was a fun read and I couldn't stop reading.

The structure, however, felt a bit all over the place. I felt the pacing wasn't quite right and by the end I didn't feel fully invested in the romance. At points this felt more like a romance thrust into a contemporary fiction, like Becca and Riley deserved a bit more time just for them.

A beautifully written slow burn romance. I thoroughly enjoyed Plot twist, although slow in parts it kept me engaged. Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the arc.

A fun read. However, the pacing was not great. Skews more towards women's lit. I enjoyed the single-parent trope, the small town, and forced proximity.

This author’s books have the ability to simultaneously make you unable to stop reading while wishing you could bury the book somewhere deep underground where it can't be found. Compelling and didn’t want it to end!

When it came to 'Plot Twist,' I thought the story was great in its intent and pace. However, I think there were some stylistic choices that kind of brought the story down. There were a few awkward sentences that just didn’t flow well, and there were some interactions between characters that I felt needed to be drawn out a bit. I also felt that some of the descriptive words used in the dialogue segments were confusing, i.e., in the first interaction between Becca and Drew, “sneered” might not have been the best choice because I didn’t really know if these guys were outright fighting. Was this a quiet, hush-hush argument, etc.? I also thought that certain phrases didn’t fit the atmosphere of the story; for example, the phrase “OK doke” felt out of place—although I think this is just a personal preference because I’m not a fan of capitalising ‘okay’ like that. As for the characters, I didn’t really connect with any of them—I did sympathise with them, but I felt like each and every character was really messy, and instead of talking to one another, they all just really needed to talk to a mental health provider. It felt more like a telenovela in that there were just a bunch of confessions for many different characters. For me, it felt like the confessions kept being used as a plot device for elements of the story as well as character growth, and it just got really tiring and repetitive. I also think the file for the story didn't translate well to my device because there was a lot of jagged spacing in the e-book. Overall, I think it’s a promising story, but it just didn't appeal to my own stylistic preferences. (2.75 stars rounded to 3)

Thank you to NetGalley, Headline books, and Breea Keenan for gifting me this book in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t have many notes. This was a good book. The only problem I had was that the romance was often placed on the back burner instead of it being the heart beat that keeps the book moving. Other than that, I had a great time. Would highly recommend.

So I want to be super honest and say I only read 100 pages of this book. Due to the format of the file, reading was physically painful as the font was illegible even with glasses and my brightness up all the way.

But

The book was so good that I kept going for 100 pages even when it hurt. Funny, angsty and emosh in all the right ways I was hooked from the very first page and I genuinely cannot wait to finish it when it’s published.

A heart-warming and hilarious romantic comedy. This was an absolute page-turner and I read it one sitting. Very likeable characters, plot twist and a charming Irish setting - would definitely recommend!

I was initially drawn to this one given the comparison of authors (Emily Henry and Catherine Walsh), the setting (I can never resist Ireland or Scotland), and the cover art - which again had similar vibes to those authors I enjoy.

I would classify this read as women’s fiction with a romantic tilt. There is definitely a romance element, but the story itself is really about Becca’s personal growth as she works through grief, loss, and forgiveness.

While I think the premise was a good one, there were some interesting characters, and the author has a good voice / style - the execution of this story didn’t quite come together for me.

The flashbacks threw off the pacing for me a bit, and felt like they slowed the story down and threw me when they popped up. (As an aside on that it really made me question Becca given the events and timeline why this would be a relevant issue.)

I needed more proof and on page connection of Becca and Riley. As it was, I wasn’t fully convinced which made it hard to be invested in them.

On the other side, as I mentioned I think the authors style / voice was good and easy to read. Initially I was pulled right in. The story had some fun, light moments which balanced well with the heavier themes. I loved the setting and there was some good banter present too.

While this wasn’t a perfect fit for me, I think this book will definitely find its audience and was a decent debut. I’ll be interested to see what the author writes next and to try her next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an early copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own and freely offered.

Super cute, fun read. The cover gives Emily Henry vibes, which intrigued me. The formatting made it hard to read, so hopefully that is an ARC issue and not a kindle issue.

3.75 stars
I love it when we get books that are about writers. It is always so much fun to see two writers' fall in love which is why I went into Plot Twist with considerable expectations. I'd say it was a pretty decent read in terms of the romance and the bonding between two main leads. By pretty decent in this case, I mean it was average; like it was good but it was nothing special. I do feel there are certain things that could have been removed or reduced and the book would have been the same. Such as the flashback scenes. There were an unusually large number of flashback chapters and a couple of them could have been cut down, especially the ones towards the middle of the book. In terms of the romance, I do feel there were some things lacking. I would have definitely appreciated more scenes of Becca and Riley together; like they had such good banter with each other and I could see the chemistry between them, however something still felt lacking to me. That might just be because of the multiple storylines that were also happening, that made things a little convulated, especially towards the end.

All in all, at least for me, Plot Twist is a one-time read, but I am sure there are people who are going to love this book.

The cover of Breea Keenan’s ‘Plot Twist’ is very Emily Henry-esque which is what initially attracted me, but the story inside is what makes me glad that I chose to read this one!

The heroine of our tale is Becca, perpetually single teacher and aspiring writer - whose best friend Rae is heading to Glasgow to visit her for a perfect night out at the start of the novel. After a shocking, tragic incident and an upsetting revelation, Becca realises she can’t carry on teaching and decides to take up her writing buddy and romance author Riley’s offer to visit them in Ireland. Becca is expecting a girly writing retreat… but… PLOT TWIST… Riley is actually a man! Thus, our tale begins!

I loved:
- The cute Irish small town setting
- Riley and Becca’s friendship was beautiful and he was super respectful of her surprise at his true identity
- Riley’s family - his daughter Ivy and his sister/SIL - were lovely
- The novel describes well Becca’s reaction to bereavement and worries/insecurities

The love story was sweet, and the HEA cute, but the chemistry between Becca and Riley didn’t feel as strong as I would have liked. I was more pleased (and tearful) about Becca’s singular character development rather than the two of them as a couple.

Overall, I’d give this one four stars because it was an impactful story about likeable characters, even if the romance could have sizzled more for me.

I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback. Thank you to NetGalley and Headline Books!

Plot Twist exactly lives up to its name - a cute romance novel with a few plot twists thrown in for good measure.

When Becca's best friend dies suddenly, she decides to run away and embark on a writers retreat with her friend Riley - A female romance novelist. Only to arrive and discover that Riley was in fact a man!

I devoured this novel quickly - falling in love with all of the main characters - while secretly judging some of the others as quickly as Becca.

Funny, heart-breaking, honest and everything in between - a great read all round!

4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Special thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc! I really enjoyed this book, the characters were likeable and the grief representation was spot on! I felt like the pace dropped off towards the middle to end but still a solid romance read!

After the death of her best friend Rae and the revelation she was secretly engaged to her ex-boyfriend Drew, aspiring children's author Becca Taylor escapes to Ireland to stay with her online friend, romance writer Riley O'Connell, so they can help each other write their books, only to discover Riley is a man.

Plot Twist is about grief, forgiveness and learning to let go of the past. It's a really easy-to-read beach read, however I think the pace got lost trying to service the varying plot threads and it fell flat in its resolution. For instance, the flashbacks slowed the pace down and would've been stronger as dialogue to show Becca and Riley opening up to each other and having real conversations. Also while I appreciate that Breea Keenan wanted to raise the stakes higher by making the secret relationship the big secret, but it just didn't work for me. The flashbacks made it out that Rae's then-boyfriend Mickey was shitstirring and we later learn he lied to break up Drew and Becca. So surely it would've been better to learn Rae was the one who sabotaged Becca and Drew's relationship and that she wasn't the close friend Becca thought she was all these years? (Sidenote: why Drew didn't try harder when he was thwarted in his attempt to get Becca back? His character seemed allover the place. Maybe if he really was this horrible cheating person back then, just a scumbag in a different way to Mickey then I buy Rae being with him.)

Romance-wise Becca and Riley have an instant spark, as well as Becca with Riley's daughter Ivy, however I felt we're told more than really see it. Riley is just this good guy with sparkling green eyes. It felt like their connection was more off page.

Overall while I did have my reservations about aspects of the execution of this plot, this was a solid debut and a promising start. I am really interested to read what Breea Keenan writes next and see the development of her writing.

Thanks to Headline, Headline Accent and NetGalley for the ARC.