Read If You Like:
- Romantic comedies featuring writers
- Stories about overcoming creative block
- Intergenerational friendships
- Narratives exploring the writing process
- Lighthearted romances with depth

When romcom author Allie Edwards crosses paths with bestselling crime novelist Martin Clark at a party, they discover they both have crippling writer’s block, overdue manuscripts, and precisely zero words to show to their respective editors.

With deadlines looming, Allie and Martin decide to switch plots and tell each other’s stories. In the writing process, Allie not only gains a father-figure in Martin, but also meets gorgeous events caterer Will, the answer to the leading man-shaped hole in her life and her lack of spicy material. Caught between love and her career, what could possibly go wrong?

This novel offers a delightful exploration of the creative process, the challenges of writer's block, and the unexpected connections that can change one's life. With witty dialogue, endearing characters, and a fresh perspective on storytelling, it's a must-read for fans of contemporary romance and stories about writers.

Thanks so much for my ARC!

a really good read by eleanor. I don't know what to say but this is one of the freshest things ive ever read..

Allie Edwards, a bestselling romcom author, has hit a writing slump. Allie doesn't believe in love or happily ever after. Martin Clark, a bestselling crime author, struggles to write his last contractual novel. This is unlike dual team up to work on their novels. Of course, there was some plot twists.

This is a perfect palate cleanser. It was an easy and enjoyable read. Some of it was predictable which made it a comfort read for me. I enjoyed getting some "behind the scenes" details of publishing and writing a book. The pacing and character development were perfect.

Authors Allie and Martin meet at the same party as she meeting Will, who is a waiter at the party. Their lives become interconnected, but when Allie finds out how complicated it is she keeps it to herself. What will happen when the truth is revealed? A great read, I wanted everything to work out for Allie and Will.

Allie is struggling with a severe case of writers block with a looming deadline when she meets Martin, a best selling crime writer who is suffering from exactly the same problem. They agree to help each other with plots for their next books, especially since Allie has just split with her boyfriend which has triggered off some rather dark thoughts, ideal for a crime fiction book. At the same party she meets one of the waiters , Will, and finds she is very attracted to him.
It always amazes me how authors can manage to come up with the ideas for their books, I struggle to just write a review on them. Seeing how the two authors interact with each other comes across very positively, there is a sleazy new manager at the publishers who adds some urgency to them finding inspiration for their respective books. The romance with Will is a side plot, but there is a surprise there as well. An interesting fictional? insight into the world of publishing.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book.

The Plot Twist follows two authors (Allie and Martin), who are having trouble writting a much needed new book. After meeting a few times, they decide to help each other with their books. So, the plot seemed very promissing but it didn't deliver everything I was hoping for. Also, the pacing felt too slow at some parts, while the ending was a bit rushed.
Overall, it was a light and fun romance, but the plot wasn't very original and the pacing could be improved.

very interestinf and cool read. the cover was stunning and i am in awe of it, i cannot wait to read more from this author

There were things about this book I really wanted to like. I love books where the main characters are authors, especially romance ones, and I think that is what really made me interested in this book. Allie is in a writing rut and with a new person at their publisher making things a lot harder, she decides to meet with Martin, a mystery author, to hopefully work them both through their writer's block.



At the same time she meets with Martin, she runs into a cute waiter, who she is immediately enamored with. This waiter, Will, and Allie run into each other later, and decide to keep meeting, the issues start when Allie starts to realize that Will is Martin's son and Martin and Will don't know she has been spending time with both. Allie knows the secrets of Martin's marriage, and has been using it as inspiration for her novel. When the whole plan seems to unravel, there is also the looming failure of having their new publisher drop them.



One of my biggest issues with this book is I feel like I saw everything coming, which isn't a bad thing but it just felt too predictable. At certain moments, some of the conflicts could have been fixed with a one or two minute conversation but is then talked about over chapters, especially between Will and Allie. I think we could have had more time with them being happy together if some of those simple conversations just happened.



And though I know the plot point with Jake and him having a hostile takeover of the publish lead to Martin and Allie spending time together, I wasn't super interested in that whole plot. Yes, Jake was a terrible person and did terrible things, but the time spent on that part of the plot was 'meh' to me.



Overall, it is a nice and easy romance to read. There aren't a lot of stakes, things work out nicely and overall it was an easy read to get through.

There seems to be a common storyline trend these days: the main female character is an author struggling to write her latest book and seems to lie to her editor about how 'well' the book is coming along. The Plot Twist is one of these books.

The premise sounded promising, but sadly the execution was not. This book totally fell flat for me due to a number of reasons. The pacing was really odd and there were just too many storylines, half-baked plots that didn't really lead anywhere.

I found Allie's character frustrating to read as I didn't understand her at all. Her decisions didn't make sense and she came across as immature. I didn't shelve this book under the Romance category, because there was no romance. Will was a tertiary character, who just seemed to make a guest appearance. There was no depth to Allie and Will's relationship. Instead, more importance was given to Jess, Allie's best friend who seemed to take up a large part of the book.

I did like Allie's mentoring relationship with Martin, but even Martin lacked wisdom and maturity. Had the author focused on character development and an actual romance instead of extra storylines, the book may have had some redeeming qualities.

While I enjoyed the premise of this story; an author with a serious case of writers block making friends with an older wiser author, and accidentally also dating his son, it leaves you wanting more. And not in the good way of asking for more books. There wasn't enough romance and the pacing was... weird. I just struggled with it.

I still enjoyed a majority of this story, but it could have been better.

The Plot Twist had a promising premise but ultimately fell flat for me. While the book centers on Allie, a romance novelist with writer's block, I struggled to connect with her character. She came across as whiny, preachy, and frustratingly indecisive, making it hard to root for her. While I liked the idea of her friendships—especially with Martin and Verity—the focus on romance took a backseat to these relationships, and the romance itself felt underdeveloped.

Eleanor Goymer's prose is smooth, and the themes of friendship, found family, and the publishing industry’s sexism were engaging. However, the pacing felt off, with big moments rushed or reported instead of shown. The characters, aside from Allie, were mostly flat, and the dialogue-heavy approach didn’t work for me.

I appreciate the potential here, but the execution didn’t fully live up to it. For those who enjoy quirky heroines and low-stakes, dialogue-driven stories, this book might be a good fit, but it wasn’t quite my style.

DNF @65%

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I decided not to rate it simply because I had so many thoughts that I thought a rating wouldn’t be appropriate.

For the longest time, I wanted to DNF this book. It had been boring since I was 20% in, and I DNFed it at 65%.

The protagonist makes pretty childish decisions as well as has adolescent thoughts on what love should be when she is 1) a romance author and 2) well into her thirties.

50% into the book, and there was no romance between Allie and Will. There were only butterflies, and it wasn’t an “active slow-burn” romance, it was a “there is absolutely no chemistry or emotional buildup in between characters” romance. I wouldn’t even call it a romance; it was a mere crush. This read more like a women’s fiction trying to be a romance than an actual romance novel.

This book felt like a cheap version of Beach Read. It almost had the same premise. Two writers have writer’s block and decide to switch their genres of books in an attempt to remove said writer’s block. The plot in itself was pretty predictable, and I’m pretty slow when it comes to any type of “plot twist” or shift in the story. Like I guessed, the major plot point within 40% of the book (when it was first mentioned…)

One main thing that I noticed a lot was that Goymer tried to include a lot of social topics without actually going in-depth into any of them. It felt quite strange reading about certain (very important) issues that were only mentioned and not discussed.

However, the one thing I enjoyed was the friendship/mentorship that Allie and Martin had. It was the one thing I looked forward to.

All in all, this wasn’t my cup of tea, but I think that some people would like it.

When allie has writers block she meets up with another writer and they swit h story plot. At the same time she starts talking to a new guy
Turns out it's a small world.
I guessed it about 30% in

I wanted to love this... I really did. But the story continually fell flat for me. I didn't find a single character relatable or someone I really wanted to root for, except maybe Verity. Allie was whiny and mean and self centered, Will seemed so 1 dimensional, Martin was uninteresting. Because the story focused on Allie, she was the biggest problem. She was just really unlikable and preachy. I don't really have a lot to say about it, other than I just didn't really enjoy it, which is sad because there were some points that I wish had been written better. Covering the #MeToo movement was great, but the writing was so poor that it couldn't make up for the rest of the story. Featuring feminism was also great, we need more women and sisterhood, but every time Allie tried to talk about it, it just came across as sort of "holier than thou" and I couldn't stand it. So much more could have been done, it just left me feeling really disappointed.

I tried this book a few times and did persevere with it. I'm going to be honest , I struggled to enjoy it. I found the MMC quite boring and I ended up not rooting for the FMC. It had all the elements of a book I wanted to love this, but it fell flat for me.

Cute title, adorable cover.

I feel like I've read a fair amount of books about books/authors lately. I liked that this book had two authors who felt like they had writers block and agreed to help each other out. I liked the support that they gave each other. I think that there were some intriguing connections in this book (though fairly predictable) and that helped me in wanting to find out how the book ends. The third act arc kind of frustrated me but there's some grand gestures/redemptions. I don't often like a lying or miscommunication trope - but feel like it worked out in the end overall.

All in all, a cute low-spice read. Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 out of 5 (rounding up on goodreads)

The premise of the book was very interesting and I it could have been lovely but it wasn't.

Allie is suffering from a writer's block for a long time now, she is due to deliver her next book but she doesn't even have an idea for, when she teams up with a bug name thriller writer, who is also supposed to have a book ready, they work together to finish their book in time.

And when a certain caterer enters the scene the ideas for a romance start flying.

The plot is full of subplots and the main romance is getting lost in there. I believe that if a couple of thing were left out and the romance was in the center of the story this book would have shine.

A Bookish Romance with Potential

Eleanor Goymer's second novel, The Plot Twist, centers around romance novelist Allie Edwards and her writer's block, which she is looking to break, no matter the cost. When she meets a delightful crime writer who shares her misery and a delectable young caterer, things seem to be turning out fine..

I have to admit that the premise of this novel really hooked me. What made me give it 3 stars was the lack of follow-through from the author. She has constructed a delicious problem and net of characters to get caught up in but everything falls very flat.

I love Eleanor Goymer's prose, her voice reads smoothly and she has great potential to be entertaining. However. Her characters are flat to frustrating and she has a knack for choosing the wrong scenes and pacing to make this read satisfying. Big scenes feel rushed or get reported instead of shown. Some of the publishing story line feels very contrived and I cannot help but feel that she did not push any of the characters hard enough.
Other than Allie, the main character, most others feel flat and like they only exist to ask her questions or give her advice she refuses to take. Allie is also terrible at decision making, so if that frustrates you, you might want to give it a pass.

If you are into bookish heroines with questionable decision making and a small set of very secretive yet outspoken friends, this book is for you. The book does not feel formulaic at all, so if you are in for low stakes and much dialogue and reported action, this book is for you.

It was not for me, since I never really clicked with Allie and found little redeeming qualities in her or the people around her. I also prefer more lengthy scenes and more build-up with longer payoff.

This should have been a hit for me, but it fell flat. Allie annoyed me a lot of the time and her decisions always felt too childish for a grown woman and the romance was barely there. There's slow burn and then there's next to no burn.

An easy enough read but not what I hoped for.

Unfortunately, I tried to read this one but I had to DNF. It's premise seemed promising but I was a little bored throughout.