When Sophie Lyon is suffering from writer's block with only six weeks left to finish her new book for her contract she needs to figure out what to do, her lack of love life has killed her passion to write a love story, so she decides to face her past by meeting with her exes to understand what went wrong in her relationships. To get people excited for the book she plans to document her meetings on social media, which helps her become a TikTok sensation.

When her landlord, Dash Montrose, offers to help her during her romance journey Sophie can't say no because she knows that the once a teen heartthrob will bring in so many viewers too, While working together they both can't deny their chemistry but instead of both admitting their feelings they decide to become friends with benefits. With both their insecurities in the way can they overcome the obstacles to have a Happily Ever After?

Plot Twist was a book about a writer who had never fallen in love and thought she was a fraud because of that. She embarks on a journey to meet with her exes after a video of her admitting to never being in love circulates on the clock app. With the “help” of her grumpy neighbor/landlord who happens to be her best friend’s brother. Will Sophie finish her book? Will she discover what is the root of her problems and why she hasn’t been able to fall in love? Will Dash be the one who she falls for?

Now for my thoughts…

From the opening scene I knew that this was gonna be a hot mess. Did that deter me from reading? Absolutely not. I was here for it. The characters were a mess, the plot and character development felt choppy at best, like we learn thar Sophie has a pacemaker, but it isn’t until much much later that it is used as a character development device. Which cool, I think it would have been more impactful if something would have happened to the character related to her condition. Much of the focus was on her inability to fully connect to other people in a way that it was meaningful even with her sibling.

As for Dash, his POV was interesting because he was dealing with some personal things that made his character flaws endearing. He was also quite funny.

I don’t know, I think I have mixed feelings on this one. Even though the plot and character development could have used some additional polishing, the LGBTQIA+ rep was solid (Sophie is pansexual and this is well reflected in her past relationships). I do think that the grand gesture was really cute and instead of a HEA we kind of get a HFN which I am totally ok with.

Who I recommend this to: If you liked It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey, Exes and O’s by Amy Lea, and Beach Read by Emily Henry then this one has similar tropes.

Plot Twist by Erin LaRosa has a fun set up. A romance author who’s never been in love and the actor who was her teenage crush. The story started out really well, but I didn’t fully connect with the ending.

I was not a fan. This felt wrong to me. The main character sleeps around, no loyalty to her main love interest. Their communication was not great, and the constant uses of TikTok in the story eventually gave me the ick. I was skimming by the end just to get this over with.

I read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I'm not sure why, but the writing felt more angsty in For Butter or Worse.
It was probably me, but sometimes revisiting old exes feels like a waste of time, plot wise.
It looks like the book hit the mark for a lot of other readers though :)

Review: 4 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for sharing an eARC copy with me in exchange for an honest review.

This book gave me some Hallmark-ish vibes for such a sweet romance book. Don’t mistake the cute cover for it being a light hearted read as it tackles real life issues like alcoholism, dysfunctional families and imperfect people.

Sophie and Dash are neighbours who know each other and their families due to Sophie’s relationship to her best friend, Poppy who is also Dash’s sister. Sophie is a romance writer who struggles with writers’ block having never fallen in love before. In an attempt to understand why all her past relationships never worked out, she decides to get in touch with all her exes and documents this on tik-tok. Dash, a “retired” actor who comes from a famous family, has a secret: his struggles with alcoholism and his secret crafting hobby. In exchange for helping Sophie with her tik-tok struggles, she will be writing a speech honouring Dash’s father's acting prestige. Along the way, they develop feelings for each other but is it worth exploring given they struggle with real-life issues?

Honestly, I have to applaud the author for doing a lot of research and tackling sensitive topics like dysfunctional families, identity, alcoholism, gender and inclusion.

I did struggle through the first half of the book due to its slow burn and predictability but the novel picked up in the last 40% of the book and I did not expect that slight twist at the end. Worth the read if one is looking for a more inclusive romance book.

This was very easy to read, and once I really dove into the story the book went by so fast. I adored Dash and Sophie, and how both of them were so awkwardly cute and so relatable. The tik tok part of the story line was surprisingly enjoyable as well! They both had qualities that are easy to see in yourself so it was really fun seeing two characters like that slowly falling for each other and their imperfections.

Dash and Sophie made this book such a fun read, and let me tell you that I was not prepared for the spice to be so good. There’s your usual sweet rom com spice, and then there’s the steamy spice Erin La Rosa graced us with in 𝘗𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵. It was so entertaining and respectable given both of Dash and Sophie’s situations with falling in love. They respected each other’s boundaries, and it made it so much sweeter when we got that amazing ending. The way that the issues in this book were discussed was done very well in my opinion, and the way it was interwoven with the romance was just phenomenal. Sometimes the right love can heal all wounds.

Sophie doesn't believe in love and sets out on a journey for her newfound Tik Tok audience to find the reason why none of her past relationships worked out because she wants to find love. Could the common thread actually be her? All the while Dash who has given up on love is trying to get far away from the spotlight and the shadow it casts on his Hollywood dynasty of a family to workout his issues and keep his sobriety in tact. As he tries to help his tenant (Sophie) who happens to be his sister's best friend, can they keep the electricity growing between them from starting a spark and setting fire to both of their goals?

I really enjoyed this story. I enjoyed both main characters and their depths but most of all their arcs were both done very well. They both had growth that I really enjoyed and the spice was balanced and didn't take away from the story. Definitely will suggest this to all my Romance reading friends!

Sophie has never been in love (and that wouldn’t be such a big deal if she hadn’t written a best-selling romance novel before going viral on TikTok for admitting that she’d never been in love). As she is navigating what going viral means to her life, she leans on her best friend’s brother, Dash, to help her with a social media strategy to rebuild her image.

As someone who reads romance novels for the plot, this was another one that I felt had too much steam and not enough substance. it seemed like it had potential with the hidden alcoholism and the romance tropes, but the chemistry between Dash and Sophie fell flat. It might also be the mention of TikTok that felt weird, but that might just be my own beef / reservations. Overall, it’s a “just-ok” book. If you have time to spare and can’t find anything to read, check it out, but if you have a list of books you want to read before the end of the year, this one can move to the bottom of the list.

While I was excited to read this one, it did not live up to my expectations. I like the plot, but it was not my kind of read. The characters and the story were good, but I felt that it was lacking in some spots and I was often confused. I think other readers will like this, the romance was cute.

Very interesting read! The book pulled me in from the start and I wanted to see how it ended. Try it and see if this book is for you!

Adult contemporary romance done right!

When Sophie hits a dry spell on her next big book after very publicly announcing that she has never been in love, she automatically knows her career is over. I mean who wants to read romance from a women how has never felt love before?! In comes her dreamy landlord and best friends brother, Dash, who agrees to help her make her social media comeback. She’s going to interview her exes in hopes of figuring out why shes never been in love. Will she be able to get all the answers she’s looking for or lose everything?
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The characters were relatable, the story was self moving and entertaining, characters we likable, hard hitting topics, diverse representation and inclusivity, characters go through turmoil to have growth, ice bath worthy spice, and a solid conclusion. Mix that with the Rosa’s fluid and easy writing style, and you have one hell of a romance ride! I loved everything about this read and I’m interested to read more by this author.

I did not know For Butter or Worse was going to be a series! I was excited to give this one a shot and ultimately it was fine. The writing reminds me a lot of Tessa Bailey so if you like her then I would recommend! I, on the other hand, am not so this fell a little flat for me. I'm just not a fan of steam and there was definitely plenty of it. The characters were fine and I think they dealt with a few heavy topics.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

Heavier than your average romance, the author did a good job tackling difficult issues like alcoholism and difficult family dynamics. I was surprised how deep the book ended up being. I appreciated how it real and flawed the characters were, making them easy to connect with as a reader.

The romance is SEXYY. Best friends brother trope? count me in. Swoon worthy for sure.

One of my favorite parts was how the FMC has a pacemaker! I love seeing this kind of unexpected representation in romance novels!

This is the story of Sophie, a romance author who is currently going through a huge writer's block and after many drinks, she confesses that she has never fallen in love. And that becomes a viral video on TikTok. Dash, her landlord and neighbor who lives day by day trying to maintain his sobriety and his crafting TikTok account a secret. They team up in order to help Sophie figure out why she's never fallen in love, revisiting her past relationships and as time passes and they spend more and more time together they get closer, lines become blurry, and fear becomes their enemy.

Now let me start by saying that this book is SPICY. And the spice is really good. But this book tackles a lot of really hard topics such as alcoholism (check trigger warnings), but I loved how the author used them to give us all a message and how well researched it was. I loved the dynamic between the characters, the friendships and the found family feel of it all.

Finally, I loved that the title describes the book because there are MANY plot twists and most of them took me by surprise and I really enjoyed that.

Plot Twist is a sweet love story about a romance writer who has lost her mojo on love and can’t write, who proceeds to fall in love with her best friend’s brother, an actor who comes from Hollywood royalty, but does not only not want to act anymore, but is facing a sober life and is afraid of letting someone else down. In this charming plot, they discover not only each other, but themselves.

Romance writer Sophie Lyon gets very drunk one night and declares live on social media that she has never been in love and with her next book due in weeks believes she is a wash-up. Except the next morning when she is sober, she discovers she is now a media star. What has she done?

Dash Montrose, Sophie’s landlord as well as Sophie’s best friend Poppy’s brother sees her in a panic. An expert at social media, he tells her he can help create a platform where she could share what she feels if she will help him write a speech he needs to make at a ceremony in honor of his father, a Hollywood legend.

So, Sophie decides to go back to her former exes and ask the question why we broke up and document said answers on social media as the clock ticks towards her deadline. Dash who has his own crisis going on is learning to be sober. He has not told anyone in his family this as well as the fact he does not want to act and would prefer to live a simple life creating pottery while he is still learning how to live life clearheaded. Sophie’s problem is a terrific distraction as well as her being great to look at and fun to be with.

As Sophie visits her exes and discovers the good the bad and the ugly, she begins to realize she perhaps may have a problem with commitment. While this is happening, Dash is trying to figure out how to tell his family, who will not be pleased with his news that he was in a rehab. You see, his parents are all about the fame and being the perfect family.

But attraction gives in, and Sophie and Dash proceed to become friends with benefits. Of course, neither wants to tell Poppy because they know she will lose her mind! In the meantime, Dash seems to have a stalker who threatens to blow up his life by informing the media of his secret.

Everything explodes in their faces all at once and neither of them handles the aftermath very well. Is it possible for these two people who clearly love one another to admit their feelings when one of them can’t commit and the other is afraid to commit?

Plot Twist has strong messages while being a delightful, heartfelt story with twist and happy turns which will keep you rooting until the end.

Thank you #NetGalley #CanaryStreetPress #ErinLaRosa #PlotTwist for the advanced copy.

I loved this book! I devoured it in only a few sittings and wish there was more to read. The story line was paced very well and the characters were easy to love!

Plot Twist was such a fun read!
Our female MC, Sophie, is a romance writer suffering from writer's block as she races against the clock to finish her manuscript by the deadline. The block stems from the fact that she is trying to create a magical Happy-ever-after for her characters but she has never been in love. She decides to figure out what went wrong in her past relationships so can find the romance she craves, for her book and for herself.
Enter Dash: former teen heartthrob who is now Sophie's landlord, and also the brother of her best friend. Dash offers to help Sophie on her journey to romantic enlightenment.
Thoughts:
- I loved that our MC’s weren’t just gorgeous bodies thrown together – they had real personalities, flaws, fears, and dreams, which made their eventual connection even more satisfying.
- Sophie has a pacemaker that she’s had almost all her life. I love it when authors include aspects like this to their characters; details that might make someone feel different, but they can see the character living and thriving and feel seen and normalized.
- The author did a good job creating characters who have the capacity to be lifelong partners, but they realize they need to work on themselves before they can be good for each other.
- Queer rep --- the story doesn’t hit you over the head with it but as Sophie investigates past relationships, it becomes clear that she is Bi.
This was my first Erin LaRosa novel, but certainly not my last. Once I am through my holiday TBR, I will be running to my library to get my hands on her first novel.

Recommended for fans of forced proximity and friends-to-lovers. Read with care if you are triggered by addiction/recovery or complicated family dynamics.

I am grateful to NetGalley and the publishers for my digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

This book was great. I loved the sweet and sexy mix this book brought. I didn't read the first one before this but i am def planning to read it now. I give this a solid 4 star.

This book was the follow-up to For Butter Or Worse. It was fun to revisit those characters--I remember exactly where I was when I listened to that one!

I enjoyed the To All The Boys plot of Sophie contacting her exes to figure out what went wrong. This introduced some funny side stories and backstories. Sophie was messy in a relatable way, and an enjoyable character to read.

Dash is a recovering addict, and I think the topic of his addiction was handled well in the book.

Some plot points felt unresolved at the conclusion of the book, and I would have liked to see more of Dash and Sophie happy together.

I'm curious to see if this series continues--maybe Poppy next?