I like this type of story, I like the characters, I love the cute cover, and I really wanted to like this book more. It's good, but I was ready to like it so much more than I really did...

As expected of a main character who is a writer, Sophie's got a block. She's almost at the end of her second book but she can't finish it. And of course that leads her into a crisis—she's never been in love. That's when her hunk of a neighbor, former movie star and her teenager days crush Dash, appears at her doorstep. Dash also needs to confront his ghosts, and as they become closer, they help each other get over the adversities.

I think my first disappointment was the twist on the "getting closer to a movie actor" trope. Although Sophie does say she's always had a crush on Dash, I don't see it in the story. I do believe she had a crush on him as an actor (I kept imagining Devon Sawa, by the way), but I don't think she identifies her neighbor (who is also her best friend's brother) as the same person. After all, Dash has changed a lot, leaving that heartthrob persona behind, and Sophie sees and reacts to that. Good for them. That's perfect. But not interesting for a story.

And the book continues to ignore all the paths that would have had me excited for. Which made the read not only drag for me but feel lacking. I recognize it is my fault. I do know many people will enjoy the path it takes, it's much more real than the summary could have suggested, even if we're talking about characters that are at least surrounded by fame (Sophie's friend is from a famous family, her sister is famous, she's gone viral on TikTok).

The characters and their relationships are great though. Amidst all things torn that are happening, they're so healthy, so aspiring, it was an unexpectedly healthy read. It's very healing. So don't miss this book if you're looking for super cute romance.

(By the way, this is part of a series, and though they mention the first book a lot, I didn't read it and I didn't feel like I was missing anything because of that, so it does work as a standalone!)



Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

This was super cute. Not sure how I felt about the meetings with all the exs. Not sure if that really added to the story.

I really enjoyed this book! It hit some of the hard stuff without being over the top and the chemistry between the characters was sizzling! There's just the right amout if spice and the storyline is ok with the bffs brother situation that's happening. The mother is absolutely unbelievable un this entire story. I wanted to throttle her! Very good writing as well, not just with the storytelling but grammatically as well.

So the synopsis sounds cute and I didn’t hate it overall but some of the real world references were just so cringey I couldn’t bring myself to look past them.

The characters felt pretty flat and the storyline felt really overly dramatic. I wanted to love it but it just didn’t grab my attention at all.

I really loved this book! The writing was really clever and touching. I found myself rooting so hard for Sophie and Dash, especially once they realized they had deep feelings for each other.

To start, this took me a long time to finish. I wasn’t motivated to read it at all. It’s not that it was a bad book, it just wasn’t that interesting to me. The characters didn’t seem to have that much depth to them and I felt like the plot was lacking. So much more could’ve been done with this. I also thought that the sex scenes were cheesy.

The one thing that I did like about the book was that Dash and Sophie talked about their feelings and there wasn’t some big miscommunication trope. They gave each other space and came back together. I didn’t feel annoyed with them ever for getting into some huge fight that was about a dumb little thing. So thank you to Erin La Rosa for not adding in a miscommunication trope.

Plot Twist is a fun, cute read! Dash and Sophie are charming and delightful together and as individuals. And the spicy scenes were spicy so be warned! Fans of For Butter or Worse will enjoy this one!

Plot Twist is everything you want in a romance and more! It's cute, sweet, steamy, and fun! This is the perfect fast read, romance, that is the perfect pick-me-up!

To be honest, I did not finish this book. I dnfed it around like chapter 3. I could not get into it at all. I think what really put me off was the excessive tiktok references. I can't take a man seriously when his tiktok username is "tokcraftytome".... Like come on. And maybe it's because I stopped reading after only 3 chapters but I don't even know what his craft is. The author told us he was crafty but nothing else. I also did not like the writing or the fmc, she was really annoying. The whole tiktok situation with her was painful to read. Anyway clearly this book is not for me.

Plot Twist…..I really enjoyed this book!! This is my first ready by @erinlarosalit and certainly not the last. I’m typically not a romance reader but this book was wonderful. Sweet romance mixed in with the right amount of spice. This book is #2 of Erin La Rosa's Hollywood series so I am eager to read #1.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Canary Street Press and Netgalley in exchange for honest review. This book was the s*&^. I loved every second of this book.

~1.5-2/5. I was really drawn to the synopsis of the book, but unfortunately it fell flat for me. We primarily follow Sophie, who is a romance writer with a writing block and looming deadline, and Dash, her best friends brother and former movie star. The writing itself wasn't bad and it was overall easy / quick to read, but the tropes overtook plot and things felt really rushed and haphazard. I think perhaps this book would be better liked by readers a bit younger than I am due to the heavy references to TikTok and content creation.

This was cute!! It did feel too long for me and the characters were a bit too self deprecating. The romance was sweet and I loved the movie star trope and the dating your bff's brother trope.

Thank you NetGalley for granting me access to a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Pansexual representation! I'll give it an extra start just for that. I don't think I've actually read a book with a pansexual rep and boy was it worth the effort of getting through the rest of this. And the fact that I found two at the same time is insane as well, talk about luck! (Insert Imogen Obviously)

I think my only real problem with this book is how completely modern it is. I don't like a modern love story, and because of that, I should really stop trying to read them. I'm a sucker for romance in person, up front, and unquestionable. Shown through action as well as words. This book didn't really hold that for me. Social media just should not feel like a main form of communication, there should be some outside of it.

A visible relationship is all well and good, but that isn't all love should be.

The representation of addiction and mental health was overabundantly present, and while I love a good representation, I can't take when there is too much of it. When it becomes who someone is rather than a motivation for who they could be. Please know this is an opinion, and has no hold on how you feel about a story.

I hope other people can find what I didn't in this one. I still made it through!

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for an arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Publication: November 14, 2023

Rating: 2 stars

I used to feel guilty when I would DNF an arc but I have other arcs that I need to read in a timely manner. This book fell into the category of "I was drawn into the synopsis but the book didn't quite execute".

Things I liked:
- The writing style was pretty good and I found that it was easy to fall into the story
- Showing Dash's struggle with addiction to alcohol

Things I didn't enjoy:
- Insta-love/lust trope
- Flat characters ( I wished they were a bit more fleshed out)
- Relied heavily on pop culture (TikTok)
- Minimal plot

Overall, I wondered if I was in the wrong age bracket for this book. I think younger audiences would enjoy this book along with those that need a palette cleanser/fluff read.

This book had SO much going on that it was hard to keep track of the direction of the story. Was it a book about finding yourself after getting sober? About how our past exes affect our current and future relationships? Child actors and the pressures Hollywood families live under? Social media stalking and catfishing? Falling for the guy/girl next door?

The plot has all that and more, plus a huge cast of side characters. It was well written (although in need of a good editor) and I genuinely liked the characters of Sophie and Dash. But with so much action going on, their relationship felt almost like an afterthought.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with the ARC of this story; all opinions are my own!

Sophie's a romance writer who's stuck because she's never fallen in love! With a book deadline looming, Sophie decides to revisit former lovers to try to come to the realization of why she's never been able to say those three little words.
In the meantime, things are heating up with her landlord (and her best friend's brother) Dash, who happens to be an actor, on hiatus, until his sobriety is in check.

I was intrigued by the title and the cute cover. Grab a copy on release day: November 14, 2023 and tell me what you think!

With Plot Twist, we've got the following tropes: Best Friend's Brother and Forced Proximity (hello one bed)
There's addiction (AA) as a potential trigger warning.

Favorite Quote "How can we be friends when I know what you taste like?"

I hadn't realized this was book 2 when I read it, though, it does seem to work as a stand alone. The book follows Sophie as she struggles to write her next book. She's living in the backyard apartment of her best friend's brother. After realizing she's never been in love, she sets on a journey to meet with all of her exes to find out why.

There's some spice and a HEA ending.

Overall: 3.3 out of 5
Thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, Canary Street Press, and Erin La Rose for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was so so cute. I genuinely loved this book. Erin is a very talented writer and this story felt personal, even if it wasn't. The characters were well developed and though each dealing with their own issues, very likeable. I would love to see Poppy get her own story! I really don't have any criticism as I think that this is a solidly cute story and written very well. Would recommend!

4.5 stars !!

thank you to netgalley for sending me an arc !! i recently read “for butter or worse” and got really happy to know that i was approved to read sophie’s love story !!

plot twist made me fall in love with dash and that’s it like cmon he’s a pottery bf, what else could i want??? but jokes aside, this book was such a fun read :,)

“i’m not overwhelmed by you”

dash’s past is a really sad plot but everything that happened build him into who he’s and i couldn’t be prouder !! him confronting his family was something that he needed to do and i’m glad everything worked out in the end

“you’re not defined by your mistakes”

i loved how sophie took the courage to talk to her exes about something she’s really insecure even after the video got viral. dash always being there for her was *chef kiss* to me, especially with his secret tiktok replies that she didn’t really know about

“i’ve been waiting my whole life for you, just as you are. and if you think i’m going to walk away because of one mistake, then you’re wrong. despite everything, i trust you. i always have. and i trust that if you make more mistakes, we’ll figure them out together.”

i’ll never forget about their squirrel, sophie’s goldfish and the talk about sharks and tractors <3 sophie’s tattoo is definitely unforgettable ! and i wish i could read one of her books !!!!

“just so i’m clear, you love tractors and sharks.”
“you say that like they aren’t all related.”
“sharks and tractors are related?”
“they’re both wildly misunderstood, dash.”