3.5 stars
Neighbors
Friends to lovers
It was good but she made dumb decisions. Trying to talk to old exes on why they broke up and then she gets back with one without even knowing why they broke up and she doesn't even like the girl anymore.

I apologize in advance for the late review. I thought it had posted, but something didn't go through right and it never posted. Something definitely has glitched and messed up. I know I had written this review up and attempted to post it.

I really loved this story, and the way it was written. I never wanted to put it down. It kept me invested and interested in the characters and story from page to page. Thank you Netgalley for the arc of this book.

This was thoroughly enjoyable and Erin La Rosa excels at representation in all the best ways. A delightful, sexy friends to lovers book with found family and characters facing real-life obstacles.

Imperfect people with a beautiful love story! Such a sweet and sexy romance.

The heroine had a pacemaker which was such amazing representation i never read a story with this kind of rep. I was not a fan of Sophie still talking to her ex. It’s a personal preference but there your ex for a reason BUT I can appreciate the FMC going on this journey of to face her past and move forward and past everything.

Dane was so hot plus he loves crafts I died. He dealt with heavier issues that I appreciate and he was just so sweet I cannot.

Some parts of the plot was rather slow to me but overall I enjoyed!

dnf at 50%.
there’s not a lot that annoys me more than when a book references tiktok. don’t get me wrong, in some instances pop culture references can be done right, or less badly, but having them take up a big part of a book will make me instantly want to dnf...... it was already clear in the first few chapters how “tropey” this was. it was very obviously built around the tropes rather than either the plot or the characters. and in my opinion there’s absolutely no point in throwing in a handful of popular and well liked tropes; it won’t automatically make a book good.

I was a huge fan of the first book in this series and this one was just as good! This book follows Nina’s sister and her sexy ex actor landlord. The characters were so real and so raw and so vulnerable. I saw so much of myself in the female main character and it made her love story even better. I hope this wasn’t the last book in the series and it continues on…

Such a cute story!!! I really enjoyed this one. And the title says it all, the plot twist is the best part! Super cute, would definitely recommend.

A beautifully meta story about a romance author trying to figure out her own happily ever after. This book dealt with serious issues like addiction and toxic family with grace and sensitivity.

As someone who also occasionally says some silly goofy stuff while drunk and struggles with relationships, I had the time of my life reading this book. Sophie is indeed a girls girl. And what is a girls girl who is attracted to men to do besides fall in love with Dash Montrose? I mean really.

So our girl Sophie gets a little too slushy, slushy and very publicly proclaimed that she has never been in love. The video of her making this lofty statement goes viral. On top of the stress of that Sophie is also on deadline and having writer's block like no other. The solution to all of these problems: inspiration from her landlord and childhood crush Dash Montrose.

Our boy Dash is a former team heartthrob who is going on his journey of sobriety. Dash is doing everything he can to stay sober, and while he is attracted to Sophie feels that those feelings could interfere with the life he is trying to maintain.

I absolutely love the progression of Sophie and Dash’s relationship. I feel like they both grow as people throughout this book and learn how to love others and accept that they are worthy of the type of love that they want and I think that’s magical.

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing, Canary Street Press, and NetGalley for giving me access to an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was cute & entertaining! I enjoyed the story & didn’t find that I needed to think too much about it! Would definitely suggest for a quick romance read!

I really liked this one. I‘m still deciding if I dislike how often tiktok was mentioned or used since I usually don’t care but it did happen a couple times.

I mostly enjoyed the storyline, however I‘m not the biggest fan of this whole 'I‘m not good enough for them' or 'they don‘t feel the same way' thing which seems to happen in a lot of friends to lovers books as well.

Anyways, personally the star of the book was Dash and I don‘t know if I could have finished it without him!
Lovedddd him

Honestly, one of my favorite reads so far this year. I love Dash. His struggles are real and you feel for him. The way he loves Sophie is so pure. Sophie is a rockstar. She didn't flinch when Dash laid it all out to her. She is a solid rock and yes, she should have told Poppy about whatever was happening. Her sense of humor was a light and I loved it!

I loved the health rep (pace maker) in this !
this was a really nice love story that reads low stakes, a good beach read. I liked the flow of the story, really easy to read in 1 sitting. I loved too that our MC was able to take a look at her failed past relationships and use them as her path to growth. Also there are some very good, steamy scenes <3

Thank you Harlequin Publishing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own!

This story follows author Sophie Lyon with a rough bout of writers block. Who needs to get it together so she can afford paying for all her expenses of adulthood. Her landlord Dash Montrose is a recovering Alcoholic and former actor. When Sophie goes viral for a drunken moment in a bar Dash is tasked with bringing the video to her attention by his sister. Sophie is very much still having a rough time and throws up all over him leaving him no choice but to help her. As they get to know each other they realize there might be something more there. However, are either one of them ready to commit?

I enjoyed some of the sweet moments Sophie and Dash had between each other. I thought this was a great portrayal of imperfect characters coming together and falling in love despite their flaws. I did not love the sexual content in this book I skipped those parts since it is just a personal preference. So take that into account when viewing my rating.

Content: Explicit sex scenes, swearing, family manipulation, alcoholism

Read if you enjoy:
Best Friends Brother
Romance
Struggling Author
Recovery Rep.

Plot twist: I did not enjoy this book. Like...at all.

Here are my notes, since I'm writing this a couple days after finishing:

1. Right off the bat, Sophie is SUPER dramatic.
2. Ned is full of BS that he's moved on - he's being ridiculous.
3. I don't get why we're hiding the sobriety; also, the romance is moving kind of quickly.
4. Why can't they tell Poppy about the kiss? Are they not both grown ups?
5. If I had a dollar for every time Dash was doing something "he'd never normally do", I could buy a lot of books.
6. Cindy is WAY creepy.
7. I'm so over Dash's angst.
8. Dude...you told someone about her eggs being frozen which is UBER PERSONAL, then you avoid her and now want to be hurt because she didn't tell you about the surrogate?! A. You don't get to be upset about someone else's choices in their fertility journey, and B. You literally told someone about something personal...how does she know you'd keep this a secret?
9. Dash's mom is a bunch of words I won't write here, and a legit roller coaster of emotions.
10. This storyline is all over the place; I seriously can't keep up.
11. Seriously: get together, don't, get together, don't...cheese and crackers.
12. Why are you (Sophie) upset about a TikTok account???? He was posting CRAFTING VIDEOS!
13. Childish much?
14. Kitty is a right B word.
15. What was the point of the stalker?

I wish I could recommend this book...but I just can't. I couldn't stand either of the MC's; they were both super dramatic and angsty and just ridiculous. The storyline didn't feel cohesive, and it was just...blah.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an eARC for review! Sophie is a romance writer wondering if she is a one-hit wonder after she encounters debilitating writer's block trying to find the right ending for her second novel. Her landlord and best friend’s older brother, Dash Montrose is a former child star trying to breakaway from his famous family and the acting industry. Dash is focusing on staying sober after leaving rehab; finding solace in the anonymous crafting TikTok. After an accidental viral moment depicting Sophie’s drunken love hating rant, together they team up to produce a TikTok series investigating why Sophie has never been able to say “I love you”. Dash and Sophie were a good match for each other; their chemistry was solid enough to keep me invested in their relationship. I do think that the pacing was a little of kilter, it was drawn out for a long time and then it was a lot of bouncing back and forth between the two that made me pull back my investment a bit.

Plot Twist
by Erin La Rosa
3 stars
Jan 31st to Jan 31st
336 pages

Okay so read this to complete a bingo board and it took a lot in me to not just DNF it. Being said I did enjoy the writing of it but the story all together wasn't for me unfortunately.

Plot Twist was a fun little read about love but with a social media and book trope twist. It had a small amount of spice and was a fun read but not necessarily enough for me.

In plot twist the main character is a romance author who is struggling with her second novel because she's never been in love. She starts posting on social media about this and decides that want she needs to do is meet all of her exes and document what went wrong to try and make sure that her next relationship is a happy ever after.

Enter the next door neighbor/best friend's brother. He's been her long time, forbidden crush and of course he has some problems. He's a recovering alcoholic.

Overall it was kind of a fun story but I don't know how well it addressed the alcoholism and the main character's self discovery. Some of the points seemed a bit rough around the edges and the romance tropes were a bit too on the nose. Though I did enjoy it I was hoping it would be a bit more than what it was in the end.

Plot Twist is technically a second book in a series but i dont think the first is required reading. There is a lot of things happening in this book - from alcoholism to mentions of IVF to LGBTQ representation to a ton of different tropes. Most things were handled very well and it was a fast interesting book to read. I appreciated the dual POV and especially found Dash to be an interesting character, but I dont think Sophie was that well flushed out. I think there could have been more there to explore for her. There were a few cringy moments in the love scenes but overall I enjoyed it and would read more in the series.

I loved for Butter or Worse. This isn't a sequel but it takes place within the same universe as this time our Main Female Character is Nina's sister. I really enjoy Erin La Rosa's writing but I don't think this story/characters were for me. I found Sophie to be a little bit emotionally immature, and that's part of her story arch but I found the emotional immaturity to be more childish than young audutish if that makes sense. I thought Erin La Rosa did a good job tackling the subject of addiction and showing the struggle that it can be in her male protagonist. It was nice to see a character whose sobriety journey wasn't perfect. Overall it was an enjoyable story though I thought it fell short in trying to get me to connect or sympathize with the characters.
Though this one wasn't my favorite, I enjoy the author's style and characters for the most part and can't wait to see what she writes next.

Special thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Canary Street Press for the ARC provided.