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Member Reviews

I enjoyed this title! It was a little slow in the beginning but definitely picked up at the end. What Sophie did for Dash while he was "away" was so touching and lovely and I now have to go back and read Nina's book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC

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*Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Great book!

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Plot Twist was one of the CHEESIEST books I have ever read. The characters were very plain. There wasn't a lot of depth to them or their relationship. I felt like it was rushed and disliked the plot. It wasn't terrible, because I did finish it, but I just found it to be very dry.
It was also super predictable and didn't make me want to keep reading.

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Wow! This was romantic, deep, and so beautifully honest! I loved all the discussion about sobriety and things going viral and how that impacts life, and seeing how it impacted Sophie and Dash's relationship. Both characters were well developed and the romance was believable. I think this will be a hit with a lot of people, and was a beautiful sophomore novel in the Hollywood series.

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Oh, hello meet cute with a fun "plot twist." While Dash has been in Sophie's life for awhile, they re-meet each other and find out they can offer each other something each needs: Sophie needs help finishing her second romance novel, accidentally goes viral on TikTok, and Dash suggests she work on her social media image and offers his help; Dash is trying to live his life outside of the spotlight aimed on his Hollywood royal family while recovering from alcoholism. When he is asked to give a speech at an event honouring his father, Sophie offers to help him draft it. Both Soph and Dash has complicated relationships with the people in their lives and the book does not shy away from their mental health struggles. There were some really steamy scenes in this novel and while I wish the ending hadn't been so over the top, I enjoyed the novel as a whole!

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I adored the first book in this series and loved Friends Don't Fall in Love even more. Craig and Lorelai's relationship sparks right from the beginning. Erin writes fantastic and believable friends-to-lovers romances. Lorelai was one of my favorite characters when she featured as Shelby's best friend side character in the first book and I am so glad she got her own story. I was instantly hooked on her struggles to fit into the Nashville/country scene while still standing up for what she believes in. I adore Erin's writing and can't wait to see where she takes us next.

Thank you so much to St. Martin's and Netgalley for providing me with an e-arc of this wonderful book..

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I enjoyed the book, it was very cute in the beginning, although it felt like it was falling off midway. The romantic tropes were nice in the book, lil cute banters, but I feel that as much as the tropes were there, it was more towards a friendship between them and it didn't feel like the chemistry that they were having with each other was coming up naturally. they had arguments that would mess things up between them but contradicted themselves at the same time too. I feel like the female main character just didn't have much character development because it was like she was still static in character-building throughout the story. in addition to that, it just felt rushed.

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Thank you Netgalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This was a fun little rom-com. Here’s what to expect:
- FWB / best friend’s brother / one bed
- A lot of references to TikTok and social media in general
- A romance author who’s “never been in love” and now has writer’s block
- An ex-actor from a famous family working hard to stay sober
- Pansexual FMC
- The FMC also has a pacemaker and it wasn’t really part of the plot but I thought it was nice to include because I feel like that’s not commonly represented, especially in younger people

Some of my critiques would be:
- Some of the pacing just felt off to me, I kept looking at how far I was in the book and then I was like “Omg I’m only at 50%???”, just felt like it dragged at times
- This book was spicy (which I love!) but I didn’t like the smut writing 🥲 just some words that really make me cringe and made it so that I couldn’t enjoy
- Some really cheesy / punny lines (which again, I don’t normally mind but for some reason they made me cringe!)
- For how old the main characters were, I felt that they were very emotionally immature at times, including interactions with each other & their friends/family

So, I did enjoy the book at times! Other times I just wanted to finish it and be done. The MMC (Dash) was working through some really serious shit, and the friendship and then vulnerability he developed with the FMC (Sophie) was really nice to watch since it didn’t seem like he normally let people in close like that.

I would add that if alcoholism / sobriety / relapse & rehab are anything you’re sensitive to, proceed with caution. But if you like reading about others’ (albeit, fictional) experiences, you may still connect with this book. Message me if you want details!

I’d recommend this to people who like Tessa Bailey, Elle Kennedy, and the like.

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Sophie is a romance writer who’s never been in love. Her landlord/neighbor/best friend’s brother is a former actor and teenage Sophie’s dream.

This was a little slow to start and hard to get into but I ended up enjoying it by the end! I think the way the author handled alcoholism and sobriety was done with grace. There were bits of humor — pottery puns and a dickish squirrel named Richard. Family dynamics, spice, learning to trust yourself.

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This book was so adorable.

Struggling romance writer, Sophie Lyon admits to the world: she’s never been in love. Is this why she is having problems finishing her sophomore novel?

Enter Dash, a legacy actor who struggles with addiction and talking to his family. Also Sophie’s best friends brother. Steamy right?

This book has some phenomenal 🌶️ scenes, however the book sometimes felt a little all over the place. I wish the book would have been a little bit longer to provide better pacing.

HUGE thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Erin de la Rosa for this *most requested* ARC on the website. It was a fun, cute, steamy read.

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I am sad to admit, I did not finish Plot Twist. I read about 22% of this book before I had to finally throw in the towel. I was interested in both Sophie and Dash and learning more about their lives and their personalities but sadly the writing wasn't up to my usual standards and the dialogue was often a bit cringey. I definitely believe Plot Twist is a fun rom-com for some readers but just wasn't to my taste. Thank you NetGalley and Erin La Rosa for providing me with an ARC.

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I couldn’t relate to the characters very well. I wanted more background on Dash. Good setting descriptions. TikTok references already feel outdated though.

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Thank you to NetGalley for an arc of this book.

DNF at 49%.

This book is very cute and it was nice to read a romance novel with older characters that, as someone in their mid 20's, can better relate to. I think the idea and premise of this book are really cute and have a lot of potential; a romance author going viral for never having been in love before is a very interesting romance book. It also tackles serious issues of addiction and handles those situations with poise and grace.

However, the book felt like it dragged on. It was hard to want to root for characters I didn't feel invested in. Then there is the constant explaining of TikTok and how it works; and while I understand there are going to be readers who don't have TikTok I don't think anyone needs repetitive instructions on how it works. I also wasn't understanding how one moment our fmc is upset her ex sold information to the press about her celebrity sister to then in the same afternoon riding the love interest's face in his front yard.

I think this book has plenty of potential and maybe I will come back to it in the future and finish it.

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Before I get into the review, a quick thank you to both NetGalley and the publishers over at Canary Street Press for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Plot Twist follows a romance author who accidentally goes viral when she’s drunk at a karaoke bar and screaming into a microphone that she’s never been in love. She and her handsome landlord Dash end up devising a plan that not only manages her PR nightmares, but also handles her writer’s block. Plot Twist comes out on November 14th and is available for preorder now.

This one is going to be a little dicey for me to talk about because there were parts of that really crashed and burned. Badly. While other moments (almost exclusively in the last 15%) that shined beautifully. I spent a lot of my time begrudgingly following the main character around because I didn’t like her. Not because I thought she was a bad person or any of the stupid reasons readers may not like a character. But she was just constantly written as this clumsy walking mess of a human who made poor life choices, but look at how quirky and silly that makes her. Isn’t she so lovable for it? No. I felt like there was this over the top characterization walking around and being stupid. And her hero, Dash, was also made up as this over the top character: the brooding hero. The guy who says, “We shouldn’t be together” but then never truly makes the healthy choice. He constantly pushes them back together while talking about how he can never give her the life she deserves. This author was clearly on Team Edward. The only characters who felt like they had any real depth were two side characters who are barely on the page. I don’t like talking about this aspect of romance books some times, but let’s talk about the sex scenes. Maybe this is the kind of thing that the author enjoys. Maybe it’s something other readers enjoy. But every. single. sex scene made me cringe. I hate describing something as cringe, but it’s so true here. I could barely read the sex scenes. The first one was a scene where she’s riding his face in their shared back yard and the real problem here was making the action and the characters clear to the reader. At one point she’s reaching back to touch him and I was surprised because I thought they were oriented differently. But then she did something that made me think maybe I was right the first time. It completely pulled me out of the story. The other sex scenes involve kinks that really give me an icky feeling.

I felt like the only true, authentic part of the story happened at the end when the hero relapsed and the story dove into supporting him and how to have a mature and healthy relationship following that. That last 15% of the novel is the only thing that saved it from being a 2 star rating or worse. We finally got past all the bullshit and dove into the heart of this book. It’s so sad that it took so long to get there. I liked the idea of the found family we see at the end of the novel, but didn’t really get the emotional pay off there since we barely saw the two characters interact with this group.

Overall, I think this book is going to be best served in the hands of reader who love Rom-Com. I think as someone who prefers their romance with a side of angst instead of a side of laughter it just wasn’t for me.

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Plot Twist is a sweet quirky romance following Sophie and Dash. And though I feel like this wasn’t quite the romance for me - many will enjoy it!

The plot is fun and fast-paced, while tackling serious matters. However, I did find the constant TikTok talk to be a lot, and it will potential date the story quite quickly moving forward.

Thanks Harlequin Trade Publishing, Canary Street Press, and NetGalley for the digital ARC in return for an honest review.

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I started out loving this book but, overall, this one just didn’t work for me. Despite that, it was hard to put down.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Canary Street Press for this digital arc in exchange for my honest review which is not affiliated with any brand.

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The three things I loved most about this book were the beginning, the middle, and the end. Seriously, I wish I could have had the time to read this in one sitting, because I definitely would have. There were laughs, cringe-worthy moments, sad moments, and moments of self-discovery. Definitely will recommend this to all my reader friends and library patrons!

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In terms of romance tropes, Erin La Rosa's "Plot Twist" does not disappoint -
Opposites attract (sunny v. grumpy)
Sister's best friend/best friend's brother
Forced proximity
Friends to lovers
Secret identity
Sworn off relationship

Rolled into characters who-
Go viral for the wrong reason
Secretly dealing with alcoholism recovery
Romance writer who's never been in love
A family that doesn't approve of their life choices
Are absolutely in denial about their feelings

For the most part, it works and is good clean (and by clean I mean pretty filthy) fun and it's a quick read. The concept (revisiting exes) isn't new or handled in a super unique way. The MCs hit a few roadblocks (why, oh why does she have to start dating an ex?) that are contrived and don't add much to the plot. The characters are mostly likeable and chemistry is palpable and the the spicy bits are delightful. "Plot Twist" is a great choice for the HEA crowd.

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Sophie is a romance author and on the hunt for love.. well more like a quest to figure out WHY she has actually never been in love. She decides to meet up with all of her exes to gain insight on what went wrong and how to move forward. However, along the way she becomes distracted by her emotionally unavailable landlord, Dash, who also happens to be her best friend’s very off-limits brother. Through their friendship, Sophie and Dash discover how to trust and how to let oneself be worthy of love.

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3,5 stars

Spicy romance about a romance novelist who has never been in love and a former teen star from an iconic Hollywood family who doesn't actually like acting. Lots of familiar tropes - enemies to lovers, just one bed, etc. I don't want to say it's predictable, because that sounds like a judgement. It was entertaining and ended in an expected manner.

Thanks Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the digital ARC in return for an honest review.

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