3.5 stars!
Overall I enjoyed this, but it did drag a little in some parts and I felt there was maybe so much drama (ie: the stalker, the issue that arises with one of the exes, etc) that it kind of all became too much. And if I had a dollar for every time Sophie wore a caftan or a sundress I’d be rich.

PLOT TWIST! I was lucky enough to get an ARC from NetGalley for this book, official pub date of November 14, 2023. I haven't read the author's first one yet (FOR BUTTER OR WORSE) but I definitely want to after reading this one!

It's about a romance author with writer's block, who goes viral on T!kT0k for her drunken moment of truth where she confesses she has never been in love. Cue her handsome landlord/neighbor, who has some secrets of his own.

The writing was very fun! I enjoyed it, other than the propensity for "smirking." Insert meme of Inigo Montoya saying, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." The "High Fidelity" plotline of revisiting exes to ask what went wrong was not my favorite, but thankfully not a huge part of the story. And props for making the main character pansexual and not making a big deal out of it! The two main characters were what drove it for me.

Might need a trigger warning for alcohol abuse -- somehow unintentionally a running theme in my books lately (HOW TO FAKE IT IN HOLLYWOOD and PARTNERS IN CRIME).

3
I enjoyed the plot of this book, but I also got really annoyed with both Dash and Sophie. It was very hot and cold and I felt a bit of whiplash. I was in love with how they grew as characters though and by the end I forgave their flames and ice bath relationship. And Kitty can go buh-bye. I loved to hate her.

Movie Star, teen heartthrob, landlord, Best Friends Brother, Writer, Author, Netgalley, ARC for Honest Review, off limits, recovery, self-discovery

I am able to read an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, with the request of a review. If you don't want play-by-play thoughts then skip to the bottom for my overall opinion.

I picked this book solely on the title and the cover photo, I have no idea what it's about and look forward to reading it.

Play-by-play thoughts 👇🏻

My initial thoughts are that this is the perfect time for me to read this book because I just started writing my first book.

Oh gross 🤢 the vomit. Poor girl, her life is a mess.

Do we find out the backstory of her pacemaker?

Oh. Okay. Right into the nitty gritty with Dash talking about his shower fun..

I hate when you ask someone if they can talk and then they FaceTime you. Like, I didn't say I wanted you to see me when we talk..

Sophie is going to help him write the speech for his father's walk of Fame star and that's going to start their romance.

A man with a baby *swoon*

So, I feel like Sophie and Dash will end up together with Sophie pregnant by the end of the book. Dash keeps thinking about how he wants kids but can't be a father..

Is Dash's family so judgemental that they would make comments about how the entertainment industry caused his alcohol problem?

Ahh. Road trip!

I feel like his feelings for her came on super quick. They went from conversing a few times, to 3x in a couple of days and now he's hot for her? IDK. I guess it could happen.

I too and Team Spike for who Buffy should have ended up with.

Is she going to fall for @TokCrafty2Me before she knows it's Dash?

"Lurve ya, Homeskillet!" In a Valentine's card doesn't count as telling someone "I love you" 🤦🏼‍♀️

Is this going to be a one-bed in the hotel trope??? It's an unexpected overnight..

😂😂 Called it!

A kiss!!

I don't know if I would hate my best friend getting together with my brother, if my brother was someone I thought was good enough for my best friend. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Wtf! Ned using information that Sophie shared to sell to Us Weekly!

I know they don't actually hook up until the end of chapter 14, but it feels rushed to me.

Mmk! Right in the backyard!

I love that Dash comments on her posts. Even though she doesn't know it's him. So cute.

Oh no! Does Dash have a stalker?

I'm worried that Dash is going to relapse.

Things feel different with Carla because she's interested in Dash now.

He shared a lot with the CraftyCindy before he knew she knows who he is. She can spill all the information, even if his page is anonymous.

Ooo his mom! I wanna smack her!

Yay! Nina is going to be a mom!

I LOVE that Abby Jimenez is mentioned, I literally just emailed her publicist the other day to ask if I could mention her in my book. That just goes to show how incredible of an author she is.

I don't think Poppy would hate that they like each other. I think what will upset her is them keeping it from her.

Oh boy, that massage scene. I think in her *book* she should take her time and not just go straight for the happy ending.

That 180 flip from them basically hooking up, to them ending any sexual relationship happened so fast it has me having whiplash.

I 1000% relate to Sophie in disliking confrontation. It legitimately makes me sick to my stomach. I am such a people pleaser because I'm so worried to cause conflict. I know it's unhealthy, but it's who I am.

Could the person who spilled Dash's addiction problems be Chris? Or someone from AA if it wasn't Cindy?

OMG! I'm going to die of secondhand embarrassment that she hugged the waiter because she thought he was Kyle 😂

Wow.. Kyle is a dick.

Besides being grossed out that her best friend is hooking up with her brother, I think that Poppy would have been okay with it if they had told her the truth..

OMG, Cindy is crazy!

IDK how she didn't piece it together they Dash was TokCrafty2Me when he called her Soph in one of his comments..

I absolutely hate when people think they aren't good enough for someone and don't give that someone the chance to decide for themselves.

What!! His own mother leaked that he had been in rehab?? What a bitch!

Nooo 😩 he just threw away his sobriety. His fucking mom.

He said I love you!

I'm glad she didn't say it back, the relationship felt rushed to me the whole time, and she's been talking about her issues with saying it the whole book, so I'm glad that she didn't say it.

I'm glad Sophie and Poppy made up.

Hmm. Will get tattoo be a book or one to match one of Dash's??

Dash running from the hen is hilarious 😂

The ending was a little abrupt, but all in all, very good book.



*Overall thoughts*
I really enjoyed this book. I didn't find out until after I started reading it that it's technically the second book in this series, even though the main characters aren't the same. So I will have to request the first book and read about Nina. I enjoyed reading about Sophie as she tried to discover what went wrong in her past relationships and why she didn't fall in love with any of her exes. And I liked reading about Dash and his struggle to stay sober. I could have gone for a slow burn romance, but I did enjoy their relationship. 4/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Canary Street Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

The cover and the beginning were the best parts of the book. I feel like I lost interest as the book went on because it felt as if it were repeating. The journey of self discovery was great and I liked the highlight of men’s mental health, but overall it just didn’t work for me.

Unfortunately, this was a book I couldn't finish. I managed to push myself to go 25% and just couldn't do it any more. I disliked the main characters and hard a very hard time connecting with them.

This book was not my favorite book- I would consider it to be romantic but mostly young adult. I think the plot itself is a little lack luster. I enjoyed reading it but not sure if I would ever pick it up again. I truly enjoyed the Epilogue as it have a great “ending” to the storyline.

I'm going to admit something right here for the internet to know...I judge books by their covers. *runs and hides*

And so when I saw this adorable cartoon cover romance, I knew I HAD to read it without knowing anything about it. And then I read the back and decided I made the right choice with this book.

This second chance romance (kind of not really) was a fresh, adorable, rom-com that came at the perfect time for me. We meet Sophie, our FMC romance author on the brink of destruction because she can't finish her transcript that will be due in 6 weeks to her agent...OR ELSE. So she does what any normal person does when their lives are falling apart, they go out and get drunk and end up recording a video screaming about how love doesn't exist to the sounds of Elton John at a local karaoke bar. See? Just like everyone else.

And then we meet Dash, Sophie's best friend's older brother who used to be an actor and now keeps to himself, Sophie's landlord. And because of the aftermath of the viral video, their lives are thrown together.

Sophie decides to take the lemon from her embarrassing viral video and turn it into lemonade and go back and chat with her exes to figure out why things didn't work and why there wasn't love; with hopes that this will help her find the ending of her book that is so desperately needed as well as love for herself.

Dash comes from a "dynasty" of Hollywood royalty and has a complicated relationship with his family. Some of those complications come from the fact that he has battled with an addiction to alcohol, is a closeted and very talented potter that has got traction videos on his TikTok, and doesn't want to be in the family biz.

Since Dash knows social media, he agrees to help Sophie in the journey of love discovery. What could possibly happen? All of the best tropes, funny banter, some serious self-discovery, and learning all about what love is.

I loved how within this funny light-hearted book, the representation of addiction and rehab was done really well. Dash has a sponsor who is a big part of his life and has the most amazing conversations, pep talks, and REAL talks with Dash.

This book is a mix of REAL issues and light-hearted romance that is just the perfect combination.

I really loved reading Sophie's and Dash's love story, Erin is a great writer and I will be going back and reading her other books.

To me, this read like a YA book. This book was pretty predictable. There are so many better romance books.

This was a good book, but I do not think it was exactly for me. The set up to the story happened all too fast and I think that took away from my enjoyment as I continued reading. I also felt like I had to suspend my disbelief throughout this one a little bit more that I like so it didn't land too strongly. I liked La Rosa's writing, but Sophie and Dash just didn't do it for me.

I received an e-Arc from Netgalley and the publisher for an honest review!

I could not stop reading this. It was amazing. I was chuckling at so many moments! And there were a few moments of shock because I did not see those shock moments happening. It's witty and heartfelt! The banter between Sophie and Dash was pure magic.

I loved how Sophie was trying to figure out who she is and learning how to cope with the situation. Her trip of visiting various exes was on the range of kind to mean. And I think each relationship she went through taught her something. While going through this process, Dash was by her side rooting her on to help her with finding what she needs which was love and to write her book. There was sparks between Dash and her during the process. Do they act on it or no?

Dash..who doesn't love tattoos on a character? I loved how Dash finds himself slowly and realizes he can do what he needs to do. He learns to open up a tiny bit with Sophie which I think was great for him. I loved that he likes to make pottery. Can we say maybe "Ghost" moment happening perhaps? I dunno..you may have to grab the book to find out??

As I said there were so many fun moments in this book that I laughed and yelled "Yes!"

I will say there was one awesome thing in the story which was regarding to Team Spike or Team Angel. I love love when these types of culture pop references pop up in stories that I love. Whoo whoo! It made me smile.

There are other characters that show up in the book such as Poppy who is Dash's sister and Sophie's best friend. I loved how Poppy has grit and stands her own ground. She's so cool. I love how Sophie and Poppy's friendship is so special. Then there's Sophie's sister who is a tough cookie too and gives Sophie great advice. I love the friendship banter between Dash and his friend Chris. They're just great guys. Then there are some characters who has flaws and need to work on themselves. No I'm not telling you who they are. Go get the book.

I will point out there are a few steamy moments in the book which went perfectly with the plot and characters.

One more thing I'll point out..or maybe two things...I noticed a theme of coping. You see everyone coping in their own way. It shows that characters have to cope. It's human. Some issues take time while others can be breeze. Friendship and warmth fall into this story too. I should stop because I'll go on and on about what themes I see in this book. I should start doing that more in my reviews, right?

Isn't the cover pretty?

So get the book on November 2023!!

Wait one more thing....
I leave you with the name Rain Boots.

Plot Twist is a cute best friend’s brother novel that delves into some heavy hitting issues (read trigger warnings!)

This story is a great follow up to La Rosa’s debut novel and follows the story of Sophie Lyons, an author who has never been in love. Her next book is due in 6 weeks and she’s STRUGGLING to get past her writer’s block. Dash is her best friend’s brother and landlord and sparks fly from there.

I really enjoyed La Rosa’s ability to mix the cute with the smutty elements that are trademarks of romance novels.

Overall, this was such a good, quick read and should be put on your November TBR!

Tropes: Forced proximity, best friends brother, cinnamon roll, only one bed, friends with benefits
Things I liked: LGBTQIA representation, the sensitive narration about dysfunctional families, addiction, and mental health; sweet, vulnerable characters; cute premise of a story within a story; great side characters
Things I didn’t: Heavy on tropes; many pop culture references; not enough time between conflict and resolution (and a few other things that I won’t mention because they’re more personal preferences)

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a sweet Hollywood rom com!

To say I'm obsessed with this novel is the understatement of the century. I read this so quickly and it 100% pulled me out of the sad slump I've been in.

Our main character, Sophie, struggles with an extreme case of writer's block. I mean, how can you be a romance writer when you've never been in love? She goes on a journey through her past relationships, trying to find the answer as to why she could never say those three little words. Throughout this hilariously painful time, she learns so much about herself.

Our love interest, Dash, is on his own self-discovery journey. His scenes are also painful to read; between alcohol recovery and an image forced upon him by his mother, the poor guy is just going through it.

Slowly, Dash and Sophie become friends, supporting each other through their hardships. I honestly couldn't get enough of them together. Even if this had just been a story of them learning to be friends and navigating life together, I still would have given it a solid five stars. But put steamy exchanges and love into the mix, and it's a recipe for absolute and complete success.

My only gripe is that I can't force everyone I know to read this immediately, since it comes out in freaking November. I put release day in my calendar so that on the off chance that I forget, I'll be reminded to force everyone I know to read this immediately.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second. About 40% in my attention started to wane. Things became predicitible, repetetive, and slow. I skimmed the spicy scenes. I might not enjoy those types of chapters as much as I did when I was younger. I prefer a bit more tention between my love interests, so that when they do finally become intimate, it doesn't feel like sex for the sake of sex. Sentence length is loooong. 12-20+ length sentences that drone one after the other. Many of them repeating the same thing on the page in different ways. It was difficult to read through and while the book hooked me at the start, I found myself not wanting to pick it up and read the deeper I went.

I enjoyed Dash's character and his struggle with alchoholism was a nice touch. Sophie's quest to speak with her ex's regarding the end of all her relationships was a neat idea but dull. She never seemed to arc or grow, all challenges for the characters were shallow. Dash had the most to lose, the biggest change...but Sophie should have been equal or greater, being the MC.

Parts of the story were really well written and sweet. Unfortunately, the pace was a killer for me. It just wasn't my kind of novel. Others may like it fine. I can be picky.

Thank you to Net Galley for my first e-ARC read. It was a light and easy read! It definitely was giving off rom-com vibes and was cute. The characters were really likeable and felt really relatable. Not sure if I am a huge fan of modern pop culture in a book like Tik Tok but with the world so connected as it is, it made it feel a little closer to real life. Overall it was a cute read even though it was very tropey.

Sorry.. This book wasnt my jam at all.. I did get through this but I didnt like the slow pace of this book

This romcom is unique with a spin on falling for the best friend’s brother, I liked the TikTok challenge that the FMC goes through in order to reunite with all her exes, but wish it had more humor. Sadly, the meet ups were a bit bland. There is a storyline centering around a recovering alcoholic, so know the triggers before reading,

I was so hooked on this story for the first half of the book. It gave all the rom com vibes and pulled me right in. The second half of the book didn’t seem to hold my interest as much and it took me longer than usual to finish it because I just didn’t have that urge to get to the ending and see what happens. It started to feel almost repetitive and my interest just kind of dwindled out as I read.

I will say I LOVED Sophie’s character, I felt like she was so well written and her character development was refreshing. I really enjoyed how she was put in a position where she was forced to deal with the consequences of her actions and it ended up being done in such a great way.
I did also love Dash’s hard exterior, even though he was low-key a big softy, but I did feel like there could have been more from his character personality wise. And I adored Sophie’s relationships with Nina and Poppy!
I was skeptical about how I would feel with the abundance of TikTok presence in the story, but I have to say I enjoyed it.

Overall, I liked the book. This was a 3.5 star read for me.

Huge thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.