The premise is this book was cute and I was excited about it. The more I read the more confused I got. This book has sooo many tropes really too many but two of my biggest pet peeves are miscommunication/ no communication at all and love triangles. She is just stringing her ex along because she obviously knows there’s no spark there anymore but she’s going to keep trying for the sake of her writer’s block? That’s selfish and really makes me dislike the MFC in general. While stringing this ex along she’s also screwing her landlord/ex actor/ best friend’s brother it’s just too much. THEN she gets mad at him for flirting with someone before they were even together. He kept one secret and for good reason because it really had nothing to do with her and happened when they weren’t together and she acts like he literally lied to her for the entire “relationship” and hid “so many things” where is the so many. Idk I just feel like if you’re going to have almost 40yr old characters they need to act like they’re in their mid thirties not their early twenties or it just gets frustrating.

BUT I did actually really enjoy the last little bit of the book. There was so much more depth to the characters that I wish it was that way through the whole book so that I could try and relate to them more the entire time instead of just the ending.

It just wasn’t for me. However, there were some really great moments so I could see people who don’t have the same pet peeves as me really enjoying it. Unfortunately, I have a hard time letting some things go.. it’s a me problem

I have tried several times over several months to read this book. And. I just cannot get into it. I’m just not connecting with the story or the characters unfortunately

this book felt like it was written around the tropes that Erin La Rosa wanted to include rather than having the tropes naturally integrate into the story.

I liked this a LOT more than I liked its predecessor. I thought this was really great. I loved what it touched on, though I did feel it could go deeper on some of those points, but overall, I really enjoyed it.

I truly love a book that has it all, and this book has a lot of it! The tropes are a win for me every time to even start with. To see a character struggle with sobriety and mental health, but still find love, provides hope for all readers. The book is a right mix of sweet, spicy, and serious and blends well to create a great read!

~ Thank you to Canary Street Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy ~

Falling for your childhood celebrity crush/bff's brother was not on Sophie's bingo card.

I really liked the romantic journey between Sophie x Dash. The romance for them is ... a plot twist. Sophie has never been in love, while Dash is emotionally unavailable (and he knows it). But there is an unmistakable pull to one another. Sprinkle in romance tropes like only-one-bed and force proximity, and you've got a spicy but sweet story that will have you cheering on our mcs.

I wish I could see Dash and his tattoos in person! This wasn’t what I expected but I also went in blind without reading the full description. It was a great friends to lovers read. There are some TW’s possibly so check those out. The romance and spice were just right and I just love a book with an epilogue. *chefs kiss*

The love they have is just EPIC and i loved how the core driving factor behind the story even though it’s not “specifically” the romance. Plus, as a hard-core hopeless romantic reader myself, I’d say this is a book that I loved beyond words.

Dash and Sophie are DREAMY. This was fun from start to finish. The book touched on some tough topics which added depth without feeling heavy. The flirting and romance felt very realistic, without the insta love. Loved all the tropes Sophie talks about as a writer, and thought she was so brave to reach out to her exes!

I received an advance review copy for free via Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was a cute romcom, I just didn't connect to the characters as much as I wanted to. I did like the tropes of friends to lovers and forced proximity. One thing I didn't like was the overuse of pop culture references.

Plot Twist by Erin La Rosa is the first book that I have read from the author. I wanted to like this. However, it bugs me when books use tiktok references or gen z slang. This book had so many tropes and themes. These tropes did not feel organic but more forced. One of the only things that I did like was that Sophie is pansexual. This isn't something I see in a lot of books. Thank you netgalley for an arc.

I loved this cutie little (sexy) romance! This was my first Erin La Rosa book and won't be my last!!! I loved the complexities with the characters and how there was more going on than just the romance. Friends to lovers is one of my FAVORITE tropes and add forced proximity in there- and this was an amazing story for me! I also absolutely adore when you have the "imperfect people" trope sprinkled in. Also from someone who works with kids with serious medical conditions, seeing our FMC have a pacemaker was awesome! Thank you Netgalley for this opportunity and Erin La Rosa and publishers for this ARC!

I really enjoyed certain aspects of this but unfortunately I didn’t like the way Dash’s alcoholism was handled. I really liked the inclusion of a character that is struggling with addiction I would like to read more books with that and I also really appreciated the inclusion of queer characters. I was so annoyed reading about Dash’s sponsor who is also his good friends. That’s a no go for recovery and having that sponsor hand Dash his baby and tell him to go to a meeting??? that was so odd. The whole grand gesture at the recovery center felt really weird also and dash was giving off the impression that his love could heal him which felt off to me. Overall I’d be interested in reading other books by this author that might not discuss recovery.

DNF 39%. I wanted to DNF at 4% (literally after chapter 1) but since I was gifted the ARC I wanted to stick around and give the author the benefit of the doubt, but I just couldn't do it. If I hadn't just read 2 other hopelessly bad books I might've been able to push myself further through this one, but after reading so many other poorly written books, I didn't have the patience to put myself through another one, so I DNF'd before 50%.

Sophie is cringey. But she's also perfect remember. And so she sets off on this cringe...journey? To talk to all of her exes to see why she couldn't find love with them. And that alone tells me everything I need to know about why she couldn't find love. She's like 26ish? And is still hung up on ALL of her exes? And this girl has a lot of them (and I'm not slut shaming, I also have a lot of exes at the ripe age of 27, but you don't see me hunting them down to ask what went wrong). And the fact that she documents this all on TikTok is also super cringe. I get it, TikTok is super popular and nearly everyone uses it or some form of it (even my dad watches YouTube shorts and he's 64 okay), but I don't need it in my books, I'm reading to avoid TikTok! There's nothing to note of the first ex, they were a fine introduction to how the story would pan out and I didn't hate it. I think if the book went this way without the TiKTok element and she was just documenting this journey for her own writing purposes I would've enjoyed this a little more. And then we have Ned, who might be the biggest reason I actually did DNF this book. He is MARRIED and his WIFE is expecting their first BABY after YEARS OF INFERTILITY AND IVF and he comments on his high school ex girlfriends TikTok page "you told me you loved me" (or something like that)??? I'm sorry I would divorce this man so fast. Then it's revealed they broke up because HE didn't LOVE HER BACK??? Bro give me a mf break. So Sophie stupidly shares private information that is not hers to share and she has to go all shocked Pikachu face when he sells said information to the press?? Duh. And Sophie's inability to see this outcome and being upset as she is was what ultimately caused me to DNF. She acts like a child and only cares about herself. She doesn't for a second stop to think about how her actions can effect those around her until after that action is already affecting someone. And I picked this up at 39% in!

Our MMC is also weird? He has 0 backbone, He's been sober for 18 months and instead of telling his alcoholic family and then cutting them off if they get weird with him about it, he instead endures weekly dinners where they all sling back drink after drink?? That's not healthy. And once again instead of being honest with his family about why he is not interested in acting anymore, he lies. Like brother. Just tell the mf truth and save yourself all this extra heartache!!

And this leads me to my biggest issue in the book: if you are going to put very specific things in your book, you need to make sure that the thing you are referencing is correct. Roger Moore's James Bond never drives a Volvo. In fact, there is only one time in the entire franchise that ANY Bond is in a Volvo, and it's not until 2008 with Daniel Craig in Quantum of Solace, and that Volvo is an S40, not even the one La Rosa mentions in this book! Like dude, I get it, you wanted to make a niche reference that more than likely the average romance reader is not going to fact check you on. But this is the biggest and easiest way to lose a reader. You EASILY could've googled "cars James Bond drives" and found a car that Roger Moore actually drives as Bond that still fit the aesthetic you were trying to procure with this image (Ford Thunderbird, Ford Consul, and a Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith II are all cars that I just quickly looked up that Roger Moore DOES drive as Bond that look/ give that same vintage feel as the aforementioned Volvo. Like it took 5 minutes!). Another issue I take is the unnecessary description of the specific tractor that comes to pull their car to the mechanic. A 7R 350??? That's a harvester tractor, there is no reason that massive tractor to be on a street PULLING A SEDAN? That is so unnecessary. If you wanted to name drop a tractor a 6110M would've been plenty big to get the job done that it was used for. But news flash. Even in small towns it's illegal to pull a car with a rope attached to another car or, yes, even a tractor. Dumb. That whole part was just so dumb.

At this point I think I did more research for this book than the author did for it.

Things this book does well: have a pansexual main character that does it naturally and without force. It feels honest. Sophie has a whole host of past relationships to go through and each one is brought up the same way as any of the other ones, regardless of if it was with a boy, girl, or someone nonbinary. SO I really appreciate that and I wish that this book overall had been better, because this was just not it.

I really enjoyed the chemistry between the MCs! That was super fun and captivated me from the start. Overall, I really liked the premise, I will definitely check out other titles by this author.

Erin La Rosa knocked it right out of the park yet again. The ability to craft characters that ooze tension, banter, complex relatability, and hot chemistry is far from lacking on her part. Featuring some of my favorite tropes- grumpy vs sunshine and one bed, this was fun and fast-paced leaving me not wanting it to be over.

I think often times when books handle modern day references it can really date a book but bringing in the Tiktok platform didn't overdo it for me. The topic of sobriety and alcoholism is important and despite being a heavy topic, La Rosa handles it with grace and it flows well within the story without becoming overbearing or taking away from the plot. We've got some chemistry and amazing self-growth with each of the characters, just enough of the drama to keep readers on their toes, and spice mixed in that was a treat,

It's been over a year already and yet, here I am, sitting in front of a computer again for the twentieth time and still cannot find the correct words to sum up this novel.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me at 60%. The writing was too predictable and the characters were flat. I didn't feel any chemistry between the two main characters and the writing was pretty cringe in spots.

a no hard feelings DNF at 80%, I’m just bored and the dialogue was borderline cringe in most places and I no longer believe in powering through - life is just too short

3.5⭐️ because it really was fun in the beginning and I think anyone looking for a quick & steamy read will have a good time if they don’t drag their heels like me & can get past some of the cringy dialogue

**technically this was an eARC even tho I missed the publication deadline - can’t win them all folks🤪 But thank you NetGalley & Harlequin Trade Publishing anyway!!**

OH MY GOD, I loved this book. As a newer reader of romance, this was one of the best books to reintroduce me to the genre. The chemistry was delicious; the story was adorable and hilarious,; and the characters were loveable. I adored that this book managed to avoid some annoying tropes, while also including some in a unique and fun way. Sophie being an author herself led to a lot of fun fourth-wall-breaking moments. I can't rave enough about this book and am wholeheartedly intent on picking up this book's companion.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing me with an eARC of this book. My full review of this book will be available on Geekyst May 10, 2024