This was such a sweet romance. Dash is Sophie’s landlord and also her best friend’s brother, and over the course of the book, they both grow closer as friends and begin to develop feelings for each other despite Dash’s issues that are preventing him from starting a real relationship with Sophie. While I am not a big TikTok user (ok, i don’t use it at all) and some of those details lost me a bit, I was really won over by the relationship between Sophie and Dash. About halfway through the book, I found myself hoping for more scenes with the two of them together, but I appreciate how the author built each up character separately to allow me to get to know both of them as individuals. Knowing them better as characters allowed me to become more invested in seeing them find their way to being together. None of the conflict keeping them apart felt manufactured, which is one of my biggest pet peeves in romance. I really sympathized with and understood Dash’s struggles and reluctance to enter a relationship, and I appreciated how those more delicate issues were sensitively handled in regards to the ending of the book. Lastly (and my favorite element of the book), I just loved both leads. They were incredibly sweet and endearing, and I was fully invested in seeing their HEA play out in the end. So overall, despite my boomer confusion with the frequent references to social media, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by this author.

ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book. And to be honest there were some parts I did enjoy. Overall though this was trying to be too much and therefor missed the mark in many ways.
Pros: Sophie had some funny parts. I liked the relationship between the sisters. The bit with the squirrel was cute. I liked how they didn’t make a big deal about Sophie being pansexual, she just was and it was natural.

Cons: So many tropes and cliches I couldn’t turn a page without stumbling on one. The premise of meeting with her exes had promise, but didn’t go anywhere, so what was the point? Additionally the “TikTok videos” were boring and unnecessary. As was the stalker. Dash dealing with alcoholism could have been a deeper angle, but his reactions to things seemed so over the top and unbelievable sometimes. I’d love to have seen more interaction or back story with the mother to make his and her choices seem more believable and make me care about them more. Especially since this turned out to be a Thing. And the sexy times were a bit cringy, imo. “Can I ride your face?” was a bit… yikes.
I did finish it though, so that’s why it’s 2 stars. And there were some funny and sweet lines/moments.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and author for providing an advance copy for my honest review.

I loved this romance and finding love. I loved that she had writers block and ending up finding love and discussing her past relationships. I hope that there is more romance from the sisters or the Montrose family. I hope that poppy gets romance along with rhy's . I loved learning more about his family and very realistic with drinking and love.

I wanted to love this book. The characters were great and the romance hit the majority of the time. But I just was never able to fully commit to the novel the way I hoped I would. There was just something missing in the back half that really would have kept my interest.

I would definitely still recommend any rom com fans to read this book because it is well written and I did enjoy the first half of the novel.

Thanks to NetGallery for this eArc on exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately this book really did not work for me. My rating was 3.5 stars, but rounded up to 4. I do think it was a cute book, but I am definitely not the target audience. I immediately grew tired of the TikTok references. I could not escape into this world because I already live in it!! I had to skim all the TikTok manuscripts so I could enjoy the book more. I thought the spicy scenes were good and I liked the writing, but the execution of the concept didn’t really work for me. I was a lot more interested in Dash’s family dynamic and journey with sobriety than Sophie’s writing career. I rushed through Sophie’s chapters to get to Dash’s. I was ready to give up on the book about 50% through, but I decided to keep going and I’m glad I finished it. I liked the ending a lot and it brought the rating up for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Canary Street Press for this read!

Tropes/ Themes
- Friends with benefits
- Romcom
- Alcohol use recovery
- Best friends brother
- Forced Proximity
- One bed
- Pansexual fmc

Sophie (fmc) is a struggling romance author who has writer's block and hasn’t been able to finish her second book. She hasn’t ever been love and discovers herself with the help of her neighbor/ best friend's brother Dash( mmc) and exes.
Dash and Sophie immediately have a connection and start a friends-with-benefits type relationship, and none of them want to commit.

I really liked the first half of the book. There were funny moments and good character interactions. Despite this being a romcom, Dash is recovering from alcohol use which brings serious issues into the book. The romance was cute and steamy.

I didn’t really like the many tropes that the main characters talked about and the frequent TikTok references, but that’s just me. Overall this is a good one for anyone looking for an easy-to-read and cute rom-com.

Thank you, NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, for this arc!

I don't have the words to explain how much I loved this book! I absolutely loved the double povs! I felt like this book was such a beautiful read. I instantly fell in love with both Sophie, and Dash. In love with their individual stories as well as their story together. This book does deal with some addiction but I absolutely appreciated how it wasn't made such a dark and ugly thing. Addiction is different for everyone and in this story the character wasn't made dark or too overly damaged. I actually cried a few times because I fell for these characters in such a deep way that I felt their pain through the pages. I couldn't put it down and immediately I knew that such a book had to be read in one sitting.

“Dash, in the places where we’ve both been broken, being together makes me feel whole. As soon as I fell in love with you, I knew I couldn’t be without you.”

-close proximity, dual pov, best friend’s brother
-Sophie is romance writer who’s never been in love 👩‍💻❤️
-Dash, who is also her landlord, starts helping her see the possibilities
-I enjoyed reading about their vulnerabilities and building of their friendship to something more!
-tw: substance abuse
-thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this read ✨

4⭐️

Plot Twist by Erin La Rosa

This story had a lot of good elements, however I always felt uninvolved. The plot was almost formulaic. It was definitely not the light hearted storyline that the blurb and book cover hinted at.

The story seemed juvenile/YA, due to the characters personalities, but at some point you get that Dash is in his mid 30s and figure that Sophie is close to the same age. Yet it reads as though they should be in their early 20s….. everything is drama and about them, very self centered and somewhat narcissistic. Perhaps it’s because neither goes off to a job where they have any responsibilities other than to their own interests. No need to move forward and earn a living.

That being said, it was easier to relate to Dash than Sophie. He is definitely more mature. You get more of his internal debates and more of his life and background. You know why he struggles. With Sophie, I had difficulty forming any connection. She hardly interacted with her Bestie or sister. Eventually you get Sophies background but it just doesn’t grab at you like Dash’s does. Perhaps that’s because of her lack of interaction with anybody, other than Dash, except through her Tik Toks.

Ultimately, I found this to be more about Dash’s story than about Sophie’s.

*** My thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley. This is my honest review given in exchange for the ARC of this book. ***

I want to thank NetGalley and Harlequin for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.

I was sad that I didn’t like this book as much as I thought I would. I will say I think that sometimes books can still be enjoyable but not everything is for everyone and I don’t think I was the right audience for this book.

I really enjoyed this romance. I loved Sophie and Dash. They were very relatable. I also loved that the book touched on alcoholism in a classy way.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Full disclosure, I wasn't a big fan of the first novel in this series. I found it kind of boring and I didn't connect at all with Nina and felt like her and Leo were tiresome and hard to stomach, but when I was given the opportunity to read this through NetGallley, I decided to take the opportunity and...

I'm so glad I did. This one is sooooo much better than the first in the series. First of all, Sophie is sooooo much more likable in this story than Nina was in hers. Sophie is also a huge mess and feeling like she's incapable of love despite being a romance author. When a video goes viral of her saying she's never been in love she reconnects with her exes to help her figure out why it is and then we meet an entire cavalcade of her exes meeting with her and basically doing nothing but stonewalling her, exacting revenge on her, or gaslighting her. Her high school boyfriend, was appallingly awful and I'm shocked he found someone to marry him. Her last ex wasn't that much better either, however, they were all used to show how much better off she was without them in her life. I enjoyed her journey of discovery.

I thought Dash was amazing as well. I really connected with his story and I really enjoyed seeing his journey of sobriety, especially as the son of major Hollywood royalty. It was heartbreaking to see how awful his mother was to him throughout the story, but overall, I had peace with how that ended. I also loved how he couldn't help but want to help Sophie whenever he could, despite him trying to push her away.

I really loved Sophie and Dash's journey together, as well. They had a very interesting dynamic even before the friends with benefits story happened and their secret relationship, due to who he was, and the fact that neither wanted his sister, Sophie's best friend to find out. I loved how it all blew up and the conflict happened, but most of all I loved the adorable ending.

I definitely recommend this cute romcom!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Plot Twist was an absolute joy of a book. Striking the perfect balance between idealistic and realistic, Sophie and Dash's love story was wonderfully written. It was clear that La Rose had put significant effort into these characters and the result was the best type of romance novel: one that reflects the real world while also offering an escape from it. It was wonderful to see representation for pansexuality, sobriety, and pacemakers. In the spirit of full honesty, I picked up Plot Twist because the illustration of Sophie on the cover looks a lot like me (and I'm partial to love interests with tattoos), but this very well may be one of my favorite romance books ever.

"So he did what any person would when wanting to avoid emotions and pivoted the conversation. “I’ll carry you to the couch,” he said."

This book proved to me that even when I hype up a book in mind A LOT, it is possible for it to not be a 5star read for me. Which isn't a bad thing; I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and smiled and lot during it.

For my absolute least favorite thing about this book that cost it at least like half a star, is the SMIRKING. There is simply way too much smirking going on and 90% of it makes no sense. The word appears 33 times which may be only once every 10 pages, but because of how out of place it is for the scene and characters, it just enraged me every single time.

I also wish there was more development for Dash. I loved him but I feel like he only had too personality traits and neither really had anything to do with his PERSONALITY. I honestly feel like this book needs another round or two of editing.

Onto the things I did like... honestly most parts of the book. Sophie's relationship with Nina (I MISS THAT QUEEN) and Poppy was really genuine and refreshing. I loved how much Sophie messed up and was forced to be vulnerable. I really enjoyed the scenes with her meeting her exes; most of them were absolute trash, but it was frustrating in an entertaining way, if that makes sense.

More random thoughts: I actually really loved all the side-plots in the book, especially all the ones Dash had.
Him in the the last few chapters was very 🫶🏼.
The dirty talk was not it for me.
Surprisingly enough, I loved all the TikTok stuff.
I loved the lack of bookstagram stuff.
Sophie's internal monologue sometimes was hilarious like this perfect line, "Say it. Say it, you absolute and complete turd."

MVP: Nina Lyon i miss you 🥹

Another instance where I really wish good reads would give .5 stars as an option. Because I liked this read but it just wasn't quite a 4 star read for me.

This one features Sophie, a romance author with a bit of writers block who decides it may be time for a bit of self discovery to figure out why that is after a drunken debacle leads her to going viral, and she throws up on her hot and off limits landlord Dash. Dash is a former child star with a famous family and a secret sobriety, Sophie is not only his tenant but also his sisters best friends. Neither of them are looking for anything and definitely not with each other, but with Dash giving Sophie the helpful tips for her tiktok and learning that he trusts Sophie more than his family with his sobriety the two can't help but fall for each other.

Overall I did like this book it was spicy and I was rooting for the love interest, the only thing that brought it down for me was that it was kind of repetitive and the fact that Dash kept pulling Sophie in and then pushing her away.

Sophie is a romance writer who has never been in love. Dash is a former actor, newly sober and channeling his energy into crafting and making beautiful ceramics in secret. He also happens to be the brother of Sophie’s best friend. Sophie lives on Dash’s expansive property in LA. There are many reasons they each have for not pursuing a relationship with one another. However, that doesn’t stop them from being attracted to each other. Can they face their fears and figure out if they might be meant to be?

Plot Twist is an enjoyable read largely due to the chemistry between Sophie and Dash and Dash being a sweetheart. He is struggling with being sober, has low self-esteem, and has a demanding (and very famous) family. I wish there had been an even larger focus on his crafting in the book. I did not feel the characters were consistent throughout the entire story but that did not prevent me from enjoying the read. It manages to balance very serious topics with fun and light moments.

Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

Thanks to Netgalley and Canary Street Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Overall the book was fun and I liked the general plot. The idea that a romance author had never actually been in love and needs to track down her exes to gain insight as to why, was really fun. I enjoyed Dash's character quite a bit but struggled to find an ounce of likability in Sophie.

What I liked:
- Dash's character arc. I loved reading his chapters and his sobriety journey. I think the author did a really good job in curating his struggle with alcohol and the intricacies of relationships after someone has decided to be sober. It killed me when the reader found out who leaked the story but I wasn't all that surprised. I don't want to spoil it but it fit with that character's arc quite well (of course they were the one who leaked it).
- The inclusivity of pansexuals. I've read a few books with pansexuals as side characters so it was nice to see a main character be one. I also loved that there wasn't a lot of explanation with Sophie's sexuality... like, she's a pansexual... done. Loved that.

What I disliked:
- Their meet-cute. It was so gross and something that wasn't remotely fun or cute. I feel like the author could've done anything else and it would've been better than what was done.
- I wanted more time with each of her exes. I didn't like that she wanted to try to get back together with the doctor (sorry, forgot the name already) even though there wasn't a lot of history given there. And then the sommelier (again, sorry, forgot the name) sold out Sophie's sister. I just don't get it. What was the motive?
- The romance unfortunately. It felt rushed and confusing with all her exes in the mix and the way she was feeling. It was just...weird.
- The cover or the title. It doesn't fit the story after reading it. They're both kind of a mess and in the cover they look put together. Not sure what the plot twist was so it's a confusing title.

Again, there were some great aspects to the book (I truly loved Dash's character and his development throughout the book) but for a modern romance I think it fell flat.

Thanks to Netgalley and Canary Street Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love the beautiful cover as it’s what caught my eye, but neither it nor the title really fit the story.

Likes:

I love that the female heroine is unapologetically pan and doesn’t explain or justify why she loves who she loves. I also appreciated the care in which Sophie’s heart condition and pacemaker are discussed.

I really like how this author is handles Dash’s alcohol addiction and his sobriety journey with care and empathy.

Dislikes:

Even though the two characters are attracted to each other, the level of heat and intimacy seems better suited to erotica versus what starts out as a cute love story, albeit with a gross meet-cute.

Dash is 36 years old but still letting his family run his life. I can’t believe his own mother leaked his sobriety journey to the press which led to a relapse with alcohol after 19 months of being sober. Ugh. Also, the fight that his sister Poppy and Sophie get into after she finds out about her brother and Sophie’s relationship is just so juvenile. Be mad at someone but you don’t need to be petty.

Overall: this was a slow read that dragged in places but felt too rushed in the areas of physical intimacy. Mostly, it was enjoyable and I really enjoyed how the author tackled serious issues in this book.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the book for me. It's a personal preference but I do not care to read 3rd person writing. I can listen to it in audio form and feel more connected but I have a hard time connecting to the story and characters when I read it. The rom-com aspect of the book was decent, I would've liked to see more banter and cohesive dialogue. I liked the MMC more than I liked the FMC. This is my first book by this author, I would read something else to give it a try ( as long as its not 3rd person writing). If this was available on audio, I'd give it another shot as well to see if it's just me and my missed-connection to the story. I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley for my honest review.

After reading a string of bad romances the beginning of this book really had me hopeful, but it wasn't meant to be. The plot drags. Sophie's storyline by nature is repetitive, having her meet a bunch of her exes was never going to be that interesting. And by not pacing the romance, and with so much back and forth and false starts, the book just felt like it was going through the motions to reach its HEA. 2.5 stars.