If you’re a fan of Emily Henry, I think you’ll like this as the styles are similar. A really cute story that explores some powerful themes. May make you tear up in places but definitely worth the read.

3* Impressed that I managed to finish this book.

Becca Taylor, primary school teacher and amateur writer, is grieving the death of her best friend Rae. To Becca's fury one of the main mourners at the funeral is her own ex-boyfriend Drew who cheated on her ten years ago with his boss, a caricature of big boobs and false finger nails. Before the service Rae’s brother explains that Rae and Drew were living together and Drew was about to propose, this information infuriated Becca even more, even although she and Drew broke up years ago. When Drew approaches Becca he's clearly distraught, she reacts by coldly by turning him away. I lost all empathy with Becca, Drew has lost the woman he hoped to marry, Becca selfishly considers she's suffering the most.

Her online writing pal Riley, is stuck with writer's block and invites Becca to Ireland for the summer, hopefully they can encourage each other to regain their creativity. Off she goes, having casually arranged with a teacher colleague to cover her classes for the last two weeks of school term. Arriving in Ireland Becca discovers that Riley is a he not a she, he’s a perfect 10, with a four year old gorgeous daughter, they live in a gorgeous cottage, with gorgeous views. Everything is gorgeous. Becca meets Riley’s family who immediately adore her.

The book continued to irritate me, if I include more details I'd be giving spoilers.

Annoying characters and not for me.

eARC generously supplied by Headline and NetGalley, this review is my personal, unbiased opinion.

Plot Twist was a truly wonderful read from debut author Breea Keenan. The main character Becca was likeable, relatable, and fun. Her counterpart, Riley, was equally charming and charismatic (he reads as very similar to Graham from The Holiday-single dad with adorable daughter that live in a cottage). Speaking of cottage, the setting felt like a separate character in itself. Overall, it was a fun read and I will definitely recommend it to my readers (and did so via Instagram).

This book starts off heavy and carries a lot of emotion from the punch. Generally, I like something more light hearted, so it was hard for me to get into. As a teacher, I was a bit offended when the FMC referred to her friends as “teacher-y” because they don’t go out anymore since they married and had kids. It seemed unnecessary.

A complicated little story about learning to forgive, and trusting again. Really enjoyed the small-town Ireland vibe, and the supporting cast felt very real and appealing. Riley was compelling and oh so fun to read, and even thought he made some questionable choices, this was a fun sweet read.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of Plot Twist by Breea Keenan. This book was unfortunately not for me.
I did not like the FMC at all; she came across as so self centred and seemed to try and make everything about her! Losing her best friend is definitely completely heartbreaking but she is not the only one who lost someone/who is struggling, and any time someone told her they were having a hard time she’d turn it round and make it about how sad she was! The fact she didn’t communicate what Riley’s daughter had said to her when it was clearly a concern made me so mad!
I also didn’t like how critical she was with other women, mostly out of jealousy.

This was a really beautiful story of grief, loss, finding yourself, and love. It was heavy and heartbreaking but also hopeful and lovely. I enjoyed it very much.

Fab quick romance read! Loved the premise of Becca not realising her “penpal” wasn’t a female Riley but in fact a male and of course the eventual love story between them. I enjoyed all the subplots with the added characters (of course Ivy being my favourite) and even didn’t feel too bad when someone (without spoilers) got a little redemption at the end. Can imagine this as a perfect holiday/beach/pool read for romance lovers who want some quick and easy to get through.

plot twist - breea keenan 🫧

i don’t want to give too much of a synopsis because it is better going into this blindly. you follow a primary school teacher / aspiring children’s fiction author as she goes to ireland to stay with a friend.

this book started off so good. it was fast-paced and a lot of the humor was actually good. the dialogue was slightly unrealistic, but also quite witty.

i loved ivy (i am a sucker for little kids). she was definitely the highlight of the book for me.

as the book progressed i kept thinking to myself: “people do not act like this”. the main character felt so childish to me. the male main character was TOO perfect. every other character (with the exception of maybe ellie and bridget) just acted in such a ridiculous way, just to get the plot moving along.

then to refer to the title. in the beginning the plot twists were fun and clever and made me want to keep reading. as the book progressed i felt like there were so many new plot points introduced and the book was trying to deal with so many themes. none of which were successfully explored. especially the theme of grief disappointed me a lot.

the relationships between all characters felt very shallow. everyone immediately loved each other and it just felt line all the relationship build up you usually have happened before the book started, or was just not there in general.

the main thing that made me decide to give this book 2 stars instead of 3 stars was the antagonizing of 3 girl characters (eimaer, jackie & leila) i just HATE it in romance books when these girls are introduced and its all like “they have big boobs and want to steal my man”. in the last 2/3 chapters there was sort of an attempt at redeeming these girls in the eyes of the fmc, i guess to show character development? idk if that was the point but i just could not enjoy the book bc of it. lesson learnt: just bc a cover looks like an emily henry cover, does not mean it is going to be good.

thank you for netgalley for providing me with a free arc.

It’s not often a book makes me cry, but when it does it automatically becomes a 5 star read.

This book of loss and love was written so beautifully. Becca and Riley were written to be so relatable, and the supporting cast of characters were strong.

Becca and Riley meet in an online writers chat, and when Becca suffers a devastating loss, she leaves Scotland to stay for the summer in Ireland with Riley while they write their books. I honestly don’t want to say anymore, because you really just need to read it.

Thanks @netgalley for the e-arc!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book.

I really wanted to love this book but it really just fell flat to me. The premise really interested me and at the beginning, it felt reminiscent to Just Last Night by Mhairi Mills, but ultimately it didn't have the same lasting impact on me.

My main issue was that I didn't really feel any chemistry between our two leads Riley and Becca. There were so many points of conflict that were just unresolved and had stupid resolutions eg Riley vanishing after Becca's procedure but she just welcomes him back with open arms and no questions?? There were so many decisions that felt juvenile for characters that are 30+ and had me pulling my hair out.

I loved Ivy but I didn't think the other characters were fleshed out enough for me to get to know them. The pacing and flashbacks felt a bit choppy for me and ultimately, Rae seemed like a god-awful friend and completely unlikeable to me.

I really wished I had liked this but ultimately this story wasn't for me.

A special thanks to Headline and NetGalley for providing me an advanced copy of this book to review.

A very sweet and enjoyable read. Loved the pacing and progression of the story itself, and the use of flashbacks.

All the characters introduced felt necessary to aid the story’s direction.

Truly left me giggling at times for sure.

Definitely recommend if you enjoy sweet, cosy reads.

- Small town
- Both MC are writers/ inspiring writers
- Forced proximity
- The chances to heal
- Best Friend's death
- Mention of cancer
- Parents death
- Single dad

"That's what I said"- I absolutely love Ivy

Becca's life has been turned upside down. Her best friend was involved in a crash and passed away, work is all over the place especially due to her boss, she is an inspiring children's who is struggling to get words to paper and her ex boyfriend turned up at Rae's funeral only for Becca to discover they wanted to get married and she knew nothing about it.

Riley, fellow author and online bestie invites Becca to come and stay with him and his daughter in Ireland, to not only help them both with writers block but also a well needed change of scenery. Becca presumed at first that Riley was female romance author and to her surprised when she arrived on Riley's door step and saw a male Riley (she wasn't the only one)


The romance aspect was a back burn of the story. The main focus was Becca's growth from her struggling through her grief and finding a place where she felt like she belonged and felt like she was becoming herself. Because of this I would have liked the ending to be different about Becca being happy with herself and allowed her to be a published author on her own. Instead of ending up with Riley it would have been nice to see them reconnecting at the end and begin to dating in the epilogue. If the book was more romance based I would have loved the ending that was included with the book.
Saying that the romance side within the book, I felt it needed more time connecting between Becca and Riley as I didn't feel the usually build up between, not enough chemistry. It just felt rushed and also what else felt rushed was the twists in the plot after about 70% it just felt like one thing after the other rather than being spaced out a bit more. If the book was a bit longer the plot and character development could have been better. Maybe if we had less on the past flash backs and more on the present.

Overall. I really enjoyed the book I couldn't put it down. I ended up crying over the cancer scare aspect as I am currently going through a family member with cancer (different form though- prostate) and I haven't yet allowed more self to have a moment. But reading about it really hit me which I wasn't expecting, I will definitely be reading more work by Breea Keenan

Thank you Netgalley and Headline for a copy of the book for an honest review

When Irish writer Riley invites fellow Scottish writer Becca to their country getaway, Becca jumps at the chance to work on her book whilst spending time with her female friend. What Becca doesn't realize is that Riley is a guy and a hot one at that. And that's just the first plot twist...

I listened to this audiobook as I read along with my ebook. If you have the chance to listen to this one on audio, I highly recommend it. There's something about the Scottish and Irish accents that just puts you in the right mood for romance. This book had a cute storyline with likable characters that kept me fully entertained throughout. Congratulations on your debut Breea Keenan - I can't wait to see what you write next.

THIS WAS SO CUTE. The characters. The development. The cover. All of it, it’s adorable. Highly recommend.

Oh my god, what a sweet and enjoyable romance read Becca and Riley were both amazing main characters, and there were so many side characters that I really enjoyed reading about such as Ivy, Bridget and Ellie!

I really wish we got to see a POV from Riley, as I know it would have been amazing to hear his thoughts! We love a man who’s a romance author AND a big romantic.

This story also writes about grief in such a beautiful and realistic way - I started tearing up on the train when it got to the part where Becca visits Rae’s grave😢.

It would have been nice to see a little bit more of a transition from friends to lovers. Since it is a closed door romance I would have loved to see more of the chemistry and tension build up between them before getting together.

Side note: the epilogue was amazing (a very rare opinion from me)!!

The major thing missing from the book was the pre book timeline - how long were Rae and Drew together? How long ago was it that Drew and Becca were together? The confusing timeline made the whole best friend not telling about dating your best friend's ex really confusing and misplaced. There was no context. Becca and Riley was a great story.

The MFC is the most selfish character ever. Like you are at your best friends funeral and you are making a scene, being a beach and making it all about you??? Yeah I don't care if you find love cause you are so unlikeable and selfish that honestly girl doesn't deserve it.

When Becca needs a change of scenery, her online BFF, Riley, a yoga doing romance writer invites her to come have a make shift writers retreat with her and her daughter for the summer. Becca hops a boat from Glasgow to Belfast, and wouldn't you know, Riley is actually a man.

They give the living and writing together a chance, Becca tries to avoid her feelings, his daughter Ivy stole the show, and they're friendship slowly grows into maybe something more. He has amazing people in his corner. She has grief to work through and a drama causing ex, but no matter what the reader is rooting for them to hopefully work out their feelings.

Overall this was a such a good read. More chick lit than romcom but enough chemistry and butterflies that the closed door romance really worked with the plot/what we knew about the characters and their relationship. There was a *lot* going on though, so many different things aiding to little conflicts throughout that it felt like it distracted from the story a bit and a few plot lines that felt unresolved, BUT, the grand gesture in the epilogue was toooo perfect 🥰 would definitely read this author again!



Thank you Netgalley and Headline, Headline Accent for the ARC in exchange for my review!

Some days, you need a read where you know what's going to happen, and you can wrap yourself up in the comfort of it. I can practically see the Hallmark movie version of this (though I'd hate to think what they'd do with the accents; Northern Irish and Scottish are not easy to fake unless you're Nicola Coughlan.)

I loved the gentle, easy writing in this, and the characters are fantastic, especially Riley's sister and her partner. I'd love to stay in their hotel as it's described here! The details were beautifully chosen and really well written. There are also some very important things said about grief here, which I - well, 'enjoyed' feels wrong, but I certainly thought they were worth reading.

This is a great read and I highly recommend it. I can't wait to start selling it.