Plot Twist is the second book in Erin La Rosa’s Hollywood Series.
The book takes place in Los Angeles where Sophie is trying to finish her second romance novel, but has writer’s block. While drunk at a Karaoke bar, she unwisely announces that she has never been in love and that love isn’t real, and her embarrassing moment is caught on camera and posted to TikTok where it goes viral.
Dash, the hero of the story is a recovering alcoholic from a famous Hollywood family, Sophie’s childhood crush, and also her landlord and brother of her best friend. They start getting close when Dash is sent to check on Sophie the morning that her TikTok video goes viral.
I was really looking forward to reading this book and I was quite disappointed once I did (I seriously considered setting it aside after about 30%, but I persevered.) A lot of my problems with this book are fairly personal, so I don’t want to discourage anyone from reading it. There are a lot of fun parts, I just feel like it could have been so much better.
There are some spoilers ahead, so please read the rest of this review with caution.
Let’s start with what I liked.
I really liked the side characters, and I liked the fact that there were several LGBTQ+ characters and that they did not appear (at least to me) to be over the top portrayals of stereotypes as are so often seen in books and movies.
The book was funny at times, there were some scenes that really made me laugh.
Unlike some, I didn’t really mind the TikTok references, they were kind of cute, although as others have said they may make the book feel dated in a few years.
I liked that Sophie had a pacemaker, that was completely unexpected and I wish the author had talked more about that and how it affected or didn’t affect Sophie’s life, aside from the fact that it provided a way for her to have met her ex, Carla.
I really loved Richard (Dick) the squirrel, and Rain Boots, Sophie’s pet goldfish.
Things that I did not like.
I won’t mention the number of tropes in this book because I’m sure you’ve read it in other reviews, let’s just say there are a lot.
If I had to read one more time how Sophie’s canine tooth was peeking out and how Dash thought it was so attractive I think I would have thrown my ereader across the room. I don’t know why it irritated me so much, but it just kept coming up again, and again, and again, and again.
I felt like the whole thing about betraying one’s friend by dating their brother (or betraying one’s sister by dating their best friend) was ridiculously overdone. Is it going to affect the friend’s life? Yes if things don’t work out, otherwise not so much, unless the friend/sister is so possessive of the people in her life that she wants all their attention for herself. It just felt weird that both Sophie and Dash kept making such a big deal of it. And Poppy’s reaction on finding out about their relationship felt like she was throwing a childish temper tantrum.
Sophie complaining about people avoiding her, but then as soon as she thinks someone is mad at her, she avoids them like the plague. It just struck me that she had a bit of a double standard there.
Then there was Sophie’s sleeping with Dash all while trying to rekindle her relationship with her ex, Carla.. I can’t stand a romance with cheating. I don’t care if they hadn’t said they were exclusive yet, Sophie was giving the impression that she wanted to start a committed relationship and sleeping with someone else was not that. Even without any of the other things I didn’t like about the book, the cheating would have ruined the book for me. And then Sophie shows up at the Carla’s work and dumps her while Carla is on her lunch break. Having been dumped on the phone while I was at work myself, this just made me hate Sophie.
Despite how it sounds, this wasn’t a terrible book, and I think lots of people will love it, I just don’t think it was the book for me.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing a free copy of this book for reviewing.
Plot Twist will be available on November 14 2023.
Life, Tea, and Everything 