Love Unscripted by Tina Reber

Love Unscripted by Tina Reber
Series: Love #1
Published by: Atria Books on September 8, 2012
Genre: Contemporary, Erotica, Romance
Pages: 576
Source: NetGalley
Buy on Amazon • Book Details
Rating: ★★★

An A-List Movie Star...
Ryan Christensen just wanted to be an actor. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine a life where fans would chase him, paparazzi would stalk him, and Hollywood studios would want to own him. While filming in Seaport, Rhode Island, Ryan ducks into a neighborhood bar for a quick escape from legions of screaming fans…and finds much more than he expected.

A Small Town Girl...
Nursing a recent heartbreak, Taryn Mitchell believes men are best kept at a safe distance. But when Ryan Christensen unexpectedly bursts through the front door of her pub, she can't help but be drawn in by his humor, charm, and undeniable good looks. At six foot two, with dirty blond hair, blue eyes, and an incredible body, Ryan has every girl in Seaport swooning. But Taryn isn't every other girl.

A Relationship that Doesn't Follow the Script...
Despite her better judgment, Taryn soon finds herself falling hard for Ryan. But is their bond strong enough to survive the tabloid headlines, the relentless paparazzi, and the jealous fans who seem determined to tear them apart?

I honestly have very little idea as to how to go about writing this review. Love Unscripted really conflicted me. I absolutely loved the first half of the book. There wasn’t much drama, but it was all about Taryn meeting Ryan and them falling in love. It was sweet, sexy, the pacing was great, and I loved watching the romance grow and develop. After the first half, small things started to really bug me. They weren’t that big of the deal, but I was really opinionated about those small things so they stood out to me a lot. Then, I thought the end of this book was a bit far-fetched and ridiculous.

What made Love Unscripted enjoyable for me was that fact that it is so real. The dialogue in this book is so natural! When Ryan and Taryn meet, they have some sweet conversations, some awkward moments, and some sexual tension. It’s all there! We don’t just get the perfect lovey dovey moments.. we also get the uncertainty and the awkwardness and the shyness. And I love it!!

Unfortunately, around the 65% mark, I started to have my first real annoyances with the story — more specifically, the romance. I feel like as soon as Taryn saw another handsome man, she was in danger of cheating on Ryan. She literally just took one look at a hot guy and thought to herself, “My relationship is now in trouble.” Just the way it was worded made it seem like Taryn had no self restraint whatsoever. And then shortly after, Taryn started being extremely stereotypical. She made many comments that basically talked about how “men have needs” and they need sex all the time, and men really just want to jump from woman to woman all the time. And sure, in some cases that’s true, but it’s really unfair to apply that to all men. And the way she screamed about it made her sound pretty silly and naïve.

Why couldn’t the security company send me an old guy? Holy shit, he’s young and gorgeous! This is not good.

It could only be guilt that tormented me; guilt for allowing my eyes to look at another man. I had to get him out of my apartment—fast.

If I had his opportunities, would I be out there playing the field or would I want a relationship with one person? Well, that was an easy question to answer. Of course I’d want a meaningful relationship with one man. But men are different creatures.

Men, however, don’t always think with the brain that sits between their ears. All too often it’s the little brain in their pants that takes over.

Then, a love triangle emerged. It was one of the most annoying love triangles I’ve ever read. It felt very Jacob and Edward. The second love interest made it seem like Taryn had to give something up to be with Ryan (her privacy/security), but if she were with the other guy instead, she wouldn’t have to give up anything. I immediately thought of Twilight because of the way Jacob would say that Bella had to give up her mortality and the possibility of pregnancy to be with Edward, but if she were with Jacob instead she wouldn’t have to give up anything.

Another issue I had with Love Unscripted was the pacing. This wasn’t a problem at all for me at the beginning. The first half of the book takes place over the span of one month, but the second half of the book seems to take place over the span of about 4-5 months. So the first half was fine, but the second half often felt very choppy. The story would sometimes jump hours or even days in advance with very little “warning” or proper transitioning. Often it just let me confused as to what exactly happened. I had to go back and reread sentences until I finally realized that we had jumped ahead to another day.

I’ll address the length of this story for a minute just because this book is over 550 pages. This is a really long story. For the most part I wasn’t really bored, despite the fact that the first 3/4 of the book was relatively drama-free. But as I got to about 70 or 75% done, I did notice several parts that just seemed to drag on or were really unnecessary and underdeveloped.

This review has been really critical so far, but it wasn’t a bad story. I actually enjoyed it a lot! There were just a few small things that I was really opinionated on, so hence all the criticism. But putting that aside, I really enjoyed the story and unique situation. It was really fun to get a glimpse into the world of Hollywood romance and the difficulties that go along with it! Except for a few issues with Taryn’s behaviour (such as being really annoying about money), and the aforementioned love triangle, I really loved the romance in Love Unscripted. It was imperfect, it was sweet, it required a lot of work, there were many hurdles to jump, but Taryn and Ryan really loved each other and I adored that! The relationship felt very real and they had great chemistry!

I know the length of Love Unscripted is kind of intimidating, but it’s a really enjoyable book and I definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a fun, different contemporary romance! The end is a little ridiculous, but at least things do get wrapped up pretty well!

The Verdict