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Love #1
Love Unscripted
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?
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?
668 pages, Paperback
First published March 6, 2010
About the author
Tina Reber
14 books4,610 followersI am a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of adult contemporary romance. I'm so glad you've stopped by and/or have sent me a friend request. Unfortunately,I get quite bogged down on a daily basis and tend not to respond to direct messages to me on GR. I answer all messages sent to me on my Facebook author page: http://facebook.com/authortinareber. All of my latest information can be found on my website: http://tinareber.com. Want to send me a private message or have a question? Send me an email at authortinareber@gmail.com.
Hugs and Happy Reading!!
Hugs and Happy Reading!!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,533 reviews
January 18, 2021
OK, so....I'm sitting here sort of stunned by the exorbitantly high rating this book has received. Truth be told, I'm slightly disgusted. I usually hate not finishing books because I don't feel I can give them a thorough review otherwise, but this book was chock full of so much awful that it's actually drained me of the desire to read. I've slogged through my fair share of bad stories for the sake of comprehensive reviews, but I really don't think I can manage this one. Every time I look at my Kindle, a nearly-irrepressible desire to go do something else overcomes me, and I hear my brain screaming at me to just turn on a video game and try to forget any of this ever happened.
It didn't begin this way. Sure, I recognized from the start the simplistic writing, the stilted dialogue, the tendency to get comma placement wrong, and the author's story-crushing tendency to list everything her protagonist does, but I thought, "Hey, it's no worse than some of the other books I've read." How could I have been so wrong?
First complaint; it's just too damn long. I feel like I spent about three years reading it, and I'm only 25% through. I'm a fast reader, so fast that my seeming inability to make headway on this story is actually confusing to me. When I think of trying to make it all the way to the end, I get that vertigo effect. Then I get scared.
Now, like I said before, it doesn't start off terrible. Mediocre, yes, but not terrible. I was a little wary when I realized that Taryn is apparently the only woman in the entire state of Rhode Island not willing to drop trou for Ryan Christensen, but that wasn't such a big deal. A lot of authors aren't very good at giving their main character a balanced personality. Or any personality at all, come to think of it....
Anyway, it isn't until Taryn and Ryan meet that things go from mildly bad to "oh, my god, stop. Stop now." Once they begin the process of getting to know one another, things go from uncomfortable and awkward for them to uncomfortable and awkward for the reader. Their smarmy flirting is nothing short of nauseating, and the author gets a serious thumbs-down for employing one of the lamest tactics in writing; the completely pointless "let's quote our favorite movies to prove we have things in common" ploy.
The scene is bad enough, but when it's compounded with the author's blatant disregard for all rules of writing, things get even worse. Apparently Ms. Reber missed that all-important lesson Show Don't Tell, because the reader is continually treated to having the obvious pointed out to them. Taryn and Ryan are attempting to distract each other while playing pool. After reading about both of their attempts (which succeeded in making the target lose concentration and thus, miss their shot), I was treated to this:
"I see!" He laughed. "You don't play fair either!"
I grinned and shrugged; we both were busted trying to distract each other.
Then there's this little gem. Ryan takes Taryn to have dinner with a couple of his friends, and these friends have a little girl named Cami. Obviously, this is the part in the book where the author attempts to make her readers swoon over how good Ryan is with children while simultaneously making Ryan more obsessed with Taryn for her obvious knack with children.
"'Come here you!' Ryan scooped her up and kissed her on her cheeks before spinning her around in his arms to tickle her belly. Her giggles were precious."
First, gag me. Second, here's the very next sentence; "They obviously knew each other very well."
You just showed us, don't tell us.
Some of my other favorite awful lines?
"Looking him in the eyes was like taking a shot of truth serum."
"I brushed my teeth to rid my mouth of the nasty taste and washed my body twice to rid my pores of illness."
"Every time I tried to reach for his finger, he'd move his hand away and chuckle. Our little game was fun."
Again, do we really need to be told their "little game was fun"? Is it not enough that we read about them laughing while being flirtatious? Oh, my bad, I thought Taryn wasn't having fun. I thought she was attempting to draw attention to that fact by laughing, smiling, and playing along. How silly of me.
"For some unknown reason, I followed him over to the stage."
Unknown reason? It couldn't have perhaps been the fact that they were conversing while he walked around her bar?
Captain Obvious would love this. Twice, in just the first quarter of the book, Taryn repeated something she said to someone almost in the same paragraph. Imagine a conversation going like this; "I thought we'd take the boat out on the lake, do some fishing?" "You...you fish?" "Sure, that's why I brought you here, I thought we'd take the boat out on the lake."
Or like this: "Hey, I thought I'd hire an extra bartender to help us out. It's just too much for the two of us." "Yeah, that's a good idea, we've been getting slammed lately." "Yeah, just until the movie people are gone. I just think it's too much for just the two of us."
The amount of cliched metaphors are frequent and glaring, but I think my favorite was, "He was like a kid in a candy store, so happy and relaxed."
If you're going to use a metaphor, at least use it correctly. Kids in candy stores aren't generally relaxed, they're excited, hence the reason you would use said metaphor for someone who is excited.
*Sigh*
Oh, but that reminds me! Ryan can't seem to stop exclaiming things! I suppose I shouldn't be surprised since any author who carelessly overuses metaphors, similes, and descriptors is a prime candidate for the overuse of the exclamation point, but it adds another awkward layer to this blunder sandwich! Any time Taryn does/says something that Ryan likes, he has a little mini celebration, saying things like, "Nice!" and "Good job!" It's completely condescending and weird! At one point, Taryn is rewarded for a good pool shot with a "Gentle high-five hand slap" a term which, after having read it aloud to my brother, caused him to insist that I finish reading this book, if for nothing else but to glean more gems like that one.
That's not even the worst of it, however. Even more off-putting is his exclamations of otherwise commonplace utterances. More often than not, he responds to Taryn's simple questions and teasing with exclamations. In fact, I think the only times he doesn't is when he's been thrown into one of his "brooding" moods by the paparazzi. When he's not unnecessarily enraged, however, he comes across as so disturbingly exuberant that I couldn't help but picture him as one of those insanely perky people who are always so chipper.
Come to think of it, Ryan just might be a dangerously unbalanced individual. Several times, within the same page, he will go from this:
To this:
Oh, and what the hell is with all the reminders? Every other freakin' page, we're reminded, via Taryn's mind-numbingly monotonous inner monologue, just how insecure and "damaged" she is. Oh, there's no way he wants to be with me, he could have any woman he wants. Besides, he'll just end up a cheating bastard like my ex-fiance, Thomas. (Yes, I already knew who Thomas was, I did not need the full title. I wonder if, "Ex-fiance Thomas" is his full name...) Readers only need to be shown something once, maybe twice. There's a certain wisdom in the old, "Shake it more than twice and you're playing with it" logic, and it can be applied to several different areas in life. In writing a book, if you have to tell your readers something more than twice, this the overall feeling they get:
Either you're this stupid or you think we are.
Now let's talk about how often these dunderheads laugh, chuckle, snicker, giggle, smirk, smile, and grin. Seemingly every sentence uttered ends on a laugh, giggle, or snicker. Ms. Reber couldn't even have the decency to throw in a good "chortle" just to mix things up. But the people in this book laugh so much one can't help wondering if maybe they're high. Or perhaps just simple in the head? At one point, Taryn and Ryan "both smirked and grinned" at each other. I hadn't realized those two things were separate and could be done simultaneously! Who knew?!
Slightly more disquieting than the possibility of synonyms being antonyms was Ryan's ever-present stalker smile. Seriously, the guy never wipes the damn grin off his face, and it's that kind of unconscious antagonism that will end up getting him punched by a girl like me who thinks guys who smile constantly are creepy.
^Point made^
I've forgiven certain authors for a lot of things, not least of which is bad grammar. While Ms. Reber isn't as bad as some, her understanding of certain technicalities is lacking. There are commas where there shouldn't be commas, open spaces where there should be commas, sentence structure is lackluster at best, there are some spelling errors, and the pace is awful. As I've already stated, the overuse of similes and metaphors is astounding; Taryn's mouth hangs open "like a fish out of water", she "gazes lovingly at Ryan", Ryan "kisses her passionately". Enough with the descriptors already! Just stop!
There's an absurd amount of "whispering" from certain characters, the characters themselves are cliche's, thus highly predictable, and being subjected to Taryn's thought processes regarding her doubts is akin to Chinese water torture. They should use this book at Gitmo...
As for any humor Ms. Reber attempted,while I'm sure there are some who are absolutely astounded by her wit, I was...well, this about sums it up:
My husband claims I have to finish reading it in order to completely justify my review. I both agree and disagree, citing my intense dislike after only ingesting 25% of it as evidence that I will feel no differently once I've managed to wade through the rest of its shlocky nonsense. But I may get up the energy to finish it. I know I'd have moreammunition material if I read the whole thing, but how long can I reasonably make this review? Guess we'll have to wait and see.
Edit: I've managed to make it to 41%. How? I'm not sure. Extreme boredom, I guess. Which, sadly, this book is helping to alleviate purely by means of completely pissing me off. A note, Ms. Reber, the phrase is "Every once in a while," not "every once and a while." If you fancy yourself a writer, you should probably at least attempt to have common English phrases under control.
I'm not going to read any more of this book. It's bringing out entirely too much rage, and the temptation to add even more gifs to this review is nearly overpowering...and I think it's long enough. I can't resist one more, though. Why would anyone read this book? Oh, right...
It didn't begin this way. Sure, I recognized from the start the simplistic writing, the stilted dialogue, the tendency to get comma placement wrong, and the author's story-crushing tendency to list everything her protagonist does, but I thought, "Hey, it's no worse than some of the other books I've read." How could I have been so wrong?
First complaint; it's just too damn long. I feel like I spent about three years reading it, and I'm only 25% through. I'm a fast reader, so fast that my seeming inability to make headway on this story is actually confusing to me. When I think of trying to make it all the way to the end, I get that vertigo effect. Then I get scared.
Now, like I said before, it doesn't start off terrible. Mediocre, yes, but not terrible. I was a little wary when I realized that Taryn is apparently the only woman in the entire state of Rhode Island not willing to drop trou for Ryan Christensen, but that wasn't such a big deal. A lot of authors aren't very good at giving their main character a balanced personality. Or any personality at all, come to think of it....
Anyway, it isn't until Taryn and Ryan meet that things go from mildly bad to "oh, my god, stop. Stop now." Once they begin the process of getting to know one another, things go from uncomfortable and awkward for them to uncomfortable and awkward for the reader. Their smarmy flirting is nothing short of nauseating, and the author gets a serious thumbs-down for employing one of the lamest tactics in writing; the completely pointless "let's quote our favorite movies to prove we have things in common" ploy.
The scene is bad enough, but when it's compounded with the author's blatant disregard for all rules of writing, things get even worse. Apparently Ms. Reber missed that all-important lesson Show Don't Tell, because the reader is continually treated to having the obvious pointed out to them. Taryn and Ryan are attempting to distract each other while playing pool. After reading about both of their attempts (which succeeded in making the target lose concentration and thus, miss their shot), I was treated to this:
"I see!" He laughed. "You don't play fair either!"
I grinned and shrugged; we both were busted trying to distract each other.
Then there's this little gem. Ryan takes Taryn to have dinner with a couple of his friends, and these friends have a little girl named Cami. Obviously, this is the part in the book where the author attempts to make her readers swoon over how good Ryan is with children while simultaneously making Ryan more obsessed with Taryn for her obvious knack with children.
"'Come here you!' Ryan scooped her up and kissed her on her cheeks before spinning her around in his arms to tickle her belly. Her giggles were precious."
First, gag me. Second, here's the very next sentence; "They obviously knew each other very well."
You just showed us, don't tell us.
Some of my other favorite awful lines?
"Looking him in the eyes was like taking a shot of truth serum."
"I brushed my teeth to rid my mouth of the nasty taste and washed my body twice to rid my pores of illness."
"Every time I tried to reach for his finger, he'd move his hand away and chuckle. Our little game was fun."
Again, do we really need to be told their "little game was fun"? Is it not enough that we read about them laughing while being flirtatious? Oh, my bad, I thought Taryn wasn't having fun. I thought she was attempting to draw attention to that fact by laughing, smiling, and playing along. How silly of me.
"For some unknown reason, I followed him over to the stage."
Unknown reason? It couldn't have perhaps been the fact that they were conversing while he walked around her bar?
Captain Obvious would love this. Twice, in just the first quarter of the book, Taryn repeated something she said to someone almost in the same paragraph. Imagine a conversation going like this; "I thought we'd take the boat out on the lake, do some fishing?" "You...you fish?" "Sure, that's why I brought you here, I thought we'd take the boat out on the lake."
Or like this: "Hey, I thought I'd hire an extra bartender to help us out. It's just too much for the two of us." "Yeah, that's a good idea, we've been getting slammed lately." "Yeah, just until the movie people are gone. I just think it's too much for just the two of us."
The amount of cliched metaphors are frequent and glaring, but I think my favorite was, "He was like a kid in a candy store, so happy and relaxed."
If you're going to use a metaphor, at least use it correctly. Kids in candy stores aren't generally relaxed, they're excited, hence the reason you would use said metaphor for someone who is excited.
*Sigh*
Oh, but that reminds me! Ryan can't seem to stop exclaiming things! I suppose I shouldn't be surprised since any author who carelessly overuses metaphors, similes, and descriptors is a prime candidate for the overuse of the exclamation point, but it adds another awkward layer to this blunder sandwich! Any time Taryn does/says something that Ryan likes, he has a little mini celebration, saying things like, "Nice!" and "Good job!" It's completely condescending and weird! At one point, Taryn is rewarded for a good pool shot with a "Gentle high-five hand slap" a term which, after having read it aloud to my brother, caused him to insist that I finish reading this book, if for nothing else but to glean more gems like that one.
That's not even the worst of it, however. Even more off-putting is his exclamations of otherwise commonplace utterances. More often than not, he responds to Taryn's simple questions and teasing with exclamations. In fact, I think the only times he doesn't is when he's been thrown into one of his "brooding" moods by the paparazzi. When he's not unnecessarily enraged, however, he comes across as so disturbingly exuberant that I couldn't help but picture him as one of those insanely perky people who are always so chipper.
Come to think of it, Ryan just might be a dangerously unbalanced individual. Several times, within the same page, he will go from this:
To this:
Oh, and what the hell is with all the reminders? Every other freakin' page, we're reminded, via Taryn's mind-numbingly monotonous inner monologue, just how insecure and "damaged" she is. Oh, there's no way he wants to be with me, he could have any woman he wants. Besides, he'll just end up a cheating bastard like my ex-fiance, Thomas. (Yes, I already knew who Thomas was, I did not need the full title. I wonder if, "Ex-fiance Thomas" is his full name...) Readers only need to be shown something once, maybe twice. There's a certain wisdom in the old, "Shake it more than twice and you're playing with it" logic, and it can be applied to several different areas in life. In writing a book, if you have to tell your readers something more than twice, this the overall feeling they get:
Either you're this stupid or you think we are.
Now let's talk about how often these dunderheads laugh, chuckle, snicker, giggle, smirk, smile, and grin. Seemingly every sentence uttered ends on a laugh, giggle, or snicker. Ms. Reber couldn't even have the decency to throw in a good "chortle" just to mix things up. But the people in this book laugh so much one can't help wondering if maybe they're high. Or perhaps just simple in the head? At one point, Taryn and Ryan "both smirked and grinned" at each other. I hadn't realized those two things were separate and could be done simultaneously! Who knew?!
Slightly more disquieting than the possibility of synonyms being antonyms was Ryan's ever-present stalker smile. Seriously, the guy never wipes the damn grin off his face, and it's that kind of unconscious antagonism that will end up getting him punched by a girl like me who thinks guys who smile constantly are creepy.
^Point made^
I've forgiven certain authors for a lot of things, not least of which is bad grammar. While Ms. Reber isn't as bad as some, her understanding of certain technicalities is lacking. There are commas where there shouldn't be commas, open spaces where there should be commas, sentence structure is lackluster at best, there are some spelling errors, and the pace is awful. As I've already stated, the overuse of similes and metaphors is astounding; Taryn's mouth hangs open "like a fish out of water", she "gazes lovingly at Ryan", Ryan "kisses her passionately". Enough with the descriptors already! Just stop!
There's an absurd amount of "whispering" from certain characters, the characters themselves are cliche's, thus highly predictable, and being subjected to Taryn's thought processes regarding her doubts is akin to Chinese water torture. They should use this book at Gitmo...
As for any humor Ms. Reber attempted,while I'm sure there are some who are absolutely astounded by her wit, I was...well, this about sums it up:
My husband claims I have to finish reading it in order to completely justify my review. I both agree and disagree, citing my intense dislike after only ingesting 25% of it as evidence that I will feel no differently once I've managed to wade through the rest of its shlocky nonsense. But I may get up the energy to finish it. I know I'd have more
Edit: I've managed to make it to 41%. How? I'm not sure. Extreme boredom, I guess. Which, sadly, this book is helping to alleviate purely by means of completely pissing me off. A note, Ms. Reber, the phrase is "Every once in a while," not "every once and a while." If you fancy yourself a writer, you should probably at least attempt to have common English phrases under control.
I'm not going to read any more of this book. It's bringing out entirely too much rage, and the temptation to add even more gifs to this review is nearly overpowering...and I think it's long enough. I can't resist one more, though. Why would anyone read this book? Oh, right...
July 20, 2012
"I don't want anyone else - just you. And no matter where I am, wherever I go, you're the only one who is holding my heart." ~Ryan
I was told that this book was basically "like Thoughtless minus Denny" and boy were they freaking RIGHT!! For those of you who were also fans of Thoughtless, remember those heart racing moments where you just had to keep turning the pages and probably couldn't stop even if you wanted to?? Well oh boy does this book have you doing that too! I swear I barely blinked for the final 25%.
The story is told from the perspective of Taryn Mitchell, the owner of a bar in a small town which is being used to shoot the next major huge Hollywood movie. Starring in this movie is the world's biggest, hottest, most coveted celebrity actor Ryan Christensen (think RPattz at the height of the Twilight fame except maybe even bigger!!). He is running away from rabid fans one day and ends up in taking refuge in her bar and the rest is history.
I really like how Taryn's character was not infatuated with his movie star persona (she hadn't even seen any of his movies) and how Ryan was such a down to earth, normal guy dealing with uber-mega fame. Both their characters were instantly likable... Ryan is totally adorable! He definitely made the book boyfriend list :)
I loved that their relationship progressed at a believable pace... they had instant attraction but didn't just jump into bed instantly, they flirted, got to know each other, their relationship developed ... it was really fun to read!
Ryan and Taryn were adorable together!! I loved how crazy they were about each other and how hard they both fought to make their relationship work no matter what.
"Gently he rolled me onto my back; his eyes opened and locked onto mine. 'Are you sure? 'cuz I want you more than air right now.'" ~Ryan
I loved that the book dealt with pretty much every situation a couple in their position (big-time romantic hero lead movie star + regular girl) would have to deal with in real life: dealing with tabloids printing lies, being followed by rabid fans, cameras, paparazzi literally everywhere , crazy obsessed stalkers, feelings of jealousy (dealing with him having to kiss hot actresses for his movies), invasion of privacy, the importance of staying grounded and having a close knit family, being able to trust each other, dealing with constant separation (shooting schedules), etc...
"The biggest question in my mind was whether peace and insanity could survive together in harmony."
But what made all of that *points above* bearable was how functional they were as a couple. They talked through their issues. There was very little irrationality in either of their actions. Sure there were misunderstandings and drama but I could definitely understand how those situations arose, and it wasn't out of stupidity.
Thankfully though, there is no cheating in this book. And while it doesn't end with a HEA, you definitely get the idea that they are headed for one. Its not a cliffhanger either, but lets just say, there is a lot more to their story.
I think Ryan sums the story up pretty well:
"...its our crazy story... Its been ours, only ours. There's been a lot of romance, sometimes way too much drama... Very memorable comedy, a few pulse-racing action scenes... We've also had out fair share of suspense and raw terror, and unfortunately gut-wrenching heartache too. But through it all you've loved me, unconditionally, and I know how fortunate I am to have your love..." (the scene goes on to happy mushy stuff which I won't spoil for you lol)
Basically, if you liked Thoughtless, you are almost certainly guaranteed to like this!! And if you haven't read Thoughtless, and you are just a fan of romance, you are almost certain to love this. The characters feel very real, the story is engaging and the love story is utterly adorable :)
Here are some quotes:
Advice from Taryn's best friend (they give the best advice, no?? lol): "You know what I think? I think you should stop all this nonesense and screw the shit out of him until he passes out from exhaustion...you'll have to feed him, of course, to keep his energy level up, but make sure you hide his clothes so he can't get dressed. Men can't run when they're naked."
"Ryan... you know damn well you can get any girl you want whenever you want. There are women all around the globe who would pay to have sex with you..."
He started laughing. "How much money do you think I could make from all these women who want to have sex with me?"
"Billions."
"Really? Help me drag a mattress out into the front yard. You can sell lemonade and I'll just fuck people all day!" he cackled."
"Do I have to make a poster and scream Ryan, Ryan?" I kidded.
"The only time I want to hear you scream my name is when I'm making love to you. Although you did call me God the other night. That's acceptable, too."
For more of my reviews, come to http://aestasbookblog.com
Or join http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aestas-...
I was told that this book was basically "like Thoughtless minus Denny" and boy were they freaking RIGHT!! For those of you who were also fans of Thoughtless, remember those heart racing moments where you just had to keep turning the pages and probably couldn't stop even if you wanted to?? Well oh boy does this book have you doing that too! I swear I barely blinked for the final 25%.
The story is told from the perspective of Taryn Mitchell, the owner of a bar in a small town which is being used to shoot the next major huge Hollywood movie. Starring in this movie is the world's biggest, hottest, most coveted celebrity actor Ryan Christensen (think RPattz at the height of the Twilight fame except maybe even bigger!!). He is running away from rabid fans one day and ends up in taking refuge in her bar and the rest is history.
I really like how Taryn's character was not infatuated with his movie star persona (she hadn't even seen any of his movies) and how Ryan was such a down to earth, normal guy dealing with uber-mega fame. Both their characters were instantly likable... Ryan is totally adorable! He definitely made the book boyfriend list :)
I loved that their relationship progressed at a believable pace... they had instant attraction but didn't just jump into bed instantly, they flirted, got to know each other, their relationship developed ... it was really fun to read!
Ryan and Taryn were adorable together!! I loved how crazy they were about each other and how hard they both fought to make their relationship work no matter what.
"Gently he rolled me onto my back; his eyes opened and locked onto mine. 'Are you sure? 'cuz I want you more than air right now.'" ~Ryan
I loved that the book dealt with pretty much every situation a couple in their position (big-time romantic hero lead movie star + regular girl) would have to deal with in real life: dealing with tabloids printing lies, being followed by rabid fans, cameras, paparazzi literally everywhere , crazy obsessed stalkers, feelings of jealousy (dealing with him having to kiss hot actresses for his movies), invasion of privacy, the importance of staying grounded and having a close knit family, being able to trust each other, dealing with constant separation (shooting schedules), etc...
"The biggest question in my mind was whether peace and insanity could survive together in harmony."
But what made all of that *points above* bearable was how functional they were as a couple. They talked through their issues. There was very little irrationality in either of their actions. Sure there were misunderstandings and drama but I could definitely understand how those situations arose, and it wasn't out of stupidity.
Thankfully though, there is no cheating in this book. And while it doesn't end with a HEA, you definitely get the idea that they are headed for one. Its not a cliffhanger either, but lets just say, there is a lot more to their story.
I think Ryan sums the story up pretty well:
"...its our crazy story... Its been ours, only ours. There's been a lot of romance, sometimes way too much drama... Very memorable comedy, a few pulse-racing action scenes... We've also had out fair share of suspense and raw terror, and unfortunately gut-wrenching heartache too. But through it all you've loved me, unconditionally, and I know how fortunate I am to have your love..." (the scene goes on to happy mushy stuff which I won't spoil for you lol)
Basically, if you liked Thoughtless, you are almost certainly guaranteed to like this!! And if you haven't read Thoughtless, and you are just a fan of romance, you are almost certain to love this. The characters feel very real, the story is engaging and the love story is utterly adorable :)
Here are some quotes:
Advice from Taryn's best friend (they give the best advice, no?? lol): "You know what I think? I think you should stop all this nonesense and screw the shit out of him until he passes out from exhaustion...you'll have to feed him, of course, to keep his energy level up, but make sure you hide his clothes so he can't get dressed. Men can't run when they're naked."
"Ryan... you know damn well you can get any girl you want whenever you want. There are women all around the globe who would pay to have sex with you..."
He started laughing. "How much money do you think I could make from all these women who want to have sex with me?"
"Billions."
"Really? Help me drag a mattress out into the front yard. You can sell lemonade and I'll just fuck people all day!" he cackled."
"Do I have to make a poster and scream Ryan, Ryan?" I kidded.
"The only time I want to hear you scream my name is when I'm making love to you. Although you did call me God the other night. That's acceptable, too."
For more of my reviews, come to http://aestasbookblog.com
Or join http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aestas-...
January 19, 2012
I read this book based on all the great reviews.. I'm still trying to figure out the hype. It dragged on forever, touching on every possible thing that *could* have happened. The writing style was very free flow, weeks pass in a couple of paragraphs - or minutes take pages and pages. I remember getting to the last page, seeing the words "sequel" and thinking.. wtf? why?
As a love story, it’s got a lot of intrigue, and the concept/star-aspect was novel to me, but both of the main characters were so one dimensional. There was really no character development for either Taryn or Ryan, which I think really was the catalyst for the story feeling so unfulfilling to me. In someways, it was actually a regression for Taryn – she went from being an independent woman to a co-dependent, hysterical mess. (I’m still trying to figure out how any of her wonderfully devoted friends would have been willing to sit by or even support this relationship that completely obliterated any personality she had!)
The ending felt contrived. Taryn and Ryan were woven into a co-dependent relationship where neither one of them were willing to admit that something had to give, but somehow, all the distrust was wrapped up with an engagement ring… Maybe the sequel will address some of these issues, but I don’t know that I’d be willing to invest the time into seeing it through.
Update: I actually reread this book again, thinking I had misjudged it. I actually think I had overrated it. Reading it left me morose and grumpy all day.
As a love story, it’s got a lot of intrigue, and the concept/star-aspect was novel to me, but both of the main characters were so one dimensional. There was really no character development for either Taryn or Ryan, which I think really was the catalyst for the story feeling so unfulfilling to me. In someways, it was actually a regression for Taryn – she went from being an independent woman to a co-dependent, hysterical mess. (I’m still trying to figure out how any of her wonderfully devoted friends would have been willing to sit by or even support this relationship that completely obliterated any personality she had!)
The ending felt contrived. Taryn and Ryan were woven into a co-dependent relationship where neither one of them were willing to admit that something had to give, but somehow, all the distrust was wrapped up with an engagement ring… Maybe the sequel will address some of these issues, but I don’t know that I’d be willing to invest the time into seeing it through.
Update: I actually reread this book again, thinking I had misjudged it. I actually think I had overrated it. Reading it left me morose and grumpy all day.
July 1, 2012
Unfortunately I'm not going to finish this book. It's that simple.
Overly polite, quirky and enthusiastic people freak me out. This is similar to the dialogue throughout the eternally long book:
Ryan: Good Morning, my love! Do you want some coffee?
Taryn: Oh, I can't believe you asked you huge, handsome movie actor! Yes, I would love a cup of coffee...are you really talking to me?
Ryan: It's just so hard...will you really give up your life for my undeserving self?
Taryn: Darling, how could you ever doubt me? Let's go to the park and feed the ducks!
Ryan: Let me hold the door for you, Oh almighty goddess!!!
Taryn: Thanks! I love your compliments!
There's not much else to say. I gave the book two stars. One because I had to, the second because I actually thought the plot had some potential.
Sadly mistaken. If Ms. Reber can get away with this crap then I'll be the next Stephanie Meyer.
They should do a sketch on this with Zooey Deschanel as Taryn and Bill Hader as Ryan.
Overly polite, quirky and enthusiastic people freak me out. This is similar to the dialogue throughout the eternally long book:
Ryan: Good Morning, my love! Do you want some coffee?
Taryn: Oh, I can't believe you asked you huge, handsome movie actor! Yes, I would love a cup of coffee...are you really talking to me?
Ryan: It's just so hard...will you really give up your life for my undeserving self?
Taryn: Darling, how could you ever doubt me? Let's go to the park and feed the ducks!
Ryan: Let me hold the door for you, Oh almighty goddess!!!
Taryn: Thanks! I love your compliments!
There's not much else to say. I gave the book two stars. One because I had to, the second because I actually thought the plot had some potential.
Sadly mistaken. If Ms. Reber can get away with this crap then I'll be the next Stephanie Meyer.
They should do a sketch on this with Zooey Deschanel as Taryn and Bill Hader as Ryan.
July 13, 2012
Ok so what is with the high ratings Goodreads?? I have never felt so let down by reviews and I'm still struggling to understand the love for this book.
Love Unscripted was like, literary blue balls. The book is 670 pages long and there is no climax to the story until about 85% into the book. What the hell?!?! You could have pulled about 300 pages and it wouldn't have affected the story at all. It was torture, but I felt like it wouldn't be fair to write a review, to warn my friends unless I saw the book through. I love you friends, but I won't be doing that again. The book progressed so slowly and the same things were reiterated over and over "hes famous why would he want to be with me" "he will find someone else" "will i be enough" OK ALREADY! The characters are pretty hip and young, Taryn owns a pub and he is a famous actor, so why the crap referring to each other as sweetheart and honey?? I could overlook it once or twice but this is how they spoke throughout the book.
As slow as the book progressed, there were events in the story that were so rushed, and sloppy that I actually had to go back thinking I accidentally skipped over pages. This happened often. Also, I am a huge fan of exclamation points, I dont apologize for that but even I thought they were so grossly over used, so much so that I was starting to think that Ryan was actually Armenian and just spoke loudly like we do ;) Done. I cant even go on there is so much wrong with this book I could probably go on forever and right now Im sort of pissed. lol Maybe I should have waited a few days to calm down.
I know authors put their heart and soul into books and I hate to leave such a terrible review but I seriously felt like I wasted the last three days of my life in this book and I just want to make sure my friends dont lose any precious reading time.
Love Unscripted was like, literary blue balls. The book is 670 pages long and there is no climax to the story until about 85% into the book. What the hell?!?! You could have pulled about 300 pages and it wouldn't have affected the story at all. It was torture, but I felt like it wouldn't be fair to write a review, to warn my friends unless I saw the book through. I love you friends, but I won't be doing that again. The book progressed so slowly and the same things were reiterated over and over "hes famous why would he want to be with me" "he will find someone else" "will i be enough" OK ALREADY! The characters are pretty hip and young, Taryn owns a pub and he is a famous actor, so why the crap referring to each other as sweetheart and honey?? I could overlook it once or twice but this is how they spoke throughout the book.
As slow as the book progressed, there were events in the story that were so rushed, and sloppy that I actually had to go back thinking I accidentally skipped over pages. This happened often. Also, I am a huge fan of exclamation points, I dont apologize for that but even I thought they were so grossly over used, so much so that I was starting to think that Ryan was actually Armenian and just spoke loudly like we do ;) Done. I cant even go on there is so much wrong with this book I could probably go on forever and right now Im sort of pissed. lol Maybe I should have waited a few days to calm down.
I know authors put their heart and soul into books and I hate to leave such a terrible review but I seriously felt like I wasted the last three days of my life in this book and I just want to make sure my friends dont lose any precious reading time.
August 3, 2012
I'm a guy who never writes reviews, nor do I read Romantic or erotic novels. However I was intrigued to find out what the hoopla was with 50 Shades of Grey. Thank goodness for my kindle, or I would of received a bunch of crap from family, friends and co workers. When I finished the last book in the series, I wanted more....
Next read pointed to Love Unscripted, so I purchased it. I was so wrapped in the characters, I couldn't put this book down. This book is so well written, characters so real, and emotional! I'm not an emotional guy mind you, I don't cry during movies or while reading books. By the end of this read, however I had tears running down my face (and a box of Kleenex by my side), so many up and downs, so many twist, turns. geeesh
This book has made me a fan and is a new favorite! I'm anxiously waiting for the second book and the movie (in the works).
Just my thoughts.....
Next read pointed to Love Unscripted, so I purchased it. I was so wrapped in the characters, I couldn't put this book down. This book is so well written, characters so real, and emotional! I'm not an emotional guy mind you, I don't cry during movies or while reading books. By the end of this read, however I had tears running down my face (and a box of Kleenex by my side), so many up and downs, so many twist, turns. geeesh
This book has made me a fan and is a new favorite! I'm anxiously waiting for the second book and the movie (in the works).
Just my thoughts.....
Shelved as 'finish-later'
July 22, 2012I think I'm going to put this book on the shelf for the time being. I'm at 30% and having a difficult time staying focused or interested in the story.
I think this is one of those books that work when it's cold outside, you're snuggled in a blanket, and in the mood for a long, well written, but drawn-out story. That's not the mood I'm in right now.
I think this is one of those books that work when it's cold outside, you're snuggled in a blanket, and in the mood for a long, well written, but drawn-out story. That's not the mood I'm in right now.
March 4, 2012
CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT MORE BOOK REVIEWS AT READING, EATING & DREAMING I WAS BLAIR WALDORF
Where to begin?
Love Unscripted by Tina Reber is one of the BEST books I have ever read. I am obsessed with this book. In fact, I could easily become one of the crazy stalker fans you read about in this novel. I didn't just like this story… I was completely overwhelmed by it.
What makes a book AMAZING?
In my opinion, when reading an amazing book or watching a fantastic movie, the reader/audience "becomes" the character. You put yourself in their shoes, so when the character is happy, you’re happy…when their heart breaks, your heart breaks. Well, I "was" Taryn.
What made Love Unscripted such a mind-blowing novel?
Everything.
Characters. Plot. Writing Style. Conflict. Ending. (You name it!)
Taryn and Ryan are authentic, relatable, amazing characters. Since this story is told from Taryn’s perspective, I related with her the most.
Taryn has been hurt before and this makes it hard for her to trust again. I think that is something most young adults can comprehend (I know I can), and this just makes you appreciate her character that much more. I understood just about every choice she made in the novel because they were the same choices I would have made in her shoes. She’s adorable.
Ryan is a gorgeous movie star, and he constantly has paparazzi and groupies chasing him. You may think, “Ah, poor baby. He has it so hard”, but his life really isn’t easy. Ryan isn’t the character you’d expect a young, handsome, millionaire, movie star to be. He isn’t cocky or egotistical. He’s precious. Reber shows you his insecurities and you can’t help but FALL IN LOVE with him.
I enjoyed every scene in this book, but the scenes where Taryn and Ryan are just getting to know one another were some of the best scenes ever. I completely adored the pool table scene, when the characters each pull the “flirt and distract” move. (I've totally pulled the flirt and distract pool table moves before, and the fact that Reber included this in the story made me relate to the story and characters even more). I’d love to go scene-by-scene and tell you why this novel is so incredible, but I don’t want to give away the entire book. You really need to read and discover for yourself why this novel is so freaking great.
How can you say a novel is relatable when the plot is based on the challenges of dating a movie star?
Well, unfortunately no, I haven’t dated a movie star (I’m still waiting for Ian Somerhalder to return my love letters! - KIDDING!) Still, I related to this novel every step of the way. Reber writes this story so you “know” the characters and you understand their motivations and emotions. You watch Taryn and Ryan’s relationship develop slowly (you are a part of it), and you easily understand their fears, dreams and troubles. Most women in their twenties have been betrayed by a guy, have dealt with trust issues, or have struggled with jealousy; Reber incorporated these everyday issues into Taryn and Ryan’s relationship, so readers can easily relate.
Who is this book for?
Love Unscripted isn’t a young adult book. Technically, it is in the adult genre! The main characters Taryn and Ryan are in their mid-twenties. I think this is a great book for people 17 and up, mainly women. This novel contains a lot of sexual innuendoes, some sex and some adult language. I can't tell anyone what books they are allowed to read, but I'd STRONGLY recommend this novel for older teens.
Love Unscripted is the first book in a series. As of now, Reber has plans for a three book series, but this isn’t concrete so there could be more. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Taryn and Ryan!
I gave Love Unscripted by Tina Reber 5 STARS. If you haven’t picked up on it already, I thought this book was award-winning material! I strongly urge everyone over the age of 17 to purchase this novel immediately. I can pretty much guarantee you will fall in love with Taryn and Ryan, just like I did. (PS: I read this novel three days ago, and I could easily pick it back up again to re-read! Yes, I liked it that much.)
-XOXO
READING, EATING & DREAMING
Where to begin?
Love Unscripted by Tina Reber is one of the BEST books I have ever read. I am obsessed with this book. In fact, I could easily become one of the crazy stalker fans you read about in this novel. I didn't just like this story… I was completely overwhelmed by it.
What makes a book AMAZING?
In my opinion, when reading an amazing book or watching a fantastic movie, the reader/audience "becomes" the character. You put yourself in their shoes, so when the character is happy, you’re happy…when their heart breaks, your heart breaks. Well, I "was" Taryn.
What made Love Unscripted such a mind-blowing novel?
Everything.
Characters. Plot. Writing Style. Conflict. Ending. (You name it!)
Taryn and Ryan are authentic, relatable, amazing characters. Since this story is told from Taryn’s perspective, I related with her the most.
Taryn has been hurt before and this makes it hard for her to trust again. I think that is something most young adults can comprehend (I know I can), and this just makes you appreciate her character that much more. I understood just about every choice she made in the novel because they were the same choices I would have made in her shoes. She’s adorable.
Ryan is a gorgeous movie star, and he constantly has paparazzi and groupies chasing him. You may think, “Ah, poor baby. He has it so hard”, but his life really isn’t easy. Ryan isn’t the character you’d expect a young, handsome, millionaire, movie star to be. He isn’t cocky or egotistical. He’s precious. Reber shows you his insecurities and you can’t help but FALL IN LOVE with him.
I enjoyed every scene in this book, but the scenes where Taryn and Ryan are just getting to know one another were some of the best scenes ever. I completely adored the pool table scene, when the characters each pull the “flirt and distract” move. (I've totally pulled the flirt and distract pool table moves before, and the fact that Reber included this in the story made me relate to the story and characters even more). I’d love to go scene-by-scene and tell you why this novel is so incredible, but I don’t want to give away the entire book. You really need to read and discover for yourself why this novel is so freaking great.
How can you say a novel is relatable when the plot is based on the challenges of dating a movie star?
Well, unfortunately no, I haven’t dated a movie star (I’m still waiting for Ian Somerhalder to return my love letters! - KIDDING!) Still, I related to this novel every step of the way. Reber writes this story so you “know” the characters and you understand their motivations and emotions. You watch Taryn and Ryan’s relationship develop slowly (you are a part of it), and you easily understand their fears, dreams and troubles. Most women in their twenties have been betrayed by a guy, have dealt with trust issues, or have struggled with jealousy; Reber incorporated these everyday issues into Taryn and Ryan’s relationship, so readers can easily relate.
Who is this book for?
Love Unscripted isn’t a young adult book. Technically, it is in the adult genre! The main characters Taryn and Ryan are in their mid-twenties. I think this is a great book for people 17 and up, mainly women. This novel contains a lot of sexual innuendoes, some sex and some adult language. I can't tell anyone what books they are allowed to read, but I'd STRONGLY recommend this novel for older teens.
Love Unscripted is the first book in a series. As of now, Reber has plans for a three book series, but this isn’t concrete so there could be more. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Taryn and Ryan!
I gave Love Unscripted by Tina Reber 5 STARS. If you haven’t picked up on it already, I thought this book was award-winning material! I strongly urge everyone over the age of 17 to purchase this novel immediately. I can pretty much guarantee you will fall in love with Taryn and Ryan, just like I did. (PS: I read this novel three days ago, and I could easily pick it back up again to re-read! Yes, I liked it that much.)
-XOXO
READING, EATING & DREAMING
Read
June 19, 2012I'm looking forward to the second book. I did have a little issue with Ryan (won't spoil), but he redeemed himself at the end. :)
July 16, 2012
So, since I got my Kindle I've gone a little crazy with the freebie or super-cheap self-published books. I read that damned 50 Shades trilogy, which was terrible but also had some elements that got under my skin, and I suppose I was looking for something completely different to take the edge off. Well, I found it.
Because... Edge? There is no edge here. This is a bland story about bland people doing bland things in the blandest of ways. The only thing that's really exciting about any of it is the mystery of how I made it all the way to the end. It wasn't easy, believe me. It was RIDICULOUSLY long and in DESPERATE need of an editor. Every character was either unlikable from the start or just became that way as the story unfolded.
Oh, and there's this kind of stuff:
(totally paraphrased)
We went into the bathroom, which was blue and the wallpaper had pink flowers and my toothbrush was on the counter and Ryan started the water in the shower and he waited for it to get warm and then when it did he got in and then I stood there and watched him for a minute because he was so glorious and hot and then I got in too and then he shampooed my hair and rinsed it, not once, but twice, and then he used my soap that smelled like flowers to wash my body and then I shampooed him and then I washed him and then I blew him and then we got out and he went down on me on the bathroom counter. Where my toothbrush was still sitting, on the left hand side of the sink.
Pages and pages of this stuff. And yet, other, more major things would happen with no details at all. Huh??
More gripes:
(1) Details change throughout the story willy-nilly. One guy is described as being almost bald but still sexy, and then later runs his fingers through his hair in frustration. Um... ?
(2) Every other person in the world is in love with either Ryan or Taryn and is desperate to break them up or kill them or something.
(3) Taryn is angry at the paparazzi for taking pictures, the agents for forcing Ryan to have a career, the co-stars for wanting to screw him and the fans for wanting autographs. Really angry. All the time. ALL. THE. TIME. She never shuts up about how pathetic and worthless they all are. It's exhausting.
(4) The exclamation points!! So many exclamation points! And the whispering! WHO whispers this much?
(5) There's an extraordinary amount of "smirking" going on. These people "smirk" at each other constantly. If I was with someone who smirked at me that much I would kill him.
Oh! New drinking game! Every time someone smirks, asks for an autograph, whispers, exclaims something or tries to break these two up, take a shot. You'll be hammered within two pages.
Now I'm a fast reader, but it took me four days to read this book. FOUR DAYS. Four days of my life that I will never get back. I have no idea why I stuck with it except maybe I just felt like I needed to be punished. Badly. With a whip or something.
Where is Christian Grey when you need him?
Because... Edge? There is no edge here. This is a bland story about bland people doing bland things in the blandest of ways. The only thing that's really exciting about any of it is the mystery of how I made it all the way to the end. It wasn't easy, believe me. It was RIDICULOUSLY long and in DESPERATE need of an editor. Every character was either unlikable from the start or just became that way as the story unfolded.
Oh, and there's this kind of stuff:
(totally paraphrased)
We went into the bathroom, which was blue and the wallpaper had pink flowers and my toothbrush was on the counter and Ryan started the water in the shower and he waited for it to get warm and then when it did he got in and then I stood there and watched him for a minute because he was so glorious and hot and then I got in too and then he shampooed my hair and rinsed it, not once, but twice, and then he used my soap that smelled like flowers to wash my body and then I shampooed him and then I washed him and then I blew him and then we got out and he went down on me on the bathroom counter. Where my toothbrush was still sitting, on the left hand side of the sink.
Pages and pages of this stuff. And yet, other, more major things would happen with no details at all. Huh??
More gripes:
(1) Details change throughout the story willy-nilly. One guy is described as being almost bald but still sexy, and then later runs his fingers through his hair in frustration. Um... ?
(2) Every other person in the world is in love with either Ryan or Taryn and is desperate to break them up or kill them or something.
(3) Taryn is angry at the paparazzi for taking pictures, the agents for forcing Ryan to have a career, the co-stars for wanting to screw him and the fans for wanting autographs. Really angry. All the time. ALL. THE. TIME. She never shuts up about how pathetic and worthless they all are. It's exhausting.
(4) The exclamation points!! So many exclamation points! And the whispering! WHO whispers this much?
(5) There's an extraordinary amount of "smirking" going on. These people "smirk" at each other constantly. If I was with someone who smirked at me that much I would kill him.
Oh! New drinking game! Every time someone smirks, asks for an autograph, whispers, exclaims something or tries to break these two up, take a shot. You'll be hammered within two pages.
Now I'm a fast reader, but it took me four days to read this book. FOUR DAYS. Four days of my life that I will never get back. I have no idea why I stuck with it except maybe I just felt like I needed to be punished. Badly. With a whip or something.
Where is Christian Grey when you need him?
May 23, 2013
This book was long...I mean wayyyyyyyyy too long for the storyline...It was hard for me to get into and the excessive use or words killed it for me.
Taryn was sooooo annoying at times...
Ryan
Taryn was sooooo annoying at times...
Ryan
September 8, 2012
Read more of my reviews and ramblings at Ana's Attic Sexy Tales
Review of 2nd reading, one year later: First thing you need to know about Love Unscripted by Tina Reber, besides that I absolutely loved it even more the second time, is that it is L-O-N-G. This is not a bad thing! Not at all. This is a like reading a book trilogy all in one. And I would have been happy and satisfied if it ended after Love Unscripted. But when you find out there is a sequel, you just want to “squeeee!”
I read Love Unscripted in September of 2011. I have read probably about 225 books since then, but this one has stood the test for me. Knowing that Love Unrehearsed comes out next week, I decided to do a re-read so it is nice and fresh in my mind. Normally I post at Ana’s Attic daily. Did you notice I skipped a day? I couldn’t put the book down. Since I know all of you who read my blog can understand that obsession, I figured you’d let me slide.
Taryn Mitchell owns a bar by the ocean (and lives above it) in Rhode Island. Ryan Christensen (think Robert Pattinson, fame-wise) is filming the second movie based on a book trilogy nearby. Taryn isn’t the type to be star-struck. She has never read the books, or seen any of his movies, and doesn’t understand why her friends and every woman in a 2 hour radius is screaming his name. One morning, as she steps out the front door of her bar, Ryan comes running down the street with screaming fans chasing him. He ducks through the bar asking for the back door, and the fans think he escaped. But he had accidentally used the door to Taryn’s apartment. In the midst of a panic attack, scratched up and with ripped clothes, Taryn let him calm down, cleaned him up, and ended up spending the day together in the closed bar.
From the minute they started talking, I was smiling. Both characters were so real and likable. Ryan is so sweet and adorable, and Taryn, though a little too perfect for him was totally likable. One thing I really loved is how they took their time falling in love. Their relationship developed at a pretty slow pace at the beginning. Taryn was afraid of getting hurt when he leaves, and Ryan just wanted to take it slow to not scare her away. This would be my thoughts (and it was her friend’s):
“You know what I think? I think you should stop all this nonsense and screw the shit out of him until he passes out from exhaustion…you’ll have to feed him, of course, to keep his energy level up, but make sure you hide his clothes so he can’t get dressed. Men can’t run when they’re naked.”~Taryn’s BFF
As they became a serious couple, you couldn’t help but fall even further in love with them.
“Gently he rolled me onto my back; his eyes opened and locked onto mine. ‘Are you sure? ‘cuz I want you more than air right now.’” ~Ryan
Sure, they had a lot of realistic issues thrown at them. Mostly the paparazzi, and screaming fans, but they dealt with them well. If the whole book was like the first 2/3, I would have loved it and given it 5 happy stars. But then, BAM!!! Shit hit the fan, and everything started happening!!!! I couldn’t put the book down during the first 2/3, but during the last 2/3, there was NO. WAY. And this was a re-read!!!!
I laughed a lot, I cried, I swooned. I totally fell in love with Ryan all over again. I love that he never lost his down-to-earth personality. He loved acting, but hated the crap that went with it. I loved this book just as much, if not more, the second time around.
“I don’t want anyone else – just you. And no matter where I am, wherever I go, you’re the only one who is holding my heart.” ~Ryan
Loves:
-Ryan. His parents. Taryn’s friends.
-The length of the book allowed Tina to tell every little detail, and I loved them all.
-The slow warmup to love.
-Taryn’s insecurities were so real, I would have felt all the same things.
Things I wish happened: (I couldn’t find a dislike)
-I wish Ryan would have said “screw you” to his publicist and everyone else and screamed to the world how in love he was.
-I wish there was some more hot sex. Some good stuff was alluded to (they both had sore hips one day! Why exactly? I want to know!) Ryan was such a boy-next-door sweetheart, but he sounded hot in bed. Prove it!
Re-read rating: 5++++++++ stars, 3.5 Heat
The end was happy. I was good with it. Is it a HEA? Not really. More like a Happy-for-now. But lucky us, because book 2, Love Unrehearsed, comes out on September 14th!!!
Since I read Love Unscripted last year, I became Facebook friends with Tina Reber. I have to tell you, she is AWESOME. She is funny as hell, has AMAZING taste in men, (she posts hotties all the time), great taste in books, and she promised Love Unrehearsed will be even hotter. Tina will also be visiting us at Ana’s Attic!!! I’ll post more information very soon, but I can’t wait!!!
Love Unscripted (659 juicy pages) will be available for all e-readers on September 10th. Until then, you can get it at AMAZON.
Original review from September 2011:
Wow wow wow. I LOVE LOVE LOVED it!!! Notice the repeats? Well, obviously I felt pretty strongly about it. I'm exhausted because I barely slept, having to finish the book. For 2 days all I did was smile, then my heart broke and I cried and I was happy again.....
The fact that it was so nice and long was the best thing! We took our time getting to know the characters, and they took their time falling in love (or at least admitting it). I loved all the characters in the book, even the few I hated!
Ryan needs to get his ass out there and scream from the rooftops as he said, and maybe Taryn wouldn't be so insecure. But who can blame her? I just hope in the next book Ryan keeps that part of his personality that would never be a cheater, and that Taryn doesn't overreact. But then again, there wouldn't be much of a story then would there?
I must say, at first I thought it was just a nice, meaty, feel good love story. Superstar falls for ordinary girl forever....the end. And honestly, the way it was written, that would have been OK. I was loving it. The first half of the book or more I couldn't stop smiling. But putting the realistic obstacles a couple like that would face just sealed the deal for me.
5+ stars.
Review of 2nd reading, one year later: First thing you need to know about Love Unscripted by Tina Reber, besides that I absolutely loved it even more the second time, is that it is L-O-N-G. This is not a bad thing! Not at all. This is a like reading a book trilogy all in one. And I would have been happy and satisfied if it ended after Love Unscripted. But when you find out there is a sequel, you just want to “squeeee!”
I read Love Unscripted in September of 2011. I have read probably about 225 books since then, but this one has stood the test for me. Knowing that Love Unrehearsed comes out next week, I decided to do a re-read so it is nice and fresh in my mind. Normally I post at Ana’s Attic daily. Did you notice I skipped a day? I couldn’t put the book down. Since I know all of you who read my blog can understand that obsession, I figured you’d let me slide.
Taryn Mitchell owns a bar by the ocean (and lives above it) in Rhode Island. Ryan Christensen (think Robert Pattinson, fame-wise) is filming the second movie based on a book trilogy nearby. Taryn isn’t the type to be star-struck. She has never read the books, or seen any of his movies, and doesn’t understand why her friends and every woman in a 2 hour radius is screaming his name. One morning, as she steps out the front door of her bar, Ryan comes running down the street with screaming fans chasing him. He ducks through the bar asking for the back door, and the fans think he escaped. But he had accidentally used the door to Taryn’s apartment. In the midst of a panic attack, scratched up and with ripped clothes, Taryn let him calm down, cleaned him up, and ended up spending the day together in the closed bar.
From the minute they started talking, I was smiling. Both characters were so real and likable. Ryan is so sweet and adorable, and Taryn, though a little too perfect for him was totally likable. One thing I really loved is how they took their time falling in love. Their relationship developed at a pretty slow pace at the beginning. Taryn was afraid of getting hurt when he leaves, and Ryan just wanted to take it slow to not scare her away. This would be my thoughts (and it was her friend’s):
“You know what I think? I think you should stop all this nonsense and screw the shit out of him until he passes out from exhaustion…you’ll have to feed him, of course, to keep his energy level up, but make sure you hide his clothes so he can’t get dressed. Men can’t run when they’re naked.”~Taryn’s BFF
As they became a serious couple, you couldn’t help but fall even further in love with them.
“Gently he rolled me onto my back; his eyes opened and locked onto mine. ‘Are you sure? ‘cuz I want you more than air right now.’” ~Ryan
Sure, they had a lot of realistic issues thrown at them. Mostly the paparazzi, and screaming fans, but they dealt with them well. If the whole book was like the first 2/3, I would have loved it and given it 5 happy stars. But then, BAM!!! Shit hit the fan, and everything started happening!!!! I couldn’t put the book down during the first 2/3, but during the last 2/3, there was NO. WAY. And this was a re-read!!!!
I laughed a lot, I cried, I swooned. I totally fell in love with Ryan all over again. I love that he never lost his down-to-earth personality. He loved acting, but hated the crap that went with it. I loved this book just as much, if not more, the second time around.
“I don’t want anyone else – just you. And no matter where I am, wherever I go, you’re the only one who is holding my heart.” ~Ryan
Loves:
-Ryan. His parents. Taryn’s friends.
-The length of the book allowed Tina to tell every little detail, and I loved them all.
-The slow warmup to love.
-Taryn’s insecurities were so real, I would have felt all the same things.
Things I wish happened: (I couldn’t find a dislike)
-I wish Ryan would have said “screw you” to his publicist and everyone else and screamed to the world how in love he was.
-I wish there was some more hot sex. Some good stuff was alluded to (they both had sore hips one day! Why exactly? I want to know!) Ryan was such a boy-next-door sweetheart, but he sounded hot in bed. Prove it!
Re-read rating: 5++++++++ stars, 3.5 Heat
The end was happy. I was good with it. Is it a HEA? Not really. More like a Happy-for-now. But lucky us, because book 2, Love Unrehearsed, comes out on September 14th!!!
Since I read Love Unscripted last year, I became Facebook friends with Tina Reber. I have to tell you, she is AWESOME. She is funny as hell, has AMAZING taste in men, (she posts hotties all the time), great taste in books, and she promised Love Unrehearsed will be even hotter. Tina will also be visiting us at Ana’s Attic!!! I’ll post more information very soon, but I can’t wait!!!
Love Unscripted (659 juicy pages) will be available for all e-readers on September 10th. Until then, you can get it at AMAZON.
Original review from September 2011:
Wow wow wow. I LOVE LOVE LOVED it!!! Notice the repeats? Well, obviously I felt pretty strongly about it. I'm exhausted because I barely slept, having to finish the book. For 2 days all I did was smile, then my heart broke and I cried and I was happy again.....
The fact that it was so nice and long was the best thing! We took our time getting to know the characters, and they took their time falling in love (or at least admitting it). I loved all the characters in the book, even the few I hated!
Ryan needs to get his ass out there and scream from the rooftops as he said, and maybe Taryn wouldn't be so insecure. But who can blame her? I just hope in the next book Ryan keeps that part of his personality that would never be a cheater, and that Taryn doesn't overreact. But then again, there wouldn't be much of a story then would there?
I must say, at first I thought it was just a nice, meaty, feel good love story. Superstar falls for ordinary girl forever....the end. And honestly, the way it was written, that would have been OK. I was loving it. The first half of the book or more I couldn't stop smiling. But putting the realistic obstacles a couple like that would face just sealed the deal for me.
5+ stars.
April 24, 2014
I couldn’t help but think of the lyrics to Michael Buble’s Home when I read this book: “May be surrounded by, A million people I, still feel all alone… I just wanna go home.” This is how Tina Rebar portrays her hero Ryan Christienson. He’s insanely famous, woman all over the world worship him, and yet he’s the most lonely man on the planet. His dream is to just a have a nice quiet weekend with his family at home, without being bothered. I love how she shows this side of being a celebrity.
Taryn is a smart business woman who likes her quiet life, and she’s been burned in relationships so she’s a little standoffish when it comes to men. She is a paradox. She’s strong and confident, completely self sufficient in life, but totally insecure in relationships (mostly because of her experiences). Her insecurities are tested to the limits when she get involved with a man who literally has women throwing themselves at him (that would test any woman’s self esteem). Not to mention how hard it would be having the public constantly making nasty comments about you.
Still, despite the difficulties of having a relationship that is under constant public scrutiny, they fall madly in love. I read a lot of romances from YA to erotic and I have to say, Love Unscripted had the sweetest love scene I’ve ever read. I had butterflies flitting around my belly when I read it. It was amazing. I loved watching Taryn and Ryan struggle, it was so emotional. What I loved the most though is how Taryn treats Ryan like a person, not a celebrity. There is a scene where Ryan burps and I love her reaction. “If your fans only knew!” I teased, giving him a nudge with my hip. “It would definitely blow your whole mysterious, sexy image thing! That was weak, by the way. I’m hardly impressed. I give that one a 2.7.” “See, this is why I love you. You don’t judge my foulness, you grade it!” These normal moments between them were fun.
I loved this book and I can’t wait for book2. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a good romance.
October 20, 2011
Oh, it pains me to give this book only 2.5 stars. LU started off as an awesome story. I would rate the first half of the book 5 stars. The tension, romance, banter, playfulness of Ryan and Taryn were so believable and honest. I loved it and thought I'd found a new 5 star read.
The book went MAJORLY downhill from there. All of the things I loved about the characters just stopped. It seemed like a different writer was writing the rest of the story. It drug, and drug, and drug into repetitive boredom. NO romance existed in the second half of the book except at the very end which was very abrupt and left me just feeling irritated. This book should have easily been condensed into a 350-400 page story and resolved itself w/a HEA. I cannot believe there is a sequel. I don't think I can handle more of the jealousy, and separation. BAH!!! C'mon!
Oh, and there was WAY to much "honeying" going on. It got on my nerves.
The book went MAJORLY downhill from there. All of the things I loved about the characters just stopped. It seemed like a different writer was writing the rest of the story. It drug, and drug, and drug into repetitive boredom. NO romance existed in the second half of the book except at the very end which was very abrupt and left me just feeling irritated. This book should have easily been condensed into a 350-400 page story and resolved itself w/a HEA. I cannot believe there is a sequel. I don't think I can handle more of the jealousy, and separation. BAH!!! C'mon!
Oh, and there was WAY to much "honeying" going on. It got on my nerves.
September 26, 2012
I'm going to DNF this one. I might go back to it one day - yeah probably not. I keep asking myself if I got a bad unedited copy because there are so many great ratings for this book. This book is so ridiculously long that it made my head hurt trying to get halfway through it. Now, I am one for seeing how a romance builds up but this is just over-the-top corny at times...and boring. I don't want to know about these characters daily routines. I don't want to know Ryan's schedule. I don't want to know that he has to go to the bathroom and that he is shy about it. Ugh. Every time I would think this is it, I'm going to finish the book today, I would find something else to read or do - like my Friday Night Lights episode binges. So, basically what I'm trying to say here is, this book really didn't work for me.
Shelved as 'did-not-finish'
February 4, 2012DNF. I was hoping for another incredible book like How to Kill a Rock Star, but I'm not getting the same vibe. HTK was incredible, this one is just...boring.
The main character seems like a bit of a contradiction. He's supposed to be shy, yet he exclaims, snickers and smirks a lot...
The main character seems like a bit of a contradiction. He's supposed to be shy, yet he exclaims, snickers and smirks a lot...
October 27, 2012
OMG, I'm completely and utterly drained... the last few hours of this book has torn my heart to shreds!! I need time to recover here. Review to follow... just know, it was good.
"Taryn Mitchell," he said, looking me in the eyes. "I love you. With all my heart."
I felt all the blood rush from my body and surge right into my chest. All this time I waited for a man to say those words to me and mean it, and now I was hearing them from the one person I had hoped would say them.
I gazed into his eyes and said what was in my heart. It was as easy and natural as breathing.
"I love you too - more than anything in this world."
I TOTALLY LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!! What a refreshing change from all of the angst and smut. This was a beautiful romance between two unlikely people, a small town girl, who was a no one in particular, and a big time someone, a famous movie star, who was every girl's dream. How they met, fell in love, and made it work was nothing more than amazing!!
Taryn Mitchell was a 27 year old girl from Seaport, Rhode Island, who owned an ran a pub she inherited from her grandfather, and her parents who recently died in a car accident. Taryn was a beautiful girl with a broken heart. She not only lost her family, but also her fiancé, after she discovered him cheating on her with another women. Taryn put the pieces back together though, and was content and happy just hanging out with her friends and running her pub. She had no interest in romance or men at all for that matter, or so she thought.
So recently, Taryn's friends Tammy and Maria have been gushing over the latest celebrity!! An actor whose been filming on location in their hometown. Honestly, Taryn didn't see what the hype was all about. Sure he was good looking, but to her... nothing special. It bothered her how women would go crazy over these random celebrities. So she was totally caught off guard, the day she met him...
Ryan Christensen, the man who had it all. He was gorgeous, he was wealthy, and he had fame... in fact.. he had too much fame. He was also 27...but he was a movie star, as in Hollywood, as in a household name!! Every woman wanted him, he was sexy and charismatic, and his fans followed him everywhere. So much so, that when on location in Seaside, RI, when only out for a short break, he found himself seeking cover from a crowd of women chasing him. And that is when he met her...
Taryn saw him running, she saw the crowd chasing him... she though, no way... that is just wrong. Give the guy some space, she thought... so she did. Taryn caught his eye on the street, he said, "Do you have a back door?" She said, "Sure, come in here." He entered her pub, she locked the door to protect him, and this is where is all began.
Yes, there was instant attraction, but there was also caution, and fear, on both sides. The story unfolds from here. It is sweet and romantic, and Taryn is swept off her feet by none other that the most eligible bachelor on the planet!!! But of course, it must be too good to be true, or is it?
There are so many beautiful romantic lines in this story, I couldn't even begin to quote them all. Ryan is amazing. He really is the man of her dreams. The only problem is that they've both been hurt in the past, and have trouble trusting not only each other but their own feelings as well. And then there is everyone else. Everyone who want to keep them apart. I mean, how could they possibly have anything in common?
I get goosebumps just thinking about these two. The instant attraction and romance that ensues is just amazing!!! Ryan and Taryn are truly made for each other, however, it seems that everyone else wants to keep them apart. And with the trust issues that they both possess, it makes it almost impossible for them to work things out. And without mentioning spoilers... the last 25% of this book kept me glued to the page!!!
It was not without its ups and downs...but the ending was totally worth the turmoil!!!! This book gets no less than 5 stars from me!!!! I recommend it to anyone who loves true romance. So much SWOOOOOON!!!! I can't wait to read the sequel!!!!
Here are my casting picks:
Ryan William Christensen
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Taryn Lynn Mitchell
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Oh.... and here is me... reading the last 25% of this book!!!
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"Taryn Mitchell," he said, looking me in the eyes. "I love you. With all my heart."
I felt all the blood rush from my body and surge right into my chest. All this time I waited for a man to say those words to me and mean it, and now I was hearing them from the one person I had hoped would say them.
I gazed into his eyes and said what was in my heart. It was as easy and natural as breathing.
"I love you too - more than anything in this world."
I TOTALLY LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!! What a refreshing change from all of the angst and smut. This was a beautiful romance between two unlikely people, a small town girl, who was a no one in particular, and a big time someone, a famous movie star, who was every girl's dream. How they met, fell in love, and made it work was nothing more than amazing!!
Taryn Mitchell was a 27 year old girl from Seaport, Rhode Island, who owned an ran a pub she inherited from her grandfather, and her parents who recently died in a car accident. Taryn was a beautiful girl with a broken heart. She not only lost her family, but also her fiancé, after she discovered him cheating on her with another women. Taryn put the pieces back together though, and was content and happy just hanging out with her friends and running her pub. She had no interest in romance or men at all for that matter, or so she thought.
So recently, Taryn's friends Tammy and Maria have been gushing over the latest celebrity!! An actor whose been filming on location in their hometown. Honestly, Taryn didn't see what the hype was all about. Sure he was good looking, but to her... nothing special. It bothered her how women would go crazy over these random celebrities. So she was totally caught off guard, the day she met him...
Ryan Christensen, the man who had it all. He was gorgeous, he was wealthy, and he had fame... in fact.. he had too much fame. He was also 27...but he was a movie star, as in Hollywood, as in a household name!! Every woman wanted him, he was sexy and charismatic, and his fans followed him everywhere. So much so, that when on location in Seaside, RI, when only out for a short break, he found himself seeking cover from a crowd of women chasing him. And that is when he met her...
Taryn saw him running, she saw the crowd chasing him... she though, no way... that is just wrong. Give the guy some space, she thought... so she did. Taryn caught his eye on the street, he said, "Do you have a back door?" She said, "Sure, come in here." He entered her pub, she locked the door to protect him, and this is where is all began.
Yes, there was instant attraction, but there was also caution, and fear, on both sides. The story unfolds from here. It is sweet and romantic, and Taryn is swept off her feet by none other that the most eligible bachelor on the planet!!! But of course, it must be too good to be true, or is it?
There are so many beautiful romantic lines in this story, I couldn't even begin to quote them all. Ryan is amazing. He really is the man of her dreams. The only problem is that they've both been hurt in the past, and have trouble trusting not only each other but their own feelings as well. And then there is everyone else. Everyone who want to keep them apart. I mean, how could they possibly have anything in common?
I get goosebumps just thinking about these two. The instant attraction and romance that ensues is just amazing!!! Ryan and Taryn are truly made for each other, however, it seems that everyone else wants to keep them apart. And with the trust issues that they both possess, it makes it almost impossible for them to work things out. And without mentioning spoilers... the last 25% of this book kept me glued to the page!!!
It was not without its ups and downs...but the ending was totally worth the turmoil!!!! This book gets no less than 5 stars from me!!!! I recommend it to anyone who loves true romance. So much SWOOOOOON!!!! I can't wait to read the sequel!!!!
Here are my casting picks:
Ryan William Christensen
Taryn Lynn Mitchell
Oh.... and here is me... reading the last 25% of this book!!!
July 20, 2012
This started out slow, got okay and got slow again.
Honestly I liked the characters all of them; Ryan, Taryn and her friends. They weren't bad, the story wasn't bad, it just wasn't for me. It was long, too long in my opinion. Too much filler where it could have been easily wrapped up in a sentence or two not numerous pages. The detail was numbing and the exclamation points were just too much. I lost track of the story and started counting how many were on a page and then in a paragraph...were they actually that excited all the time?
I understand there are books not everyone will agree on. This is not one for me.
Honestly I liked the characters all of them; Ryan, Taryn and her friends. They weren't bad, the story wasn't bad, it just wasn't for me. It was long, too long in my opinion. Too much filler where it could have been easily wrapped up in a sentence or two not numerous pages. The detail was numbing and the exclamation points were just too much. I lost track of the story and started counting how many were on a page and then in a paragraph...were they actually that excited all the time?
I understand there are books not everyone will agree on. This is not one for me.
February 16, 2013
I know a lot of people are really loving this series. And I can understand why, the idea behind this book is appealing. What woman doesn't fantasise about meeting their favourite Hollywood crush and having them fall madly in love with them! SWOON!
But while I really wanted to like the book and it did have potential, the author just waffled on and on! This book could have easily been 200 pages shorter and it would have been the better for it. Eventually the book went form being exciting and romantic to being something that I just wanted to hurry up and finish.
But while I really wanted to like the book and it did have potential, the author just waffled on and on! This book could have easily been 200 pages shorter and it would have been the better for it. Eventually the book went form being exciting and romantic to being something that I just wanted to hurry up and finish.
April 3, 2020
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
I loved it.
I loved it.
April 20, 2015
Funny story, heard such good things about this book but not able to get it on nook.... I totally hijacked my husbands kindle fire and bought it on there lol...Anyways, I loved Taryn and Ryan's love story, cannot wait for the second one!
March 18, 2011
Love Unscripted begins the story with our, ever so jaded, Taryn Mitchell, who's heart got crushed by her latest love and is quickly annoyed by the new 'visitors' in town. She's never even read the books or seen the first movie, so why should she care now? She's quite content with running her bar and being at peace with the whole non-dating bit. That is, till trouble walked (or flew) in her bar. Taking her heart and life as she knew it, to a whole new dimension...
~Ryan Christensen never thought that his overnight-fame would bring him to this. Bodyguards, screaming psychotic fans, paparazzi shoved in his face, while his ex is selling his life story to the rag-mags to make a quick buck. Filming the second movie to the popular books, Seaside, brings Ryan and the cast to Seaport-Rhode Island, and the fans here are just as crazy. Having no privacy and has trust issues of his own, he never thought he would meet someone he could actually fall in love with....
What a fun fun fun concept!! Tina Reber pens a really heartbreaking and heart-pounding 659pg play-by-play story about what's it's like to fall in love with a celebrity and exactly what it takes to get through this kind of relationship obstacle.
I don't know how many times I would fantasize about meeting my favorite star, and I while I know I'd be a bubbling idiot, it was such a blast to able to see it captured through the eyes of these characters.
Ryan and Taryn are the sweetest thing. They have such great chemistry, proven right from the start. That first meeting was probably one of my favorite scenes, it felt so natural and easy with that friendly-harmless-awkward flirting that just made me grin the entire time. I think that's the moment where it really pulled me into the story and had me completely invested in these characters lives. As the story unfolds we get an everyday set-up to how a star and a normal girl makes it in this kind of lifestyle.
These two will show you how it gets done!
I also loved Taryn's friends. They make me what to hang out at the bar, playing poker and pool. They were all well developed with some great zesty attitudes.
Bottom line, this was a great book, it's funny, it's sweet, it breaks your heart and lifts it over and over again.
It makes the impossible, possible and the insanity, sane, while it rides your imagination till the very last page.
A fun escape! Looking forward to continuing Ryan and Taryn story in, Love Unrehearsed!
Spacial thanks to Tina Reber for sending me this copy. It was awesome girl!
~Ryan Christensen never thought that his overnight-fame would bring him to this. Bodyguards, screaming psychotic fans, paparazzi shoved in his face, while his ex is selling his life story to the rag-mags to make a quick buck. Filming the second movie to the popular books, Seaside, brings Ryan and the cast to Seaport-Rhode Island, and the fans here are just as crazy. Having no privacy and has trust issues of his own, he never thought he would meet someone he could actually fall in love with....
What a fun fun fun concept!! Tina Reber pens a really heartbreaking and heart-pounding 659pg play-by-play story about what's it's like to fall in love with a celebrity and exactly what it takes to get through this kind of relationship obstacle.
I don't know how many times I would fantasize about meeting my favorite star, and I while I know I'd be a bubbling idiot, it was such a blast to able to see it captured through the eyes of these characters.
Ryan and Taryn are the sweetest thing. They have such great chemistry, proven right from the start. That first meeting was probably one of my favorite scenes, it felt so natural and easy with that friendly-harmless-awkward flirting that just made me grin the entire time. I think that's the moment where it really pulled me into the story and had me completely invested in these characters lives. As the story unfolds we get an everyday set-up to how a star and a normal girl makes it in this kind of lifestyle.
These two will show you how it gets done!
I also loved Taryn's friends. They make me what to hang out at the bar, playing poker and pool. They were all well developed with some great zesty attitudes.
Bottom line, this was a great book, it's funny, it's sweet, it breaks your heart and lifts it over and over again.
It makes the impossible, possible and the insanity, sane, while it rides your imagination till the very last page.
A fun escape! Looking forward to continuing Ryan and Taryn story in, Love Unrehearsed!
Spacial thanks to Tina Reber for sending me this copy. It was awesome girl!
Shelved as 'nope'
December 13, 2018Slow burn - full of unnecessary drama...
Not a fan of Hollywood romance, anyways.
Not a fan of Hollywood romance, anyways.
April 24, 2013
1.5 stars? I've only ever given a couple one-star reviews, and I hated every second of those books, so I have a hard time ranking this one that low. The two-page scene where Taryn was FURIOUS with Ryan to the point of hanging up on him and ignoring him honestly boosted the rating. More honest emotion in that scene than I'd seen. But then it ended.
Me, right now:
While reading:
Honestly. So far this book is killing me.
I want to like it SO MUCH. It has a higher-than-four-star average rating, the description sounds sweet and fun and intriguing.
It's not.
I'm only like a quarter of the way through the book, and because I own it I feel like I have to finish it, but oh my Lord. As an author, Tina Reber is using an over abundance of description, figurative language, and exclamation points. Every character is smiley and smirky about EVERYTHING. And Reber constantly has the characters doing something, describes all the action in every scene, and then tells the reader exactly why everyone did what they did. The whole point of being a reader is to know why a certain action happened. You don't have to explain every single thing. Nor repeat it again and again and again. Taryn (the main character) has the same conversation with different people two or three or four times, just in case the reader wasn't there the first time it happened.
And then there was the overuse of words like "seductively", "passionately", "yelled", "quipped", "enjoying myself/himself/themselves", "it made me happy/sad", etc. Adjectives and adverbs and the like are not necessary after everything you write. Sometimes simple is good, summary is good.
Then there are the characters. Very few have real depth, and even the ones that kind of do... Not so much. We get it, Taryn had her heart broken time and time again, so it's hard for her to trust and love. Okay. But that doesn't mean she and her "soul mate" Ryan Christensen have to have EVERYTHING in common, from favorite music and movies and hobbies and senses of humor and outlooks on life. I could go on. Taryn herself is actually irritating me, because she has the whole "I'm a nobody who has been hurt to many times, I cannot and will not be loved or love or trust ever again" thing going. But in the meantime she is the perfect guy's girl who apparently can do anything: grill, design kitchens and outdoor patio spaces and build them herself, fish, boat, watch football, run a pub, mix drinks, play guitar, play piano, be rich, own wineries and catering companies, cook lobster, make stained glass. So why has it NEVER worked out with any guy, ever? It's a mystery.
I just... ARGH. I want to just like it, but it's pissing me off!!
And I'm still determined to finish this book. We'll see...
Still while reading, just a little later:
I CONSTANTLY want to yell at these characters
Add "sniffle" to the list of words that the author needs to stop using.
Taryn has TERRIBLE taste in men, in the past. What the hell was she thinking?
Ryan needs to stop crying.
I think so far that Taryn and Ryan had known each other for about two weeks before they started dating, which has been another two or so weeks. Right now, the two are completely in love, are moving in together, are talking about exactly what their house would look like 'if' they bought one and where they should live to accommodate Ryan's life, and are having pretty much completely unprotected sex (which they are unconcerned with).
I'm not saying people can't fall in love in a month—I believe they can—just not like this...
Still. Reading.
So now... Still no. I find myself just staring at the page sometimes.
You did not just say that/think that/do that/stop crying/get over it/be a man/woman/suck it up/ you're not as funny as you think/that's not sexy/you've been apart for an hour calm down/it's not that scary/stop getting mad over ridiculous things/but if you're going to be mad then stay mad for more than two seconds
And, like I said before, I want to like it. I want to be able to give a better review or at least have something positive to say. Because I know it would suck to see a review like this about my book. But I physically CAN NOT. Not 500 pages into the same thing over and over again.
Finished.
So. So, so, so... I think I've made how I feel about this book pretty clear. The characters seemed nearly bipolar at times, tearing up every other scene, getting in fights and forgetting about them just as quickly. They didn't seem to develop so much as we just learned new things about them. I think that was a lot of what bothered me; there was very little growth. And they kept rehashing the same issues over and over
As a writer, I know how much heart and time and emotion goes into books and characters. But the writing here took away from the story so much for me. Things were repeated and over-explained and cliched and forced so often that I couldn't get past it, and it made the characters and drama seem very one-dimensional. But I can't put a book down once I pick it up, and this is one I own (maybe should have gotten it from the library instead), so I pushed through. Made it to the end. Finished.
Me, right now:
While reading:
Honestly. So far this book is killing me.
I want to like it SO MUCH. It has a higher-than-four-star average rating, the description sounds sweet and fun and intriguing.
It's not.
I'm only like a quarter of the way through the book, and because I own it I feel like I have to finish it, but oh my Lord. As an author, Tina Reber is using an over abundance of description, figurative language, and exclamation points. Every character is smiley and smirky about EVERYTHING. And Reber constantly has the characters doing something, describes all the action in every scene, and then tells the reader exactly why everyone did what they did. The whole point of being a reader is to know why a certain action happened. You don't have to explain every single thing. Nor repeat it again and again and again. Taryn (the main character) has the same conversation with different people two or three or four times, just in case the reader wasn't there the first time it happened.
And then there was the overuse of words like "seductively", "passionately", "yelled", "quipped", "enjoying myself/himself/themselves", "it made me happy/sad", etc. Adjectives and adverbs and the like are not necessary after everything you write. Sometimes simple is good, summary is good.
Then there are the characters. Very few have real depth, and even the ones that kind of do... Not so much. We get it, Taryn had her heart broken time and time again, so it's hard for her to trust and love. Okay. But that doesn't mean she and her "soul mate" Ryan Christensen have to have EVERYTHING in common, from favorite music and movies and hobbies and senses of humor and outlooks on life. I could go on. Taryn herself is actually irritating me, because she has the whole "I'm a nobody who has been hurt to many times, I cannot and will not be loved or love or trust ever again" thing going. But in the meantime she is the perfect guy's girl who apparently can do anything: grill, design kitchens and outdoor patio spaces and build them herself, fish, boat, watch football, run a pub, mix drinks, play guitar, play piano, be rich, own wineries and catering companies, cook lobster, make stained glass. So why has it NEVER worked out with any guy, ever? It's a mystery.
I just... ARGH. I want to just like it, but it's pissing me off!!
And I'm still determined to finish this book. We'll see...
Still while reading, just a little later:
I CONSTANTLY want to yell at these characters
Add "sniffle" to the list of words that the author needs to stop using.
Taryn has TERRIBLE taste in men, in the past. What the hell was she thinking?
Ryan needs to stop crying.
I think so far that Taryn and Ryan had known each other for about two weeks before they started dating, which has been another two or so weeks. Right now, the two are completely in love, are moving in together, are talking about exactly what their house would look like 'if' they bought one and where they should live to accommodate Ryan's life, and are having pretty much completely unprotected sex (which they are unconcerned with).
I'm not saying people can't fall in love in a month—I believe they can—just not like this...
Still. Reading.
So now... Still no. I find myself just staring at the page sometimes.
You did not just say that/think that/do that/stop crying/get over it/be a man/woman/suck it up/ you're not as funny as you think/that's not sexy/you've been apart for an hour calm down/it's not that scary/stop getting mad over ridiculous things/but if you're going to be mad then stay mad for more than two seconds
And, like I said before, I want to like it. I want to be able to give a better review or at least have something positive to say. Because I know it would suck to see a review like this about my book. But I physically CAN NOT. Not 500 pages into the same thing over and over again.
Finished.
So. So, so, so... I think I've made how I feel about this book pretty clear. The characters seemed nearly bipolar at times, tearing up every other scene, getting in fights and forgetting about them just as quickly. They didn't seem to develop so much as we just learned new things about them. I think that was a lot of what bothered me; there was very little growth. And they kept rehashing the same issues over and over
As a writer, I know how much heart and time and emotion goes into books and characters. But the writing here took away from the story so much for me. Things were repeated and over-explained and cliched and forced so often that I couldn't get past it, and it made the characters and drama seem very one-dimensional. But I can't put a book down once I pick it up, and this is one I own (maybe should have gotten it from the library instead), so I pushed through. Made it to the end. Finished.
February 18, 2015
I loved this series so much.. need to do a re-read soon.
October 17, 2011
2.5 stars
So I started reading this book because of the amazing reviews , and because the storyline seemed interesting. well , once i started reading it , i liked it ,initially. I liked how they built up the hype for Ryan christensen's character. The protagonist and the narrator , Taryn Mitchell seemed like an emotionally cut off person ,initially, because of her past bad experiences, which seemed very justified and warmed you up to her. Although why every romance novel's heroine has to be tragedy stricken is beyond me, but well , our Taryn has faced a lot of hardships in life and has become reclusive.That is ,obviously till she meets our gorgeous,warm hearted, kind , loyal hero Ryan christensen , who is also a very famous hollywood heart throbe , in the book. so well , we have our idyllically perfect hero and our tragedy struck,internally pained heroine, well it wouldnt take a rocket scientist to guess that they would fall in love ,be crazy about each other , so on and so forth . but then what ?
I mean a good book means a strong plot , great dialogues and riveting if not articulate language.This book was lacking the basic turn-of-plot incidents that are required to keep a story going. Even though the book had a very attention grasping start , very natural dialogues, in the first few chapters, somewhere in the middle the author lost track of the story and just seemed to have dragged it on another 300 pages just for the heck of it. the story that could have been very interesting because of the great character introductions and romance inducing situations , turned into an overwhelming , brooding vortex of unnecessary and unrequired mush. the dialogues became SO cheesy , and lame . and i swear to god , at one point , i was THIS close to ripping my own hair out because of the overuse of the word "honey" in the book. "oh , honey " "" "honey , i love you" "no honey i love you more". ugh. Taryn Mitchell , started off as an independent , hard working , closed off woman , with her feet firmly on the ground,in the beggining of the book, soon turned into an annoying, accident-prone , fragile, over reacting little porcelain doll. if love does that to you , then god help us all.
The plot just kept dragging on , directionlessly. i was very close to giving up reading it , but since i had already put in a considerable amount of time into it , i continued reading it. Even though , at the very end of the book there was SOME action , an event to make things more interesting. barring that most of the book is just about their love for each other , and trust me that gets old after about a hundred pages. i mean we get it , Ryan and Taryn are in love, spare us the unrelenting expressing of it. i mean when you love somebody , you dont keep dropping a "i love you more than life itself" on them every 5 minutes , do you? the expression loses its value then. thats another mistake the author made, overusing impacting dialogues to the extent they became redundant. Also , i didnt like how the main characters all seemed a bit too goody-goody.they all believed in launching into long ,stereotypical , super obvious rants , to mend situations. i am sorry, but you cannot fix everything with preachy rants. i mean, what are we ,12?
But despite of all its shortcomings, the book had a good hero . Ryan christensen seemed like a very real character. somebody one may actually know, minus his godlike good looks of course. but then arent they all supposed to be complete adonis like creatures? i liked their witty telephone exchanges , they seemed very normal , untainted by the mush .
All in all , it was an average,somewhat annoying , somewhat frustrating book,that you cant somehow put down because you're still waiting for something to happen.the book had a good beginning and could have been great.i really wanted to like this book , because , you know , you've got to love 'love' right? But i was dissapointed. i hope the author takes the story to a better place in the next book without hosing us with mush.
So I started reading this book because of the amazing reviews , and because the storyline seemed interesting. well , once i started reading it , i liked it ,initially. I liked how they built up the hype for Ryan christensen's character. The protagonist and the narrator , Taryn Mitchell seemed like an emotionally cut off person ,initially, because of her past bad experiences, which seemed very justified and warmed you up to her. Although why every romance novel's heroine has to be tragedy stricken is beyond me, but well , our Taryn has faced a lot of hardships in life and has become reclusive.That is ,obviously till she meets our gorgeous,warm hearted, kind , loyal hero Ryan christensen , who is also a very famous hollywood heart throbe , in the book. so well , we have our idyllically perfect hero and our tragedy struck,internally pained heroine, well it wouldnt take a rocket scientist to guess that they would fall in love ,be crazy about each other , so on and so forth . but then what ?
I mean a good book means a strong plot , great dialogues and riveting if not articulate language.This book was lacking the basic turn-of-plot incidents that are required to keep a story going. Even though the book had a very attention grasping start , very natural dialogues, in the first few chapters, somewhere in the middle the author lost track of the story and just seemed to have dragged it on another 300 pages just for the heck of it. the story that could have been very interesting because of the great character introductions and romance inducing situations , turned into an overwhelming , brooding vortex of unnecessary and unrequired mush. the dialogues became SO cheesy , and lame . and i swear to god , at one point , i was THIS close to ripping my own hair out because of the overuse of the word "honey" in the book. "oh , honey " "" "honey , i love you" "no honey i love you more". ugh. Taryn Mitchell , started off as an independent , hard working , closed off woman , with her feet firmly on the ground,in the beggining of the book, soon turned into an annoying, accident-prone , fragile, over reacting little porcelain doll. if love does that to you , then god help us all.
The plot just kept dragging on , directionlessly. i was very close to giving up reading it , but since i had already put in a considerable amount of time into it , i continued reading it. Even though , at the very end of the book there was SOME action , an event to make things more interesting. barring that most of the book is just about their love for each other , and trust me that gets old after about a hundred pages. i mean we get it , Ryan and Taryn are in love, spare us the unrelenting expressing of it. i mean when you love somebody , you dont keep dropping a "i love you more than life itself" on them every 5 minutes , do you? the expression loses its value then. thats another mistake the author made, overusing impacting dialogues to the extent they became redundant. Also , i didnt like how the main characters all seemed a bit too goody-goody.they all believed in launching into long ,stereotypical , super obvious rants , to mend situations. i am sorry, but you cannot fix everything with preachy rants. i mean, what are we ,12?
But despite of all its shortcomings, the book had a good hero . Ryan christensen seemed like a very real character. somebody one may actually know, minus his godlike good looks of course. but then arent they all supposed to be complete adonis like creatures? i liked their witty telephone exchanges , they seemed very normal , untainted by the mush .
All in all , it was an average,somewhat annoying , somewhat frustrating book,that you cant somehow put down because you're still waiting for something to happen.the book had a good beginning and could have been great.i really wanted to like this book , because , you know , you've got to love 'love' right? But i was dissapointed. i hope the author takes the story to a better place in the next book without hosing us with mush.
March 31, 2016
I think I'd give this more like a 2.5/5 but I made it a 3 because I rounded it up. *sighs* I knew this would be a cliche type of romance book and I knew at times it would be terribly cheesy. And it was.. Because the beginning was slow. They're friends at first and that was kind of nice, but then it flew through a whirl wind romance and by the time I was done the book, the timeline said it was only six months! Six months of all of this? They move so quickly I was gasping every time because it was too much.
This book played out like a real small town girl and movie star boy love story. It's realistic down to the last detail. Especially when the so called strong independent girl is vulnerable and can be quite jealous and insecure when fans are around her hot boyfriend. Taryn felt like a real person because she blows hot and cold, one minute she's confident and the next thing she's a bubbling mess. Granted her past is why she has so much baggage and Ryan has his own shortcomings as well. I just hated how she would call Ryan's fans sluts and whores behind their back. So much woman on woman hate there, but okay she's not perfect, I guess that was her flaw. And also when she starts being attracted to one guy out of the blue? What the heck was that? I know she has eyes but seriously, I didn't like where her thoughts were going when he appeared. Then there's Ryan who is trying to accept fame and be relevant in Hollywood. He tries very hard to accept all of his fame but that obviously comes at a price. I liked that two two made so many mistakes, they're perfectly flawed human beings.
So what didn't I like? It was boring. Seriously, there was nothing happening. Just boring day-by-day routine things like Ryan going to work and Taryn buying groceries. I was waiting for something anything to happen and it finally did, at the end. The last hundred pages. I felt like this could have been condensed by at least two hundred pages. But I'm guessing the author wanted more development happening between the characters. I only wished their romance was extended to a year because everything they do is lightening quick!
Overall, it's an okay love story. I didn't feel any chemistry between them really, not as much as for other characters in other stories. It was decent and the most interesting thing about this is that it portrays a highly realistic point of view of dating a movie star.
This book played out like a real small town girl and movie star boy love story. It's realistic down to the last detail. Especially when the so called strong independent girl is vulnerable and can be quite jealous and insecure when fans are around her hot boyfriend. Taryn felt like a real person because she blows hot and cold, one minute she's confident and the next thing she's a bubbling mess. Granted her past is why she has so much baggage and Ryan has his own shortcomings as well. I just hated how she would call Ryan's fans sluts and whores behind their back. So much woman on woman hate there, but okay she's not perfect, I guess that was her flaw. And also when she starts being attracted to one guy out of the blue? What the heck was that? I know she has eyes but seriously, I didn't like where her thoughts were going when he appeared. Then there's Ryan who is trying to accept fame and be relevant in Hollywood. He tries very hard to accept all of his fame but that obviously comes at a price. I liked that two two made so many mistakes, they're perfectly flawed human beings.
So what didn't I like? It was boring. Seriously, there was nothing happening. Just boring day-by-day routine things like Ryan going to work and Taryn buying groceries. I was waiting for something anything to happen and it finally did, at the end. The last hundred pages. I felt like this could have been condensed by at least two hundred pages. But I'm guessing the author wanted more development happening between the characters. I only wished their romance was extended to a year because everything they do is lightening quick!
Overall, it's an okay love story. I didn't feel any chemistry between them really, not as much as for other characters in other stories. It was decent and the most interesting thing about this is that it portrays a highly realistic point of view of dating a movie star.
November 20, 2012
Loved this story.
It was hard to put this book down. Ryan Christensen is definitely on my list of fantasy boyfriends.
There are moments where you feel your stomach is tied up in knots.
I love it when the story takes it's time to before the main characters get together. Such a great buildup!
I highly recommend this series.
There are only two books. I wish it was a trilogy, but still I loved it!
November 7, 2019
***4 stars***
Even though I'm giving this a 4 star rating, I want to mention that the last 50 pages just annoyed the hell out of me. Everything was soooo damn predictable and kind of like a telenovela. Just ridiculous.
But anyway, the story itself was sweet and lovely altogether. Looking forward to reading the next one.
P.S.: Oh dear God, that Kyle dude, ughh!! I would have loved to slap him out of the story from the moment he showed up!
Even though I'm giving this a 4 star rating, I want to mention that the last 50 pages just annoyed the hell out of me. Everything was soooo damn predictable and kind of like a telenovela. Just ridiculous.
But anyway, the story itself was sweet and lovely altogether. Looking forward to reading the next one.
P.S.: Oh dear God, that Kyle dude, ughh!! I would have loved to slap him out of the story from the moment he showed up!
Shelved as 'couldnt-finish-dnf'
August 13, 2024DNF about 80%
The plot was great, the characters werent stupid, and writing style was good too.. It was my its-me-not-you kind of book. I know lot of people like this one, it just wasnt my thing.
I cant believe im really writing this but this book was too sweet for me. Never happened before.
The plot was great, the characters werent stupid, and writing style was good too.. It was my its-me-not-you kind of book. I know lot of people like this one, it just wasnt my thing.
I cant believe im really writing this but this book was too sweet for me. Never happened before.
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