dnf @ 20%. i found this to be utterly confusing. the time skips were nonsensical, and the main character was almost impossible to root for. i get that the point of the book is nick realizing that he's made a lot of mistakes in his relationship with ellie, but i don't think i can read 200+ pages with characters i just am not clicking with.

This book was written by a British author. It was told through a telling of intermissions. There were some really funny times. The characters were pretty funny but there were times were it just dragged. I feel like there was too much filler and not enough substance. I’m sure this book is someone’s cup of tea but it just wasn’t mine.

*I was given a free advanced copy of this book by Net Galley in exchange for my honest and voluntary review. All thoughts and opinions are those of my own.*

This was such an adorable story that had me laughing and feeling extremely nostalgic to the love stories that I grew up watching and reading being brought to life in a new way. I loved seeing this from a man’s perspective wanting movie worthy romance in his life.

The story starts with Nick mourning the loss of his long-term girlfriend Ellie. Nick is a projectionist and views his whole life as a movie. The story is told in both the past and the present as Nick tries to figure out what went wrong between he and his girlfriend and also tries to evaluate what is valuable in his current life. Nick makes some dumb mistakes and at times is a little unlikable but I enjoyed the dry British humor is this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House-Ballantine for this ARC in return for my honest review.

Love, Unscripted

I Picked Up This Book Because: Netgalley cover coveted

The Characters:

Nick (never ran across a last name):
Ellie Brown:
A bunch of people who don’t seem to matter in the story. Or at least what I read of it.

The Story:

I was seduced by a cute cover and a clever title and I kinda regret it. Nick is a projectionist at a theater in the throws of an ended relationship and being laid off. This story is told in alternating chapters of the night Nick met Ellie (the relationship ender) and the present. For me the pacing was slow and the story never really got interesting. There were moments like in the garden with the shoe vomiter and when Ellie talked about her brother that captured my attention briefly but they were they were the only two I could remember in the 40% I committed to this book. I did read the final two chapters and I found the ending to be rather “blah” so I decided to call it quits rather than go back and struggle through the rest.

I had high hopes, I’m sad they didn’t work out.

The Random Thoughts:

DNF - no rating

A contemporary RomCom what else could I ask for nothing I loved Nic and Ellie and I loved the movie reference in this book at time it got a little slow but I still enjoyed this one very much. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this Arc

A witty rom-com by debut author Owen Nicholls. The story is about Nick and Ellie who are well written even if Nick is a bit of a downer at times. This was such a cute story and one of the favourites that I read this month. It's funny and I like that the characters aren't perfect. They have flaws. I thoroughly enjoyed this and I highly recommend this to rom-com lovers!

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Are you kidding me? A rom-com about love story of movie nerd walking, talking about nonstop movie references and his name is Nick! Well at least our first two letters are the same and the inner nerd, geeky soul of mine positively fit with Nick’s quirkiness. (I’m kind of a person gets a call around 2 a.m. from their friends to be asked about the name of the art director of some European movie and I always give the right answer, resuming my sleep after cursing on the phone)

So Nick is a projectionist in a small local movie theater (my dream job but unfortunately they pay more for screenwriters!!!)He meets with his dream girl at 2008 election party. He questions himself if one night with her is okay or if he should risk his heart to form a devoted relationship. So we see quick glances with the flashbacks from this very special night and move back and forth the present time how their story is shaped and embellished.

I liked the way of writer’s screenplay stile telling his story. I enjoyed the love story of Ellie and Nick. It’s another self-realization, testing your limits and facing your fears kind of compelling story which always suits with my expectations. And nothing is boring about the story. It was quite captivating to devour each page. So I had a good time, got my romance intake and learned that there are more movie nerds out there like me! Good to know not to be alone in this world! Amen to that!

Special thanks to Netgalley and Headline for sharing this lovely ARC COPY with me in exchange my honest review and of course so much thanks to Owen Nicholls for his intelligence, creativity. I hope to read more works of him in near future.

This was a modern, yet universal take on relationships. The author is very funny. The dialog between the characters and one-liners they deliver are hilarious. I enjoyed the film and music artist name drops, although they were billed as heavily rom-com and I found them to be more wide-ranging, instead. That said, they are almost all of a high-brow/hipster variety that I related to, but might not relate to all audiences. I also found the male protagonist a little mopey, but we were witnessing his "rock bottom". However, the humor displayed, even in these moments, helped get you through.

I read this book early thanks to #NetGalley

This was a tough book to make it through. It felt like one big film and song reference, which was annoying and a tad pretentious. The premise was cool, but there were just SO many name drops, that I didn't care what happened to the characters.

This was really quite enjoyable. I felt like it had some wonderful depth, and the character growth of Nick was fantastic.

I liked Nick, and liked the Ellie that we got to know through his eyes and memories. The Election Night chapters were some of my favorites. They definitely felt like they were "from a film."

The ending was a bit surprising, but is pretty fitting for Nick and his love of movies.

I loved the concept of a witty romantic comedy about romantic comedies. Although, I struggled with Nick's narration. He seemed dimwitted about what happened to him and his voice read as pretentious. I understand that the topic of movies can in and of itself seem pretentious, but I didn't find that In Waiting for Tom Hanks. The back and forth between the past and present also wasn't something I was a fan of. For this story, it worked. It was done well, I'm just not the biggest fan.

This was a good book, and I did enjoy the perspective. There were some parts that were a little contrived but overall I felt that the story was relatable and well told.

I so wanted to like this book. With all the references to favorite romantic movies, I really thought it would be just my cup of tea. But the main character is just so whiny and self-pitying that I couldn't possibly root for him. This reminded me very much of 500 Days of Summer, which a lot of people love but I found the guy in that just lame and pathetic, too. Being bummed about a break-up, ok. Blaming it entirely on the other person and just wallowing in misery...may believable but it really isn't fun to read about.

I really struggled through this one. I received it complimentary from NetGalley but my opinions are my own. I didn’t love the characters and I found them weird and pretentious but not relatable. It felt slow moving to me. It wasn’t bad but I just didn’t get into it at all and felt like I was drudging slowly through it.

The play on words that makes the title perfection, to how it was all tied together with lines from films was great. The two main characters spoke volumes to me on how two people meet and it grows in moments and actions from there, I truly enjoyed Love, Unscripted.

Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read this title in exchange for my review.

Love Unscripted is the story of Nick Marcet who lives his life behind the big screen piecing together movies. While his affinity for his craft often makes the character a bit bland, his loves seems to come to a standstill when Ellie his girlfriend of over 3 years leaves him, he gets evicted, and he loses his job all at once. The story goes from present to past and back again, however, for me Nick came off as a bit whiny and under developed, but the book still had plenty of cute moment.

The movie references and sometimes cute banter gave me some of that rom-com feeling that I was seeking. The self-discovery and growth shown by Nick as he goes back and looks at his relationship with Ellie in a new light. At the beginning of their relationship everything seemed so perfect, from their first perfect night together, to the ending of their relationship Nick is able to see that maybe his need to find a love like those in the movies isn’t something that can ever achieved because real life love is so much bigger and better.

Thank you Netgalley for the early copy in exchange fro an honest review.

I enjoyed this title, especially its dual timelines and seeing the beginning of Nick and Ellie's love story, but it was hard for me to get into the present day parts. Nick is a bit self-pitying in a way that made me feel like Ellie could do better. The writing was still good and had many cute movie references and plenty of humor, but not my favorite in terms of romance.

This book was so good! I will recommend it to everyone who comes into the store because I think it will end up on my favorites of the year list. which is saying a lot because I was NOT a fan of her previous book with the baseball romance.

When I read the description for Love, Unscripted I knew I had to read it! This novel jumps between 2008 and present day to give the reader the backstory of Ellie and Nick’s relationship (which I felt worked well with the plot). The present day Nick and Ellie have hit a rocky patch and by going back to 2008 we get to organically see where the fissures started and how it all broke down. I found both Ellie and Nick were both endearing, but there were definitely times I want to shake Nick and ask he what are you doing!? lol. Overall, I enjoyed the premise of Love, Unscripted and look forward to reading more from Owen Nicholls in the future.