Kristie J’s review of Our Unscripted Story by L.A. Fiore
Contemporary Romance published by Amazon Digital Services 29 Mar 19
I’ve read quite a few of this author’s works, with a couple more waiting TBR. I’ve spent many a happy hour reading Ms. Fiore’s books, so when I saw this one, reading it was a given. And with one caveat, I’m adding it to the check list of “books I’ve really enjoyed by L.A. Fiore.”
The book’s prologue starts out many years earlier with a drive-by shooting. A young mother is killed, but first she manages to save her young daughter. The father realizes he is the reason why his beloved wife was murdered and arranges to have their daughter sent away for her own safety.
Next we jump to 2006. Alexis is a young high school student, who is living with foster parents. While not outwardly abusive, they pretty much ignore her. Because of this loneliness, she develops a remarkable imagination. She’s also very confused about her parents. She knows they love her, but why then did they give her away?
Her life changes completely when she sees a young man sitting on a rock by the ocean drawing in a spot she considers her own. They share a look but don’t speak to each other. It turns out that our hero, Greyson, is the ‘new’ student at her school.
After a number of sweet, funny scenes, they become a couple, though their lives will go in two opposite directions after they finish school. Greyson has recently come to the US from Ireland for the sake of his artistic career. For the foreseeable future, he will be very busy painting, traveling the world, networking and getting his name out as an up-and-coming artist. Alexis is planning on attending college in NYC, studying writing. Their parting is very moving – it’s clear that while they are both very young, they are it for each other.
The book follows their lives as they both work on their careers and while they had planned on staying in touch, it didn’t work out. They finally meet again five years later and both discover their feelings for the other is just as deep and intense as it ever was.
The book is told in first person with alternating viewpoints. If I was told I could use only one word to describe this book, it would be poignant. The writing is so vivid the reader also feels what the character feels. We feel the loneliness that Alexis does. Even though she finds an almost substitute family, deep inside she longs for her own parents. Although she doesn’t remember them, she loves them deeply. And the reader also understands her unusual reaction to Greyson. She wants to actually talk to him so badly but has trouble working up the courage.
We are also there, right along with Greyson in his overwhelming and total devotion to Alexis. It never waivers, even during all the years they are apart. I don’t know about others who’ve read this book, but I really wanted to go to one of his exhibitions to see his artwork.
Now for the one drawback, at least for me. I feel there are a few too many scenes when they are apart that don’t really move the story along. They are just vignettes that work more to slow the book down. I’m not a fan of long books and at 348 pages, considering the part they were away from each other, I found it dragging a bit at times. The scenes when they are together are brilliant. In no time at all I was all in and completely invested in the love story of Greyson and Alexis. The secondary characters are also well-rounded, and the twins, Dylan and Dominic, are such a hoot. They are quite the scene stealers.
I’ve been going back and forth on what to grade this book. If it weren’t for the number of scenes, it would be a solid A. And if other readers give it a higher grade than I am, I shout hooray. But in the end I’m marking it down just a tad.
Grade: B
Summary:
Greyson Ratcliffe. I met him at 16, the hot new guy sitting on my jetty, an aspiring artist just passing through. He was my first kiss and my first love. I wanted forever with him. I didn’t even get a year.
Five years later, I’m a budding writer who scripts stories of love and struggle, the good and the bad and the ups and the downs. He’s a star on the rise – his wicked talent and crazy good looks have his face plastered on countless magazines. We move in two different worlds and still our paths cross again. We’re older and wiser and as crazy about each other as we had been as teenagers.
My medium is words and my imagination is limitless, but not even I could have written the incredible journey we traveled to reach our happily-ever-after. Life isn’t like fiction, and the greatest love stories don’t follow a script.
No excerpt available.
