Our Unscripted Story

By L.A. Fiore

ISBN# 9781984365187

Author’s Website:  https://www.lafiorepublishing.com/

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi

*Beware of Spoilers*

Alexis Owens has lived a lonely life.  Her parents gave her up when she was only two, leaving her only with a faded photo of the three of them.  She can see the love they had for her in that photo, but can’t fathom why they let her go.  She now lives with the ‘foster monsters’, a couple that doesn’t care for her, but are happy to collect the check for her to stay with them.  At least the neighbors have taken her under their wing and she’s like family to them.

Then one day, teenage Alexis goes to her favorite spot in town and is surprised to see a beautiful boy already there.  She is struck with attraction immediately, but is too flustered to say more than hi to him.  She figures he’s a tourist passing through and she’ll never see him again.  Imagine her surprise when school starts and he’s there!  Everyone is talking about the hot new kid, and Alexis is still too shy to talk to him.

“Class was almost over, thankfully. Right before the bell rang a girl entered the classroom, the same chick that had cornered Greyson in the hall that first day. She hadn’t really, but I rewrote that scene to one I liked better. Mr. Price had already retired to his desk. He looked exhausted.

“Alexis Owens?” I was focused on the pink paper in her hand. My flyer. This couldn’t be good.

“Yes.”

She turned the paper over. It was the LOST CAT flyer. I chuckled then realized the chick looked about ready to cry. Didn’t she know you couldn’t believe everything you read on a bulletin board?

“Did anyone claim him?”

Before I could answer her, her focus shifted to Greyson. My jaw might have dropped, but his chick did not walk into our class with a bogus flyer just to get a look at Greyson? By the way she was licking her lips, yes, she had. I had to give it to her; she was bold.

I glanced over at the object of her obsession only to find he was looking at me. That sweet burn moved down my spine in the most pleasant way. Maybe she wasn’t so crazy walking in here to get a look at him. If I wasn’t such a coward, I’d take the opportunity to talk to him but I was glued to my seat.

I watched every move he made. I wasn’t much better than the chick. He headed for the door, but as he passed the girl he said, “I claimed him. Cat is a delicacy in Ireland.”

Those pale eyes glanced back at me and he winked before he walked from class.”

Eventually Alexis and Greyson do speak and their attraction only grows stronger.

Unfortunately, Alexis and Greyson’s relationship has an expiration date.  He’s only there for the school year and then he’s off to pursue his dream as an artist.  Greyson leaving is the hardest thing either of them have ever faced.  They try to stay in contact, but eventually they lose touch.

Alexis goes on to study creative writing in New York, and when Greyson has a showing there she goes to fulfill her promise to him that she will look him up.  He’s changed so much and she worries he’s not the same boy she once loved, or worse he won’t remember her.  The two quickly pick up where they left off, but he’s still doing a lot of traveling for his artwork.  Do the two have what it takes to maintain a long distance relationship until he’s finally free to do what he wants?  Or will the fame that comes with his dream be enough to drive them apart once and for all?

I absolutely love Fiore’s writing.  She has the ability to make me feel the entire gamut of emotions from happy and grinning like an idiot, to make me bust out laughing, and to make my cry like a blubbering idiot.  And, let me tell you, she made me do all those things in this book.  I knew I was in trouble when she had me balling my eyes out in the prologue.  The PROLOGUE!!  Are you kidding me!?!

I felt bad for all that Alexis had to deal with during her crappy childhood and then her teen years as well with Debbie around to bully her.  I’m glad she had the twins though.  They kept her sane and were some really great guys.  I would love to see more of them.

I liked Greyson, but he also made me so angry at times.  Even when he was making her promise him to look him up later in life I’m like ‘why?’  He could just as easily look her up why does she have to be the one to do all the work?  And, if he loved her enough to buy an engagement ring and carry it around for YEARS, why on earth did he allow them to lose touch?  At times he just doesn’t make sense to me.

When Greyson and Alexis are together they are great.  They were so sweet and innocent in their teen years (or should I say year), although I was a little shocked how quickly the sex reared its head.  And, how much sex was going on at school as well.  It didn’t seem all that realistic, especially considering that Alexis was allowed to use a school period for her writing club that was only she and Greyson and they were left mostly unsupervised.  I also thought that Greyson was a little too smooth for Alexis to only be his second sexual partner.  Their romance got better with age.  Although when things were going so great and I was waiting for the other shoe to drop it got a little dull.  It took years for that other shoe to drop, which was a lot longer than I was expecting.  I knew what Greyson was going to do, I knew with all his promises he made over the years that it was going to happen.  It still pissed me off when it did come to pass.  And, honestly when he came to his senses, I thought everyone forgave him way too easily.  I thought Grant and the twins were going to make it difficult, but even they folded rather quickly.

This book had a lot of similarities to Fiore’s Waiting for the One.  They are completely different stories, but little things about this book kept making me think of that one.  Both men were artists with a crazy fan following that caused them to break the women they love’s hearts.  So a part of this book did make me feel like I’d read it before, even though the majority of the two books were quite different.  Maybe without those similarities though I could have rated it higher.

I liked that Fiore added a bit of Ireland magic into this book as well.  I thought it was a nice touch and gave it another layer of interest.

I love that Fiore included her own playlist with this book and felt as much of a role as this song had in this book that I had to include it in my review.  Here is Just Like Heaven by The Cure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dhn_iIQXDE

This was a really good book, and it had me crying like a baby so many times.  If you like a good emotional read and are in need of a good cry, definitely check this book out!

*OBS would like to thank the author and Next Step PR for a free copy of this title as part of their blog tour in exchange for an honest review*