Review: Love Unscripted – Tina Reber

Ryan Christensen just wanted to be an actor. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think that accepting a role in an unknown film would toss his career into overdrive. His new fame has cost him dearly; anonymity is no longer an option. His fans stalk him, the paparazzi hound him, and Hollywood studios all want a piece of him. Despite all of that, Ryan Christensen craves the most basic of human needs – to have love in his heart and privacy in his life.
Taryn Mitchell, the story’s protagonist, is a realist. She’s been feigning contentment, running the family pub in Seaport, Rhode Island, while quietly nursing her own internal heartaches. Her feet are fairly glued to the ground and she doesn’t buy into all the hype that has descended on her tiny, coastal town. In her world, men are safe if they’re kept at a distance.
Fate has other plans for these two when their paths cross one sunny afternoon. A group of female fans has attacked him, leaving his shirt torn, his face cut, and Ryan in obvious distress. Bonds between them form from the most dramatic of circumstances while jealousy, insecurity, and the stress of his celebrity life try to tear them apart.
Through all the tabloid lies, secrecy, and pressure, can Taryn’s peace and Ryan’s high-profile insanity live together in harmony?

Series:  Love #1
Release Date:  September 8, 2012
Publisher:  Atria Books
Source:  Edelweiss
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Reviewer’s Thoughts:

If you are looking for a fluffy look into what the life of an A-list movie star is, this isn’t it.  Love Unscripted is a gritty, emotional look at what those A-list stars must deal with and how those choices affect not only them, but those they hold dear.

Ryan Christensen is a star on the rise.  He’s doing something he loves (acting) but he has a hard time dealing with everything that comes with being the new Hollywood “it” boy.  He has throngs of fans following and sometimes stalking him, while the tabloids and the paparazzi wait to either get or make up the next tabloid headline about him.  For a 26 year old from Pennsylvania, it’s a lot to take it and has jaded him a bit.  He doesn’t trust easily and emotionally closes down, except with his family.  But Ryan’s life dramatically changes when he runs into Taryn Mitchell’s pub one day.

Taryn Mitchell gave up her dreams when her father passed away.  To keep in touch with the only thing she had left of her family, she chose to forego a career in finance to run his pub.  She has her close circle of friends, but she’s lonely and longing for someone to love her.  Given how he relationship with her ex-fiance ended, she’s not sure what she wants is in the cards for her.  That is, until a terrified man runs into her pub and hides in the hallway to her apartment.  From that moment, life as Taryn knows it changes forever.

Ryan and Taryn’s story will gut you.  Their love story is full of high highs and devastating lows.  Tina Reber crafted a wonderful story that gives readers a very interesting perspective on what a Hollywood star must deal with once they’ve hit it “big”.  I loved Ryan and how unnerved he is by the pitfalls that come with doing something he loves.  He doesn’t deal with it very well and the first scene where Taryn meets Ryan absolutely broke my heart.  But with Taryn, he finds that little piece of normalcy that he craves and will do what he needs to in order to keep that.

Taryn has a hard time dealing with everything that goes with dating Ryan.  She has an issue with trust and having to read tabloid stories about Ryan’s women and have women throw themselves at him in front of her, she has a hard time believing someone like her could ever keep a man like Ryan.  She’s her own worst enemy the majority of the time and it’s painful, but Taryn has to make the hard decision about whether Ryan the man is worth keeping, despite what comes with Ryan the actor.

Their romance isn’t an easy one, with crazy fans, stalkers, tabloids, Hollywood starlets and their own insecurities to deal with, but both Taryn and Ryan realize that what they have is worth fighting for.  There are times, as a reader, that I wanted to hug one character while slapping the other, but I was emotionally engaged from the beginning and needed them both to get their acts together and figure things out.  This is not a nice, easy, fun to read book.  It’s emotional and messy, but in the end so worth the effort.