UnWritten
by Chelsea M. Cameron
Published: July 2014
When I read it: July 2014
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Series/Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Pages: 308
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Children's librarian by day. Romance novelist by night.
British single father.
Someone else is writing this love story...
Blair Walton isn't your average curvaceous tattooed children's librarian. She's also one half of bestselling romance author, Scarlet Rose. Along with her BFF Raine, she spends her nights writing books so steamy, she's afraid they would shock her Southern conservative grandmother to death . . . if she knew about them. That's why she and Raine write in secret.
On deadline for their latest book and out of ideas, Raine suggests (demands) that Blair find a guy and "do some research". Declan Bennet has all the qualifications: He's British, looks fabulous in a suit, has glorious blue eyes and gets bonus points for being an amazing single dad to his adorable son, Drake. But what starts out as a research project quickly turns into something much more. And Blair's not the only one with secrets.
Before I get to the meat and potatoes of this review, I want to take a moment to clarify a few things. My opinion on UnWritten is just that, my opinion. It doesn’t have to be yours. I’m completely okay with that. You may have absolutely LOVED the book, and if you did, fantastic! My thoughts on this particular piece of literature have no bearing on my feelings toward Chelsea or her previous work. I’m not attacking her or her writing abilities. I’m just laying it all out – my thoughts, feelings and observations. Feel free to disagree or agree. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Brace yourself, this is a
long one…
I made a promise to myself
long ago that I’d always be honest with my reviews. Always. I wish I could tell you that I loved UnWritten; that I couldn’t put it down.
I can’t do that in good conscience. A lot of reviewers will tell you they loved
the book simply because they love the author.
I have read a lot of Chelsea’s work – A LOT – and with the exception of UnWritten, I’ve loved them all. It breaks my heart to leave an unfavorable
review.
Here are a few of the
issues I had with the story:
1. There is a
severe lack of angst
The
storyline just fell flat. There was really no climax. It was just more of the
same. There are various situations that seem to have no real meaning. Things
just happen to happen. Blair feels guilty about why she originally started
seeing Declan when she shouldn’t. She didn’t really use him – per say… Well,
you’ll see if you chose to read the book. I just had a hard time with the story
in general. It had the potential to be ah-mazing, it just…wasn’t.
2. Forget UnWritten, this should have been called Occupational Hazard.
Yes,
Blair is a writer. I get it. I don’t need to be reminded of it at every turn.
Telling me you read into things because you’re a writer, or that you eat crappy
food because you’re a writer makes me crazy! Every few chapters I was told, yet
again, about another occupational hazard…
Give me a break.
There was another saying that writers were either writing, or thinking about writing. We were always thinking and talking about it. Like a faucet you couldn't turn off. The thoughts flowed constantly.
3. Talking
about an ex after just screwing one another’s brains out, and being completely
okay with it.
This
one was rough for me. I’m a woman. Many of you are, too. Would you feel
comfortable talking about your current partner’s ex-lover after doing the horizontal
tango? Er, neither would I! That’s a rough discussion when you’re fully
clothed, forget about after you’ve had an all-night sex romp. No, just no.
Meanwhile, Blair acts like it’s a completely normal occurrence and is totally
fine with it. Lies.
4. CONSTANTLY
making reference to Blair’s weight.
I
like that Blair is a bigger girl. She’s not afraid to eat a damn cupcake or
have a burger. Good for her. I don’t
like that it’s constantly brought up throughout the book. It almost comes
across as an insecurity. I know she’s comfortable with herself, and that’s
great, but there are portions of text that come across as more of a dig to her
weight. It just rubbed me the
wrong way. Most of us have extra pounds we wish we didn’t. The fact
that Blair shares that makes it easier to relate to her. It’s just not
necessary to constantly remind us of it.
"Sorry, I couldn't hold you up anymore," he said, pulling out, but resting his head on my shoulder.
"It's okay. I'm kind of a handful." More than that. Two handfuls.
5. Ada – What
was her point?
No,
seriously, what was her point? She added a little, tiny, minuscule amount of
drama. That’s about all she did. She could have done some major damage, been
a key player in this drama-less read, but instead she just…was. I found her
character pretty disappointing.
6. Fade to
black sex scenes
I
KNOW Chelsea can write a sex scene. I’ve read many of them, and they’re good.
Really good. So, what gives? Why did we only get super small snippets at best?
It just doesn’t seem like your style – at all. On top of this being very unlike
you, the book is supposed to be told from a romance novalists POV; you’d think
she’d have no problem word vomiting a sex scene. Just sayin’.
7. Editing
I
know. I know. I received an ARC. Maybe I shouldn’t even comment on the editing…
Eh, I kinda feel like I have to. It was pretty dreadful. I am not usually one
to talk. My editing skills are often less than stellar. I do, however, ensure
that all of the correct words are in my sentences. Trying to figure out what’s
going on through context clues is only fun when you’re being tested on it.
Wait. No. That’s not right. It’s never fun. It breaks my heart when something
like this happens.
Now that I’ve gotten that
out, the book wasn’t all bad. The actual premise is awesome. Who wouldn’t love
a tattooed, sassy librarian who writes smut on the side under a pen name? It
has some quick wit and banter. Raine was BY FAR my favorite character. She’s spunkier
than Blair. While Blair wears a lot of her “rebellious nature” on the skin,
Raine lets hers pour out of her mouth. She’s very loyal, hilarious, and has
absolutely no filter. What’s not to love?
I can’t say I’d recommend
this one. It’s missing that little extra something that it so desperately needs.
Connecting with the characters was rough, which is ridiculous because I am so
much like Blair that it’s scary.
You win some and lose
some. It’s inevitable. Even our favorite authors will have a book we just don’t
like. Unfortunately, this was mine.
Sometimes being honest
sucks…
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