Cover Image: Love, Unscripted

Love, Unscripted

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Member Reviews

It’s a different read to my usual book but I’d happily recommend it to my book club. A well written good read. Well done.

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The format of the book felt right for this kind of plot/storyline. It worked very well and was done in a great manner.

The relationship with the main characters was great fell in love with them.

A great read and a must buy!

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Really, really enjoyed the book. A quick, fun and heartwarming read that is perfect for when you want an afternoon to escape in someone else’s love story.

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I fell head over heels in love with this - immediately becoming totally invested in the voice, the concept and the characters from the first chapter. It's smart and funny, a proper romcom, with a bittersweet ending.

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I thought the format of the story worked well. Nick’s narration in 2012 after his breakup with Ellie and then his flashbacks to the 2008 election night party when they first met adds interest and keeps the pace fresh. We find out important events that have shaped their lives and what drives them as individuals.

Nick is always second-guessing and catastrophising. I have to say it was refreshing to find these traits in a male lead as in my experience, it is often the female lead who takes this role in romance stories! His vulnerabilities draw you in and you can’t help but feel an emotional attachment to him.

Despite the sadness, humour lifts the story (and I loved the movie references).

Love, Unscripted is a story that will entertain you and maybe inspire you to accept a challenge and make a change. Loved the ending!

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This is was an unexpected novel to read! It took me a while to get into but once I had I couldn’t put it down! It was lovely to see the relationship between Nick and Ellie play out.
Loved all the references to movies too!
If your a big fan of films a definite read!

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Nick loves movies, believes in true love and that it should be like it is in the movies. His unambitious career as a cinema projectionist suits his ‘life led by movie quotes’ existence too. And then he finds it, that movie worthy love and, after being convinced that he wasn’t going to mess it up, he is happy and life is good...until it isn’t!
I absolutely loved this book, the characters are great. I love Gabby and Ellie especially...and I loved Nick too, but there were times when I just wanted to scream at him to stop living up to his nickname of ‘Nick the dick’!
The story is well written with a great balance between humour, wit, love and romance and I honestly couldn’t put it down, devouring the whole thing in one 24hr period.
And, if in the unlikely event that some influential movie mogul reads this review...THIS WOULD MAKE A GREAT ROMCOM 😁 in my, not so humble, opinion at least.
Definitely a 5 star read that I wholeheartedly recommend.
My thanks to NetGalley and Headline for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review.

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I absolutely adored this book. It left me with a constant smile on my face. It was very entertaining, funny and cute. I am in love with this book and would highly recommend it!

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This was a fun read by debut author Owen Nicholls and I can see why he was picked up by a publisher off the bat or maybe it's an already established author under a new pen name, who knows! Definitely worth the read!

Nicholls' has a way with words and is very, very insightful to people's ways and things that make them tick and it's quite funny to read the little things he notices in Love, Unscripted and uses his knowledge to bring his characters to life. This was a fun read for sure, a throwback to all the good music I remember lol, and the films that a lot of us have forgotten all coming back to life. This made for fun reminiscing while rooting for things to all turn out right!

Very well written story of a man finding his way in the world of love. The way it went back and forth from the original meet to the present day was well done and definitely a good hook to keeping me interested along with perceptive prose and watching a world fall apart and hoping out of the ashes a level headed man might rise and win the day.

To sum up, an enjoyable read, well written and humorous.

Added: I'm not sure why this didn't upload back on the 13th July when I reviewed.

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Nick loves movies. He's a film projectionist in a London cinema and he also loves his job that is just at the cusp of becoming unavailable to him because of the upcoming digital projection changes. When he meets Ellie at a party for the 2008 presidential election in the USA, Nick is sure that he finally found the One, love like in the movies. But is life like that? Following a narrative, always having a happy end?
Fast forward four years and Nick faces a redundancy, his family life is falling apart and Ellie moved out, leaving him trying to figure out why, and where, did the script go wrong.

It was a light - hearted story with characters that were full of flaws, which only made me like them better. It's always nice to see that I'm not the only one in the world making wrong decisions and regretting being stubborn but not giving up, even though I know I'm in the wrong - hello Nick (waving here). Honestly, if things didn't go according to him and his plans, he immediately backed down into his shell, offended. But there was also this second side to him, he was self - doubting and vulnerable, and actually a third side as well, when he was eventually able to see his ways and tried better. So really, not many characters were able to make me feel so frustrated about them and also keep everything crossed for them, willing them to succeed, like Nick. And he went through so much of personal growth in this story, and it's always my favourite part of the novels.

The writing style was easy and chatty and the pace was only right, though personally I liked the chapters set in present better than those in the past. Sure, they introduced us to Nick and Ellie and their relationship, and there wouldn't be a story without them but still, not sure why but the present was for me much more interesting than the past. It is also (the writing) full of the best kind of humour, the one hidden between the lines that I like so much.
So really, "Love, Unscripted" was a real, realistic and raw glance at love, love that is anything like in the movies, all smooth sailing and happy ends, but is full of ups and downs and this is what makes it so exciting. It was full of references to films that even I, the one that doesn't go to the cinema (well, only if it is a movie for children, *eye - rolling*), have heard about or even - yes! - seen them, and music that made me smile in recognition. So really, I am not sure why this book didn't work for me as I hoped it's going to be - either you connect with the story or not and we didn't click this time. And the end made me feel a bit confused. Nevertheless, I think you are going to adore this romantic, humorous and true to life debut, with a lot of deep meaning.

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What would you do if you had one perfect night, that was movie-esque in its specialness? Would you hope that you could live happily ever after with that new person in your life, or would you attempt to walk away knowing that nothing may ever compare to that first meeting?

Nick meets Ellie on the night of the 2008 US Elections at a party, and is torn whether to risk his heart on more than just one night.

He is a geeky film nerd, who is working as a projectionist in a small cinema, and that makes awkward jokes and seems to reference most things in terms of films. Had I watched or even heard of a large number of the films mentioned, I would have potentially connected with the book on a whole other level, but a fair amount of the references went over my head.

This is the story of Nick and Ellie's relationship told through flashbacks to that first night, and other key moments, told as a part of a possible screenplay or so it seems, plus what is happening to Nick in the present day, as he comes to grips with why they appear to have broken up.

It is a story of self realisation, self discovery, some incredibly funny bits, a large number of films, and is written in an unique style that I would love to read more of. In fact I'd quite like a sequel.

I'm a huge fan of romantic comedies, and there just aren't enough about written by men from the male perspective, which added to the rather endearing qualities to Nick, turns this into quite a delightful read.

I'm just incredibly sorry to say that my real life got into the way far too much while I was reading this, and thus made my reading experience a bit more disjointed than it should have been. It is not the books fault, and whenever I could sit and read for more than 20 mins at a time, I was completely absorbed in the pages.

A lovely debut novel, full of promise, and an author I would happily read more from.

Thank you to Netgalley and Headline for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

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This witty, wise romantic comedy is jam-packed full of references to both film and music that make me smile in recognition and also contribute to detailed and insightful characterisation of the protagonists. The hero is honestly flawed and manages to make the reader both frustrated at his behaviour whilst willing him on to succeed in both prongs of the book, shouting him on in his quest for self-knowledge and desperate for him to win back the girl. The girl is, as the narrator believes, pretty perfect.
This book is written with such a deft touch, the narrative is pacy and creates an easy read that I was reluctant to put down. The humour in the book runs through every page, much of it self-deprecating or tied to film and music references but all of it working and working brilliantly. It manages to be bang up to date for the twenty-first century but also draws parallels with the grand movie romantic comedies of the eighties and nineties and I can see this novel translate seamlessly to film and become an iconic hit for millions. I really hope it does. A fabulous, honest and funny novel. I loved it.

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Brilliant book, so funny, so real, wonderful characters full of flaws. Nick at times isn’t likeable at all but I love the make perspective and the fact he has so much self doubt, makes terrible choices etc makes him likeable to me, because he is real. I really enjoyed this and thoroughly recommend this. A great debut.


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

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A nice story, telling the tale from main character Nick’s perspective. I liked this, but I’m used to having the male characters point of view as a supporting perspective, rather than the main one. This gave this story a different angle for me. I’m not entirely sure I liked this, I like reading from the female perspective in romance books...but this is purely a selfish comment and not a reflection of this book.
I liked the author’s writing style, the story moved at a nice pace, nothing dragged out. It was a good storyline, which makes you think!

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Really enjoyed reading this one. I think linking the novel to the likes of ‘One Day’ doesn’t do it a lot of favours though - it sets the bar really high and at first I was a bit disappointed before enjoying the novel for what it was.

It is a well written story that lets you understand the character’s pasts and presents and move forward with them. A recommended read.

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Any book that makes you laugh out loud on the first page deserves a read. This had me chuckling and grinning regularly through the book. I particularly loved the male's point of view and the easy to read writing style.

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Gorgeous love story, really cleverly structured around the US election (no, not that one) with complex and heartbreaking insight into not feeling good enough and the complications this brings to romantic relationships and career ambitions. Can relate. Loved it.

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Love, Unscripted is the debut novel of Owen Nicholls. It’s the story of Nick Marcet as he struggles through life, encountering all sorts of obstacles in his way and (not) dealing with them.



Nick is one of the trickiest type of characters to write - he’s an unlikeable protagonist. Or, sometimes unlikeable. He makes bad life choices and refuses to believe that he is worthy of happiness, which ultimately gets in his own way.  The book opens at the start of his relationship with Ellie ending. Ellie is a couple of years older, more ambitious and, by all accounts, perfect. Too perfect for him, as he is not worthy.

The format of the novel is really interesting, and it’s something which sets it apart from a ‘standard’ rom com. It works on present day Nick, who is single and depressed, and returns to the start of their relationship, inextricably interlinked with Obama’s presidential election, a time of hope and change. There are also interjections, vignettes which describe something which happened within Ellie and Nick’s relationship told from neither, or maybe both, perspectives. It presents a refreshingly rounded view of the world and the situation, without leading the reader to the suggested outcome. People are complicated and sometimes they do complicated things, or say mean things, and generally it’s because they are scared or worried.

Nick is clearly both scared and worried, and a lot of his likeability is the empathy the reader has for him and his situation. Yes, many of his issues are not issues but paranoid assertions from his own brain, and still more are issues of his own doing, but somehow you’re still rooting for him. Perhaps it’s his indefatigable belief that life is good, that life is perfect and someday he will get his cinematic narrative.

As Nick’s job is a projectionist and his main hobby is film, the references come thick and fast.  I really enjoyed these - perhaps because they connected with my life and my own experience and I ‘got’ them, but actually there were some that I didn’t, and for these ones, I enjoyed having another film to go on the list. There weren’t just film references - books and music were also included, and it really helped to ground the events in the timeframe. In one memorable scene, Nick goes on a date with a younger person who doesn’t get any of his conversation, which is relatable, too.

I rooted for Nick, and for Ellie too. The characters were well rounded and human, with flaws and bad habits as well as being endearing. It reminded me of High Fidelity, of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and of When Harry Met Sally. I recommend this for all fans of a well written, character driven novel, especially ones who enjoy Powell & Pressburger films. Now, to think about who my fantasy cast in the film version would be…

Thanks to Netgalley for providing the opportunity and for Headline Publishing for offering this for review before release. Pre orders are available!

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