Review: "Unscripted" by Natalie Aaron and Marla Schwartz

Abby Edwards has her friends, her contacts in the industry, and her job as a producer on a reality television program, so she has no need for romance, right? Wrong. When her ex writes a movie loosely based on their relationship Abby realizes that she is not where she had been hoping to be in her life by now, both romantically and career-wise. When her best friend Zoe starts growing and moving on with her life, Abby becomes even more clueless as to what she should do to progress in her own life, and her crush on her director, Will, is certainly making things more complicated than she would like.

Abby's about to realize that despite her best efforts, life won't always follow the master plan.

There was a lot about Unscripted that I enjoyed. Abby is a fantastic character. She makes mistakes, she's genuine, and you really want to see her succeed by the end of the book. In order for me to truly enjoy a book I need to feel something for the main character, and Abby was both endearing and likable.

The authors of this book both work in reality television, and that made the reality tv portion of the book ring true for me. It felt really authentic, and I felt like I was getting a behind-the-scenes look at what is actually involved in producing reality tv, yet it never went over my head. I've read books before that have tried to use a similar setting and some have fallen flat for me, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well this worked in Unscripted.

Aaron and Schwartz have created a multitude of colorful characters that appear in this book, and most were either people that you loved, or people you hated. There wasn't a ton of middle ground. The supporting cast added a lot to the book but I have to be honest and say that I wasn't in love with Abby's best friend, Zoe. She was shallow and inconsiderate for the most part, with an emphasis on shallow. I believe that this is how she was intended to come across, as I'm sure that there are lots of people in Hollywood who are really like that, but I finished the book and was basically glad that I don't have to deal with people like her on a regular basis.

Unscripted is the fun and fast-paced story of Abby trying to find her own reality in a very fake world. I can happily recommend it to anyone looking for a story with a lovable main character looking for love herself, or for anyone who would enjoy a closer look at the world of Hollywood reality television. You can connect with authors Natalie Aaron and Marla Schwartz by visiting their website, liking them on Facebook or by following them on Twitter. My thanks to Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours for inviting me to participate in this tour!

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