Review: Someone Else's Love Story by: Joshilyn Jackson

Someone Else’s Love Story by: Joshilyn Jackson (Nov. 19, 2013)

352 pages

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: William Morrow

Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository | Amazon

Goodreads Summary: At twenty-one, Shandi Pierce is juggling finishing college, raising her delightful three-year-old genius son Natty, and keeping the peace between her eternally warring, long-divorced Catholic mother and Jewish father. She’s got enough complications without getting caught in the middle of a stick-up in a gas station mini-mart and falling in love with a great wall of a man named William Ashe, who willingly steps between the armed robber and her son.

Shandi doesn’t know that her blond god Thor has his own complications. When he looked down the barrel of that gun he believed it was destiny: It’s been one year to the day since a tragic act of physics shattered his universe. But William doesn’t define destiny the way other people do. A brilliant geneticist who believes in science and numbers, destiny to him is about choice.

Now, he and Shandi are about to meet their so-called destinies head on, in a funny, charming, and poignant novel about science and miracles, secrets and truths, faith and forgiveness,; about a virgin birth, a sacrifice, and a resurrection; about falling in love, and learning that things aren’t always what they seem—or what we hope they will be. It’s a novel about discovering what we want and ultimately finding what we need.

My Review

       

This book is nothing like what I was expecting, it was so much more and then some. Someone Else’s Love Story put me through a wide range of emotions and Joshilyn Jackson sure knows how to weave two strangers’ lives together in a thought provoking and seamless way.

We get both Shandi and William’s point of views throughout the novel. Shandi is 21, raising a three-year-old boy, and is trying to finish college. She is strong and has such character growth that I just wanted to give her a big old hug by the end of the novel. Oh and her son, adorable, that is all I need to say about him. William is the somewhat older man that saves Shandi and her son from a crazy man with a gun during a holdup at a gas station. William is a very unique character that I don’t see a lot of in the books that I read. I don’t want to say much about him because it would ruin some of the aspects of the book, so let’s just say that he is loveable and sometimes I just wanted to smack him. The minor characters are all special in their own way and aren’t very easy to forget. Actually, all of these characters seem to have left a lasting impression on me.

Someone Else’s Love Story could be considered a little slower paced at times but I had no problem finishing it shortly after I started. I never got bored. I loved the southern small town setting and even the big city setting, in my opinion they were both described really well. The beginning starts off with a bang and slows down just a little bit, but if you hang in there it will be worth it. The ending is lovely and not what I was expecting, in a good way.

If you are looking for a change of pace from young adult books, or just want to read something passionate, interesting, unique, and well written… pick up a copy of Someone Else’s Love Story.

** I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.