Someone else's love story

I had a lot of hope for Someone Else's Love Story because (1) I've heard great things about Joshilyn Jackson, and (2) I really liked the short story intro in My Own Miraculous. So HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT is an understatement.

According to the synopsis, Someone Else's Love Story is about Shandi Pierce being held up in a gas station and falling in insta-love with William, who puts himself between the gunner and her 3-year-old genius son, Natty. William is a genetics genius and he agrees to help Shandi discover who Natty's father is. This is all true, but the entire first 25% of the book goes back and forth between Shandi's and William's thoughts about the hold-up situtaion, the exact actions of the gunner, etc. Although this is a life-changing moment for both of them, it's extremely irritating because there is absolutely no story development. We get it, both of them have lost things and had a hard time in the past couple of years... I just wanted the story to move on to what actually happens after.

Then it finally did... and blah, ick, gag... The events that unfold are extremely chick-flicky cliche. Shandi is caught in a love triangle between her long-time best friend, Walcott, and her life-saver (but she doesn't know if she's unknowingly been in love with Walcott for her entire life.. oh really?). William is caught in his anger at his wife's accident in which their daughter was killed and his inablity to have faith unlike his wife. And it becomes apparent pretty early that Shandi was raped but has not acknowledged that she was.

This story is all about banging around inside of two indecisive people's heads who have been lying to themselves (Shandi about her “rape” and William about his wife's “existence”). And then everything is wrapped up in a cushy ending. Once again... GAG.

There are details about the other characters who were held up in the gas station, about Shandi's parents, about Walcott's parents, etc. that are just completely unnecessary and ultimately annoying because their storylines are left incomplete.

I picked up this book because I have a weakness for science geek socially awkward love interests... in the end that's all this book had going for it. The story was really not a bad idea, but the execution was just not good.

However, I still like Joshilyn Jackson's writing.. she uses unique phrasing that adds a lot of emotion. So I think I'll try another of her earlier books and just hope that this one was a fluke.

I'm struggling with a rating on this one because I LOVE LOVE LOVED this book until the last 20 or so pages, when the horrible circumstances of Natty's conception suddenly became.....not that horrible? Maybe ok? Perhaps not such a bad thing after all? I always enjoy Jackson's work because she is able to create such rich and full characters, and this novel is no different. But the ending. I don't want to give spoilers, and in general I try not to judge books based on my own moral compass, but there are some things that are just not okay, and I am having a hard time with the author's choice on this one. Reader beware - this one might be a rough one.