Format read: ebook
Release Date: 6 December 2011
Number of pages: 310 pages
Publisher: self-published
Formats available: ebook, paperback
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Author’s Website, Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Smashwords

Jason Vanderholt, Hollywood’s hottest actor, falls head over heels for everygirl, Chloe Winters, who hasn’t gotten around to watching most of his movies. She becomes the woman every other woman in America is dying to be, but it just isn’t her fairytale.

My Thoughts: Someone Else’s Fairytale by E.M. Tippetts is every girl’s secret fantasy: a gorgeous and celebrated sexy Hollywood actor meets and falls in love with an ordinary girl next door and sweeps her off her feet to their happily ever after, except that in this story Chloe, the heroine not only does not want to be part of any sweeping but she doesn’t even like the hero at the beginning! *gasp* Jason Vanderholt is a fictional Henry Cavill: drop-dead gorgeous and sexy, he stars in big budget blockbuster movies, both critics and fan praise his acting and he hails from a normal family.

I loved Jason even without having seen his movies. I mean what’s not to like: he is always kind and polite towards Chloe, he is thoughtful and witnessing how he is with his friends and family it is clear he isn’t shallow or a phony. Liking Chloe wasn’t such an obvious thing. Not because there was anything that made me outright dislike her, it was rather that I couldn’t really connect with her. She seemed a tad immature to me, and the way she behaved toward her male best friend and then Jason didn’t make her relatable or even likable to me. It frustrated me how blind she was and how she didn’t realise Jason was interested in her when it was obvious to everyone else with two eyes.

The development of their romance, or rather Chloe’s epiphany of realizing she loved him left me underwhelmed and disappointed: she became a friend of Jason, they talked and got to know each other a bit, but she rejected him when he was her friend but started falling in love with him when she watched his movies? I got the impression she rather fell in love with her movie persona and not the real guy she got to know. (Also the way she described Jason as a fake living Ken doll made me doubt how she could find him attractive later.) The realization of her feelings came out of the blue and sounded a bit fangirl crush-like to me rather than genuine feelings.

A lot of secondary characters are introduced and my favourite without a doubt were Jason’s parents and siblings his “mean sister”, I enjoyed every family scene where they were teasing each other and having a laugh.

The descriptions of the settings and the colourful and tasty Mexican food were done in detail and made the places and meals leap off the pages (and made my mouth water).

The story is mostly made up of dilaogue which gives fast repartee but not smoothness. Someone Else’s Fairytale could have done with a bit better or more thourough editing, I particularly didn’t like the way the chapters got cut up, cutting off scenes at important moments and forcing breaks when the event would have flewn smoothly.

Verdict: Someone Else’s Fairytale was a story I gobbled up and it was a joy reading about Jason wooing Chloe:

“All of this is up to you,” he said. “You want to wait, fine. You want to switch gears completely, fine. It doesn’t affect how committed I am to you or much I love you or anything like that, we clear?”

but something in the development of their romance (probably Chloe’s lack of reaction) didn’t struck a chord with me. Maybe readers are more critical with such a plot since every female reader pictures herself as the heroine enchanting the famous Hollywood actor and so it is harder for the author to create a likable heroine, but I didn’t connect with Chloe, neither as a romantic heroine nor as a girl friend. Someone Else’s Fairytale is an enjoyable chick lit, I just wish there was a bit more romance and less drama.

I give Someone Else’s Fairytale 3.5 stars!

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

About Stella

Stella is a proud bookaholic and a self-taught multilinguist in training. Besides reading, her other great passions are travelling and baking. When she is not globetrotting she lives in sunny Budapest, where she loves to spend her free time preparing (and feasting on) delicious cookies or devouring equally yummy books. Her favourite genres are urban fantasy and romance and she couldn't live without her daily dose of sunshine. Besides being the Latin Lover on BLI Stella also blogs about books and a bookish life on Ex Libris.

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