“Someone Else’s Love Story” by Joshilyn Jackson – The Threads of Destiny

Someone Else’s Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson is a rather light, cutesy, and still thought-provoking romantic story that goes well with the atmosphere brought unto us by the holidays.

The story follows the life of Shandi Pierce, a young single mother who is raising a three year-old genius and trying to make her way through college… all while playing the mediator between her always-warring divorced parents.

As if that wasn’t already enough, life took a rather sharp turn when she ended up in the middle of a stick-up. When the hour seemed darkest, a man emerged like a shining ray of light, putting himself between the gun and the child.

At that point, destiny did take a somewhat tragic turn, but Shandi and her savior were seemingly forever bound from that moment onwards. Though Shandi sees him as a beautiful God who can do no wrong, he really does have his share of issues and complications, on top of which his take on the nature of destiny is rather unusual to say the least.

Though there certainly are some tragic elements to this story, comedy and charm still dominate the pages as the main bulk of the story revolves around the relationship between the two main characters.

Their unlikely pairing up and all the obstacles they are made to overcome between the beginning and the end not only make you feel warm inside, but more often than not they will bring the laughter out of you.

The cast of characters we have here is interesting in itself, mostly because we get a very good sense of how they look, what they think and feel through the author’s rather vivid descriptions.

Most people will find that the more attractive part of the book is the way in which the storylines intertwine with each other, creating many uncertainties in the process, all of which need to be resolved.

However, in my opinion the more interesting part of the book revolves around its exploration of one main theme: destiny.

Quite frankly, I had never thought of some of the ideas presented in here, especially the ones elaborated on by William Ashe, the man who put himself in front of the gun.

Though these ideas certainly won’t give you an existential crisis, they are more than enough to make you stop and ponder as to just what life really is about.

All in all, Someone Else’s Love Story is humorous, charming, thought-provoking, and takes you through an emotional rollercoaster of a journey where a single question drives it all: “what are humans in relation to destiny?”.

I would definitely recommend it to those looking for something lighter and captivating to read during the holidays.

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Joshilyn Jackson Personal site Joshilyn Jackson is an American author who made her entrance onto the literary stage not too long ago but has managed to gain some traction with lauded novels such as The Opposite of Everyone, Gods in Alabama, and more recently, The Almost Sisters.