Thursday, May 23, 2019

Book Review: The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren


Pages: 395
Pub. Date: May 14, 2019
Publisher: Gallery
Source: Publisher for review
Other Books By Author: Love and Other Words
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Goodreads says, "Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Ami, on the other hand, is probably the luckiest person in the world. Her meet-cute with her fiancé is something out of a romantic comedy (gag) and she’s managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a series of Internet contests (double gag). Worst of all, she’s forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man.  Olive braces herself to get through 24 hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from eating bad shellfish, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And now there’s an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs.  Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him is suddenly at risk to become a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and her luck seems worse than ever. But the weird thing is that she doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of... lucky."

Olive Torres considers herself unlucky; her twin sister on the other hand is one of the luckiest people she knows. She has won various sweepstakes and even most of her wedding is already paid for through competitions.  At this point, Olive just wants her sister's lavish wedding to be over as she has had a ton of things to do for her sister not to mention deal with the groom's brother, Ethan, whom she can't stand in the least thanks to a very awkward encounter a few years ago.  But her sister's luck is most definitely over.  Most the wedding guests, except Olive and Ethan, get food poisoning from the wedding buffet and the bride and groom are unable to attend their own honeymoon. Her sister can't reschedule either because (you guessed it!) she won the honeymoon and its non-transferable.  Her sister insists that she goes instead of her, but the only issue is that Ethan, the groom's brother and her least favorite person, is going as well.  Ethan and Olive must pretend to be married on this all-inclusive trip that is in her sister's name.  This can't be too bad though, right? I mean a free trip to Maui is worth it.  Christina Lauren's The Unhoneymooners has some of the best dialogue I've read in quite sometime. I was rip roaring laughing! I absolutely loved this romantic comedy; it is quintessential beach reading.

Olive is such a fun character in The Unhoneymooners.  She's smart, a little awkward, and is extremely witty.  I seriously was dying at some of the things that came out of her mouth. Her relationship with Ethan is complicated though. I mean I sort of knew where this was going (obviously), but it was so much fun to go along for the ride. Also, readers slowly figure out why these two don't get a long and what exactly happened in their past. I liked that Lauren slowly revealed it to us.  I know that the enemies-to-lovers trope has been done a lot, but boy, did I love it. Christina Lauren made it so, so much fun!

The chemistry in The Unhoneymooners was through the roof.  Man, Christina Lauren knows how to write such sizzling chemistry without it being too over the top. I actually haven't enjoyed many books from the romance genre, but she writes my kind of romances.   Also, did I mention the setting is Maui? I can't think of a better location for a beach read. I adored Olive and Ethan and the many adventures they encountered whether it was exploring the Hawaiian beaches, snorkeling, couples massages, fancy dinners, or tropical drinks...it was all perfect and my only regret is that I didn't read this book while on vacation.

If you're looking for a light beach read that will have you awkwardly laughing out loud while in public and swooning a few seconds later, look no further. The Unhoneymooners is THE book to throw in your beach bag this summer.  I adored it and I can't wait to read more Christina Lauren in my future.  Which one of her novels should I read next?


6 comments:

  1. I cannot wait to read this!! I am on my third Christina Lauren book, but Love and Other Words remains my favorite.

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    1. I have only read Love and Other Words - so impressed by their storytelling! Their books are so much fun! Thanks for visiting, Michele.

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  2. I haven't read any of their other books, but I'm getting close to the top of the library wait list for this one and I can't wait!

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    1. I can't wait to hear your thoughts on it! I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for visiting, Angela.

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  3. It sounds like the perfect summer read, and I love that it made you laugh out loud.

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    1. It was seriously funny! One of the funniest books I've read all year thanks to the hilarious dialogue. Thanks for visiting, Trish!

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