New Release: The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren + Review!

The Unhoneymooners

by Christina Lauren

For two sworn enemies, anything can happen during the Hawaiian trip of a lifetime—even love—in this witty and swoonworthy romance from the New York Times bestselling duo who “hilariously depict modern dating” (Us Weekly) and authors of Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating and Roomies.


Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Amy, 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. 



What the media is saying...

“Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable as well as free.” ~Kirkus Starred Review

“Lauren brilliantly wields familiar rom-com tropes—enemies to lovers, fake marriage, even height differences—to craft a delightful romance that will have readers hanging on every word.” ~Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“Sassy and appealing, writing duo Lauren’s ( My Latest Half-Night Stand) latest endeavor is sure to please. A perfect read for beach or poolside, this is one hot summer story not to miss!”~Library Journal Starred Review

Review:

4 stars

****

 This was a good book! In the past I really enjoyed CLo books, but over the last few years their books just haven't been the same to me. The Unhoneymooners broke that streak for me and brought me back to the joy I felt when I first started reading their books. This book is a true romance with some funny moments, sweet and emotional ones (as opposed to their last few books which felt like women's fiction to me). I was skeptical that I would love this book, but was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it and how hard it was to put down. 

The Unhoneymooners is Olive and Ethan's story. Olive has always been unlucky. Her luck has recently gotten worse when she lost her job and her roomate around the same time. But her luck may be turning around when she finally gets a job and then she gets a chance to take the trip of a lifetime. The only problem is that she has to go with a guy who she thinks hates her. 

Olive's twin sister is marrying Ethan's brother. Olive liked Ethan on first meeting him several years ago, but they got off to a poor start and have avoided each other since. On the day of their siblings wedding, due to their personal food issues, they are the only wedding guests to not eat off of the seafood buffet at the wedding. The entire wedding party and all the guests get terrible food poisoning. It is impossible for the newlyweds to go on their honeymoon. So Olive's sister insists she take the trip to Hawaii, which can't be rescheduled because it was won in a contest, and bring Ethan with her. 

Olive is skeptical that she could enjoy any trip she takes with Ethan. He treats her with disdain and they fight constantly. But she is willing to try and just avoid Ethan as much as she can while they share a honeymoon suite. But as Ethan and Olive are forced to spend time together in paradise, they find their impressions about each other, and what they think the other person is thinking about them, is wrong. They truly get to the bottom of their differences, get to know each other and fall for each other over their two week vacation. There is some complications because they have to pose as a married couple to keep their free vacation going and they run into people they actually know, which makes it hard to keep the ruse going. Once they get home, they also have to face their siblings and families, who may not be happy about their new relationship. Can they make it through the vacation and carry their new found love into the real world?

I really enjoyed this story. It was original and interesting. I loved both Olive and Ethan. They were opposites and they did bicker a lot, but they were very honest with each other as well, which made their relationship refreshing. They were really fun and deep characters, who were all about each other. The two of them got off on the wrong foot when they met and had bad impressions of each other, but it all worked out in the end. I really enjoyed seeing their relationship develop. It felt like a slow burn, even though they fell in love over a two week trip. Both Olive and Ethan grew as people together as the book went on. I enjoyed all of the side characters of Olive's large Mexican American family too. The only thing I didn't totally love was the low heat level and somewhat fade to black sex scenes. Still, it didn't bother me too much. 

Overall, The Unhoneymooners was an entertaining, easy and cute read. There were some sweet, emotional, and funny moments. This was a book about finding yourself, growing as a person and falling in love along the way. I enjoyed this book a lot and look forward to more in this vein from Christina Lauren in the future!