#ATBR2019 Review: The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren @gallerybooks @christinalauren @jessmapreviews
The Unhoneymooners
by Christina Lauren
Thanks to Gallery for these free books!
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publish Date: May 14, 2019
Paperback
432 Pages
Standalone
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
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.
My Review:
What a delightful, funny and engaging book! I have the softest spot for romcoms that are done as well as they are by these two authors. Whenever I feel I need to cleanse my palate from my darker reads, this is the type of book that does it so perfectly.
I can completely relate to Olive and her bad luck and always feeling like the less successful one. Though I can't relate to her amazing rack or ability to look that good in a swimsuit. haha. But how lucky is she to be able to go to MAUI on her sister's honeymoon? I mean, all things aside, it's MAUI!!!! Then to be with a guy she doesn't particularly care for.... well, we all know where this is going, don't we? YES WE DO. Predictable as all get out and I DO NOT CARE. The whole thing is hilarious - I absolutely love the banter and some of her inner monologue.
When we get towards the end of the book where they're back home, the book takes a little more of a serious turn. By this point, I'm completely invested in both Olive and Ethan. Enamored. So when things go awry, well, I was FEELING IT. I don't know if it's just my current mood, the writing, or what - all I know is I felt angry FOR HER.
And like with all romcoms - I wish that real life included grand gestures. **sigh** Or maybe I should just learn like Olive to try and embrace the good and not always expect the bad. *wink*
As usual, absolutely loved this quick read by Christina Lauren and I certainly will always pick up their work.
★★★★★
I can completely relate to Olive and her bad luck and always feeling like the less successful one. Though I can't relate to her amazing rack or ability to look that good in a swimsuit. haha. But how lucky is she to be able to go to MAUI on her sister's honeymoon? I mean, all things aside, it's MAUI!!!! Then to be with a guy she doesn't particularly care for.... well, we all know where this is going, don't we? YES WE DO. Predictable as all get out and I DO NOT CARE. The whole thing is hilarious - I absolutely love the banter and some of her inner monologue.
When we get towards the end of the book where they're back home, the book takes a little more of a serious turn. By this point, I'm completely invested in both Olive and Ethan. Enamored. So when things go awry, well, I was FEELING IT. I don't know if it's just my current mood, the writing, or what - all I know is I felt angry FOR HER.
And like with all romcoms - I wish that real life included grand gestures. **sigh** Or maybe I should just learn like Olive to try and embrace the good and not always expect the bad. *wink*
As usual, absolutely loved this quick read by Christina Lauren and I certainly will always pick up their work.
★★★★★
Jessica's Review:
My first experience with Christina Lauren was MY FAVORITE HALF-NIGHT STAND, so I was ready to pick up their upcoming release, THE UNHONEYMOONERS. When you need a cleanser or just something fun, I know these ladies won't do me wrong. This is a quick one and the perfect beach read for this summer.
Olive hasn't always been so lucky - her career, her love life - and it doesn't help when she is constantly compared to Ami, her identical twin sister. Ami's luck seems endless, she has won everything for their wedding from internet contests, so her wedding is virtually free. Meanwhile, Olive is forced to play nice with her nemesis, Ethan, who is also the best man. Her luck seems to turn around when she manages to avoid food poisoning from the catering. Ami insists that she take the non-refundable and all-inclusive honeymoon to Maui, but the groom insists that his brother, Ethan, go on the trip. Not wanting to pass up a free beach vacation and escape the Minnesota tundra, Olive agrees to go on the trip with Ethan with the plans to completely avoid him. Well, we all know how this enemies-to-lovers trope goes!
I'll always be a sucker for anything set in Minnesota, and I don't blame them for wanting to get out of the tundra for the sunny beaches! I loved Olive. She was such a fun and sassy character, and her witty banter was perfect. We all know how this book is going to play out and that did not take away from the story at all. The development of their relationship and then their time back home after Maui, I was here for all of it.
If you want a fun rom-com read, then you can't go wrong with this one! If you're a fan of Christina Lauren, then this will be a no-brainer, and if you're wanting a cover buy, well you've got that checked here, too. It's got it all! A must-have for your summer TBR
5 stars
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