★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Author: Christina Lauren
Publisher: Gallery Books
Format/Source: Audiobook
Goodreads, IndieBound, Amazon, Book Depo
From GoodReads: 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.
The Cat Lady Breaks Down…..
Plot: ★★★★★
World: ★★★★★
Writing: ★★★★★
Character Development: ★★★★★
…the writing…..
Admittedly, this is the first book I have read by Christina Lauren. Turns out, I really like her writing style. She paints a vivid picture through her writing for me, and really makes her characters likable. I was lost in this story the entire time.
…the plot….
The plot is what really sold me on this book. We start the story with a pair of twins, Amy and Olive, who are getting ready for Amy’s wedding day. Their banter is catchy and they get along how I imagine sisters do. Olive is right away very open and confident in the fact that she is a larger girl, and I really relate to that. So Olive is stuck with this awful green dress for her wedding, and describes it as, “the shiny flayed pelt of Kermit the Frog.” I kid you not that this caused me to bust out laughing. I’m glad I was in bed alone or would have gotten some weird looks. There is another dilemma that Olive is dealing with, and that is she is currently unemployed. This is weighing heavily on her mind the whole time.
Let’s fast forward so I don’t give you all the minor details. During Olive’s speech at the ceremony, everyone starts to throw up. Olive feels she has bad luck, and this is just one way to top it off. Turns out the buffet seafood has given everyone but her and the grooms brother, Ethan, an awful case of food poisoning. While Olive is back with her sister in their room at the venue, Amy tells Olive she has to take the all inclusive honeymoon to Maui that she won. Olive does not feel great about the idea, but in the end decides she needs to anyways. Here’s the catch, Ethan is going too. Did I mention that they hate each other, and the last thing either of them wants to do is spend 10 days on an island with each other? Oh, and they have to pretend to be a newly wed couple that are oh so deeply in love!
We follow these 2 characters while they have to insufferably spend all this time with each other. Is it really all that insufferable at the end though?
...the characters…
Olive is someone I can relate to. She is a curvy girl who loves her food! She loves her family to every end of the earth, and she just wants to get back into her career field. I love how she handles the situations that are thrown at her. I really want to sit around and eat cheese curds and drink wine with Olive. She’s definitely my new fictional bestie.
Ethan is as charming as he is handsome. He is one of the most swoon worthy characters I have read in quite some time. (Don’t tell my husband that.) I think I loved him from the first time he appeared in this book as well. He’s snarky and fiesty in his own way, and I can’t help but love him for that.
Amy is Olive’s twin. We only interact with her at the beginning and end of the book, but she’s who I would want as a sister or a twin. She may not always be right, but she’ll always be there for Olive.
….final thoughts…
This book has my most favorite trope, enemies to lovers. Nothing gets me on a bandwagon quicker than that. I loved all of Olive and Ethan’s ineractions, and desperately want to see more of them in the future!
tl;dr
The Unhoneymooners is a quirky, fun, and swoon worthy romance that is sure to hook you from the start. With enemies-to-lovers, snarky characters, and situations that are awkwardly entertaining, this one is sure to make you laugh, cry, and think about late into the night. “When I signed up for this honeymoon, I had no idea it would involve so much nudity…”
About the Author:
Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners/besties/soulmates/brain-twins Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The coauthor duo writes both Young Adult and Adult Fiction, and together has produced fourteen New York Times bestselling novels. Their books have been translated into 30+ languages. (Some of these books have kissing. Some of these books have A LOT of kissing.)
