The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

Series: N/A
# of Pages: 400
Source: Library Audiobook
Genre: Contemporary Romance
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From the international bestselling author of DATING YOU, HATING YOU comes a new, unmissable standalone novel. 'A smart, sexy romance for readers who thrive on girl power' Kirkus Reviews on DATING YOU, HATING YOU For two sworn enemies, anything can happen during the Hawaiian trip of a lifetime -in this witty and swoonworthy romance from the New York Times bestselling duo behind JOSH AND HAZEL'S GUIDE TO NOT DATING. 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 fiance is something out of a romantic comedy (ugh) and she's managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a series of online contests (double ugh). 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 just has to get through twenty-four hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party - except for Olive and Ethan - gets food poisoning, 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 becomes a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds. But the weird thing is that she doesn't mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of . . . lucky. THE UNHONEYMOONERS is a heartwarming and hilarious romance perfect for anyone who has ever felt unlucky in love. Author BiographyChristina Lauren is the combined pen name of longtime writing partners/besties/soulmates and brain-twins Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, the New York Times, USA TODAY, and #1 international bestselling authors of the Beautiful and Wild Seasons series, Sublime, The House, and Autoboyography.

The Unhoneymooners is the second book that I listened to by Christina Lauren. Unlike the first novel I read (Roomies) which focused on a fake dating for citizenship, this book focused on a couple that had to fake a relationship due to a random illness that occurred during a wedding. In lieu of her sister attending her prize winning honeymoon, Olive opts to attend with her new brother-in-law who apparently can't stand her. What ensues is a series of laughable mishaps and adventures that quickly turns into a sort of enemies to lovers romance.

"Rumor has it your dad brought her flowers and she pulled off every petal and used them to spell PUTA in the snow."

The character development of The Unhoneymooners didn't strike me as memorable. While I was fully immersed in Olive's sense of humor, Ethan came off as rather bland. I wasn't intrigued by his character so I didn't really find the appeal in Olive's attraction. She seemed vivacious and full of life while he seemed too mellow to really illicit any type of chemistry between the two of them. In listening to the book I always felt like it was Olive's character that really carried the book. In addition to the blandness of Ethan's character, I found it hard to believe that he couldn't see the issues that Olive pointed out in relation to his brother. To the reader it was clear as day that his brother was involved in some suspicious activities, but Ethan kept making excuses. While I understand not wanting to the see the bad in someone (I'm the queen of this), it seemed like Christian Lauren pushed the issue too much for Ethan not to notice. At one point it became unbelievable that he wouldn't second guess his brothers actions. This could have been resolved if readers were granted a full perspective from Ethan; however, since it was told mainly from Olive's point of view it remained a point of issue for me.

"When I signed up for this honeymoon, I had no idea it would involve so much nudity..."

While I found the character development to be lacking, I did enjoy the plot. It was HILARIOUS. Some of the situations that Olive and Ethan were involved in were completely wild and funny. The scene at the wedding where everyone was getting sick is akin to the scene in the movie Bridesmaids when they all get sick after eating at the Brazilian restaurant. While I felt for Amy considering her wedding day was ruined, I could not stop laughing. It was also fun to watch Olive attempt to maintain the lie that she was married to Ethan. She was a nervous wreck and it made their interactions with other characters more hilarious. In all honesty, I think that Christina Lauren still would have had a great plot even if they didn't include the narrative of Ethan's ex. I understand how she was a catalyst to some parts of the plot, but in some cases I don't feel like she was needed as a character.

"“Rumor has it your dad brought her flowers and she pulled off every petal and used them to spell PUTA in the snow."

The writing was easy to follow and fun. I think that I definitely enjoyed this book more because I listened to it on audio and the narrative made it fun. I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much if I had to read it as a physical book. Overall, I thought this book was a decent romance read. It wasn't the best romance that I've read, but I'll definitely keep checking out more Christina Lauren books.