| Title | : | The Unhoneymooners |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 400 |
| Publication | : | First published May 14, 2019 |
| Awards | : | Goodreads Choice Award Romance (2019) |
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.
Alternate cover edition of ISBN
9781501128035.
The Unhoneymooners Reviews
-
Here are two true statements about me:
1) While I have never actually liked a Christina Lauren book, I really want to, and I keep trying to.
2) I love
The Hating Game. (Update: I no longer love The Hating Game. But let's pretend for the sake of me not having to update this review that I do._
Here is a statement about this book I believe to be true:
1) It is just a worse The Hating Game.
To be fair, most Christina Lauren books are just a worse The Hating Game. (In my opinion, that is. Because for reasons unknown I love The Hating Game.)
I mean. Here, we have Olive, the adorkable, cringey heroine who Doesn’t Know She Is Beautiful But Does Know She Is Physically Sexy (because that’s definitely different from a woman being valued only for sexual purposes). She’s paired with Ethan, the cold and mean (but so hot and omg his ABS) guy who is actually sooooo nice once you get to know him and all those times he was a total asshole? Just a misunderstanding. Well I mean it staaaarted a misunderstanding, but then the girl was like, so mean to him (and also so sexy, he was distracted by her boobs / butt / legs can you blame him), so then he just HAD to be a mean vengeful child about it for literally years on end!
Essentially The Hating Game.
And I have to tell you, I’m getting realllllll sick of this trope. It’s just childish bickering teeming with misunderstandings then sexy time then a major misunderstanding then make-up sexy time and finally, mercifully, The End.
I like The Hating Game, though, because it’s charming and I found the romance believable. Not only was I not charmed by this book, not only did I not find the romance believable, but...well.
Let’s do a list.
1) The Huge Misunderstanding That Threatens To Ruin Everything Even True Love is very, very stupid. Putting this point in spoiler tags:
2) There’s such a halfhearted subplot for Olive about her needing a DREAM CAREER. One of the first things we learn about her (after the first round of the countless descriptions of her sexy curvy body) is that she genuinely enjoys her career path and is good at it. But for some reason...that is not a dream career? Am I an emotionless robot for not understanding that? The rest of the book is teeming with Motivational Passages from Ethan and Olive’s internal monologue about her Not Settling and Finding Herself and I just...don’t get it.
3) The way the world works in this book feels completely unfamiliar to me. Like, Olive’s twin Ami pays for her entire wedding - venue, food, dress, hotel, honeymoon, everything - with...coupons? What? That’s not a thing. Olive gets fired for a reason solely related to her personal life, which makes no sense. Everyone believes there’s such a thing as a definitively good or bad luck? What. Where are we. What’s going on.
But worst of all...I didn’t care about this at all. Where was the CHEMISTRY. Where was the CHARM. Where was the part where I FALL in LOVE and also they FALL in LOVE.
Why am I reading a rom-com and feeling neither ROM nor COM.
Bottom line: Will I keep reading Christina Lauren books? Who’s to say. (Probably.) (But then, that’s the masochism talking.)
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pre-review
CALLED IT
review to come / 2.5ish stars
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tbr review
i am probably not going to like this book but by god i won't let that stop me -
I can treat this trip like an actual vacation on a tropical island.
Yes, it’s with my nemesis, but still, I’ll take it.
Guys, I don't think it's working out. I'm trying so hard to get on the
Christina Lauren fanwagon, but there are just lots of little things that aren't floating my boat.
The Unhoneymooners is not bad at all. It's quite funny and enjoyable for the most part, actually. It's just... well, I'll start with the first thing I noticed. This is only the second
Christina Lauren book I have tried, with the other being
Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating, and yet right away I realized that the characters were virtually identical. Both Olive and Hazel are klutzy, embarrassing heroines who don't know when to stop talking, each with notably amazing boobs. Ethan and Josh are both aloof, cynical guys who supposedly view their respective heroines with disdain until they, um, don't anymore. And they are both - I'm quoting here - boob men (curious - does this boob thing come up in all their books?).
Boob joking aside, Olive and Ethan could just as easily be Josh and Hazel. They read like the same couple. Also, I see a lot of reviewers talking about this promised "enemies-to-lovers" romance, but I'm just not that convinced. I am a sucker for the love/hate relationship thing, I'll be honest. I don't know why. Add it to my list of issues. But whether it's Jardan or Spuffy or the good old Fitzbeth, I'm all for a bit of "I hate you, let's fuck" angst.
Olive and Ethan, though, are not enemies. Sure, she calls him her "nemesis" and declares how awful it's going to be going to Maui with him, blah blah, but it seems pretty clear to me from the beginning that they really love bickering with each other. They don't hate each other! They're not enemies! Their first conversation makes them seem like an old married couple bitching at each other. In fact, I find it weird how Olive basically fabricates some faux-hatred at the start, but is later very easily forgiving when, in my opinion, Ethan was completely in the wrong.
So far this has definitely sounded more negative, but it is a fun, easy read. I like how both Olive and Hazel are unwilling to apologize for who they are and the way their bodies look. I like the back-and-forth between Olive and Ethan:“Ethan, I’m a terrible liar.”
“Really? You hid it so well.”
“It’s never been my strength, okay? Those of us who aren’t summoned by the Dark Mark consider honesty to be a virtue.”
I also really liked the single perspective of this story. Seeing as almost every romance novel these days has multiple perspectives, I must be in the minority on this one, but I actually find it much easier to enjoy a romance and fall in love with the object of the MC's affections if I'm reading a single perspective. Getting inside the other person's head dampens some of the tension for me.
Oh, and I also liked the super hot massage scene. For obvious reasons.
Hell, I don't even know at this point. It's not like I'm not having a bit of mindless fun with these books, but with so little time to read, do I really want to keep spending it with 3-star reads? Huh. Maybe I'll try one more.
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Going into The Unhoneymooners, I expected this to be a light, fun rom-com based on all the gushing reviews out there. After all, I enjoy a good love/hate relationship as much as the next gal. Instead, coming out of it, I'm left wondering if I read the same book everyone else did.
The initial pages were bubbly and charming as events unfold that lead to Olive and Ethan going to Maui together. Then, bam! The awkward train arrives, and my enjoyment of this book completely falls apart. You guys, I don't understand this coupling at all. There is no chemistry between them. It was odd how they were cold towards each other one moment, then hot the next. Love/hate relationships are only fun if I can understand the whys of one and the other, but all I got was whiplash trying to follow along.
As far as I can tell, Olive likes Ethan solely because he's attractive. On every page, Olive mentions his muscles, his abs, his biceps, his beautiful face, his long lashes, his blue eyes. Please, someone make it stop. And Olive hates Ethan because she thinks he doesn't like her. And the only reason Ethan gives for liking Olive is her boobs. *facepalm* Can we just try a little harder here to make the reasons more than skin deep?
The supposed flirty banter between these two made me cringe in embarrassment for them, especially Olive. She tries so hard in their interactions to be snarky, but it comes across as forced, inappropriate, and awkward. And she reads into everything he says, and ends up incorrectly interpreting almost everything. It was exhausting to read. And Ethan doesn't help, giving signals he's thinking about his ex, then acting like a clueless dumbass when Olive is hurt.
Usually a romance either has a few explicitly steamy scenes or the author can chose to let all those happen behind the curtains, and either is fine with me. But this book oddly tries to straddle both. There's no explicit scenes shown, but instead we are told constantly at random, unrelated times that they happened A LOT. It's so awkward.
But for all this, it wasn't until the last 100 pages that this book took a complete left turn to somewhere stupid, for no reason. The story was wrapped up, and then it kept going, right off of a cliff. When someone you care for tells you that they got an unwanted advance and it made them uncomfortable, your response should not be in the vein of "I don't believe it. Really it's he said/she said. And what does it matter what the truth is anyways?" Umm... say what?
I found this book to be an odd mix of boring and awkward, with a good dose of "Oh hell no!" thrown in at end. This is my second book by this author duo, and I'm starting to think that they aren't for me. In both books, silly main characters acting on questionable calls make it hard for me to see them as viable romantic leads, which ultimately defeats the whole purpose of a romance. -
me, normally: the concept of romantic love is nothing but a marketing scheme for greeting card companies, a lie sold by the government, a-
me, after reading this book: [through an oversized megaphone] CAN SOME ROMANTIC SHIT HAPPEN TO ME ALREADY DAMN -
4.5/5
This was cute as heck!! -
never in my life have i read a book that had the same sense of humour as me - until now. this is honestly one of the funniest books i have ever read. i was giggling like a dweeb pretty much throughout the entire thing. gosh, its such a depressing thought to know i will never be as funny as olive and ethan.
the charming humour aside, this might be the best execution of the enemies-to-lovers trope since ‘the hating game.’ is everything in the story convenient? sure. is it super emotionally compelling? not really. but it absolutely nails the fact that relationships dont work unless you know your partner on a friendship level. and i love the natural connection that developed between olive and ethan.
my only complaint would be that the ending is a little rushed. there is a massive shift in story dynamic when olive and ethan return from their trip (almost feels like an entirely seperate story) and it just feels like it ends too soon. i think there are some things that could have been explored more and i honestly wouldnt have minded a longer book. oh well. still a fantastic story overall!
↠ 4.5 stars -
A humorous enemies-turn-lovers romance fills out the first half of
The Unhoneymooners. It's engaging, funny, and sexy. But the co-written aspect of this novel makes itself known as the storyline morphs into a more dramatic second half with several climaxes related to career, trust, family, and relationships. In my opinion, this reading experience felt like two different books were placed under the same cover, and I quite liked the fun one more. However, overall,
The Unhoneymooners is indeed enjoyable and will surely satisfy
Christina and Lauren's many fans. Check it out.
Thank you to the following for permitting me access to an advance reader's copy (ARC) of
The Unhoneymooners. This generosity did not impact my honesty when rating/reviewing.
Source: NetGalley
Author: Christina Lauren
Publisher: Gallery Books: Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books
Genres: Romance
Pub Date: May 14, 2019 -
Total waste of time…
* A couple with no chemistry or no connection whatsoever.
* A hatred for two and a half years for no reason at all - or a stupid one that is not understandable.
* A story that is not even funny at all other than a few good jokes but they cannot save this book.
* A boring and lame relationship that never feels like romance. It doesn't make you feel.
* A heroine who is quirky and a hero to hate! They make a couple like cartoon characters.
*********************************************
That’s the short summary of the book. Here’s a longer one:
The hero (Ethan) likes the heroine (Olive) when they first meet and she also thinks he is a hot guy. Ethan actually wants to ask Olive out but his brother, who is going out with her twin sister, says “No". He says that she is a bitter person and she is his girlfriend’s twin sister and it would be weird and he listens to him.
He listens to him!!!! and goes out with other women! Then he has a serious relationship with a woman, he proposes to her but she leaves him.
I should have stopped reading when I saw what a lame guy he was by listening to his brother but for some dumb reason, I still tried hoping it would get better.
*********************************************
As I said, his brother is the douche-bag boyfriend/fiancé and later husband of Olive's twin sister, Ami, whom we later discover that is a cheater. Dane is a cheater and a liar and he is a manipulative bastard!
When Ami and Dane are getting married, all the wedding guests, including the bride and the groom get poisoned by the buffet food, it’s only Ethan and Olive, who are left unaffected because they didn’t eat from the buffet. Everyone is so very sick and Ethan and Olive end up going to the honeymoon not to waste it.
*********************************************
Their hatred is based upon nothing at all. Ethan's brother said she was a pessimistic and bitter person so he hates Olive based on it. What a tool! And Olive thinks that Ethan thinks she is fat and unattractive so she hates him. What a fool!
Whatever! In the hotel they stay, they join every stupid activity that bore me to death! And there, they see Olive's future boss and Ethan's ex-grilfriend with her new fiancé and they decide to pretend. This pretension slowly diminishes their hatred and feelings start to emerge but it is so badly written that I never felt their chemistry or I never actually believed in their feelings.
*********************************************
The romance is so very badly written all along the book. Only a few jokes are funny and I smiled a few times. But the romance was so bad… so very bad… And the whole story was utterly boring! A yawn fest, indeed!
And when they finally get intimate, there are only a few kisses and then fade to black scenes…
Seeing how badly the writers write the kissing scenes, it might be good that they didn’t try to write a love-making scene but still I hate “fade to black” love-making scenes!
*********************************************
It was also frustrating that the writers wrote embarrassing scenes to make it funny, such as falling on the bathroom floor naked on top of each other before there was anything between them.
Oh, and then, there was a naked massage he had to apply to her and she was both embarrassed and turned on - yeap, he HAD TO do it while she was naked just because the massage therapist who thought they were married offered it and they thought they should pretend... Pretend, my as*! This is utter stupidity that the writers are trying to make us believe!
*********************************************
OK, with such an “emotion-less” and “boring” story that gets to be funny very rarely, I was already going to rate it low (maybe 2 or 3 stars) but it soon earned its 1 star when the hero showed how lame he really was (I would give it a zero star if I could, by the way).
Here is what happens that made me go crazy with anger!
NOTE TO SELF:
Add these writers to your avoid shelf! After 2 huge disappointments and one mediocre read, it's time to stop trying their work. -
ARC provided by Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review.“That’s the point of luck: it happens when and where it happens.”
This is my favorite Christina Lauren book since
Roomies! I’ll be honest, I wasn’t too in love with
Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating or
My Favorite Half-Night Stand, but this felt like the famous duo was back and resecured that special place in my swoon-worthy romance heart. This was so funny, this was so heartwarming, and since I’m leaving in a few weeks for Hawaii, the setting was pretty perfect for me, too! This is a hate to love, enemies to lovers, fake dating romance that features two characters who are forced to be around each other because their siblings are marrying each other.
➽ Olive Torres - Biracial (white and Mexican), twin of the bride, has been unlucky her entire life.
➽ Ethan Thomas - Brother of the groom, and Olive’s archnemesis.“I want to say something sassy, but the only coherent thought that comes to mind is how insulting it is that eyelashes like his were wasted on Satan’s Errand Boy, so I just give a perfunctory nod and turn down the hall.”
And these two had a very rocky, and very confusing, first meeting. But they are trying their best to put their differences aside for this wedding, even if they are antagonizing each other every single chance they get. But the wedding takes an unexpected turn when everyone gets sick from the seafood buffet that was served, except for Olive and Ethan, since neither of them ate from it.
Their siblings insist that they take their Hawaii honeymoon, instead of letting the trip go to waste! And they both decide to, because once they get to Maui, they won’t have to see each other except for sleeping. That is, until Olive's boss and Ethan’s ex fiancé happen to be at the same resort, and they are forced to play the part of happy newlyweds, because Olive doesn’t want to get caught using their sibling’s honeymoon by the resort and be forced to pay for it out of their own pocket, and Ethan doesn’t want his ex to see him single. And honestly? It was just the perfect fake dating setup, let’s be real.“The problem with lying about relationships is that humans are fickle, fickle creatures.”
And I truly believe the banter in this book is the best that these authors have ever crafted. It’s smart, witty, and truly hilarious. I also just loved Olive and Ethan as characters so much, and I easily shipped them together; maybe harder than any Christina Lauren characters. The setting was perfect, the plot was genius, and this was just an overall really easy book to escape into and love.
But I am very curious to see how plus-sized reviewers are going to feel about the representation in this book. This is not my lane, so please know that while reading this paragraph, but this book puts a huge emphasis on how Olive thinks Ethan fat-shamed and body-shamed her. She constantly talks about her body, her curves, her stress baking and eating, and how things look on her body, and even tears clothing that’s too small for her, while always kind of comparing herself to her thin twin sister. Like, I was 100% sure Olive was plus-sized through the entire start of this book, but then, once they arrive in Hawaii, it seems like the only big and curvy thing about her is her breasts, which are obviously perfect! And then, at the end of this book it starts feeling like she and her thin sister are identical in bodies, too, and she also gets compared to Selena Gomez. Like, I just didn’t understand. It was like they wanted to have a plus-sized main character, but they didn’t want to actually go there or hire any beta readers. Like, again, this isn’t my lane, and I’m obviously not saying that thin people can’t have body dysmorphia or just have unhealthy relationships with food and their bodies, but the way this read personally felt bad to me. I just honestly think this book could be really triggering because of the emphasis it has on Oliva’s relationship with food and her inner monologue about her thoughts about her body, while also painting a very hazy picture of her actual body.
Also, there is a very small conversation between Olive’s family members questioning if a family member is queer, and… it was really badly done. "Because lesbians use those strap-on things" and apparently have short haircuts. And I completely understand it was supposed to be funny because older generations “don’t get it” or whatever, but it wasn’t cute; it was offensive and poorly done. And the mom saying she wishes she was born a lesbian, like… gag me with any spoon you can find. Like, it was so minuscule, and I have no idea why it was even part of the book or why editors thought it was a good thing to keep included, but it just made me side eye and put a bad taste in my mouth.
Okay, I know those last two paragraphs seem bad, and they are, I’m not making light of them whatsoever! But I will say that if you took those two elements out, this is a really good book. Like, the best I’ve read from Christina Lauren in years. It was laugh out loud funny, it was romantic and swoon worthy, and I really shipped this enemies to lovers dynamic. I never wanted to leave Olive, Ethan, or Hawaii, and I think this is just going to be the ultimate beach read of 2019.
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The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.
Content and trigger warnings for talk of cheating (not the main characters), A LOT of talk about food and bodies that I think could be potentially triggering, and the brief but questionable conversation about sexuality that I mentioned above. -
2023: damn, past chan knew what she was talking about. i stand by literally everything i said. though after reading 400+ contemporary romances since finishing this book for the first time i think it's time to bump this up to a 5 star rating. it definitely stands apart from the crowd.
2019:
the hating game meets forgetting sarah marshall
This was the PERFECT beachy summer read. You've got an enemies-to-lovers & fake-dating thing. You've got lots of wit and a whole lot of humor. And unlike most Christina Lauren books, you get a really satisfying conclusion.
The Unhoneymooners is about Olive and Ethan who, due to some unlucky circumstances, are forced to go on a honeymoon together. Even though they hate each other. While in paradise, they come face to face with their own relationship and (unlucky again) are forced to put on a show when people from their real life appear in Maui.
I liked pretty much everything about this book. I thought the pacing worked really well. I liked the contrast between Olive/Ethan's relationship with that of her twin sister Ami/Ami's husband. I liked that there weren't any super big and crazy declarations of love early on, but you could definitely understand Olive and Ethan's attraction and communication style. It just worked.
I also really liked the plot twist and conflict in this book. Often times in romance, the conflict between two seemingly happy, honeymoon-phase characters is shaken by miscommunication or something equally contrived. But I felt like the conflict in this was extremely realistic and made sense given the context.
The only reason this isn't a 5 star read for me is the lack of true character depth. I think both of the characters had realistic personalities and definitely weren't one dimensional but I also didn't feel the strongest connection to either of them. They worked really well as a pair but individually I wasn't overwhelmed with love.
Overall this was such a fun read, and lovers of Sally Thorne will swoon reading this. -
There’s no getting around it, so I’m just going to get it over with and put it out there.
The Unhoneymooners is not my favorite of the dynamic duo’s rom-coms. Truth be told, this is the only
Christina Lauren to date that has earned less than four stars from this reader. And believe me, as someone who’s been a longtime fan of their work, it would be so much easier to gloss over the things that bothered me, as opposed to confessing this didn’t work for me in its entirety, but it is what it is. So, hear me out. Or not. Your choice.
Was the journey fun and light? For sure.
Were the coauthors successful in pulling out the laughs? You bet.
Even more importantly, were there swoon-worthy moments capable of rousing my inner giddy and giggly gal? Of course.
Was it up to snuff with some of the duo's other novels? Nope.
This time around,
Christina Lauren brings readers to the Twin Cities for a wedding paid for entirely with sweepstakes and giveaways wins. In hindsight, maybe partaking in a free seafood buffet isn’t the best idea. Food poisoning, anyone? How about everyone? Well, except for the two people who opted for the chicken plate instead. When optimistic Ami and her new groom find they can’t peel themselves off the bathroom floor, let alone think about heading to Maui for their all expenses paid honeymoon, they enlist their siblings to take their places—aka the pessimistic twin sister Olive and her “nemesis” Ethan.
While there are some hilarious one-liners and dialogue—total laugh out loud moments—exchanged between the “enemies”, it takes reading half of the novel (around 200 pages) before anything couply transpires between Olive and Ethan. In the meantime, readers are fed a steady diet of faux hatred and convenient situations. Running into one person you know from home, okay I’ll bite. Maybe I’ll even refrain from rolling my eyes. But two, when you’re an eleven-hour flight away on a tropical island? Come on ladies, dig a little deeper next time. There were so many other ways the situations and feelings inspired by those “chance encounters” could have been introduced into the storyline. Just saying.
With the epilogue being the exception, the entirety of the story is told from Olive’s perspective, which is a bit of departure for the duo (
Roomies being the only other, I think?) and kind of a downer. Even more so considering the co-authors attempted to sell this whole “nemesis” idea. Seeing their rivaling thoughts firsthand would have fed into the fun. Instead, readers are privy only to Olive’s thoughts, while facial expressions and dialogue have to suffice for Ethan. The perfect breeding ground for misinterpretations and assumptions. And the borderline simplistic idea—by some standards—that the crux of the entire novel relies on.
In some respects, this enemies-to-lovers storyline presents as disjointed and weak. The pacing itself is consistently inconsistent. Slow to progress at points, yet too much all at once in others. It screamed for more storyline development and actions driven by emotion, as opposed to enlisting those things simply to get the characters where they needed to be for things to "work".
When Olive and Ethan return home, after ten days in paradise, there are a host of issues for the pessimist to contend with: finding a career that feeds her passion, realigning her outlook on life, appreciation for her family and a desire for love. The authors utilize Olive and Ami’s large extended family here, but there are no standout moments that hit home or provide any emotional value, instead conjuring those feelings of convenience once again. Not to mention, I imagine it would be a tad overwhelming for anyone to attempt to tackle their entire outlook on life in such a short timeframe (100-ish pages?). Look who the pessimist is now. *wink*
All of that complaining aside, turning the pages was effortless. Sure, there were a few times when it felt like I was simply going through the motions, but for the most part,
The Unhoneymooners was delightfully fun. Not quite special enough to knock
Josh and Hazel—the quirky couple who garnered hordes of fans with their infamous guide to not dating—from the throne, but entertaining enough.
For me, it was Olive and Ethan’s perfectly imperfect ending that proved the journey worthy. Bonus points to the writing duo for offering readers a much-needed glimpse of life from Ethan’s adoring eyes.
*A HUGE thank you to Gallery for sending my gorgeous copy. This colorful cover and the possibility of what was to come brightened my day. The review copy in no way altered my opinions. -
Este libro tiene todos los clichés que más amo: Enemies to lovers, matrimonio falso, SÓLO HAY UNA CAMA Y DEBEMOS COMPARTIRLA OMG.
Toda la primera mitad la amé con locura, la disfruté un montón y me reí bastante, peeeero la segunda mitad toma un rumbo que no me encantó. No lo odié, pero sí le bajó puntos al libro.
De todos modos, es un solid 4 stars. -
4.5 stars. This is my new favorite Christina Lauren book. I'm OBSESSED. I do wish the plus-size rep had been a little more... definitive? But other than that I ate this UP. If you're looking for something to fill in the Hating Game sized, enemies-to-lovers hole in your heart, look no further. THEY EVEN GO PAINTBALLING. Fuck, I loved this.
-
So, I just reread this book and it was just as great the second time and I noticed more things that I love about it. Yes, I read this book twice within one year and yes it still makes me smile and giggle and feel all the warm fuzzies. I adore Olive and Ethan so much and I'm a huge fan of the trope when a pessimistic person gets paired with an optimist, and I think I love this book especially because Olive is more of a pessimist, realist personality whereas Ethan is the optimist. I feel like it's so rare in romance novels to see the female being the more negative one because usually the females are always trying to make the males more optimistic but in this book it's really opposite, which is why I relate to Olive so much because I tend to be such a pessimist myself so I just really relate to her character, and her close relationship with her twin sister is also something I strongly relate to. I just adore this book so hard and I think it's something I want to reread every now and then because it makes me so damn happy.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
Holy shit I loved this so much. Christina Lauren is one of my favorite authors and I was absolutely STOKED when Gallery Books sent me an ARC of their latest romance The Unhoneymooners. I think I honestly have a new favorite from them. This one or
Autoboyography is my favorite book from this author now, ahhh.
This is an adorable rom-com that follows this girl named Olive who is chronically unlucky, and her twin sister Ami who is absurdly lucky. Ami is marrying this guy named Dane and Olive can't stand Dane's brother Ethan. At Ami and Dane's wedding, the entire wedding party gets food poisoning except for Olive and Ethan who didn't eat the fish, so Ami tells Olive to take her nonrefundable honeymoon trip to Hawaii and Dane tells his brother Ethan to take the trip: so Ethan and Olive take the trip to Hawaii together. This romance has a lot of my favorite romance tropes: hate to love, slow burn romance, fake dating/fake marriage, it really has it all. I am absolute trash for the fake dating trope I just love it so much and this book does it sooooo well.
It's been along time since a romance novel has made me so giddy. I just adore the hell out of Olive and Ethan both, and this book reminded me of one of my all time favorite romances:
The Hating Game because their banter is so on point. Like for real, this is one of the funniest fucking books I've ever read, I giggled out loud many times, and I devoured this story is two sittings. I could not put it down. Their chemistry is so contagious, I was grinning form ear to ear the entire time I was reading this. This story would make for the perfect rom-com beachy movie. I could picture it all in my head so vividly.
I love Olive's mexican family which reminded me so much of my own. I love her relationship with her twin sister Ami, they were totally adorbs. I also loved how her parents have been separated for so long but never divorced, and her gay cousin Diego. The closeness of their family and the way they supported each other through everything just reminded me so much of my own family and it was just really sweet. Also, Olive's unlucky streak was entertaining as hell and she has some really great stories about unlucky things that have happened to her I was cackling. I tend to be more of a pessimistic person too like Olive so I found her general attitude towards life really relatable.
Ethan is my favorite kind of male love interest: he's strong but soft and he seems so rough around the edges but once you get to know him he's a total softy, and he's a cute drunk and he wants to see the best in people and he respects women and he's crazy passionate about his nerdy job and I just adored the shit out of him.
I just loved this so so so so much. I've found a new all time favorite romance/OTP/book. I just want to run around recommending this book to everyone and I want to reread it immediately upon finishing it which is always a good sign. Don't skip this one in May!
Book 1 of the Contemporary-a-thon is complete! -
“It sounds dangerous.” This makes him laugh. “Dangerous, like we’d end up either naked or dead?”
This was such a cute rom-com filled with glorious belly-aching laugh out loud moments. I finished it in one sitting, and the pages just flew by! It really does play out like a movie, and you can practically see it on the widescreen while you are reading. Completely a feel good book with all the fluffy romance and sexy tidbits you'd want in one.
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The Story
The Unhoneymooners follows Olive Torres during a honeymoon that she goes on falsely identifying as her twin sister Ami, who just got married. After a bad case of food poisoning at Ami's wedding, the only two unaffected people are Olive and Ami's husbands brother, Ethan. Ethan and Olive have supposedly hated each other from the moment they met each other, so they both agree to disagree and go on the honeymoon together. What starts as a fake marriage and an excuse for a free holiday soon turns into many misadventures, misencounters and misunderstandings. Soon, Olive and Ethan start to realize that they have immense chemistry between them and maybe they were wrong from the start...
Firstly, I want to call it and say that the enemies to lovers trope is going to swoop 2019 away from me like a storm. There is honestly very little that can go wrong with the trope and this book was evidently showed how electric it can be. It truly was such an easy and fast-paced read that had little bouts of sexual tension that made it unputdownable.
This was really hard to rate for me. Without giving too much away, the first 65% of the book felt like a 4 -5 star read, full with funny and lovable characters that all had their own charm. However, after that mark something felt so unbalanced and I disliked the way some issues were dealt with alongside some dynamics. Yes, it was unrealistic and the story arcs that were created have been done before, but that still did not take away from how effortless it felt to sink into Olive and Ethan's story. I'm glad the story had no obvious insta-love aspects but during the last quarter there were some cringey lines that felt uncomfortably close.
The Romance
All this book really left me with was a strong desire to go pick up more Christina Lauren books. Not very many romance contemporaries can do that for me, so that was really refreshing. The romance between Olive and Ethan was electric, it sparked and flew off the page. I could feel their hate but I could also feel how slowly they dissolved into each others company. I really enjoyed that Olive is a strong woman that learns her self-worth and sticks up for her curves throughout the story. So all in all the romance was charming.
Once the book neared the second half, I could feel my rating drop slightly. I was initially going to give this 4 stars but knew that wouldnt be true to what I thought of the story as a whole. During the end, I started being very cautious about the way that Olive and Ethan solved their problems. With no spoilers, they didn't really solve their problems. Then when a couple chapters passed, there was a massive reveal that I felt needed a bigger reaction from Ethan.
With that being said, I loved the family dynamic and the friendship involved with Olive and her relatives. It didn't feel like it was a filler, it felt like it belonged and made the story all the more delightful. But still, I need more girls to stand up for girls this 2019. I really enjoyed this story and definitely will read more of the authors' works. -
"When I signed up for this honeymoon, I had no idea it would involve so much nudity."
Raise your glass to another winner from Christina Lauren! *clink* This writing duo features my go-to gals when it comes to romantic comedies. Seriously, I can't remember the last time an author consistently made me chortle so hard or forced me to sustain multiple gut busters in a row. Last time I checked, we could all use a few more good vibes all over the world, and if you're looking for another feel good time, this is your stop. Get off the TBR bus right now; hurry or you'll miss it!
I immediately connected with Olive and her plight to fight the system that forces prejudice against the curvy girl. Seriously, a female lead who not only inhales cheese curds at the fair and makes no apologies for it, but also holds anyone accountable who tries to fat shame her? This girl is my hero. Olive and Ethan are the "unlikeliest couple" ever, which means of course they have to get together, because this is my all time favorite trope. Let's give a standing ovation for the enemies-to-lovers plot! Ethan is a seemingly OCD/stuffy know-it-all, who honestly came off as a standard dick in the beginning. But Chelsea, isn't there some underlying reason why he's coming across as such a shallow turd muncher you ask? Obviously, but we'll get there in due time. This pair contains the only two people at Olive's sister's wedding who didn't come down with an unfortunate, fancy case of food poisoning. Sister Amy insists that Olive take the non-refundable, all inclusive honeymoon to Hawaii, while brother Dane insists that Ethan takes it. Even though Olive and Ethan despise each other, they are both stubborn as an ox and refuse to let the other have all the fun, so they agree to commit fraud and enjoy a free vacation while spending as little time as possible around each other.
We all know how this story goes, and I think one of the reasons I pick up these books is for the familiarity and predictability they provide. Even if everything in my life is going haywire, I can count on these two people going through the motions to hit me right in the feels where I need it most. I'm sure you can guess how 99% of this book will turn out, but what I can't emphasize enough is just how laugh-out-loud hilarious it was journeying alongside of Ethan and Olive. The shower changing scene, anyone? While the plot seemed a little less zany and more believable than Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating, I felt the snappy dialogue and witty humor was most on point with that previous story than some of their others. *side note, you can say it's unbelievable that twins would end up dating or marrying brothers, but I had a ballet teacher who married her identical twin's brother in law. Hope your marriage is still going strong Miss Jamie, and if not, I apologize for bringing it up here.*
The reason I went with a 4 star instead of a 5 star rating is a bit complex, and I'll try to unpack it below, complete with spoiler tags. While I understand that this is fiction, I felt conflicted about how the book ended. Once Olive and Ethan return from the "honeymoon" and insert themselves into real life mode, they have some issues that they have to deal with involving family members on both sides. On the one hand, I love how we see Olive grow as a person, taking ownership for her shortcomings and choices in life, and becoming ok with who she is and finding who she wants to be in her professional career. This portion felt deeper than in previous "fluffy" novels, which perhaps raised my expectations on how the ending would handle her and Ethan's "disagreement". Obviously, this is just personal preference, and a small blot in an otherwise delicious, steamy, feel good romp. Highly recommended for anyone who needs a good laugh and a story you can fly through in record time.
*I received a review copy via the publisher. -
I'm not a big romance reader because, as soon as it becomes toxic, I become uninterested... I also get secondhand embarrassment way too easily.
I'm all for enemy to lover as a trope as long as it makes sense. I did feel like it was a stretch here but my main issues was that I couldn't forgive one of the characters for their decisions so I couldn't root for the romance :/
Vlog:
https://youtu.be/oMLReaVZrC4 -
4.5 stars - I stayed up later than was probably wise reading this and I have no regrets (yet.. ask me in the morning).
Enemies to lovers. Fake dating. Misunderstanding that isn’t completely irrational. Bickering couple. Protagonist that’s a bit bitter but trying her best. Thanks I love it. -
↠ 5 stars
Have you ever read a book so romantic it hurts? This left me with an ache in my chest that I can only attribute to Olive and Ethan. Good job guys, now all I want to do is fly to Hawaii and try to recreate your whirlwind romance. The Unhoneymooners takes fake dating, and says, "Lets level this all the way up to fake marriage, except they hate each other" and I love it so much. After Olive's twin sister's entire wedding party comes down with food poisoning, she and the brother of the groom decide to take the honeymoon originally planned for the couple. Doing so means pretending they're married, and that despite all their misgivings, maybe they do like each other after all.
What can I say, I would throw any current read out the window for an enemies-to-lovers story. The Unhoneymooners is by far the best one I have read in the contemporary romance genre. It's a comforting and escapist read that I often return to whenever I feel the need. Reading this for the first time is like being enveloped in warmth. I don't know, the tenderness and yearning really got to me I guess. Christina Lauren have created a story so hilarious and imaginative that watching it all play out is like nothing you've ever read before. The Unhoneymooners essentially said, the real villain is miscommunication, and while I am not a person who usually goes for that, I'm surprised to say I really enjoyed it. However, my favorite thing about this novel is the focus on these two people working towards communicating effectively and building a healthy relationship. What I often see is characters overcoming initial barriers and then riding off into the sunset together without a care in the world, contrary to how life works. This book shows just part of the work that goes into being in a relationship with another person, beyond those initial steps. It also doesn't hurt that the main couple is freakin adorable. Seriously. This book basically made me crave a vacation romance that will never happen. But isn't creating insane expectations and scenarios for yourself after reading a romance novel the whole point to reading them in the first place?
Trigger warnings: cheating, manipulation, toxic relationships, fatphobia, alcohol consumption -
man idk if I just don't like romances in general or if I just find straight horny people to be incredibly boring or what it is but these hyped up romance novels keep letting me down
The first half wasn't bad - it follows Olive, who's twin sister Ami is getting married. When everyone falls sick after the wedding from eating shellfish, everyone except Olive and Ethan, Ami's new husband's brother. Olive and Ethan don't like each other but in the interest of getting free shit they decide to pretend to be married to go on Ami and Dane's honeymoon. The premise was fun and even if it was slightly ridiculous, I enjoyed it.
The first 50% is essentially just Olive and Ethan getting to know eachother better, sorting out some misunderstandings between them and pretending to be married. Some truly ridiculous shit happens (Ethan's ex AND Olive's new boss both happen to be there) and while it was unrealistic, I can't say I didn't enjoy it.
I guess where this book falls apart is I didn't get the CHEMISTRY. these two people are way too horny for their own good, and all they really do is make horny jokes and their entire relationship is based off of Ethan thinking Olive has good titties and Olive thinking Ethan has good abs. And it's not that I can't necessarily get behind that, but I did find it boring here. I felt I was reading it like 'yep, that sure is another paragraph about how he's hot' but there was no spark or real connection that made me feel anything about it. I also found a lot of their banter cringey and their characterisation was so predictable (she's an awkward klutz who says silly things before thinking, he's a stoic brooding type with a heart of gold ect)
That said, the majority of the first half was fun and silly and I liked the progression of their relationship and the things they had to do to avoid getting caught out as not being married. And the massage scene did kind of slap.
The second half, however .... this is where my rating dropped from a "it's not great but it's a three star because I'm liking it" to a "god, I liked it at first but can it end already" two stars. It's hard to talk about the second half without spoiling everything but lets just say it was non-stop heterosexual nonsense, misunderstandings, and people Doing Bad Things that shouldn't have been forgiven as easily as they were.
There was also some frankly questionable choices made regarding representation, like the plus-sized rep really only there when it was convenient for the plot, and the queer rep ..... well the stereotypical gay side character and the discussion about lesbians ....... yikes. It was unnecessary and made me wince. The final grand gesture scene was also so cringe-worth I had that visceral second-hand embarrassment reaction and I DON'T enjoy feeling that way.
“The problem with lying about relationships is that humans are fickle, fickle creatures.”
special mention to the part where the MC makes a harry potter joke and the LI replies with a harry potter joke and the MC is like "omg ... I knew he liked reading but he likes THE SAME BOOKS AS ME ........... the perfection of this man" like first of all calm down everyone knows harry potter Ethan isn't indie he isn't special .. you're living in america everyone understands harry potter references. second of all since when is 'harry potter' a type of book like skfksk. this shit made me roll my eyes so hard.
So there we go: I didn't really love reading this super hyped romance book and its like a 2.5 star for me purely because I Did genuinely have fun with the beginning to the middle even if it was ridiculous.
Do I dislike romance in general, is this a bad book, are horny straight people annoying, or am I just so tired of hetero people writing books about hetero nonsense? chime off in the comments -
the love interest straight up gaslighting our mc for half the book was a big no from me
ARC received in exchange for an honest review.
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16 January, 2019
YASS GIMME THAT ENEMIES-TO-LOVERS TROPE -
4.5 stars
I expected this book to be a fun filled enemies to lovers story, and it completely met my expectations. This was a blast to read. I love the way Christina Lauren writes their stories, and this one had me smiling from ear to ear.
Olive Torres is an identical twin. Although they look just alike, her sister Ami is her opposite in so many ways. Ami is the lucky one. And Olive, well she has no luck at all.
Whereas Ami is a four-leaf clover, I have always been unlucky.
Ami is getting married and being the overachiever that she is, she’s devised a plan (along with a lot of luck) to get her wedding paid for. And it works out for her. So here is Olive, in a hideous bridesmaid dress having to tolerate her sworn enemy, the grooms brother, Ethan. It’s not her best day. But maybe her luck is beginning to change… I mean, her allergy to shellfish saves her from the serious food poising almost every person at the wedding gets.
Ami is so ill she can’t go on her own honeymoon. And since it’s a non-refundable free trip, she insists Olive pretends to be her and goes in her place. Ethan, who also missed the food poising due to his aversion to buffets is invited to go as well. So here Olive is. With Ethan. On an romantic, exclusive get away. You can tell where this is going, right? Yes. And it’s going to be so much fun!
I loved watching Ethan and Olive together. They seriously cracked me up. Olive is an endearing main character. Her luck was awful, but maybe at the end she really did end up being the lucky one. And Ethan. Ethan is hilarious, sweet, and completely misunderstood. Olive realizes that soon enough.
I find myself smiling in the direction of the living room, and realize that staying firmly on Team I Hate Ethan Thomas is going to be more work than it may be worth.
Where this was a fun rom-com, there were also a lot of obstacles this couple faced. It wasn’t all laughs and smiles. There was a bit of drama, a bit of angst, but overall it was hilarious, sweet, had the best banter, and I adored it! For all my friends that love a good enemies to lovers story and a book that will make you laugh out loud, pick this one up!! -
first read may 18: this book made me cry because they are so cute that i started to feel lonely so 5 stars i guess
second read jun 16: lol cried AGAIN, i am pathetic -
I am convinced that authors write adorable romance books like this to make sure that we all die single.
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3.5 stars
Fun Escape!
When all but two weddings guests contract food poisoning at a wedding in Minnesota, they help out the bride and groom by going on their honeymoon for them. It just so happens that the two guests are the bride's twin sister, Ollie, and the groom’s brother, Ethan. Of course, Ollie and Ethan hate each other. Of course, both are extremely attractive people. Of course, under all of the hatred they really do like each other. When forced to share a hotel room for 10 days, the inevitable happens: they fall in love. But there are complications that threaten to tear them apart.
While the romance between Ethan and Ollie plays a large role, this book is really more about Ollie learning to embrace life and stop focusing on the bad. She is smart, bristly and extremely protective of both herself and her sister. She feels like she attracts bad luck and as a resultdoesn't trust when good things happen to her. She undergoes quite the transformation, which was nice to read!
The Unhoneymooners checks off all of the boxes I have come to expect from Christina Lauren books: A plucky protagonist, fun quirky plot, hot sexual tension, and of course, plenty of romance. This wasn’t my favorite CL novel but it did the job! It felt a little safe and formulaic-- I like when CL pushes the boundaries and goes in an unexpected direction, but I still found The Unhoneymooners a satisfying read!
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books in exchange for an honest review. -
Loved this sexy, sweet and snarky book! It's the perfect escape read! 😍
Admittedly I'm a Christina Lauren fan! I'd been looking forward to this book with its Hispanic representation and it didn't disappoint. Curvy women, laugh out loud hilarious family members and the amazing, never let you down extended family that is as close (if not closer) as the one living under your roof. It reminded me so much of my family growing up - everyone knowing each other's business, constantly making fun of each other and above all else, having each other's back no matter what!
It took me a bit to get into the book initially which surprised me. I wasn't as into the first part detailing the wedding. Olive's twin sister Ami is getting married and everything is supposed to be perfect. Ami seems to have it all - perfect luck, perfect life, perfect love. Olive on the other hand seems to have the worst luck - she lost her job, her roommate and her apartment.
Things start to look up for Olive (and me as the reader!) when she and the best man, Ethan are the only two guests left standing after food poisoning ravages everyone at the wedding. Ami persuades her sister to go on her free honeymoon to Hawaii, so that the prize doesn't go to waste. The groom makes the same offer to his best man and brother, Ethan. Only problem is - Ethan and Olive hate each other. Is an all exclusive, all expenses paid trip to Hawaii worth spending 10 days with someone you utterly despise? With these two - count me in!
I adored the constant back and forth banter between Olive and Ethan. They were hilarious and the underlying sexual tension was palpable. I laughed out loud, smiled so much my cheeks hurt and was left feeling all bubbly inside as I went through the pages of this book. In short, Christina Lauren have done it again - all hail my rom-com queens! ❤️ 👑 ❤️
Thank you to the duo known as Christina Lauren, Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an arc of this book. -
2.5
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When I die I want Christina Lauren to lower me into my grave so they can let me down one last time.
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ABURRIDA y PREDECIBLE, fueron las palabras que usaron para describirme esta historia y no puedo estar más en desacuerdo.
Una luna sin miel nos cuenta la historia de un duo que se odia a más no poder pero que, por situaciones de la vida, terminan ganando una luna de miel... compartida. El destino los condena a 10 días de romance en Maui, una isla romántica tropical como para vivir la romcom de tu vida. Y déjenme decirles que eso exáctamente lo que fue este libro: una romcom excelente.
A diferencia de muchos libros de este género, Una luna sin miel consiguió hacerme reír a carcajadas con las respuestas ingeniosas de los protagonistas y las situaciones bizarras en las que se encontraban. Fue una lectura que consiguó sorprenderme con ciertas tramas secundarias (como la de Ami, la hermana de nuestra protagonista) y que a su vez fue predecible de una forma reconfortante. Christina Lauren, como siempre, crea personajes interesantes que uno no puede evitar querer ver triunfar.
Es una historia llena de clichés y repeticiones esperables que te devorás en un par de días.
Si tuviera que hacer una crítica, sería que es un libro que no se compara con otros que leí de la autora, como Love and Other Words y aún así, no puedo esperar a leer todo lo que se vaya a publicar de ella.
3.5/5 -
Question: What are the steps to write an enemies to lovers contemporary romance so that it instantly becomes a bestseller?
Answer:
➡️ Develop a heroine who is smokin' hot but doesn't know it.
➡️ Develop a hero who is freakin' handsome and he knows it + don't forget the abs!!
➡️ They meet each other and hate each other for no reason but they still think the other one is hot.
➡️ The first chapter is about "how they hate the other one but has the MC mentioned that they are hot?"
➡️ Throw them in a situation where they are stuck with each other for three days to two weeks.
➡️ They get horny.
➡️ They can't keep it in their pants so ....
➡️ They keep being horny but NEVER under any circumstances should they discuss WHY they hated each other.
➡️ Then throw in a STUPID BIG FIGHT.
➡️ And in this chapter shall we find out the REASON ....
➡️ Oh the reason can be anything stupid :)
➡️ Then problems get solved la-di-dah.
➡️ *smooches* for three no no two chapers.
➡️ Oh and then throw in the BIG BIG FIGHT where the thing that goes wrong is always ALWAYS because of the hero :/
➡️ Then problems gets solved again.
➡️ HEA!!
➡️ Throw in an epilogue with a proposal episode/kids (eww)
Sounds pretty pathetic when you read it like that, huh? Let me tell you something i love the enemies to lovers trope.
Pride and Prejudice is my favorite book of all time and those two literally STARTED this trope. But this was irritating to the point where my eyes were bleeding. What the heck tho? I mean her sister bought everything from ... coupons? Srsly? SRSLY? Nothing makes sense. For example: They hated each other because of no reason that's what. Olives gets fired for ... reasons related to her personal life. wow!! I get that rom-coms should make me smile and not "over analyze" but this isn't me being over analyzing. This is me asking "what the f dude?". And that Harry Potter joke ughhhhh Olives my darling EVERYONE GETS HARRY POTTER RELATED JOKES.
Worst of all: Where was the FALLING IN LOVE PART? Where was the part where I FELL IN LOVE? Sadly there is none.
And the cherry on top, this calls itself a “rom-com”, but I never once found anything funny. But then again i am an alien...
In conclusion: this book is not beautiful. This book is just a disaster.
