Member Reviews

So good! Christina Lauren is the best romance writer, I will read everything they write, for as long as they're writing.

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This was a a fun read. It was light and funny with some good dialogue. I'm not sure if it's because I read it so recently but, I found the characters to be somewhat similar to Josh and Hazel. Despite that I did enjoy the hero and the heroine up until the end of the book. I'm not a big fan of how some things were resolved. Overall, it was entertaining and had some great moments.

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There is nothing Christina Lauren can't do when it comes to contemporary romance. Who doesn't love enemies to lovers when their relationships is all rolled up into fake married, too? Olive and Ethan were so adorable together, like all of Christina Lauren's couples, and I'm consistently entertained by the shenanigans the characters get up to. This is definitely my top pick for anyone looking for a quick and fun beach read, and I've already got a few library patrons on hold for it!

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Ami Torres and Dane Thomas are getting married. Ami's identical twin sister, Olive, is allergic to shellfish. Dane's brother, Ethan, thinks buffets are disgusting. So when the entire bridal party and all the wedding guests get sick from eating off of the shellfish buffet, Olive and Ethan are the only two left standing. The honeymoon is an all expenses paid (but no excuses, non refundable, non transferable) trip to Maui that the bride won so Olive agrees to take her sister's place on the trip and Ethan will go, too. One problem -- Olive and Ethan hate each other. They need to keep up the charade that they're in Maui as newlyweds which means staying in the honeymoon suite, excursions as a couple, and a couples massage at the resort spa. As they spend time together, Olive and Ethan start to discover that they don't hate the other as much as they thought -- they might even like each other. 🤔😄😍
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This novel is so wonderful! No big shock here -- it's by Christina Lauren and I loved it. 👏 It's fun, flirty, and hilarious (be sure to notice all the O and E names that these two call each other throughout the book 😂). The banter between Olive and Ethan is amazing and turns out to be a delightfully slow seduction. The plot celebrates new love and the fluttery feelings that come with that but there is such a rich cast of strong, secondary characters that the book also celebrates siblings, family, and extended family like aunts, uncles, and cousins. The Unhoneymooners is perfect for anyone who wants to get wrapped up in a delightful romantic comedy and enjoy a little mini getaway to Maui! 🌺👙🏖️🐚🍹
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars
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Heartfelt thanks to @NetGalley , @gallerybooks , and the authors @christinalauren for the digital ARC of The Unhoneymooners. All opinions are my own.

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Short and sweet, enemeies-to-lovers romance which seem to be the homeground of Christina Lauren. I've been a religious follower of Beautiful series and I went in with same expectations.
It's different!! In feel, in tempo and character sketching
Ethan and Olive HATE each other. Their siblings are married and they can't stand each other. She thinks he's obnoxious and rude, he thinks she's bitter and jealous.
She's unluckiest girl alive and he's the opposite.
A last minute case of food poisoning leaves Ethan and Olive embarking on a pretend honeymoon and the series of adventure and mishaps that follow, brings them closer. 
It was a bit disappointing cause I've read was way better books in the genre. Writing was very simplistic and straight forward 
3.5 stars for germaphobes

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5 Stars!

"Luck, fate and determination - whatever it is, I'll take it. I pull Ethan down to me, feeling the slippery slide of his tank top under my hands and my laugh echoing into our kiss."

A bunch of people have been telling me to pick up a Christina Lauren book for about a year now. When I was sent the Unhoneymooners I knew I had to dig in as soon as I could and I'm glad that I did!

Olive is a twin and as much as she may look like her sister, Ami, they are quite opposites of each other, especially when it comes to their luck. Ami is getting married and of course Olive is the MOH. Ami however goes through life entering every raffle and winning everything. I mean who else could get an entire wedding and honeymoon for just under $1,000? Even if that means Olive has to wear the most hideous bridesmaids dress. There's also another problem, at one point Olive had interest in the groom's brother, Ethan but he gave her a look while eating cheese curds one day. Ever since they've had this odd hatred for each other.

At the wedding, they had a buffet and everyone but Olive and Ethan eat food from it. Everyone gets food poisoning and now Ami and her husband can't go on their honeymoon. They send Olive and Ethan, the most unlikely pair, to go and enjoy since it's free and nonrefundable. Olive and Ethan are expecting to go through 10 horrible days together but as they spend time together, they realize maybe it's not so bad after all...

I picked this book up at exactly the right time. I need something fun and light and this is it! It's definitely rom com and pretty light compared to other romance novels that I've read. I appreciated that it was incredibly relateable and that it had me both chuckling and saying "aww" at different times.

I loved that this journey for Olive and Ethan wasn't easy for them. They started off on a terrible note and have hateful/playful banter but eventually can be honest with each other. I think the foundation of a good relationship starts with friendship and trust. It was fun to watch them go through the natural progression rather than just fall in love and forget that the last two years and all the insults between them never happened. Although it was fiction, I felt like I was right there rooting them on the whole time. But I will say I did not root for Dane. He's the worst!

Overall, fantastic rom com and I will definitely be picking up more of Christina Lauren's books in the future! Thank you to Gallery books for my copy of this book.

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I loved this book. I really enjoyed the two main characters and how their relationship developed. Hate to love and fake dating are two of my favorite tropes. They are even better when combined well. I was not a huge fan of the twin sister and her relationship but she didn't detract from the overall story. I have not read anything else from Christina Lauren, but I plan to read more of her work. The Unhoneymooners was a cute romance. It is a great summer read that I would definitely recommend to everyone who likes fake dating and hate to love.

4.5 out of 5 Stars.

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Christina Lauren really know how to write a good contemporary romance. I love the characters they create and the stories that they tell. Can't wait to read their next one!

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I LIKE Christina Lauren. Their books are fun and enjoyable. I was thrilled to get an e-arc of The Unhoneymooners. And then I just...did not read it. I started it multiple times...and put it down. I motivated myself to read it pub. week and instead found myself texting whoever would listen about how I just WASN'T feeling it.

So imagine my surprise when I found myself suddenly LOVING it while on a budget flight. Loving it while I snuck breaks at work to find out what would happen next. Grinning my fool head off as I followed Olive and Ethan.

Sadly, that was not to last. After a delightful middle, I was right back to mehhh territory. I think it's because I just didn't care for the main character, Olive. She has this idea that her sister is "always winning" while she has the worst luck & "tends to assume the sky is falling." But like, it's not? She has a best friend in her twin, and an amazing support system in her extended family. She's been unemployed, but has good work experience and skills she can draw upon. If she has health problems, we're not privy to them. In other words: Her life really isn't that hard, but she has an attitude. Call me unempathetic but I just *couldn't* relate to her for much of the book.

Generally, I'd think that okay, but I didn't love the plot's climax and resolution either. Funny enough, I think I was rooting for Olive by the time I got 70% in, so then I was frustrated for her rather than with her!

Three stars because I really did enjoy the middle, and I wanted to know what happened. There were a couple turns of phrase that I just loved, too. (But sadly, this was my least favorite Christina Lauren thus far.)

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for an e-arc of this title in exchange for honest review.

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Christina Lauren's books always manage to make you laugh in the first chapter and their unique plots keep you reading. From the very beginning, the tension between Ethan and Olive is palpable. The duo can't escape each other since they're the best man and maid of honor at their siblings' nuptials. Olive makes it very clear that she does not want anything to do with Ethan and wants the wedding to end as quickly as possible. But our authors, the masters of romantic comedy, step in and make sure that the food poisoning of literally everyone but Ethan and Olive ensures that they'll spend a lot of time together. The plot is fast paced and follows the pair on their adventure of pretending to be married so they can take advantage of the honeymoon that their siblings have to miss now. There are plenty of hilarious moments as the two have to pretend to be a married couple and lots of steamy scenes when they finally realize they have feelings for each other. There's a misunderstanding between the two characters that finally gets resolved and that plot point will keep you interested. The ending does not disappoint either and even the villain of the story gets what he deserves. 

Olive is used to being everything that her twin sister isn't.  She feels unlucky, unorganized, and doesn't expect that anything will magically work out for her. But she's also funny, brave, and smart and she just wants someone to see her as her own person. Olive, who is biracial, has a huge Mexican family who she loves with all her heart. The entire novel is told from Olive's perspective so the reader feels very close to her and understands her choices. 

Ethan is a character that we slowly learn more about throughout the novel. He starts off as a two dimensional jerk who made fun of Olive once because she ordered cheese curds...or so Olive thinks. Just like so many of Christina Lauren's other male characters, Ethan turns into a swoony love interest by the end of the book. 

Olive and Ethan are classic enemies to lovers. Olive despises Ethan at the beginning of the novel and would never find herself falling into bed with him. It's a fun trope to read because we know eventually they're going to get together

For fans of...

Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren. The Unhoneymooners is probably the most similiar to Josh and Hazel in terms of the writing and plot. 

99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne, another fun book where the tension between the two characters carries a lot of the story

Unique plots! This one centers around twin sisters, sweepstakes wins, and a fake honeymoon!

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The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren was a fun and entertaining read. An enemies-to-lovers story that had me laughing and captivated. Olive believes she is one unlucky person, while her sister is very lucky. But when the wedding party at her sister’s wedding falls ills, her luck may be changing…or not, when she finds out her she is traveling to her sister’s planned honeymoon with the man she hates, Ethan.

What follows is two people who dislike each other spending time getting to know each other. Though this is a fun story, it was also a touching one. Ethan and Olive have one hilarious encounter after another, and you can’t help but just love their story. They were great characters who were not perfect, but somehow perfect for each other. The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren was fun and captivating.

Happy reading!

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CLo has become an auto-read author for me. They write witty and fun banter and I am here for it.

Olive and Ethan were a lot of fun to read and watch them fall in love. They think they are enemies. Olive especially thinks Ethan hates her. By a weird coincidence that only occurs in romancelandia, they end up on vacation together. And then in a fake relationship. There is some mild forced proximity here and basically it’s a lot of my favorite tropes all rolled up together. It was cute and fun and sexy too. There is a scene where Ethan is giving Olive a massage and this is before they have decided to really be friends and give things a try and it was deliciously hot.

I do want to mention that Olive is Latinx. She has a huge and incredibly loving family. It read as realistic to me, but I can’t say for certain that it is an authentic experience. But it didn’t read as stereotypical in a bad way.

This book is told from only Olive’s POV and I was okay without Ethan’s. But there are some small little clues dropped early to mid way that make it clear Ethan doesn’t dislike Olive at all. It was reminiscent to The Hating Game.

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Christina Lauren does it again with this laugh-out-loud, sexy and absolutely charming love story. I was grinning from ear to ear the entire time reading it. One of my favorite reads of 2019.

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When Olive Torres is getting ready for her twin sister’s wedding, she still sees herself as the unlucky half of their duo. Once the wedding party gets sick and she ends up heading to Hawaii to enjoy the all-expense paid honeymoon trip her sister won, things will start changing for her and she won’t consider herself that unlucky. Well, except for the fact that the catch to this trip is that she has to go with the groom’s brother, Ethan Thomas, and they’re not precisely on friendly terms since, well…ever.
Once in Maui, Olive and Ethan will find themselves thrown into each other’s space in order to cash the free trip they hoped to enjoy away from one another. The circumstances of their newfound intimacy will make them raise a white flag and get to know the other as they should have when their siblings started dating.
I really enjoyed this book from the story line to the crazy antics of the Latin family the girls belong to. The authors really painted an amazing portrait of the culture, from the way of interacting with to each other to the inherent need from every family member to be in their personal business.
And what can I say about the characters. Olive, despite her pessimistic nature, is a force to be reckoned with and I loved her strength and the fact that she will not be silenced when the happiness of her loved ones is at stake. I really liked the dynamics between her and Ethan, their banter and the love-hate relationship that creates the perfect foundation for their passion.
I found The Unhoneymooners fresh, fun and filled with love both romantic and familial. I highly recommend readers to take this trip.

4 stars

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I wasn’t as crazy about their most recent book, My Favorite Half-Night Stand, as I was the other two that I read, so I almost got a little nervous about this one. Luckily, it turns out I had nothing to worry about.

Ami and Olive are identical twins but polar opposites. Ami has always had great luck and wins every contest she enters. She even won the majority of her wedding and her dream honeymoon to Maui. Olive on the other hand, claims to have terrible luck. But on the night of the wedding, that changes. Everyone at the wedding with only Olive and Ethan (the grooms brother and her nemesis) being the exceptions gets food poisoning from the seafood buffet. Because the honeymoon was a prize, they can’t reschedule so Ami insists that Olive takes the honeymoon in her place. Unknowing to Olive, Ethan’s brother Dane insists the same thing.

The love to hate trope is my absolute favorite in romance novels. The sparring that always occurs always makes me smile and I just love seeing the development when characters realize that they didn’t really dislike each other but instead were trying to bottle their sexual tension.

Olive and Ethan are a great pair. I like that while Olive insists that she is unlucky, she’s not bitter or grumpy about it. sometimes characters that are negative can become annoying and Olive did not. Ethan is also nothing but charming from the beginning. Even when he’s being “mean” he’s not off-putting.

I connected to these characters immediately and love the setting too. The book did follow a few storylines that were unexpected but worked so well together. The only negative I have to say to about this book may be that the conflict resolution was a bit abrupt.

This book was fun from beginning to end. There was no waiting for the action to start. It’s hard to find much to say because I didn’t love this book because it was unpredictable or unique or whatever, but it was still unputdownable. It’s hard to put what I loved about this book into words other than the fact that Christina Lauren are great authors who know how to tell a fun story.

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Not my favorite Christina Lauren story. While Olive and Ethan have fun on their un-honeymoon, I never felt any real click between them.

Olive’s twin sister, Amy, is the lucky one, while Olive considers herself the polar opposite of her twin, and bad things always happen to Olive. Just an example of Amy’s good luck, is the fact that just about everything at her wedding, she obtained for free by winning contests, whether it was the stunning wedding gown, the rather hideous bridesmaid dresses, the all-you-can-eat seafood buffet or the amazing all-inclusive honeymoon to Maui. But it seems their fortunes might just be reversing when Amy’s seafood buffet makes all of the wedding guest sick from the toxic fish and the only ones not effected were Olive (who is allergic to fish) and Ethan (who can’t stand buffets).

Since the trip to Maui is non-transferable and cannot be rescheduled, Amy convinces Olive to take the vacation–actually, she wouldn’t have convinced Olive to go except for Amy’s new husband offers the honeymoon to his brother Ethan, and there is no way she is going to allow her nemesis to enjoy a free vacation while she passes it up.

The more time she spends with Ethan, the more she realizes he is not the jerk she thought he was. She had always thought Ethan hated her, so she made no effort to be nice, but they have a great time enjoying the events the hotel and the island have to offer. And once they stop swiping at each other, the more they realize they are very attracted to each other.

But, the more they talk, the more confused Olive becomes. You see, it seems like Olive’s new brother-in-law was talking her down to his Ethan and making sure that his brother stayed far away from her, rather than asking her out like he once wanted to do. Why would he actively try to keep Olive and Ethan apart unless there is some reason he doesn’t want them to talk to each other. Talk about things like why Ethan is always taking his brother away on thrill seeking adventures leaving Amy alone on holidays, when Ethan doesn’t even like to fly? Things aren’t adding up and the more Olive works on the problem, the more concerned she is about her brother-in-law’s motives. But as much as she wants to confront him, Olive fears that asking the hard questions will not only destroy her relationship with her sister but her new blossoming relationship with Ethan.

I was excited about this story since I enjoyed the last few Christina Lauren novels and I generally like the snowbound trope where characters are forced to spend time together. Unfortunately, while Ethan and Olive had a lot of fun together on Maui, they didn’t have any spark. For the better part of the story, I couldn’t make up my mind if Ethan really didn’t like Olive or maybe he was hiding his attraction because he thought it was one sided. I also have to a agree with Ethan’s brother’s assessment of Olive–that she is a very angry, bitter person. Olive turns everything dark and it is no wonder that she believes that her sister Amy is so lucky and she is so unlucky. Some people are simply of the glass-half-empty mindset, and that was Olive. She tries near the end to change her ways, but it was no wonder there was no great spark between her and Ethan.

It could have been so much more but the Unhoneymooners turned out like a great Hollywood movie where bad casting took over and the actors never really connected. Olive and Ethan have no spark so the whole thing falls flat instead of being a great rom-com.

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5 Reasons to Read The Unhoneymooners
1. First of all, let’s talk about the unique premise of this story- maid of honor and best man hate each other. This becomes a problem when they are forced to take the married couple’s nonrefundable dream honeymoon after a miserable food poisoning incident at the wedding reception. Only the meeting of the Christina Lauren minds could come up with something as bizarrely perfect as this.
2. I love a book with meddling secondary characters. But when those meddling characters are witty with extreme personalities? I’m all in. I couldn’t get enough of these flamboyant, tongue lashing family members of Olive’s. They really helped to make the story.
3. Laugh out loud funny. I actually attempted to count how many times I laughed, and I just couldn’t keep track. The juxtaposition of being stuck on a beautiful island with someone you loathe, is just too good. Funny dialogue. Funny choices. Funny reactions. I’m actually chuckling to myself just thinking about Skittle green dresses…
4. If you love a good Hallmark movie, you’ll love this. If you love a good Chick Flick, you’ll love this. If you love both, but feel like they sometimes lack a bit of steam, then you will doubly love this book. This is as adorable as a Hallmark movie, with some extra steamy scenes.
5. The suspense and love triangles are in perfect balance, giving this novel some added depth to the steam and giggles.

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𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓾𝓷. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓪𝓷𝓭. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓢𝓷𝓪𝓻𝓴. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓮𝔁𝓾𝓪𝓵 𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷.

Christina Lauren can do no wrong! This was another homerun from this amazing writing duel. Olive’s twin sister Amy is getting married. The wedding goes off without a hitch and it should because Amy has given Olive a to do list over 75 items long. BUT The perfect day is hijacked by the seafood buffet that makes every single guest sick, with the exception of Olive and Ethan the groom’s brother. Bride Amy is sick as can be, but does not want her honeymoon to go to waste, so she convinces her sister to take her place. The problem Olive’s plus one will be Ethan and the two of them have never got along. Well that might be putting it mildly the two pretty much can’t stand the sight of one another. BUT how can Olive resist 10 days in Maui?

Loved this book from cover to cover. The sun. The sand. The sexual tension. Olive was a fabulous character smart, snarky, and sassy. Enemies to lovers is one of my absolute favorite tropes and I loved how it played out in this story. The banter between Olive and Ethan was perfection. The story is told from Olive’s perspective. I generally like getting the mail POV as well in romances, but I thought this was really impactful in this book. We got to know Ethan as Olive did. Ethan was a great guy and I think I might have fallen in love with him right along with Olive. There are a few times during this book he said the absolute right thing at the perfect time. I said awww out loud a few times. I also found myself laughing out loud quite a bit. I love humor in my romances. BUT this book add a bit of a more serious side in parts. I thought this balance everything out well and I loved the resolution to the issues in this book. There was one part of this book that had me standing up cheering! You’ll know what I’m talking about if you have read this book!

If you are a Christina Lauren fan you will love this book! If you have not read them yet, what are you waiting for? This was a romcom done perfectly. The perfect blend of sass, Snark, swoon, and sizzle. A cast of engaging well developd characters and I really loved how important family was in this book. Well I’ve said a lot, I could go on anon, but I won’t, I will spare you all! Just read it! it’s fantastic!

🎧🎧🎧 Cynthia Farrell did an amazing job with her audiobook narration. She gave a perfect voice to both Olive and Ethan. I want to give her big props on her male voices. Deacon Lee came in and narrated the epilogue, he’s one of my favorites so of course I think he did a fab job!

*** Big thanks to Gallery and Simon and Schuster Audio for my copy of this book ***

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First of all let us just start with the cover, I mean how gorgeous is that? Such a beautiful pop of sunshine. Secondly, this is another book from these amazing authors that is going to go on my all time favorite list of books. It starts off with a familiar enemy to lovers trope that starts off due to a series of misunderstandings and then just continues like a domino effect. The hero and heroine, Ethan and Olive are so relatable and beautifully written that I felt like I had known them forever. Their chemistry and wordplay is sexy and hot and their romance is one that made me swoon. Also, the other thing I really enjoy about these authors books is how wholesome they are and you even adore the secondary characters. I adore Olive’s crazy but utterly loving family and it reminded me of my entire family. There are times throughout the novel that I laughed and cried with them. I highly enjoyed this book and recommend this as your next read. I can’t wait to start reading the book all over again and start swooning over Ethan and Olive.

* I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review*

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This was such an enjoyable read. Hate to love romance ✔️ curvy character ✔️ large family that would do anything for one another ✔️ Christina Lauren book ✔️ Seriously...I will read anything that these ladies write because it is always super cute, fun, and gives me all the feels. I flew right through this book, never wanting to put it down.

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