Review: The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 4.5/5 stars
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Thank you to @netgalley and @gallerybooks for the free advanced review copy!
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What a cute and fun read! This romantic comedy tells the story of Olive and Ethan, two people who entered one another's lives through the marriage of their siblings and who have disliked one another from day one. Olive's twin Ami has just married Ethan's brother Dane, and in a bout of seriously bad luck everyone at the wedding has contracted food poisoning--everyone, that is, except for Olive and Ethan. This feels like good luck to them, minus the catch--now their siblings want them to take their honeymoon to Hawaii, so that the trip doesn't get wasted.
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Cue ten days of Olive and Ethan spending time together at an all-inclusive resort in Maui, pretending to be married so that they don't get caught for fraud. What ensues is a flurry of confused emotions, funny encounters, and cute little moments.
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I really liked this book. It moved at a good pace, it was appropriately hilarious and sad at the right moments, and the connection that Olive and Ethan share felt more realistic than in some romcoms. Plus, on a cold day in Pennsylvania it was fun to be transported to warmer weather and vacation vibes!
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I'll be honest--if one year ago you would have told me that I'd enjoy the occasional romcom read, I would have laughed at you. I considered it "not my genre", and stayed away from it. After trying out The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory last year, though, I realized that I couldn't really consider myself a person who actively tries to "read across genres" if I was avoiding some genres entirely based on stereotypes. Now I've changed my tune, and I am glad that I can enjoy this genre that I was missing out on before!
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This is my first @christinalauren book, and I will certainly be trying out some of their others as well! If you've read others, which Christina Lauren book should I pick up next?

As usual, Christina Lauren delivers the goods with charming characters, interesting settings and realistic, messy love. I, personally, _never_ read chick lit, which this pretty much is, but the authors' writing is so good that even I have become addicted to their works. Well done!

Olive and Ethan are sworn enemies and future in-laws. When chaos descends on the wedding of Olive's twin sister to Ethan's younger brother, the two are paired to go on the nonrefundable honeymoon to paradise. The Unhoneymooners is hate to love, romcom perfection. I had such a good time with these characters. I caught myself smiling several times. I plan to preorder a physical copy. Thanks Gallery Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this title.

Once again Christina Lauren has given us a laugh out loud rom com. Olive is a character that I found extremely likable and was cheering for from the beginning.

This is a easy quick read that would be a great palate cleanser after a heavier book.

Reader beware there is the f word used some.

While the last quarter or so of this book got a bit bogged down in some of the family dynamic aspects of Olive’s story, this was overall a fast and fun romcom that I really enjoyed! Enemies to lovers plus fake married plus outrageous tropical shenanigans? I was all in! This will make a perfect beach read after its release.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I felt like a winner to receive a new book from this author. I've been a fan and each book does not disappoint. This story made me laugh out loud and the dialogue was not forced, but rather witty, smart banter that kept you engaged throughout the book.

Olive believes she is destined to bad luck and resigns herself to doom and gloom. Her luck is about to change when the guests and bride and groom at her sister's wedding become violently ill. Her sister, Ami, has a honeymoon scheduled in Maui and insists her sister go. Ami's husband insists his brother, Ethan go in his place. The problem is that Olive and Ethan do not like each other, but willing to put their feelings aside for a 10 day trip to paradise. When they arrive to the island, their feelings are put on hold as they bump into people they know and need a plan to avert their inquiries of why they are vacationing together. The comedy continues as they have to keep up the charade while fighting the feeling that they may not hate one another. They spend more time together, enjoying the fun excursions and soon their barriers begin to recede. Ethan and Olive get to know one another and Olive learns that Ethan unknowingly shares some information that may impact her sister. She is conflicted to share this information because her bad luck reputation may disqualify her as a likely source. She is also forced to examine her relationship with Ethan and determine if it is real or not.

Olive is forced to make difficult decisions and is forced to be honest with herself. This story takes its time to allow Olive to grow, learn and rather than default to the bad decisions which are easy, she makes tough decisions that allow her to discover that she is going to be ok, and she likes this version of herself By the end of the story, we are rooting for Olive, and Ami, too as they rise to the best version of themselves. Wonderful ending, very entertaining. loved it!!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Gallery books for the E-Arc.
Wow. The Unhoneymooners is a hilarious and upbeat novel about a twin who always finds herself on the downside of luck. Until a food poisoning at her twins wedding opens up a honeymoon to Maui that is all paid and nonrefundable. Olive decides to accept the trip and finds romance, humor, and unexpected life moments along the way. Once again, Christina Lauren dazzles readers with her charming and witty writing. A great book.

I appreciate the opportunity from NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an ARC of The Unhoneymooners in exchange for my honest review.

This story is a fun, humorous book following Olive, whose sister has just married a man who Olive isn't fond of, and who has a brother than Olive despises. One thing leads to another, and Olive and said despised brother find themselves going on the honeymoon that the newlyweds aren't able to make. So begins the fun as Olive and Ethan spend 10 days in Hawaii as "newlyweds". While there are some pretty unlikely scenarios during the Hawaii trip, it's still an incredibly fun, romantic read. I think my favorite part of the book occurs after they return from the Hawaii trip, so read to the end! With a May release date, it might be hard to hold on to this book for a summer vacation!

Thank you to the publisher for approving me this ARC of "The Unhoneymooners" by Christina Lauren. This was another awesome book. This one starts out with Ami and Dane's wedding...the entire wedding party get food poisoning, except Amis twin sister Olive and Dane's brother Ethan, because they didn't eat the buffet food. So Ami and Dean can't go on the honeymoon they planned to Maui, so they tell Ethan and Olive to go in their place. The catch... Ethan and Olive do not like eachothers. But they go anyways, because, well...it's Maui!!!
So what follows is the trip to Maui and it was, so great. The escapades between them during this trip is a hoot. So funny! I definitely recommend this to everyone who loves romcom and I can't wait to read more books by this dynamic duo!!

Some of my favorite romances are friends-to-lovers stories, and I typically don’t enjoy enemies-to-lovers nearly as much, but the "Unhoneymooners" is an exception.

Olive and Ethan know each other well: her sister and his brother have dated for years and are getting married. But when the unimaginable happens at the wedding – everyone contracts a virulent form of food poisoning (except Olive and Ethan) – they find themselves gifted with the vacation of a lifetime in Hawaii, as long as they pose as the honeymooners.

The snappy banter between the two is delightful, and there’s a lot of humor in the absurd situation they find themselves in. But there’s more than froth and fun in this novel: it’s refreshing to read a romance with real people who struggle to pay their bills, who fight with their siblings, and who bear the ugly consequences of tough decisions – even when those decisions are the right ones.

It’s a treat to find a romance novel that combines comedy with a thoughtful examination of the challenges of relationships, and this novel focuses masterfully on the tensions that can occur when faced with choosing between family and a romantic partner.

This book was fantastic.
I laughed, I swooned and then laughed some more.
It's the best thing I've read since their release of Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating.

I absolutely loved Olive and Ethan.
After escaping a bout of wedding food poisoning, they are given the chance to take the place of their siblings - the bride and groom on their honeymoon.
Olive has always believed she is the unluckiest girl in the world and she and Ethan have not gotten along in the past.
I knew this would be a fun story, but it went above and beyond my expectations.
It's an enemies to lovers rom-com that you MUST READ.

I've gotten stingier with my 5-star ratings and this one deserves it and more.





I am a sucker for enemies to lovers so this book may have been written just for me. Enemies to Lovers and romantic comedies are meant to be together in my world. Once again the go-to for a great read is Christina Lauren! (less)

I really enjoyed The Unhoneymooners. I found it very funny, quite interesting, and also surprising. It definitely took some turns I wasn't expecting. Olive is a hoot for sure! Her banter with Ethan was very entertaining! They both seem like good people with big hearts, they just make a few mistakes along the way. I was definitely rooting for them, especially as I got to know more about them and things started to unravel. My main complaint was that I wish there would have been some chapters in Ethan's perspective. I really would have liked to be in his head at least a few times throughout the book. Other than that it was a very good book!

Adored this book. Loved everything about it. I like that it was single POV for a change. Olive was a great main character and Ethan was so swoony.

Love these authors, and this book was a solid effort. Now I need to go to Hawaii.

The Unhoneymooners is a classic enemies to lovers rom com and I soaked it all up! When Ethan and Olive end up with the opportunity to take a free trip to Hawaii, they both assume they'll ignore each other and enjoy the perks separately. However, they quickly realize their deeply ingrained hatred was way off base.

Although this is a well-known trope, the story felt fresh and exciting. Maui is a terrific setting and made Ethan and Olive's growing romance all the more enticing. There were a few twists that surprised me and even the expected conflict was believable.

I enjoyed reading as each character learned more about themselves and their family and made changes for the better. Although I wasn't fully on board with how quickly their chemistry together developed, by the end of the novel I was all in.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for providing an eARC. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.

Oh. my. god. I completely understand the Christina Lauren hype now. This book was incredible. I do not have a single negative thing to say about this story. I absolutely loved watching the enemies to lovers trope play out between Olive Torres and Ethan Thomas. This book was filled with wit, honesty, betrayal, heartbreak, romance, and second chances. I tore through this book in essentially one sitting, and I am so glad that I did.

I will update this review once my full review for my blog post is complete.

The Unhoneymooners was a concept that could have seemed trite but actually felt fresh in the hands of Christina Lauren. The characters were enjoyable and funny, and their animosity — and the truth behind it — was believable. All in all, this book was a light, fun read perfect for summer.

This book is hilarious, it has both awkward comedy and romance. While the situations are somewhat cliche, the characters make it fun.

I have read several of Christina Lauren's standalone books in the last few years (as a side note, was i the last person on earth who didn't know this is two people and not one?! How super awesome is that?!) Ok back to the book, I've read and enjoyed several of their books so I was looking forward to digging into this one.

And it charmed me from page two. The characters, the dialogue, the scenes in this book are funny, touching, vivid and joyful. It's the kind of book that effortlessly transports you into a little world the authors have created and keeps you in this lovely cocoon that you don't want to leave.

I really enjoyed the characters in this book and laughed out loud quite a few times. I loved that some parts were predictable and others not as much. This book delivered what I've come to expect from the authors and what I've come to love about them, too. For me, these are the best kind of romance books because they don't feel fluffy and cookie-cutter. I grow to care for the characters, they are not two dimensional or thrown in there for the sake of plot. Maybe Dane is the only one where I would have liked to see a bit more balance because most of us are many layers but in this case it didn't bother me.

I expected this book to be a lot of fun and it delivered on that 100%.

Thank you to goodreads and Gallery Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC of this for an honest review. I wish I could give this 4.5 stars-I loved it! It made me laugh out loud often, to the point I was worried I would wake my husband up while I was reading in bed! Although at first glance, the plot seems unbelievable, the explanation and ensuing chaos are completely believable and very fun to read as things unfold. The only reason I am not giving it 5 stars is because I thought the ending and conclusion was a bit too long. I wasn't invested in the sister's relationship and would have been just as happy to focus on the excellent couple that is Olive and Ethan!

The first 3/4 of this book were perfection. The last 1/4 was mired in some melodrama. I enjoy when the main romantic leads spend page time together in the book. This had that and charming banter in spades. Strong female lead. Very enjoyable!