Unhoneymooners told the story of Olive and Ethan. Olive was very relatable and i did greatly enjoy her character. I felt the love story was slightly a case in which characters 'settled' for each other and the romance was 'convenient' for them over anything else, which i commonly dislike about the genre of adult romance. I suppose it is meant to be relatable and realistic, but when i read romance novels, i want to read a great love story of 'meant to be' or whatever. Something cheesy like that i suppose, but something that makes me believe in love nonetheless. For the most part, the romance didn't give me that feeling. I wanted to fall in love with Ethan alongside Olive, but i just did not. I did feel the characters had good chemistry. however, and the build up was nicely done. Christina Lauren is a fantastic writing duo. They are one of my favorites, and their writing style is incredible. They always infuse the best of the romance tropes into their books, and i greatly admire them for that. Olive and her family were very entertaining. Christina Lauren are geniuses when it comes to side characters, every single time. I also really liked how the book dealt with the theme of taking a break from one's career in order to reflect and how this is an okay thing to do.

This was such a fast paced and fun book. I couldn’t put it down. I loved the audiobook, I loved reading the paperback, I just all around loved it! 

Olive and Ethan are such fun characters, both have their quirks but they’re also incredibly endearing. From the beginning you root for them and want them to be happy. 

From their not honeymoon to everything after, I was absolutely in love! 

Also, Olive’s family was awesome and hilarious and I loved every moment with them.

A fun story at times has Olive working with her twin sister who is getting married. Olive along with everyone else in the family goes along with that she is just unlucky. Ethan who is supposed to be her enemy and is the groom’s brother and best man. Had certain requests for his own special meal at the reception because he does not eat from a buffet. His whole thing has to do with food poisoning. Forgetting to get eat herself Olive begins to notice that the reception is starting to fade fast especially when a few of the people begin to vomit, next everyone except Olive and Ethan have food poisoning. Losing out on the trip that she won, Olive’s sister has her and Ethan go to Hawaii for what would have been their honeymoon. While there the two of them become more than friends but Olive also starts putting together that it was not Ethan getting his brother out of all of the family trips it was his brother the one Amie married. When they return home and Olive is trying to express her feelings and what she found out about her sister’s new husband she is shunned from everyone. Her sister, family, and Ethan know will believe what she is saying. Read this good book to see what happens at the exciting end.

Read and finished this book in April so I'm a tad late writing a review. 

I'm giving this one 3.5 stars. I did like this book, but I felt a bit underwhelmed by the story. I liked Olive well enough, I liked Etan well enough. But I didn't love them. Not a part and not together. 

The big thing here was pacing. They spend most of the time sparring, which is funny. But the problem is they spend most of their time sparring. It takes a long time to get to them in a place where they are honestly communicating. She's hated him for forever and if I recall correctly, it was something she mistook. I get that. I can be overly sensitive. But really, 2 and a half years of not addressing? 

That aside, not all stories from beloved authors work for everyone. I moved on and clearly didn't want to be negative, so it took me this long to consider writing a review...Again, just wasn't a book that totally worked for me and it has and will work for plenty of other people. :-

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

Christina Lauren manage to bring all the feels yet again with this title. The characters were super relate-able, there was humor and heartbreak, and a swoon-worthy romance.

1 1/2 STARS 

This story had potential -- enemies to lovers and they go on a free honeymoon vacation together? Sign me up!

But the execution of this entire thing was, uh, not great, IMO. Mostly, if all the bullshit with the sister's cheating husband had been removed from the story, things would have been a million times better.

The hero constantly trying to mansplain and gaslight the heroine about what she heard and experienced? That was bullshit. "Oh, I'm sure my brother didn't MEAN what he said, he wasn't hitting on you, why would he hit on YOU anyway?" is only the tip of this bullshit iceberg. <--- And that was at around the 85% mark or so, which makes it SO MUCH WORSE, because how do you expect me to root for him or their HEA at that point?

There were some comments throughout that made me a bit uncomfortable, in regards to fat / body shaming. It wasn't OUTRIGHT fatphobic garbage, but it was definitely lurking there in the shadows, if you will. The heroine is supposed to be "curvy", but, like with many heroines in romancelandia that get that label, she's barely a size 10/12 with big tits. First off, this body type, like all others, is 100% valid! BUT! Can we stop calling it "fat" or "plus size"? Because it's not. And someone with this body size/shape is not going to experience the same shit that a larger body will, stop pretending otherwise, it's insulting to bigger bodies.

Including the fact that when she first met the hero, she says he pulled a face when he saw her eating cheese curds, then turned away and has hated her ever since. His response when she finally asks him about it? "Oh, I don't remember doing that, you must be mistaken. I was just stuck in my own head that day, I didn't think I made any sort of face, and definitely not at you!" Hi again, gaslighting! Also: this sounds like some bullshit a fatphobic person WOULD actually say after being caught giving such a look to a fat person eating "unhealthy" food, and then trying to deflect and claim that they're not fatphobic after all. So fuck right off with this, dude. She, of course, believes him and starts to doubt herself ("Oh, what a silly thing to believe, now that I think about it. Obviously he didn't do that when we met!")


Also: What grown-ass adult stays away from / instantly dislikes a woman ONLY because his younger brother says "Hey, don't bother with her, she's a horrible bitch"? This fucking hero, apparently. That's his real reason for not getting along with her, not the cheese curd thing she mentioned.

Uhhuh, sure. Both "reasons" are trash anyway but whatever.


The aforementioned gaslighting, which comes from other characters throughout the book, too, not just from the hero, gets so bad that the heroine starts doubting herself and figures she really is just the pessimistic bitch that everyone sees her as. ARGH.


I never saw the hero as, well, the hero. He was trash, all "bros before hos" basically when it came to the garbage with his cheating scumbag of a brother. The gaslighting and mansplaning. And while I love enemies to lovers vibes, this wasn't it. He was just a jerk to her all the way to the end yet I'm supposed to believe in their romance and HEA? Pass.


The romance would get a 1 star, if that. The overall story maybe a 2, mostly because there was potential with the premise.

DNF at 50%
For me, the negative body image that our female lead has was hard for me to read. 
Also, the amount of lying that was happening in this novel made me incredibly uncomfortable. I couldn't finish it, and I tried 3 separate times to finish it.

Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

I haven't read too many Christina Lauren books, at this point, and mostly it's been their newer work. This was a ridiculous idea and the situations were ridiculous, but I loved it. It was so much fun. 

I liked both characters, and I love the enemies to lovers thing where it's based on misunderstandings/bad first impressions. And this one had that and it was super interesting. 

I did think that the ending part drama with the sister and husband was unnecessary? I don't know why we couldn't just stick with focusing on our main couples situation, and their ridiculous shenanigans. 

Overall, though, this was a ton of fun and I read pretty much all of it sitting on the floor of a barnes and noble, which was actually pretty great. I love this silly romcom stuff, though I do which it was more queer (I feel like this about any/all thing I read).

This book needs to come with a warning; do NOT read in public! Why? Because you’ll look like a slightly deranged person sitting and giggling to yourself while twitching happily. Ok. Maybe you won’t twice. But I did! Because this book gave me all of the happy tingles and I was a flailing pile of reader goo at the end. Basically, I seriously and I mean SERIOUSLY loved The Unhoneymooners.
I adore all things Christina Lauren but man did they step up their usual a-game even more with this story. If you follow my reviews than you already know that enemies to lovers is my jam. And Olivia and Ethan are the enemies that dreams are made of! I tell you. These two brought the banter so hard. SO HARD.
Picture this: Your twin sister is the epitome of all things lucky. She wins EVERYTHING. Free trips, free dresses, free meals, free everything. Basically her giveaway entries have essentially paid for her entire wedding. And you’re the antithesis to that luck. If your twin is lucky, then you’re the unluckiest person ever. Oh, and your soon to be brother in law is also your arch nemesis that you may or may not have lusted ever for a hot second until he proved to be a total buttonhole. That, my friends, is Olive’s life. She’s a bit dramatic at times. She’s also self-depreciating and self-conscious about pretty much everything revolving around her body. But she’s also endearing AF. I don’t even know what it was exactly, but I couldn’t get enough of her.
Enter Ethan; groom’s brother, buffet avoider, and all around Olive hater. The hate lust is strong between these two, people. But what I loved the most is that it’s subtle and its a delicious slow burn. When every single person at the wedding except Olive and Ethan, manages to get the food poisoning from hell, all of sudden Olive and Ethan find themselves taking her twin’s honeymoon and barely tolerating the other’s existence.
My favorite thing about this book has got to be the banter. I loved the back and forth these two have. I also loved the subtle change of hating each other to the realization that there’s something between them. I loved watching them grow closer and closer until the chemistry between them sparks to fire. If you’re expecting a super steamy romance, you won’t get that here. This was more of a warm heat rather than sparking fire, but it was still so satisfying. It was more sweet than spicy and this reader was perfectly alright with that.
I laughed, I swooned, and I binge read it from cover to cover. This is one of those books that will put a smile on your face and keep it there. It was an endearingly sweet romance of opposites attracting with plenty of bubbly secondary characters that added a bit of flare to an already great story. If you’re looking for a light and funny, feel-good romance, look no further. The Unhoneymooners delivers in spades!

The Unhoneymooners is a great vacation read - both in that it is a fun story about travelers and also because it's a perfect rom-com to take as you're traveling. It's funny but has just enough depth, and the characters are endearing.

Quick, easy fun read. Nothing bad but unfortunately, I wasn't really wowed by it. They've definitely written better book. This was just okay for me. I wish I liked it more because this was set in Hawaii and it's nice to see your home depicted in books but alas, this wasn't a wow for me at all.

I received a copy of this title through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This is the first book in a while that has caused me to laugh out loud on numerous occasions! I'd heard the name Christina Lauren (who are actually two authors) passed around the Romance review boards, but this was the first title I've read by them. It was delightful! I really enjoyed the fact that it was a one perspective Romance, which is rare today, because it gave some mystery into what the male lead was thinking. Because of this, readers are able to enjoy Olive's reactions to Ethan at the same time she is reacting, making the characters seem more genuine and relatable. After all, we definitely can't mind-read our significant other most of the time! The novel focuses on both of the characters' growth and relationships with each other and their family members while separated from the rest of the world in an all inclusive trip to Maui. It is the perfect beach, vacation, or honeymoon read!

Recommended to fans of the Hating Game

I enjoyed this one. A favorite author of mine indeed! Clever title and characters came to life in a brilliant way!

In the last year, I have grown so much to love Christina Lauren. I have really enjoyed their books. Now, Amber and I disagree on this one, I find it funny, but she loved this one and I did not. I enjoyed it but it was not my favorite by them. Amber enjoyed it more than Josh and Hazel and I did not. I wanted to love it, but I feel like there was something missing between Olive and Ethan. 


I liked their banter, it was funny. But while they were in Maui, I feel like there should have been more than what we got. I feel Ethan was very dry. He is a very dry character. There is one scene that I really loved when they were in Maui, a little massage scene that was hot as hell. But other than that, it is hard to pick up on a connection, there was a lack of chemistry.


I think the major problem I felt was missing was that it is only told in Olives point of view. It was hard to know and see how Ethan was feeling because we didn't get to live in his head and I missed that. It also isn't a common thing for Christina Lauren, I wish I saw inside his head! Also, the end, everyone thought Olive was lying about something and she wasn't and everyone didn't believe her and pretty much turned there backs on her. It upset me. 

 

With that being said, I enjoyed it but it wasn't my favorite by them. I do already have an ARC of their next novel, which doesn't release until October, so watch for that review to come sometime in October.

An okay read, though I was expecting more of a romance and less of the chick lit vibe with the over the top drama, angst and general filler fluff. 

It did have some lighthearted moments that had me laughing and I loved the chemistry between the MCs. Not sure this author is for me but I can definitely see many enjoying this read.

Hate to love
Witty banter
Body positive
Relatable main character
Swoon-worthy love interest

Ticks all the boxes. I really enjoyed this one!

A new favorite from two of my favorite authors! This is a steamy read and a great intro to the romance genre for newbies. Loved every word.

TBH I'm a bit sad not to have loved this one, partially because it's one of my favorite covers and partially because I'm such a Christina Lauren fan and I want to love them all. Some of them improved for me on reread, and I really hope this one does.

Because really, this ship should have been my jam because it's hate to love all due to silly misunderstandings, which HELLO HI. Ethan and Olive are constantly thrust together due to their siblings marrying each other, and Olive hates him because she thinks that he judges her for being a non-skinny woman who eats fattening foods like cheese curds. Spoiler: he doesn't.

However, unlike the rest of their novels, this one read like the novel equivalent of a Judd Apatow movie. Literally the inciting incident that sends Olive and Ethan off on their siblings' honeymoon is absolutely everyone at the wedding but them projectile vomiting due to the worst food poisoning ever at the wedding. I know some people find that shit funny but I personally do not.

Most of what went down on the honeymoon itself was fun, even if it did still feel like an Apatow movie, what with the appearance of Olive's new boss and Ethan's ex-girlfriend and her slimy new fiance. Note: the portrayal of the ex-girlfriend was...not my favorite. Lauren have a bad habit of portraying all exes as evil, but sometimes relationships just don't work out and it's not because someone is a terrible person?

Anyway, the last third of the novel is all lies and people disbelieving one another, and honestly I felt like everything Ethan did at that point made absolutely no sense. I get that he loves his asshole brother, but I'd felt like he and Olive were building something strong enough he wouldn't just stone-wall her. That really killed a lot of the romance for me.

Also, in general, I feel like Christina Lauren's novels work best when they use a balanced dual POV, but this novel skewed heavily to Olive. Maybe with more of Ethan's perspective, it would have been clear early on that he wasn't a jerk and also explained his thought process better at the end. As it was, his chapters felt kind of strange because they happened so rarely.

So yeah, I guess if you love movies like <i>Bridesmaids</i>, this will be your favorite Christina Lauren. If, like me, your least favorite thing about Christina Lauren (who I guarantee I love) is that they will make characters act OOC sometimes to accomplish the breakup near the end of the novel, this will not be your favorite.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review.
Olive, resigned to being the unlucky twin is suddenly having good luck. It begins at her sister's wedding. The whole wedding party comes down with food poisoning, everyone except Olive and Ethan, her archnemesis. With a free honeymoon going to waste, Olive is persuaded into pretending to be a newlywed with Ethan. Off they go. Pretending to be married is as hard as she thought it would be. In fact not only is Olive beginning to enjoy herself, but she is starting to feel downright lucky. Fun read.

I loved this book. It’s not my favorite by them but I did really enjoy it and can’t wait to read what they come up with next. I highly recommend checking them out if you haven’t already. 4.5/5