Always love a book by this author. Her books are humorous and heartwarming. This did not disappoint. Would recommend

Olive Torres has always had bad luck, but her twin sister Ami is the luckiest person in the world. Ami is getting married to her dream guy and is getting her wedding practically for free because of all the sweepstakes she won. However, Ami’s lucky streak runs out when everyone who ate the seafood buffet at her wedding gets sick with food poisoning. Olive and Ami’s new brother-in-law Ethan are the only two who didn’t eat the buffet and didn’t get sick. Since Olive and Ethan are the only ones who didn’t get sick, Ami insists that they use the Hawaiian honeymoon that she had won so that it doesn’t go to waste. The problem is that Olive and Ethan have hated each other since the moment they met. They plan to do their own things on the vacation, until they run into people they know and end up pretending that they just got married. Olive and Ethan pretend to be newly weds on the trip, and as they get closer and closer, Olive begins to wonder if her luck is finally changing for the better.

This was such a fun romance. I wish I had read it sooner. It had laugh out loud moments, and also some awkward moments. There was love and devastating heartbreak, but I really enjoyed it.

This story features some of my favourite romance tropes: fake dating/engagement/marriage and enemies to lovers. These two tropes give lots of space for tense moments and there was loads of tension throughout this story. The story was very well plotted and everything happened for a reason.

The Unhoneymooners is a fun romcom!

Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book.

This was a perfect enemies-to-lovers trope set in Hawaii. I can't gush enough about how good this book was for reading on the beach in the summer.

Cute, charming, and a laugh-out-loud entertaining rom-com.

This was such a fun and light read that was interesting and had me totally invested in.

I absolutely loved the chemistry between Ethan and Olive.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Canada, and Christina Lauren for the opportunity to read an eARC.

4.25 Stars (I received an e-arc from NetGalley)

I did read this book sometime last year but I really remember the reading experience and how much I enjoyed this book. A lot of the time I would be reading this book on my lunch at Wendy's, taking a welcome break from work. Olive is a character that is someone every young woman could relate to, I always love some curvy/big girl characters and she works in the healthcare/pharmaceutical industry (like me). Her family all seem to a bit of a headache, parents that are separated/divorced that refuse to communicate with each other, her twin sister that has all the good luck, and an extensive number of cousins. Ami (the twin) has managed to win most of everything needed for her wedding, including the venue and the honeymoon but that turns out not working in her favour. Due a seafood buffet all of the wedding and party guests end up with a virus or food poisoning except for Olive and Ethan (the groom's brother) who do not get a long at all. Ami wants Olive to take her honeymoon trip in her place as the honeymoon resort will not reschedule but she would need to go with Ethan and pretend to be the married couple. They do get off on the wrong foot and have to learn to communicate better, honestly the miscommunication trope is not my favourite but it wasn't too crazy. Olive gets hired for a new job before the trip and unfortunately runs into her new boss at the resort, in where she has lie to keep the facade for the resort. She and Ethan end up having a friendship with her new boss and his wife, as well they run into an ex of Ethan's who seemed to have gotten married very soon after they broke up. The two get closer and work out their issues and start actually developing into romance. Then realizing most of their miscommunication is mainly due to a certain person, which his brother, who is in a sense trying to fool his now wife into thinking his brother is always taking him on trips. When in reality her new husband is still wanting to play around and is still seeing girls on the side but using Ethan as a shield when lying to his wife. However Ethan seems believe his brother isn't doing anything bad but when they get back home things change a bit. Ethan's brother meets with them for a drink and says something very sexist and creepy but Ethan doesn't believe Olive and that causes them to break up. Ami as well doesn't believe Olive and to make matters worse she ends up losing her job. She tells her new boss that she isn't actually married and they take their contracts so seriously, that since she lied to them they have to fire her. After several girls contact Ami about her new husbands extra activities. finally Olive is believed and the marriage is very short lived. I do like how the ending kind of comes full circle where after a time jump we see Olive, Ethan, Ami and her new boyfriend going to back to the resort for vacation and of course Ethan proposes. Much better than their previous release.

Thank you to a Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Canada and Gallery Books for a copy of this book for an honest review.

I don’t generally read romance titles but I requested this arc because I saw some great reviews for this book on Instagram.

It is definitely light and fun read,- your typical romance plot of girl hates boy ( or does she), girl loves boy, girl and boy break up, girl and boy end up happily ever after. And yet it’s still fresh and fun . I loved Olive’s big family, I wish we had seen more of them.

I would definitely read more by this author .

3.5 ⭐️

RATING: 3.5 STARS
2019; Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster Canada

Okay, Christina and Lauren, you got me. The pretty cover and diverse heroine drew me in but oh my, oh my, Ethan is the reason you kept me reading/listening.

This is the typical rom-com where boy and girl do not like one another, and are put in the same room and come to love another - after some hilarity ensues. This may sound like a jab, but it's really not! I enjoyed the predictable story with it's own endearing characters and brand of humour. It takes a lot for me to get into rom-com novels, and even more to enjoy it. I rated it a 3.5 stars and not a solid 4 because it is not one I would reread, but is one I would recommend to other readers. I have to say, I felt a lot like Olive with her unlucky streak. The last few years have not gone as smoothly as I hoped (but then again I can say that for my life), and yet it has not gone as badly as it could. I am down for more Christina Lauren novels!

<i>***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***</i>

I recently read “My Favourite Half- Night Stand” and loved its fun, fresh r0m com vibe. I was stoked to receive an advances copy of her (their actually, they are a writing duo) new book! After her identical twin sister and her new groom come down with a terrible bout of food poisoning at their wedding reception, Olive agrees to impersonate her so that their all-inclusive (and non refundable) Hawaiian holiday doesn’t go to waste. The catch is, the groom has offered the “grooms” spot to his brother, Ethan, who Olive loathes. How are these two going to pretend to be newlyweds for a week? Needless to say, hilarity ensues, secrets are divulged and sparks fly. While I didn’t enjoy this novel as much as the last one, it was a fun frothy read perfect for the beach or the cottage dock this summer!

I am not entirely sure what I expected diving into The Unhoneymooners but I ended up absolutely loving it. Christina Lauren’s books are extremely hyped but I never felt a particular need to read them until I saw the synopsis for The Unhoneymooners. My general distrust of hype made me worry I’d end up not liking the book, especially because I had just DNF’d another hate-to-love romance. INSTEAD, I was cackling and swooning and generally having a great time.

Olive and Ami may be identical twins but are opposites in every other way. Ami is the lucky twin whereas Olive can never seem to catch a break. When, at Ami’s wedding, everyone but Olive (and the bridegroom’s brother, who she hates) gets extreme food poisoning from eating bad seafood, it seems like Olive’s luck might be beginning to turn. Ami pushes Olive into going on her honeymoon and soon, Olive finds herself in very close quarters with a man she thought she hated?

So, I am pretty nit-picky about hate-to-love romance because I always find that they aren’t as intensely hate-to-love as I want them to be, and in many of the cases, the hate is founded on very shaky grounds. While the romance here isn’t as intense as I like my hate-to-loves, Olive and Ethan’s misunderstandings and their dislike of one another made sense.

There is definitely a bit of instalove happening but Christina Lauren writes Ethan and Olive’s interactions so well, and paces them out so well that it makes sense that they fall out of dislike and fall into like pretty quickly. For all the misunderstandings that surround their dislike for one another, once they are put together, alone and in the same room, they get pretty good at communicating their emotions to one another. I loved seeing Ethan and Olive have honest conversations about their feelings.

My biggest issue with this book is that I felt like the conflict resolution wasn’t satisfying at all?? I could sense the conflict coming from miles away but felt like we needed better explanations and apologies for what went down. People mess up sometimes and that’s valid but having it wrapped up, in the book with a, “oh i decide to forgive him” after being mad for a while was jarring to read and felt like bad writing.

I will say that given the number of coincidences that happen in this book, it might not be the best read for people who have a harder time letting go of disbelief but I found that it made the book feel very rom-com-y and I enjoyed that. It also makes me wonder what else I’ve been missing out on by Christina Lauren because of my fear of hype.

The writing duo of Christina Lauren hardly disappoints. Apart from Dating You/Dating Me, that is, which I had a tough time getting into because of the characters. Also, Autoboyography which was so good up until that one moment when the broken hearted boy did something so stupid that I can’t even. Sigh. Anyway, they continue to write entertaining romance novels that are funny and sexy. They are also so proficient in witty banters between characters. I guess that’s one of the advantages of being a duo.

In The Unhoneymooners, we meet Olive. A self-proclaimed unlucky soul who can’t catch a break. Unlike her sister who manages to win every single contests she enters. As luck would have it, she wins her entire wedding – including the honeymoon. But throughout her unlucky streak, Olive never once did she feel envious of her twin sister’s lucky draw in life. Their relationship is a loving, supportive one. They have each other’s backs no matter what and will do just about anything for each other.

It is unfortunate that she can’t warm up to her sister’s fiancé and especially to his brother, Ethan. Things has always been contentious since almost to the day they met. For some inexplicable reason, they just grate on each other’s nerves. So when the entire wedding party and guests came down with the worst case of food poisoning, Olive’s luck either turned for the better or worse – depending on who you asked.

Ethan and Olive spends the next week in beautiful, balmy Maui trying not to kill each other and staying out of each other’s way. Unfortunately, fate has another plan. Day by day, their relationship grows from cantankerous to something else entirely. And with every change in the dynamics of their relationship, comes the revelations of the real reason why they can’t stand each other.

I really enjoyed this one. Christina Lauren are authors whose works I repeatedly go back to when I’m in need of an escape. I’ll never tire of them, I don’t think. The Unhoneymooners became just one of their works that I’ll read and reread.

There are a lot to love about Ethan and Olive. The banters, the antics they pull on each other, the way they love each other’s siblings to a fault; and the way they sometimes forget that they hate each other. Olive, despite being plagued with unholy luck, was one of those people who accepts things for what and how they are. That doesn’t mean that she doesn’t take steps to somehow change the status quo. In fact, she’ll do just about anything to finally gain employment even as far as to coerce Ethan into faking a marriage. Ethan, on the other hand, also has something to gain by agreeing: to prove to his ex-girlfriend that he’s moved on. (Sidenote: having a free holiday in Maui only to have it spoilt it by seeing your ex with their current flame staying is not my idea of a good time.) Long story short, mishaps ensue. But amongst the comedy of errors was a realization that they were actually good together. And theirs could work if they could only get past all the hang-ups of their past encounters.

The one thing they have in common was how much they love their siblings and to what end they’ll do to protect them. But it’s that instinct that might be detrimental to their pursuing a relationship.

Olive Torres considers herself the “unlucky” one between her and her twin sister, Ami. While Ami seems to win at everything in life, including all the elements of her wedding via contests, Olive’s luck never seems to catch a break – including being stuck in the wedding party with her nemesis, Ethan, who also happens to be the groom’s brother. When a horrible case of food poisoning hits the entire wedding party except for Olive and Ethan, they agree to go on Ami’s non-refundable honeymoon in Hawaii, which she also won in a contest. They agree to a truce to keep up the charade that they are the newlyweds but Olive soon finds that she may have been wrong about Ethan this whole time. This was the first Christina Lauren book I read, and I’m definitely hooked! There are countless stories of hate-to-love romances, and sure, this falls into that same category, but the characters were dynamic and the story was so entertaining that I didn’t feel like I was reading a tired old trope at all. The scenarios that Olive finds herself in are at times comical and other times so cringe-worthy that I felt secondhand awkwardness for her.

Thank you @simonschusterca and @netgalley for the free ebook!
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This book was so cute and the perfect summer read! I was so fully immersed in this book that I read it on the spin bike to get my mind off the fact that I was actually exercising!
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The book follows Olive, who is perpetually unlucky. Her twin sister, Ami, has all the luck, and wins a number of different things for her wedding, including a free buffet dinner, in which everyone but Olive and the grooms brother, Ethan, get sick at! Because Ami won her honeymoon, she can’t get a refund, so Olive and Ethan go on the trip. Except that they hate each other! They have to brave each other’s company in order to enjoy their trip to Hawaii!
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This book was super fast paced and drew you into the plot right away! The characters were also super relatable, and I thought Olive was super cute! The banter between Ethan and Olive was super believable and I really enjoyed getting to know these two! If you’re looking for a cute summer romance read, then I highly recommend you pick this one up!

I loved this book! It’s not often that you come across a story of twins where one is doing better than the other. A highly enjoyable read.

***I received an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Gallery Books and Christina Lauren.***

The Unhoneymooners is your classic enemies-to-lovers story unraveled by the wit, intelligence and imagination of Christina Lauren. In other words, it was perfection.

Olive, who is generally unlucky, is one of the few wedding guests who doesn’t come down with food poisoning at her sister’s wedding. It’s also the reason she finds herself taking an otherwise wasted, free honeymoon trip in her sister’s stead. She doesn’t expect the best man to also be on trip, thanks to her new brother-in-law. They decide they’re both adults who can put aside their mutual dislike for a stay in paradise. They only have to pretend to like one another when they take advantage of the amenities. At least until Olive runs into her new boss and the lie rolls off her lips. They more time they spend together, the harder it is to tell what is pretend and what is real.

I adored Olive and Ethan. They were both smart and a bit snarky but had really good hearts. The authors made sure you understood their situations, and for me that made me appreciate their strengths even more. The banter was wonderful, the sexual tension even more so, not to mention the swoon. The story was intelligent and very respectfully written. It was a perfect balance of humour and seriousness. It honestly left me feeling incredibly light glowing with happiness. How many stories can you say that about?

A fun and fast read, I am going to go search for more books by this author.

Olive is sent on her sisters honeymoon after food poisoning leaves the bride and groom (and most of the guests) unable to travel. Sadly, her honeymoon travel companion is her arch enemy - and now brother in law!

While the story line is pretty predictable, I love that it didn't follow the expected path to get there. The characters and dialog were highly entertaining, and there are a few real life plot twists that manage to keep it pretty real.

This was my first time reading a Christina Lauren novel and I loved it.
This is a great summer read that I couldn't put down, I finished it in two days.

The chemistry between Ethan and Olive is just great, they have their ups and downs but they are always honest with eachother.

I highly recommend this book to everyone.

Why did I wait so long to read my 1st ever Christina Lauren book when everyone around me has been raving for years?! Maybe because romcoms for me have recently been a hit and miss because their humour was usually at the expense of someone else (ie. body shaming, stalking, taking mental health too lightly etc.).

The Unhoneymooners was a breath of fresh air that left me laugh out loud several times and chuckle so often, my chair wobbled.

The story is one that's based on misunderstandings, and once they are resolved, tackle the issue of not believing a women when she's openly accusing a guy of being offensive to her and others.

For those of you who care, apart from the epilogue, the entire book is 1st point of view from the heroine only. Personally, I would have liked to get more insights from the hero - especially in the first 3/4 of the book. But overall it worked.

I wished the romantic scenes, when both hook up, would have actually been on the page, instead of being either simply cut short, skipped, or mentioned afterwards.

There was a great flow to the story, the secondary characters brought the entire book nicely together, and I'm off to decide now which book to dive in next by Christina Lauren.

I am so glad that thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Canada, I was able to dive in to the PERFECT summer read! The main character, Olive, is sweet, loveable and perfectly imperfect. Her arch enemy Ethan will be your next crush! I read the majority of this book when I was gone camping, and the summer vibes (set in Maui of all dreamy places!) shine through with this one. I found the character development of Olive and Ethan to be adorable and funny, and elements of this book were both serious and light hearted. This book was such an easy read and exactly what I needed to get me through a summer reading slump! Can't wait to read more books by Christina Lauren as her writing style is so modern and fun!

This was my first book by the duo, and after seeing so much love for these authors I was excited to get lost in one of their books!
I have to say, I really enjoyed this book, but didn't fall in complete love like I wanted. Loved the synopsis of the story and the banter between Olive and Ethan is definitly hilarious. I really enjoyed their quick whit and snarky comments they had for each other. I do wish their enemies to lovers relationship had a little more, I don't know, UMPH, to it. I felt her reasons for disliking him were a little weak, and I didn't really get that angsty, love the tension build up you often get from the trope. I also found Olive to be a little "oh woah is me", always thinking bad luck followed her around, when really she just needed to pull her big girl panties up, take some responsibility and stop being so judgy. Finally, I was REALLY disappointed in the fade to black love scenes. I felt Ethan and Olive's connection was very flimsy to begin with, so some steam would have played to their advantage.

I did enjoy Olive more towards the end of the book, and her and Ethan together were really adorable. Like I said, the whitty come backs and the banter truly made up for the lack of "hate" in the book, and I found myself laughing out loud in some parts which is always a win in my books! Over all, while I didn't LOVE it, i enjoyed it alot and will definitely give the other books by Chrisina Lauren a try! If the banter and comedy are as good as they are in this book, then I'm here for it!

Absolutely fantastic 5-star book. I literally laughed out loud and read this book in one day. In the beginning, it took me a bit to get into the characters however as the story progressed I began to enjoy the character as they grew and developed in the book. Christina Lauren novels are an automatic purchase for me and cannot wait for their next book to be released. Well done!!!