The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
Release Date - May 14, 2019
Publisher Website - Simon and Schuster

Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages -  395 pages
My Rating - 4/5
**received from the publisher for an honest review**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Ami, on the other hand, is probably the luckiest person in the world. Her meet-cute with her fiancé is something out of a romantic comedy (gag) and she’s managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a series of Internet contests (double gag). Worst of all, she’s forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man.

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.

Enemies to lovers has always been one of my favourite romance tropes. The whole 'I don't know if I want to hit you or kiss you' thing works especially well if you include some banter and electric chemistry between the characters. The Unhoneymooners has all of this and also manages to ignite your wanderlust.

Olive has always considered herself to be unlucky. Bad things happen to her all the time. Her twin sister on the other hand has all of the luck. This novel, however, looks at how much of what happens to us is because of our choices rather than luck or chance. Olive has to, eventually, examine some things within herself and her own behaviour. Owning up to your own actions is, at times, hard for people to do and I loved how this element was tackled here. It, ultimately, is a positive message of going after what you want, and making your own destiny.

Ethan and Olive's interactions spark with both their desire and hatred for each other. The sexual tension is there underneath the exasperation and impatience. It laces their conversations with extra meaning. They are the slowest of slow burns as a result, but it is entirely worth it when it finally does happen. They compliment each other really well and bring out things in the other that are healthy. Their connection felt really natural and they are one of my favourite couplings from any Christina Lauren book.

The inevitable obstacle that the couple must overcome was different than I anticipated it being. I thought that the story was going to go in one direction and it veers off into another. Resolving the obstacle in a romance novel can often feel rushed or unearned but that is not the case here. It felt appropriate and authentic to who all the characters were.

Hawaii, and the type of trip featured in this novel, seems incredibly romantic. I'll make you want to go visit the islands of Hawaii and fall in love. It offered a subtle backdrop that was used just enough to move the story forward and provide a tropical paradise in which romance blooms. It definitely made me eager to read more books set in this location.

This book is perfect for those who are just dipping their toe into the romance genre and perhaps want something a little tamer in the sex scene department to start off with. It, for me, read as more restrained than their other books while still being sexy. I enjoyed all the development that went into building the relationship between Ethan and Olive and how it all felt perfect for who these characters are.

Christina Lauren keeps releasing addictive, fun. flirty reads that are like little shots of endorphins. You're much happier when you've finished reading one of them than when you began. If you are romance reader and somehow haven't managed to pick one of their books up I strongly advise you do so immediately. You're missing out on some of the best romance novels out there and you'll thank me later.