The Unhoneymooners was my first foray into the Christina Lauren catalog. I’m trying to become more versed in contemporary romance. In March, I visited Hawaii and this book allowed me to daydream again about island life. This book seemed like a perfect match.
Olive Torres thinks she is cursed with bad luck. She is recently laid off and has moved into a small apartment. Her love life is nonexistent. Meanwhile, her sister, Amy, seems to have all the good luck. She has a knack for winning all sorts of free things, which she uses to win almost everything for her wedding. The book opens with Olive playing bridesmaid and forced to be around her nemesis, Ethan. He is the brother of Amy’s future husband. They never really quite hit it off and their routine is to swap witty insults. The wedding day is no exception. Unfortunately, Amy’s luck runs out and the reception is ruined when everyone gets a rare form of food poisoning from the seafood buffet. All except Olive who is allergic to shellfish and Ethan who doesn’t do buffets.
This turn of events leads to the enemies boarding a plane to Maui to use their siblings’ honeymoon. Olive wants to believe maybe her luck is changing. She just has to ignore Ethan all week. Except since it’s a free vacation, they have to pretend to be married to the hotel staff. That is until Olive runs into her future boss in the spa. Even tho Olive is a terrible liar, she panics and agrees to dinner with the said boss, his wife, and of course her fake husband. The stakes are raised further when Ethan gets recognized by someone from his past. The pair are now stuck with each other in beautiful Hawaii. As the vacation continues, the pair get closer than ever expected.
I enjoyed seeing Olive and Ethan let their guard down around each other. The author duo dreamed up a charming as heck enemies to lovers’ story. I will say that I’m TERRIFIED of people being sick, so I skimmed through the food poisoning wedding scenes. I was very relieved when the story shifted to focus solely on Olive and Ethan’s trip. When the couple returns to Minnesota, the romance did falter with a huge rift emerging between the two leads. I appreciated the attention that the authors gave to the sister relationship. The family melodrama wasn’t a turn off for me. Ethan and Olive had powerful chemistry, so I was committed to seeing it through to the end.
If you were rooting for Jess and Nick in New Girl, I think you’ll enjoy this hilarious contemporary romance.