The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
Thank you Netgalley and Gallery Books for the copy of this book. Even though this book was free, it in no way affected my opinion of it!
Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Amy, 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.
An unlucky twin is awarded a trip to paradise, the only catch being that she has to take the vacation with her least favorite person.
1.5 / 5 steam level
Wow this book was so funny you guys! Because I read an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC), I can't give you quotes until it comes out. But I loved this book and laughed out loud multiple times! I've read a few of Christina Lauren's books now and they are great romcom writers! I feel like if I'm in a book funk or wanting to be generally cheered up then I automatically reach for a Christina Lauren or an R.S. Grey book!Now this book is a romcom, but don't let that fool you into thinking it isn't amazing and that it doesn't tackle bigger topics. (I see you, romcom hater!) Believing the voice of women? Check. Perception changing your circumstances? Check. Honestly, the book was deeper than I was expecting it to be! And I loved that! Big tallies in the pro column for me.Let's go ahead and give a big holler for featuring one of my favorite tropes in a book! Enemies to lovers! *Holler!!!* The only storyline I like more than enemies to lovers is fake relationship. Guess what.... this book featured both! *gasp!* I know, I'm telling you, run- don't walk - and go buy this book!The Unhoneymooners also featured a lower steam level then I am used to from CL. This is a definite pro for me, because in general I tend to enjoy a book more if it's not a 5 steam level. And this was nowhere near 5 flames of steaminess!I have read quite a few stories featuring twins in the last year (99 Percent Mine, The Identicals). This was the first book which featured twins that were likable!! It was seriously a breath of fresh air. Finally twins I could get behind!!! And truthfully don't we all kind of root for twins? I blame the Parent Trap - it made me pro twin!
You guys know that I love an epilogue. This book featured one! I know, you're wondering why this is in the negative column for the book then. Hold your horses little miss horsey holder! (Gilmore Girls reference anyone?). The characters were together for like 2 weeks and their relationship progressed so quickly. It seemed as if they had been together for years. Then there's the epilogue which is like one year later. I was surprised at where the characters were. I expected them to be further along relationally. There was something about it that made me think they still didn't know each other that well. I don't know, it just didn't flow with who the characters were and where their relationship was for the whole book. Which in turn made me like their relationship less because I felt like they were tiptoeing around each other.Overall this negative aspect didn't detract too much for me and I would still definitely recommend this book.
Do: get a firm grip on your stance about buffets. Pro or Con? I'm personally con.Listen: To this playlist I created on SpotifyEat: something made to order... because hopefully at this point you've realized you don't like buffets.