4 Wine Glass #Review of The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

Title: The Unhoneymooners
Author: Christina Lauren
Format: eBook/Paperback, 432 pages
Published: May 14th 2019 by Gallery Books
ISBN: 1501128035
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
Source:  NetGalley
Reviewer: Crystal
Rating:  4 out of 5 Wine Glasses

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.

Crystal's Thoughts:
A novel from author duo, Christina Lauren, always guarantees a rollicking good time!

In The Unhoneymooners, we meet Olive Torres and Ethan Thomas, sworn enemies and upcoming in-laws. Olive has always lived in the shadow of her twin sister, Ami who seems to always win at life. With no job, no love life to speak of, and little of a social life to be had, Olive is not looking forward to basking in the glory of all things Ami's with her approaching wedding. Especially if it means having to work alongside the groom's egotistical brother. When the entire wedding party comes down with food poisoning though, and Ethan and Olive are the only two left standing, they're about to get a whole lot closer...

This novel was a delightful rom-com of enemies turned lovers. Olive was a lovely character to get to know. She's down on her luck at the beginning of the tale but never looses her fun spirit. I loved her go get 'em attitude, as well as her ability to laugh at herself and not take life too seriously. She's also a great sister, and goes above and beyond to make sure that Ami's wedding goes off without a hitch. Unfortunately, due to some bad shellfish, the wedding doesn't quite go as planned but thanks to Ami's never-ending good luck, a honeymoon must still be had! Enter our impersonators. Being the bride and groom's twin and sibling, Olive and Ethan can easily masquerade as the ill couple and are soon flying off to Hawaii to enjoy a tropical escape. Too bad these two can't stand each other! At the start, we only have Olive's perception of Ethan, and from first impressions he comes off as a bit of a jerk. However, there are a lot of mistaken assumptions between these two and as they spend more and more time together, they each come to realize that the other is not anything like they first thought. As Ethan and Olive slowly get to know each other through their "newly wed" excursions a friendship begins to bloom.

These two together were entertaining, as well as engaging. Their witty banter kept me turning the pages and helped the story move along at a steady clip. Ethan and Olive's romance is a slow burner which gave it a realistic feel. Their return from Hawaii is the complete opposite of their departure, but they still have a ways to go before they can find their happily-ever-after. Tensions are high, dishonesty in any form has a toll, and betrayals are revealed. Can Ethan and Olive find their way back to the connection they shared in Hawaii?  Or will the Torres' and Thomas' be split for good?

I loved every moment of The Unhoneymooners. It had the perfect mix of humor and romance with an endearing couple and fantastic side characters. I adored the Torres' family dynamics, they were such lively and supportive characters. If you enjoy a light, fun read with sweet and sassy characters, then I recommend you grabbing a copy of  The Unhoneymooners today!