The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
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.
Being the first Christina Lauren book I ever picked up,
The Unhoneymooners surely did not disappoint, but it also was not what I was expecting at all. While this book was lighthearted and fun, with numerous plot twists, it fell flat for me.
Ami and Olive Torres are twins that may look the same on the outside, but when it comes to their luck, these two sisters could not be more different. Ami seems to win anything she signs up for: free bridesmaids dresses, all inclusive honeymoon, free seafood buffet at her wedding to frat-bro Dane. While Olive loses her job and is living day to day with a couple bucks in her bank account. But when all the guests at the wedding contract ciguatera toxin from bad seafood, it just might be Olive's lucky day. Due to her shellfish allergy, and Dane's brother Ethan's fear of buffets, they are the only two left unscathed at the end of the day. Due to her sister's honeymoon being nonrefundable, Olive agrees to pose as newlyweds with the one man she hates, Ethan.
The Unhoneymooners is marketed as a comedic hate-to-love story with numerous twists and turns. While I love a romantic comedy, this story offered nothing special. I could not care less about these characters since there was no depth to them. They were one dimensional and offered nothing beneath the surface.
If you have been following me for a long time, you know I LOVE a good hate-to-love story, but this was not one. Sure, they claim to hate one another, but from the start it is clear that they love to bickering with each other. Olive basically fabricates a faux-hatred from the day she met Ethan from the way he looked at her cheese curds and that was the end. I was expecting them to look like Stitch and Lilo over here the entire time they were in Hawaii, but they end up poking fun at each other and having banter.
That being said it was a fairly simple and fun read. It didn't encapsulate my entire being like I hope a book would do, but it still was enjoyable. I find these reviews the hardest to write because I am not passionate about my love nor my hate for this book. It just kinda stands in the middle. 3 out of 5 stars.
What Christina Lauren book should I try out next? Let me know in the comments down below!
Thanks Hons,
Lee Chand