Book Review - The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

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Title: The Unhoneymooners

Author: Christina Lauren

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Piatkus

Publication Date: 14th May 2020

Rating: 5 Stars

The honeymoon of a lifetime . . . with her sworn enemy

Olive is always unlucky; her identical twin sister Ami, on the other hand, is probably the luckiest person in the world. While she's about to marry her dream man, Olive is forced to play nice with her nemesis: the best man, Ethan.

Yet Olive's luck may be on the turn . . . When the entire wedding - except for Olive and Ethan - gets food poisoning, there's an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs. Putting their mutual hatred aside, Olive and Ethan head for paradise. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him spirals out of control.

Forced to play loving newlyweds, she and Ethan find themselves in closer proximity than they ever expected. Soon, Olive finds that maybe she doesn't mind pretending. In fact, she's beginning to feel kind of . . . lucky.

How have I never read a book by Christina Lauren before? This hit all the right spots for me and I am so happy I was able to read it. 

First though a warning there is a particular scene at around the 8-10% mark that I feel I should warn you not to read if you are currently eating too.  It really put me off the rest of my dinner - it did set up the reason why Olive and Ethan are going on their siblings honeymoon despite hating each other. 

They do though need to pretend to be a pair of inlove honeymooners, not just so that the hotel doesn't force them to pay or kick them out, as the honeymoon was won in a competition with strict terms and conditions,  but when they run into first Olive's new boss and Ethan's ex-girlfriend, well things become a bit more complicated than they first imagined. 

The continual bickering between Olive and Ethan really amused me, and I absolutely adored the variety of activities they took part in.  From Snuba to Paintballing, oh and the couples massage is priceless.  For a pair that didn't want to spend any time together, they are now actively wanting to do things together, while they are on their holiday of a life time, an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii. 

I loved their dynamics, but also enjoyed seeing Olive's relationship with her twin sister Abi, and Ethan's with his brother Dane, and from conversations more about Abi and Dane's relationship too.  If that sounded complicated it is. but it isn't, at least it isn't confusing! 

I was amazed just how large a family Abi and Olive have, they seem to have about a million aunts, uncles, cousins all clamouring for their time but its also clear they are a family with a lot of love. 

This book was a delight to read, on a sunny day in the garden and I think it will also be perfect poolside / beach reading as and when restrictions ease.   

I definitely need to read more from this author, and I absolutely adored this book! 

Thank you to Piatkus and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily,