I literally laughed out loud. More times than I can count. Such a sweet story. Quick read. Simple, funny, light and easy.
The Unhoneymooners
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars | 70,170 ratings
Price: 10.99
Last update: 01-05-2025
About this item
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
Starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews * Publishers Weekly * Library Journal
Named a “Must-Read” by TODAY, Us Weekly, Bustle, BuzzFeed, Goodreads, Entertainment Weekly, Publishers Weekly, Southern Living, Book Riot, Woman’s Day, The Toronto Star, and more!
For two sworn enemies, anything can happen during the Hawaiian trip of a lifetime—maybe even love—in this romantic comedy from the New York Times bestselling authors of Roomies.
Olive Torres is used to being the unlucky twin: from inexplicable mishaps to a recent layoff, her life seems to be almost comically jinxed. By contrast, her sister Ami is an eternal champion...she even managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a slew of contests. Unfortunately for Olive, the only thing worse than constant bad luck is having to spend the wedding day with the best man (and her nemesis), Ethan Thomas.
Olive braces herself for wedding hell, determined to put on a brave face, but when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. Suddenly there’s a free honeymoon up for grabs, and Olive will be damned if Ethan gets to enjoy paradise solo.
Agreeing to a temporary truce, the pair head for Maui. After all, ten days of bliss is worth having to assume the role of loving newlyweds, right? But the weird thing is...Olive doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, the more she pretends to be the luckiest woman alive, the more it feels like she might be.
With Christina Lauren’s “uniquely hilarious and touching voice” (Entertainment Weekly), The Unhoneymooners is a romance for anyone who has ever felt unlucky in love.
Starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews * Publishers Weekly * Library Journal
Named a “Must-Read” by TODAY, Us Weekly, Bustle, BuzzFeed, Goodreads, Entertainment Weekly, Publishers Weekly, Southern Living, Book Riot, Woman’s Day, The Toronto Star, and more!
For two sworn enemies, anything can happen during the Hawaiian trip of a lifetime—maybe even love—in this romantic comedy from the New York Times bestselling authors of Roomies.
Olive Torres is used to being the unlucky twin: from inexplicable mishaps to a recent layoff, her life seems to be almost comically jinxed. By contrast, her sister Ami is an eternal champion...she even managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a slew of contests. Unfortunately for Olive, the only thing worse than constant bad luck is having to spend the wedding day with the best man (and her nemesis), Ethan Thomas.
Olive braces herself for wedding hell, determined to put on a brave face, but when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. Suddenly there’s a free honeymoon up for grabs, and Olive will be damned if Ethan gets to enjoy paradise solo.
Agreeing to a temporary truce, the pair head for Maui. After all, ten days of bliss is worth having to assume the role of loving newlyweds, right? But the weird thing is...Olive doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, the more she pretends to be the luckiest woman alive, the more it feels like she might be.
With Christina Lauren’s “uniquely hilarious and touching voice” (Entertainment Weekly), The Unhoneymooners is a romance for anyone who has ever felt unlucky in love.
Top reviews from the United States
Megan zambas5.0 out of 5 stars hilarious and sweet
lynguy14.0 out of 5 stars Cute and Charming
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren (combined pen name for Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings) is the first book in the Unhoneymooners series and the second book I’ve read by this writing team. Olive Torres seems to be unlucky while her twin sister Ami seems to have good luck. Ami has even financed her wedding and honeymoon by winning several contests. The worst thing besides the maid of honor dress is having to spend the wedding day with the best man, Ethan Thomas, who is brother of the groom. However, when the entire wedding party except Olive and Ethan get food poisoning, both are determined to take advantage of a free vacation to Maui, Hawaii. With a temporary truce, they head there pretending to be newlyweds.
Olive tends to leap to the worst conclusion. She stress-bakes, is a homebody, a good listener, intelligent, and has recently been laid off from her job. Ethan seems judgmental and surly, but charming at times. He’s competitive, ambitious, and can be introspective.
This romantic comedy lives up to the genre with a few laugh-out-load moments. However, despite both being funny at times and bantering back and forth, their lack of communication (at times) causes a lot of unnecessary angst. Themes include family, lies, romance, and much more.
Overall, this is a cute, charming, and light romance that brightened my day.
I purchased a copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The publication date May 14, 2019.
Olive tends to leap to the worst conclusion. She stress-bakes, is a homebody, a good listener, intelligent, and has recently been laid off from her job. Ethan seems judgmental and surly, but charming at times. He’s competitive, ambitious, and can be introspective.
This romantic comedy lives up to the genre with a few laugh-out-load moments. However, despite both being funny at times and bantering back and forth, their lack of communication (at times) causes a lot of unnecessary angst. Themes include family, lies, romance, and much more.
Overall, this is a cute, charming, and light romance that brightened my day.
I purchased a copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The publication date May 14, 2019.
Amazon Customer5.0 out of 5 stars Loved every second of this book!!
This book was everything! It had my attention from beginning to end. The characters were so believable. Great banter and great story line!
Rissi3.0 out of 5 stars ‘The Unhoneymooners’ Review: A Fun Romance in Paradise
STORY | For her entire life, Olive Torres has been the “unlucky” one. The twin of a sister who’s the exact opposite, Olive is about to stand beside her sister, Ami as she says her ‘I Dos’ at a wedding made possible because Ami won it all almost entirely through contests or raffles. But things go from perfect bliss to worse when Ami, her new husband, and the *entire* wedding party and its guests become ill with food poisoning. Well, all except for two
people.
Olive is sparred, and Ethan, the best man, brother of the groom, and the one man Olive cannot tolerate. But Ami begs Olive to go on the honeymoon trip she is unable to take (because obviously, the trip is non-refundable), and just pretend to be her. Sounds doable, but Olive isn’t so keen on the idea (she cannot lie). Then Ethan is also urged to go, and he does… which in turn makes Olive change her mind. After all, she’s not about to let Ethan have all the fun!
As the first book I’ve read by the team Christina Lauren, I’ll be honest and say I didn’t really know quite what to expect. I *liked* this one, but I don’t think I can say I <em>loved </em>it. Is it fun? Absolutely. But the payoff comes a little *too* late in my book. The novel begins in a kind of only-in-the-movies (or in this case, a fictional novel) would this scenario happen and morphs into a story that tries to be one part deeper character study.
REVIEW | Like its cover art, "The Unhoneymooners" is a fun, frothy and silly little story written by the author duo that is Christina Lauren. With its summer-y vibes and a plot that sounds straight out of a laugh-out-loud romantic-comedy, this is one of those novels that is (or this is my image of the setting) perfect beach reading.
I’m all for a novel that digs into something that packs more of an emotional punch (when needed), but I’m not sure this one does it quite right. I’m glad it goes down how it does with the ultimate conclusion (because, <em>really</em>, the dude in question needed to be given the business), but it falls a little flat for me. That said, what is fun about this one *is* quite fun.
I like Olive and Ethan fine, and in fact feel like Olive is a smart, but sassy heroine unlike anyone I’ve met recently on the pages of a novel. Ethan is likable, but I cannot say I have feelings that are good or bad towards him either way. He does come full circle, which gives him a gold star, but I don’t really love how the whole we-have-to-break-up pages before the end trope goes down.
Despite what this tirade may sound like, I did enjoy "The Unhoneymooners". It takes place in a really pretty setting, and features characters we can root for (along with one or two we loathe – for good reason!), and has a conclusion I suspect any reader will feel happy with. Do I think I’ll go out and purchase all of Christina Lauren’s books? No, but I also will give another of theirs a chance. Hopefully with a story that works a little bit better.
Content note: The Unhoneymooners is secular fiction, so it’s a hard PG-13 rating. There’s sex, innuendo and other suggestive comments or descriptions. The F-word is used at least a dozen (probably more) time over the 350+ pages (both in and out of context), there’s other uses of profanity like sh*t, etc. The story deals with lying, and being unfaithful as well.
people.
Olive is sparred, and Ethan, the best man, brother of the groom, and the one man Olive cannot tolerate. But Ami begs Olive to go on the honeymoon trip she is unable to take (because obviously, the trip is non-refundable), and just pretend to be her. Sounds doable, but Olive isn’t so keen on the idea (she cannot lie). Then Ethan is also urged to go, and he does… which in turn makes Olive change her mind. After all, she’s not about to let Ethan have all the fun!
As the first book I’ve read by the team Christina Lauren, I’ll be honest and say I didn’t really know quite what to expect. I *liked* this one, but I don’t think I can say I <em>loved </em>it. Is it fun? Absolutely. But the payoff comes a little *too* late in my book. The novel begins in a kind of only-in-the-movies (or in this case, a fictional novel) would this scenario happen and morphs into a story that tries to be one part deeper character study.
REVIEW | Like its cover art, "The Unhoneymooners" is a fun, frothy and silly little story written by the author duo that is Christina Lauren. With its summer-y vibes and a plot that sounds straight out of a laugh-out-loud romantic-comedy, this is one of those novels that is (or this is my image of the setting) perfect beach reading.
I’m all for a novel that digs into something that packs more of an emotional punch (when needed), but I’m not sure this one does it quite right. I’m glad it goes down how it does with the ultimate conclusion (because, <em>really</em>, the dude in question needed to be given the business), but it falls a little flat for me. That said, what is fun about this one *is* quite fun.
I like Olive and Ethan fine, and in fact feel like Olive is a smart, but sassy heroine unlike anyone I’ve met recently on the pages of a novel. Ethan is likable, but I cannot say I have feelings that are good or bad towards him either way. He does come full circle, which gives him a gold star, but I don’t really love how the whole we-have-to-break-up pages before the end trope goes down.
Despite what this tirade may sound like, I did enjoy "The Unhoneymooners". It takes place in a really pretty setting, and features characters we can root for (along with one or two we loathe – for good reason!), and has a conclusion I suspect any reader will feel happy with. Do I think I’ll go out and purchase all of Christina Lauren’s books? No, but I also will give another of theirs a chance. Hopefully with a story that works a little bit better.
Content note: The Unhoneymooners is secular fiction, so it’s a hard PG-13 rating. There’s sex, innuendo and other suggestive comments or descriptions. The F-word is used at least a dozen (probably more) time over the 350+ pages (both in and out of context), there’s other uses of profanity like sh*t, etc. The story deals with lying, and being unfaithful as well.
Emily Emm4.0 out of 5 stars Fun & Compelling!
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren is a fun and hilarious quick summer read that will have you turning page after page to find out what happens next. From the get go, this book grabs hold of your attention and doesn't let go until the third act, where I personally felt it had some problems. Not enough to ruin the entire effect though, and of course, we get our happy ending.
Olive is the unlucky twin. Cursed, really. Ami is the one who seems to get any and everything she wants. So when Olive is (almost) the only one who doesn't get sudden and graphic food poisoning the night of Ami's wedding, and is the only one who can redeem the honeymoon to Hawaii Ami won, it seems too good to be true. And it is. The only other person at the wedding who didn't eat the tainted dinner, is the groom's brother, Ethan -- the one Olive has never gotten along with -- and he's taking his brother's spot on the honeymoon trip. They're reluctant to go together, but figure they can avoid each other and enjoy the tropics individually...that is, until they have a few run-ins with people they know and need to team up to navigate the complications.
This thing is built on tropes, folks. Enemies to lovers, misunderstandings, forced proximity, fake dating, one bed (it is the honeymoon suite after all) -- I may even be missing a few. For me, sometimes the fake dating trope can be done real badly, but I think in this book the logic tracks, despite the extremely high likelihood they wouldn't run into anyone they know there, let alone two such someones...in the same day. It may require a bit of suspension of disbelief, but if you can get there, the antics are pretty sweet.
It all works so well -- until it doesn't. When Ethan and Olive get back to real life and the unhoneymoon is over, things, of course, start to fall apart. I don't want to spoil anything, but the third act conflict rubbed me the wrong way in this one. The trust between the two characters was broken (no cheating though), and for me that's hard to recover from. However, it was one of the more fun, funny, and entertaining books I've read this summer. Compelling, too. If you're anything like me, you'll fly through it. If you're a fan of romantic comedy or just looking for a fun vacation read, this one is a great option!
Olive is the unlucky twin. Cursed, really. Ami is the one who seems to get any and everything she wants. So when Olive is (almost) the only one who doesn't get sudden and graphic food poisoning the night of Ami's wedding, and is the only one who can redeem the honeymoon to Hawaii Ami won, it seems too good to be true. And it is. The only other person at the wedding who didn't eat the tainted dinner, is the groom's brother, Ethan -- the one Olive has never gotten along with -- and he's taking his brother's spot on the honeymoon trip. They're reluctant to go together, but figure they can avoid each other and enjoy the tropics individually...that is, until they have a few run-ins with people they know and need to team up to navigate the complications.
This thing is built on tropes, folks. Enemies to lovers, misunderstandings, forced proximity, fake dating, one bed (it is the honeymoon suite after all) -- I may even be missing a few. For me, sometimes the fake dating trope can be done real badly, but I think in this book the logic tracks, despite the extremely high likelihood they wouldn't run into anyone they know there, let alone two such someones...in the same day. It may require a bit of suspension of disbelief, but if you can get there, the antics are pretty sweet.
It all works so well -- until it doesn't. When Ethan and Olive get back to real life and the unhoneymoon is over, things, of course, start to fall apart. I don't want to spoil anything, but the third act conflict rubbed me the wrong way in this one. The trust between the two characters was broken (no cheating though), and for me that's hard to recover from. However, it was one of the more fun, funny, and entertaining books I've read this summer. Compelling, too. If you're anything like me, you'll fly through it. If you're a fan of romantic comedy or just looking for a fun vacation read, this one is a great option!