The Unhoneymooners

Review updated: November 18, 2022

I must confess that RomComs are a bit hit or miss for me. I'm not one for books with swooning women on the cover being saved by a scantily clad/pectorally blessed, hulking Fabio-esque man. Just not my thang.

BUT ... there are some fan-friggin-tastic RomComs out there that blend strong characters, wicked-good banter and sassy sexual tension. The romance trifecta, if you will. 

The Unhoneymooners is that kind of book. 

In fact, I've read it twice and listened to the audiobook twice. It .. is .. that .. good and has become one of my comfort reads when I get into a reading slump. I devour this story that gives off The Proposal movie vibes (you know, the movie with my imaginary boyfriend Ryan Reynolds) with its opposites attract trope set in an away-from-home setting. The story has humour that made me giggle (in public spaces!), a couple I rooted for and I enjoyed the focus on family and some deeper elements in the last half of the book. 

This is how a RomCom is supposed to be done. Charming and funny with some spice, this is my favourite book by the writing duo known as Christina Lauren. 

Have you read it/listened to it yet?

My Rating 5 stars

Author: Christina Lauren

Genre: Romance

First Published: May 14, 2019

1) Type and source: Paperback - public library

Pages: 400

Publisher: Gallery Books

2) Type and Source: digital audiobook - Audible.ca

Run Time: 9 hours

Narrators: Cynthia Farrell, Deacon Lee

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Book Description from GoodReads: 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.