JULY 2019 - AudioFile
Using a wry, minimally inflected tone, narrator Cynthia Farrell ensures that listeners enjoy the tongue-in-cheek humor in this romance. Amy Torres, veteran contest winner, and Dane Thomas get married, using all her prizes. But it’s a disastrous wedding—everyone except Amy’s sister, Olive, and Dane’s brother, Ethan, gets violently sick. And Olive and Ethan don’t like each other, so going on their siblings’ honeymoon proves to be a challenge. Farrell’s matter-of-fact delivery of narrative contrasts with her dialogue—she fully captures Olive’s sharp, snappy tone and Ethan’s laid-back yet snarky comebacks. Farrell emotes throughout the oil-and-water relationship, adding humor and joy to the second half of the story. Deacon Lee narrates the epilogue in a deep, velvety voice to wrap up this rom-com. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 03/25/2019
This dazzling standalone contemporary from Lauren (My Favorite Half-Night Stand) is a hilarious comedy of coincidences. Olive Torres is a notoriously unlucky woman, but her luck seems to change after her twin sister Amelia’s wedding ends with almost everyone sick from food poisoning. The only ones who dodged it are Olive and Ethan Thomas, the brother of Amelia’s new husband. Olive and Ethan can’t stand each other, and when Amelia insists that the two of them enjoy the prebooked Hawaiian honeymoon, which would be wasted on the unwell newlyweds, Olive is sure this will be the worst vacation ever. Instead, she finds herself having fun and rethinking her enmity with Ethan, who slowly reveals himself to be a genuinely decent guy. Lauren brilliantly wields familiar rom-com tropes—enemies to lovers, fake marriage, even height differences—to craft a delightful romance that will have readers hanging on every word. Agent: Holly Root, Root Literary. (May)
Entertainment Weekly
"You can never go wrong with a Christina Lauren novel... Yet again, Christina Lauren offer up a delectable, moving take on modern dating with My Favorite Half-Night Stand, reminding us all that when it comes to intoxicating, sexy, playful romance that has its finger on the pulse of contemporary love this duo always swipes right."
The New York Times Book Review
"The story skips along...propelled by rom-com momentum and charm.
Booklist
"Lauren's (after Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating, 2018) latest is a sexy, hilarious rom-com that offers a look into the bonds of a large Mexican-American family and between twin sisters as well as at whether blood is thicker than water. Readers will laugh out loud... Perfect for fans of Jasmine Guillory and Sally Thorne.
Jasmine Guillory
Praise for The Unhoneymooners
"What a joyful, warm, touching book! I laughed so hard I cried more than once, I felt the embrace of Olive’s huge, loving, complicated, hilarious family, and my heart soared at the ending. This is the book to read if you want to smile so hard your face hurts."
Shelf Awareness
Lighthearted, laugh-out-loud funny and all too accessible (as the many Torres aunts and cousins keep butting into Ami's and Olive's lives), The Unhoneymooners is delightful. Olive's initial dislike of Ethan, tempered by her slow realization of his good qualities, makes for a charming and enjoyable romance.
Helen Hoang
"Witty and downright hilarious, with just the right amount of heart, The Unhoneymooners is a perfect feel-good romantic comedy. Prepare to laugh and smile from cover to cover.
Booklist
"Lauren (Love and Other Words, 2018) has penned a hilariously zany and heartfelt novel... the story is sure to please readers looking for a fun-filled novel to escape everyday life with."
JULY 2019 - AudioFile
Using a wry, minimally inflected tone, narrator Cynthia Farrell ensures that listeners enjoy the tongue-in-cheek humor in this romance. Amy Torres, veteran contest winner, and Dane Thomas get married, using all her prizes. But it’s a disastrous wedding—everyone except Amy’s sister, Olive, and Dane’s brother, Ethan, gets violently sick. And Olive and Ethan don’t like each other, so going on their siblings’ honeymoon proves to be a challenge. Farrell’s matter-of-fact delivery of narrative contrasts with her dialogue—she fully captures Olive’s sharp, snappy tone and Ethan’s laid-back yet snarky comebacks. Farrell emotes throughout the oil-and-water relationship, adding humor and joy to the second half of the story. Deacon Lee narrates the epilogue in a deep, velvety voice to wrap up this rom-com. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2019-03-03
An unlucky woman finally gets lucky in love on an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii.
From getting her hand stuck in a claw machine at age 6 to losing her job, Olive Torres has never felt that luck was on her side. But her fortune changes when she scores a free vacation after her identical twin sister and new brother-in-law get food poisoning at their wedding buffet and are too sick to go on their honeymoon. The only catch is that she'll have to share the honeymoon suite with her least favorite person—Ethan Thomas, the brother of the groom. To make matters worse, Olive's new boss and Ethan's ex-girlfriend show up in Hawaii, forcing them both to pretend to be newlyweds so they don't blow their cover, as their all-inclusive vacation package is nontransferable and in her sister's name. Plus, Ethan really wants to save face in front of his ex. The story is told almost exclusively from Olive's point of view, filtering all communication through her cynical lens until Ethan can win her over (and finally have his say in the epilogue). To get to the happily-ever-after, Ethan doesn't have to prove to Olive that he can be a better man, only that he was never the jerk she thought he was—for instance, when she thought he was judging her for eating cheese curds, maybe he was actually thinking of asking her out. Blending witty banter with healthy adult communication, the fake newlyweds have real chemistry as they talk it out over snorkeling trips, couples massages, and a few too many tropical drinks to get to the truth—that they're crazy about each other.
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable as well as free.
