Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren Narrator: Cynthia Farrell, Deacon Lee
Series: Unhoneymooners #1
Published by Simon & Schuster Audio on May 14, 2019
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 432
Length: 9 hours, 7 minutes
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
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Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Amy, 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.
With Christina Lauren’s “uniquely hilarious and touching voice” (Entertainment Weekly), The Unhoneymooners is a fun and charming romance that is perfect for anyone who has ever felt unlucky in love.
Anne: Robin and I are both big fans of Christina Lauren, so we both wanted to read this one. Robin read the eARC and I listened to the audiobook.
So this is going to be a weird review. It’s possibly because I am traveling but also sometimes the more you love a book, the harder it is to write a review and I loved this. Did you enjoy it?
Robin:Â Â I liked a lot of things about it, for sure. I really liked the differences between the twins and how Ami was so good at getting things for free and did her entire wedding that way,
Anne: Yes! I loved also even though the twins were different, they supported each other. I was also cracking up with some of the dialogue. The way Ethan and Olive talked to each other was hilarious.
Robin: The way they called each other the wrong names all the time just to get under the other’s skin was pretty cute. All the accidental naked time was a great icebreaker between the two of them. Running into future bosses and exes put the fakemoon on display. They were funny and it made for some good negotiations for who got to sleep in the bed. Also drunk Ethan is hilarious and finally unguarded enough to be really real with her. Ethan is great as a love interest.
Anne: Other than the dialogue, I felt like everything was from Olive’s point of view. Ethan was somewhat hidden a lot of the time.
Robin:Â Â True. I would have liked a glimpse inside his head, especially after they got back from the honeymoon. But everything being from Olive’s perspective made the angst a little easier to generate.
Anne:Â Yes, the overall story was unrealistic in some things but it worked for me emotionally. Part of that depended on Olive’s unusual view of some situations which was not always quite right. Her misconceptions allowed for some true personal growth which always improves a story. All the quirky things which happened were ridiculous, but it set up a chance for Ethan and Olive to actually talk and spend time together.
Robin:  I did like how Olive’s pessimism and self doubt was finally addressed by the end. Sometimes you just need to take a minute and figure out where you want to go next. It is a big decision not to be entered into on a whim. Sure the one job seemed great, but she wouldn’t have been happy long term. I really liked how her family helped her find something to do for $ while she just figured out what kind of job would suit her in the long run. I liked the crazy big, all in your business, family; they really were great. (Her mom and dad’s relationship OMG, no wonder she struggles).
Anne:Â Â Ethan also he had a bit to learn with trust issues and actually listening. Both required for a real relationship. His brother really had him fooled.
Robin:Â Dean was such an ass. Really who hits on his twin’s sister? That seemed a little OTT, but I really liked learning on the honeymoon about the other crap he pulled pre-marriage. It made sense as to why he tried to keep Ethan and Olive so separated.
 Anne: So it seems like the reading wasn’t quite as much fun as listening. I was laughing out loud and my daughter was glaring at me in the car. (earbuds) And I actually got teary eyed in the end. I gave this 4.5 hearts.
Robin: I think audio performance could totally make this book even better. The reading was good but sometimes for humor, the listening is better. Reading, I gave it 3.5 hearts.
Narration:
Sometimes the vocals are so well suited or the story is so compelling, I don’t notice much about the narration. While it makes writing a review difficult, it is actually great. When I notice, it means something was off or pulled me out of the world, so this is a good thing. I loved the setting in the Twin Cities but Edina and Menards were not pronounced correctly. The timing and banter was very well done. The emotional timbre felt authentic. I was able to listen at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip:Â
About Christina Lauren
Yes, there are two of us! Lauren (on the left) and Christina (on the right).
Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners/besties/soulmates Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The #1 international bestselling coauthor duo writes both Young Adult and Adult Fiction, and together has produced fourteen New York Times bestselling novels. They are published in over 30 languages, have received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal and Publishers Weekly, won both the Seal of Excellence and Book of the Year from RT Magazine, named Amazon and Audible Romance of the Year, and been nominated for several Goodreads Choice Awards. They have been featured in publications such as Forbes, The Washington Post, Time, Entertainment Weekly, People, O Magazine and more. Their third YA novel, Autoboyography was released in September, followed by a contemporary romance, Roomies in December, and their first Women’s Fiction, Love and Other Words in April.
Lauren Billings (but everyone calls her Lo) has a Ph.D. in neuroscience and before she made writing her full-time job, would spend her days doing nerdy research-type things wearing a lab coat and goggles. She is silly Mommy to two littles, wife to one mountain biking homebrewing scientist, and an unabashed lover of YA and romance.
Christina Hobbs (but you’ll always hear Lo call her PQ) used to spend her days in a junior high counseling office surrounded by teenagers. These days you can find her at her desk, writing or watching BTS videos. She grew up in Utah and is absolutely not old enough to be the mom of a 17 year old (right??), thinks she’s the luckiest person in the world to write books with her best friend, and is an unapologetic lover of boy bands and glitter.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2019 Audiobooks
- 2019 Releases
I totally enjoyed this one and it’s great to hear that the audio version is every bit as enjoyable as the book. The banter between Olive and Ethan was hilarious – and I liked the changes in Olive by the end. Side note: I so agree with what you said about the more you love a book the harder it is to review. I feel the same way!
Thank you! While some things were over the top, I just enjoyed this so much.
I know the audio makes a difference with CL books as they do a great job with narrator selection. Excellent review, ladies? I enjoyed it on audio, too.
Thank you! I did forget to say I enjoyed the Twin Cities setting for a bit of the story and the narrator didn’t know how to pronounce Edina or Menards. But I don’t really care.
I’ve read a few of their books now and I think they are great at picked narrators that do their humor justice. I might have given it another star had I listened to it.
Oh fun review! I have a fun time with this one!
Me too. I was laughing my head off.
It was a fun read. I read it so fast!
unhoneymooners…couldn’t help but smile at that title making me think this could be a fun one
Enemies to lovers. So funny.
I haven’t read it yet but everyone seems to be liking this one. Thanks for the fun review.
You are more than welcome. It is a great book.
Fun dual review, Anne and Robin! Looks like a fun one in ways, but gets a bit serious when they get back to their lives. Interesting how the audio made a big difference, too.
Yes we are both big fans of audio also.
Definitely some cute moments throughout though.
I keep coming across such praise for this one. Sounds like a fun one for me and I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
It was just hilarious, great fun. I’m sold on this author!
I’ve listened to a few of their books, so I can only imagine how much the narration added to your enjoyment! Great team review 🙂
Thanks. It’s fun to do these joint reviews to get the slight variations in perspective.
One of these days I will read a Christina Lauren book. Everyone LOVES them. This one especially intrigues me—I think I’ll need to try and get the audio for it.
There are many really good Christina Lauren books The characters are so real emotionally. I hope you get to one sometime and I do recommend audio.
Great review, ladies. I started the audiobook for this one and ended up DNFing. I just couldn’t get past their constant bickering to get to the good parts that I knew would come eventually. I think I would have preferred this one in print format. I think I would have “tuned out” their bickering. Thanks!
Interesting. I think the bickering was mostly hilarious and not mean. I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it but it happens. There are definitely books everyone loves that I have DNF.