The Unhoneymooners

March 15, 2019
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.

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from March 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 1, 2019
Olive Torres' string of bad luck continues when she is laid off right before her twin sister Ami's wedding, where, also unluckily, she has to squeeze herself into an unflattering, cleavage-bearing, Skittle-green bridesmaid dress and stand up next to the groom's brother, Ethan, who is her archnemesis. Things get worse when the newlyweds get food poisoning, and instead of letting the Maui honeymoon go to waste, they insist that Olive and Ethan go instead. They just have to pretend to be married. 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 as Olive and Ethan have to keep up the ruse of being married, which is further complicated by running into Ethan's ex-girlfriend, Olive's new (as in the day they left for the honeymoon new) boss, and a couple's massage. Perfect for fans of Jasmine Guillory and Sally Thorne.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)