The Unhoneymooners

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.

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