Books Like The Unhoneymooners

More fake honeymoons and real sparks, with a few weddings that should have been called off.

Olive and Ethan get a free trip to Maui because food poisoning takes out most of her sister’s wedding party. All they have to do is pass for newlyweds, which sounds manageable until Olive runs into her future boss. This is a woman who already suspects Ethan of judging the way she eats cheese curds.

If you liked watching those two try to act married in front of witnesses, start with the island weddings. If the arguments were your favorite part, there’s a couple here trying to make each other eat the cancellation bill.

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01
The Paradise Problem
by Christina Lauren
Stay with Christina Lauren for the closest match. Anna Green thought her student marriage was over until Liam Weston showed up needing her to play his wife at a family wedding. His inheritance depends on five years of happy marriage. Anna needs the money, and she starts by answering his solemn explanation in a mock-aristocratic voice.
The island belongs to the family, so there’s a lot more riding on the act than a prepaid trip. Expect explicit sex and plenty of swearing.
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02
Bridesmaid for Hire
by Meghan Quinn
Maggie goes to Bora Bora to get away from weddings. She takes one on anyway and agrees to pose as the girlfriend of Brody, her brother’s best friend, so he can impress his boss. They can barely stand each other and have to share her bungalow. Pick this one for the vacation squabbling, with more explicit sex and a bout of seasickness.
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03
Funny Story
by Emily Henry
Daphne’s fiancé leaves her for Petra. Petra’s ex Miles becomes Daphne’s roommate, and the two decide to give their exes something to talk about by pretending to date. The breakup still hurts here. Miles keeps replaying a miserable scene from Bridget Jones’s Diary.
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04
Boyfriend Material
by Alexis Hall
A fake boyfriend might help Luc keep his job at a charity. Oliver, a barrister with excellent manners, needs a date for a family party. Their first public test is a formal work lunch, exactly the sort of occasion when Luc would like to be able to stop thinking about how he’s coming across.
Go here for dry jokes and a romance that takes its time with trust. The book also deals with homophobia and emotionally abusive parents.
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05
A Not So Meet Cute
by Meghan Quinn
Huxley tells a prospective client he’s engaged and has to come up with a fiancée. Lottie has just lost her job and is looking for a rich husband in Beverly Hills. They strike a deal, and she moves into his mansion. Expect plenty of sex and swearing, and skip it if you dislike a hero who pressures the woman into the arrangement.
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06
Love Your Life
by Sophie Kinsella
At an Italian writing retreat, Ava falls for a man she knows only as Dutch. Back in London he’s Matt, and the holiday romance has to survive the temperature of his bedroom and his feelings about Harold, her beagle.
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07
You Deserve Each Other
by Sarah Hogle
Whoever calls off Naomi and Nicholas’s wedding has to pay for it. Each tries to make the other give in first. Naomi is already practiced at keeping up appearances. She pays a mechanic in cash so Nicholas will think she does her own car maintenance. When a tire goes flat, she’d sooner walk to work than let him find out.
Read this for the sparring if you can sit with a couple who know how to hurt each other’s feelings. They take a while to get kind again.
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08
Dial A for Aunties
by Jesse Q. Sutanto
The wildcard comes with a body in a cake cooler. Meddy accidentally kills a man who tries to assault her on a blind date. Her mother and aunties help hide him, and the cooler goes with them to the lavish wedding they’re working. Meddy’s old college boyfriend is there too, if she can find a minute to talk to him.
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09
Happily Never After
by Lynn Painter
Sophie hires Max to object at her wedding, then asks to join him on other jobs. When he comes to collect his fee, she’s on the balcony throwing snack cakes at a Volvo.
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10
Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating
by Christina Lauren
Try this when you’ve had enough of people being mean to each other. Josh and Hazel set each other up on blind double dates and keep finding more reasons to spend time together after the dates go badly. Hazel is also the sort of person who keeps vases in her oven to protect them from her parrot.
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