The Unhoneymooners

What makes it funny?

Olive reads a look at her eating cheese curds as evidence that Ethan is judging her. Her certainty makes the misunderstanding funny: she has built an entire hostile interpretation around a moment that could have been the start of a romance.

The comedy at work

The pretend marriage keeps putting two antagonists into situations designed for intimacy: a shared suite, couples massages and romantic excursions. Encounters with Olive’s future boss and Ethan’s ex make their public performance harder to drop. Olive’s cynical narration and their quick exchanges keep exposing the distance between her expectations and their chemistry.

Try this if…

For romance readers who enjoy enemies becoming lovers, a fake relationship and plenty of verbal friction. The Hawaiian setting supplies the holiday pleasures, while much of the character work comes from watching Olive reconsider what she thinks she knows about Ethan.

Good to know

The authors list this as a standalone romance. It is told almost entirely through Olive’s perspective, with Ethan getting his own say in the epilogue.