Reviews

The Honeymoon Mix-up by Frankie Fyre

whitmayo's review

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

lisacanteven's review

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I wanted to love this, and I did think the story was very fun. It takes place at a sapphic island resort. What more could lesbians ask for? I think what we were missing was cohesive writing. This book felt like it was missing some major organization. The entire time I felt like I was missing a lot of information. I'm not even sure I ever got all the information. There were a lot of unnecessary characters than just muddled everything. 
But the main characters, Basil and Caroline, were just wonderful. I loved them so much that it was worth the confusion to read and finish their story. Plus the setting was just fun. I love resort romances. 
If you read this book, be prepared to suspend your disbelief because nothing would happen in this book in real life. That's just not how the world works, but for a cute love story I'm willing to suspend my disbelief a little bit. Now that it is over, I am questioning those plot holes. It's such a short story, that I think I can move on tho. 

lezreadalot's review

2.0

My toxic trait as a fake relationship enjoyer is the fact that if the basic premise, the reason why the couple needs to pretend to be fake dating/engaged/married doesn't make sense, then I won't be able to stop thinking about it. And in bad cases, it can really ruin the experience for me. And alas, that was me with this book. The nonsense reasons behind them pretending to be married weren't the only things that proved a barrier to enjoyment, but it was a big part. Seriously, I read the line about the resort kicking you off the island if they find out you're single (and they won't make you pay the full price, so they're losing money) and my stupid brain just snagged on that and didn't let go. It's so silly as a business model! Caroline's PI job and the details of it were annoyingly nebulous, so much so that it was obvious what it was going to be. So many details were skimmed over, like both their past relationships that had affected them so much. They have to share a room but we don't even get the first few nights of that, just a bunch of hard cuts to the next day. And I just really wasn't feeling the chemistry. Their 'banter' felt more like bickering and I wasn't endeared. This needed to be longer, because we got so little depth to these characters.

I'll stop here before this review just descends into a list of nit-picks. Needless to say, I didn't enjoy this as much as I wanted to, or as much as I've enjoyed the author's previous shorts/novellas. I'm kinda kicking myself for finishing it in the first place, but I always live in hope, and this did have its moments where I thought I would really start enjoying it. Alas, I didn't. I will say, this has great reviews from other readers, so if you're interested, please do give it a go. <3 

robinthealien's review

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

sydboyne's review

lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

bransation's review

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

khesi's review

adventurous hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

emmieince's review

emotional lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

thecooktravels's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

jackelz's review

“Love isn’t found, because it exists in everything. We just need to realize that it’s been inside of us all along.”

Basil Jones is left at the alter, but she still goes on her honeymoon. Caroline King is a private investigator, and she’s been hired to tail Basil. Sapphire Isle is a fictional island in Thailand, and they vacationing at a “couples only” sapphic resort. Basil needs a wife in order to be able to stay, and Caroline needs a room. 

✨Tropes:

forbidden romance

fake marriage 

forced proximity 

interracial romance 

I loved how queer this was. Basil was working on getting a wine deal with the resort owners, Lynn and Mae, and they were just the cutest couple. The resort did Sapphic Olympics and it sounded so fun. 

My main complaint is that the conflict resolution felt really rushed, and I didn’t completely understand why Caroline was hired in the first place. The epilogue, however, was really sweet.