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koistyfishy's review
funny
hopeful
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
3.0
3 Waiter Stars ⭐️
Spicy Level: 🌶️.5/5
I mean, this was a cute little listen. It had been a hot minute since I read "The Unhoneymooners" - like YEARS - so I couldn't remember much about the story except that Ami's sister went on Ami's honeymoon with the best man from Ami's wedding and fell in love.
So I was NOT EXPECTING that Ami to get divorced from her serial cheater husband and had a new little love story.
Ami is very perfectionistic; some would even say anal-retentive. She has a plan and a checklist, and her checklist has bullet points, subpoints, and prerequisites. She battles to let go, so when she decided to plan her sister's destination wedding in Maui in a few days, she knew making it perfect would be impossible, but damn her if she didn't try.
In steps Brody - the best man and local chilled happy-go-lucky surfer bro. He's been asked to help Ami plan the wedding and eventually and reluctantly Ami agrees.
What she doesn't expect is that Brody is a literal spanner into her carefully orchestrated plan, but instead of breaking the system down, she finds that his methods are effective, work, and are actually fun.
The main issue I had with this is I loved what the characters were saying, but I didn't feel the full connection. It was this weird feeling; the characters should be having AMAZING chemistry, and if I had been physically reading this in my mind, my mind voice would have been swooning at how perfect Brody and Ami were for each other. Now, nothing against the narrators because they are both excellent in their own right - something just felt lacking for me.
I think what that was is that some chapters had a FULL CAST and some were Ami/Brody narrating everything and doing voices for their counterparts - typically this is fine in dual narration books when that is how the ENTIRE BOOK IS - not when some chapters are fully narrated...I think this is why I couldn't find who vocally Ami and Brody were.
Trope Summary:
▶ Maid of Honour X Best Man
▶ Cinnamon Roll MMC
▶ Destination Setting
▶ Strangers to Lovers
▶ Banter
▶ Forced Proximity
Overall, a great little sweet listen and passes the time nicely while you are doing your own thing when you're listening to a book.
Spicy Level: 🌶️.5/5
I mean, this was a cute little listen. It had been a hot minute since I read "The Unhoneymooners" - like YEARS - so I couldn't remember much about the story except that Ami's sister went on Ami's honeymoon with the best man from Ami's wedding and fell in love.
So I was NOT EXPECTING that Ami to get divorced from her serial cheater husband and had a new little love story.
Ami is very perfectionistic; some would even say anal-retentive. She has a plan and a checklist, and her checklist has bullet points, subpoints, and prerequisites. She battles to let go, so when she decided to plan her sister's destination wedding in Maui in a few days, she knew making it perfect would be impossible, but damn her if she didn't try.
In steps Brody - the best man and local chilled happy-go-lucky surfer bro. He's been asked to help Ami plan the wedding and eventually and reluctantly Ami agrees.
What she doesn't expect is that Brody is a literal spanner into her carefully orchestrated plan, but instead of breaking the system down, she finds that his methods are effective, work, and are actually fun.
The main issue I had with this is I loved what the characters were saying, but I didn't feel the full connection. It was this weird feeling; the characters should be having AMAZING chemistry, and if I had been physically reading this in my mind, my mind voice would have been swooning at how perfect Brody and Ami were for each other. Now, nothing against the narrators because they are both excellent in their own right - something just felt lacking for me.
I think what that was is that some chapters had a FULL CAST and some were Ami/Brody narrating everything and doing voices for their counterparts - typically this is fine in dual narration books when that is how the ENTIRE BOOK IS - not when some chapters are fully narrated...I think this is why I couldn't find who vocally Ami and Brody were.
Trope Summary:
▶ Maid of Honour X Best Man
▶ Cinnamon Roll MMC
▶ Destination Setting
▶ Strangers to Lovers
▶ Banter
▶ Forced Proximity
Overall, a great little sweet listen and passes the time nicely while you are doing your own thing when you're listening to a book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Cursing and Sexual content
Minor: Grief and Death
larissakoch's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Sexual content
breathehopebooks's review
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Delightful! So fun, and the performances were so swoony.
My ONLY issue is that you can’t have the male lead look like a surfer bro with flowing blond hair and blue eyes and then cast HARRY SHUM JR to play him. Harry Shum Jr is wonderful—I’m a big fan, so his voice is easily recognizable—and i think it’s perfectly reasonable to imagine him as Brody. 4.75
My ONLY issue is that you can’t have the male lead look like a surfer bro with flowing blond hair and blue eyes and then cast HARRY SHUM JR to play him. Harry Shum Jr is wonderful—I’m a big fan, so his voice is easily recognizable—and i think it’s perfectly reasonable to imagine him as Brody. 4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Cursing, and Infidelity
Minor: Gaslighting, Medical trauma, and Medical content
kelly_e's review
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Title: The Honeymoon Crashers
Author: Christina Lauren
Series: Unhoneymooners #1.5
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.00
Pub Date: August 1, 2023
T H R E E • W O R D S
Short • Cheesy • Fun
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Ami is determined to break the Torres family wedding curse. Her own disaster of a reception ended with all the guests getting food poisoning, and she left her cheating husband soon after. But even though she’s still processing her own divorce, Ami won’t let her twin sister Olive’s day be anything but perfect. Olive may think she wants a private ceremony in Maui, where she and her fiancé Ethan first fell in love, but Ami knows better and secretly flies the whole Torres family out to surprise the couple. Now she and her meticulously organized binder have less than two weeks to get everything together for the big day, thousands of miles from home.
Enter Brody, Ethan’s best man, who happens to be living in Maui and insists on helping with the preparations. His playfully elaborate schemes and happy-go-lucky attitude are the last thing Ami needs. When sparks start to fly, could it derail all her carefully laid plans?
💭 T H O U G H T S
Having adored the The Unhoneymooners, and even though I'd sworn off this writing duo after a few duds, I decided I needed to come back for this audio only novella. When I found myself in need to a quick, upbeat listen during the holidays The Honeymoon Crashers fit the bill.
I'll start out by saying the audio production was fantastic! With a full cast (although a few weird cases where it wasn't) and extra sound effects it was an entirely immersive listen. It really brought each of the characters to life and transported me to Hawaii in my mind.
As for the story, it was less than fantastic. Sure, there were plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and great vacation vibes, but I really don't think this story was necessary, especially having enjoyed The Unhoneymooners so much. It left me with a bit of an unsatisfied feeling.
I can definitely understand why so many Christina Lauren fans would be satisfied with The Honeymoon Crashers. However, it reminded me as to why I originally stopped reading this author duo. If you're looking for a quick, lighthearted listen than sure give it a try.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• wedding lovers
• fans of Christina Laruen
Author: Christina Lauren
Series: Unhoneymooners #1.5
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.00
Pub Date: August 1, 2023
T H R E E • W O R D S
Short • Cheesy • Fun
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Ami is determined to break the Torres family wedding curse. Her own disaster of a reception ended with all the guests getting food poisoning, and she left her cheating husband soon after. But even though she’s still processing her own divorce, Ami won’t let her twin sister Olive’s day be anything but perfect. Olive may think she wants a private ceremony in Maui, where she and her fiancé Ethan first fell in love, but Ami knows better and secretly flies the whole Torres family out to surprise the couple. Now she and her meticulously organized binder have less than two weeks to get everything together for the big day, thousands of miles from home.
Enter Brody, Ethan’s best man, who happens to be living in Maui and insists on helping with the preparations. His playfully elaborate schemes and happy-go-lucky attitude are the last thing Ami needs. When sparks start to fly, could it derail all her carefully laid plans?
💭 T H O U G H T S
Having adored the The Unhoneymooners, and even though I'd sworn off this writing duo after a few duds, I decided I needed to come back for this audio only novella. When I found myself in need to a quick, upbeat listen during the holidays The Honeymoon Crashers fit the bill.
I'll start out by saying the audio production was fantastic! With a full cast (although a few weird cases where it wasn't) and extra sound effects it was an entirely immersive listen. It really brought each of the characters to life and transported me to Hawaii in my mind.
As for the story, it was less than fantastic. Sure, there were plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and great vacation vibes, but I really don't think this story was necessary, especially having enjoyed The Unhoneymooners so much. It left me with a bit of an unsatisfied feeling.
I can definitely understand why so many Christina Lauren fans would be satisfied with The Honeymoon Crashers. However, it reminded me as to why I originally stopped reading this author duo. If you're looking for a quick, lighthearted listen than sure give it a try.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• wedding lovers
• fans of Christina Laruen
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Medical content, Medical trauma, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Death and Grief
keppers_jax's review
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Cursing
readingwithmeredith's review
emotional
lighthearted
fast-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? Yes
3.5
Reads like a novella/short romance. Fast paced but not a lot of depth because of how short it is. Unique that it was an audio only book- I liked the shifts made due to it being that way (sound effects, full cast, removal of “he said/she said”). Cute but not something that will stick with me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content and Cursing
Minor: Medical content and Medical trauma
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