By Christina Lauren
Release Date: May 14, 2019
Ebook available from WV Reads!
3
stars - This romantic comedy was warm and light, a great summer read.
While I felt some details were too heavy and the pace sluggish at times,
I enjoyed the playful banter, exotic setting, and adventurous atmosphere
beginning to end. Olive's a sarcastic but endearing heroine whose point
of view makes for a fun ride.
While
I devoured Christina Lauren's books for awhile, I had drifted away
since her EBooks became priced higher than the page count seemed worth.
That would have been a few years ago. However, this writing duo is
always modern, witty, and unafraid to spice things up. I love
first-person narrative, but I would have enjoyed Ethan's point-of-view
along with Olive's. Olive's mind is a funny place to be though, just
enough humor to make me smile but not to the point of being grating. I
think some authors overdo in the jokes in a character's head. We can't
all be that funny all the time. Olive is reasonable in this regard, if
maybe a tad dramatic. Ethan comes off as mysterious at first, an
intriguing unknown with a plenty of wit and personality, maybe a slight
ego problem. These two get to know each other as they are stuck together
in Hawaii.
Every
story gets to have one really big coincidence, but I was not buying
that Olive happened to be unemployed at the time of the wedding. Then
she was offered a job while on the plane and runs into her new boss.
What new boss insists on dinner with newlyweds he doesn't know while on
vacation? A drink maybe. There were some more plausible reasons to fake
being a couple at a resort that have been used before. But, I digress. I
also wasn't a fan of the sometimes over-exaggerated details of it being
post-Christmas, the longest and strongest bout of food poisoning ever,
the Latino family, and some of Olive's self-esteem issues (the cheese
curds). Sometimes they just felt so extra. However, these issues were on
the fringes of the story not overpowering for me. Most people will find
Olive quirky and hilarious. There's nothing too fake about her as she's
almost unfailingly real and honest. She will remind you of yourself, your
best friend, or your daughter probably. There will be a lot to like
here for those who enjoy Janet Evanovich, Karina Halle, or Meg Cabot.
(ns)
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