Title: I Owe You One

Author: Sophia Kinsella

Genre: Women’s Fiction

Publisher: Dial Press

Release Date: Feb 05, 2019

Synopsis: Fixie Farr has always lived by her father’s motto: “Family first.” And since her dad passed away, leaving his charming housewares store in the hands of his wife and children, Fixie spends all her time picking up the slack from her siblings instead of striking out on her own. The way Fixie sees it, if she doesn’t take care of her father’s legacy, who will?

It’s simply not in Fixie’s nature to say no to people. So when a handsome stranger in a coffee shop asks her to watch his laptop for a moment, she not only agrees—she ends up saving it from certain disaster. To thank Fixie for her quick thinking, the computer’s owner, Sebastian, an investment manager, scribbles an IOU on a coffee sleeve and attaches his business card. Fixie laughs it off—she’d never actually claim an IOU from a stranger. Would she?

But then Fixie’s childhood crush, Ryan, comes back into her life, and his lack of a profession pushes all of Fixie’s buttons. As always, she wants nothing for herself—but she’d love Seb to give Ryan a job. No sooner has Seb agreed than the tables are turned once more and a new series of IOUs between Seb and Fixie—from small favors to life-changing moments—ensues. Soon Fixie, Ms. Fixit for everyone else, is torn between her family and the life she really wants. Does she have the courage to take a stand? Will she finally grab the life, and love, she really wants?

Fixie has always been the fixer in her family- hence the nickname, Fixie. When her lifetime crush comes back into her life, Fixie is drawn immediately right back into his arms. Jobless, homeless, and hopeless, Ryan is the ultimate fixer upper and Fixie can’t help but try to work her magic on him. When a chance encounter with a big-shot business investor, Seb, lands her an IOU, Fixie takes it upon herself to see if that IOU would extend as far as a job for Ryan. When Seb agrees to hire Ryan, Fixie gives him an IOU for the huge favor he did her, and so ensues the ever-growing chemistry and IOU’s between the two.

“I just can’t help fixing things. It’s my flaw. It’s who I am.”

I really wanted to love this book as a whole but sadly I only really enjoyed bits and pieces. Fixie was annoying as a main character in general. And her family is atrocious! Luckily, we did get to see some exceptional growth in all the characters but unfortunately, it did not come until the very end of the book. In the meantime I had to endure the repetitive inner monologue of Fixie, constantly(CONSTANTLY) letting everyone walk all over and put her down. Like come on Fixie, I know they’re family but that doesn’t give them the right to treat you like poo!

“Family is it, Fixie. Family is what drive us. Family is everything. Family loyalty is basically our religion.”

Argh. Luckily, we got the bit of romance with the handsome Seb. The romance with Ryan, thankfully, is brief as he is also garbage. Seb and Fixie had fun banter and chemistry and I liked their relationship. He helped her learn she could stand on her own and that her opinions mattered. Yay Seb! Their back and forth IOU’s were fun and I loved the ending!

So with that, I give this a 3 out of 5 stars.

*I received this book for free from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Title: The Unhoneymooners

Author: Christina Lauren

Genre: Romance

Release Date: May 14th, 2019

Synopsis: “Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Ami, on the other hand, is probably the luckiest person in the world. Her meet-cute with her fiancé is something out of a romantic comedy (gag) and she’s managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a series of Internet contests (double gag). Worst of all, she’s forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man.

Olive braces herself to get through 24 hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from eating bad shellfish, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And now there’s an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs.

Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him is suddenly at risk to become a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and her luck seems worse than ever. But the weird thing is that she doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of… lucky.”

Where my enemies-turned-lovers/ fake dating trope fans at??!! This one’s for you!

When unlucky Olive and her sworn nemesis Ethan somehow end up as the only individuals not affected in a shellfish poisoning at Olives twin sisters wedding, Olive thinks perhaps her luck might be changing.

“My poor sister has turned into a swamp creature; I’ve never seen anyone this shade of gray before.”

But then her twin offers up the honeymoon that she won. Sounds pretty great until Olive finds out the only way she can go on said honeymoon is with the man she absolutely hates, Ethan, the brother of the man Ami married, and the man Olive has never gotten along with since a cheese-curd moments years before. But how can she pass up on this free vacation to Maui? Especially since she is now jobless and has had rotten luck her whole life. Despite who her travel partner will be, Olive decides to take her sister up on the honeymoon with the plan that since Maui is a big island they can just stick to themselves and enjoy the vacation in their own separate ways, right? Wrong! Anything, that can go wrong goes wrong and cue the hilariousness.

“That’s the whole point of luck isn’t it?” He says through gritted teeth.

“You have to trust that it’s not fleeting.”

The Unhoneymooners was a quirky, sweet, laugh out loud romance that had me cackling while reading. You’ve got the hilarious banter between Ethan and Olive, undeniable sparks between the two main protagonists, feel-good heartfelt moments, and even some wonderful character growth. I fully enjoyed this novel! I’d say my only complaint would be the pace of the story being a bit out of wack(slow, fast, slow, etc) Christina Lauren are a dynamic duo who never fail to make me fully invested in what I’m reading. I can’t wait to read what they come up with next.

*I received this book for free from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*