I've hit a lucky streak when it comes to Romcoms lately, and Revenge Honeymoon has just kept things rolling!
Book Details:
Revenge Honeymoon by K.J. Gillenwater Publication date: October 30th 2022 Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance
Synopsis: What happens in the Caribbean, stays in the Caribbean... Emily Small has a big heart, a loud mouth, and a terrible taste in men. She’s used to living in her perfect best friend Ruby’s shadow – but when Ruby is left devastated at the altar, Emily becomes desperate to save her friend from heartache... and salvage their non-refundable cruise!
Emily hatches an ingenious plan to soothe Ruby’s broken heart by island-hopping together as an act of revenge. There’s only one teensy problem: the cruise is for newlyweds only. Naturally, they have a solution. They’ll pretend to be a married couple!
But their ten days of fun are about to spiral into a crazy, messy adventure that risks leaving a few hearts broken along the way – because when Emily bumps into the ship’s hot photographer, Max Keeling, she begins to wish she could rethink their arrangement. If her deception gets discovered, would they boot her off the boat? But Emily can’t keep her hands to herself, and her cruise fling could bring everything crashing down.
How can she support her best friend at the worst moment in her life while pursuing an out-of-her-league guy in the Caribbean? And can she somehow find a way to have the best of both worlds?
As a hilarious, sexy, and heartwarming read that strikes the perfect balance between feel-good emotions and laugh-out-loud humor, Revenge Honeymoon is a fun and memorable romantic comedy that you won’t be able to put down. Note: This book was originally released on Kindle Vella in serialized format. This version has been edited with an additional epilogue added.
My thoughts:
I feel like there is one phrase that really sums this book up and that is: "perfect balance". The characters are the perfect amount of quirky, funny and silly without being awkward. The romance has the perfect amount of build up, sexiness and cuteness without being too steamy. It was a great length, a quick and light read, and was well written. So if you're looking for the perfect romcom, I think this is the book for you!
Over the course of the story we see Emily, the main character, come out of her shell. Gillenwater clearly put a lot of effort into character development, and Emily's story arc shows the greatest depth and transformation. While she was the quirky, self-conscious, sidekick-like-main-character, readers see her blossom as she finally stops worrying about how she thinks everyone else sees her and begins to develop some self-love.
I loved this quote, it was in chapter 1 I believe, and occurs when Emily, is considering her friendship with her best friend Ruby. Emily's character has low self-esteem and while the author does include some self-deprecating humour, it is usually very tasteful and in a similar style as this. Emily is quite hard on herself, especially when she predicts what she assumes others are thinking about her, and focuses in on her mistakes. Throughout the novel many of the characters demonstrate similar doubts about themselves, normalizing the anxieties Emily feels.
My favourite chapter was called "The Chapter Everyone Wants" and was the only chapter with a true sex scene, but it wasn't the actual steaminess that made me love it. First, I loved the title because it was so self aware and funny, but it also showed the build up of the story. Of course romance novels tend to have some intimate encounters, which is probably part of why most people choose to read them and thus it is likely this chapter was exactly what many readers really were waiting for. That being said, I think that this chapter really was what all readers were waiting for, because it was the exact moment that everyone was rooting for these characters to have! Max and Emily are such lovable and endearing characters with self-doubts that could so easily get in the way of them finding their happiness, and so Gillenwater has readers eating out of the palm of her hand, desperate for find out what happens. This chapter demonstrates how well written this book was as a whole because of how it drew the reader in and showed the growth both main characters made and the potential they still had for future growth.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it. It would be a perfect beach or travel read, especially because the setting is a honeymoon cruise! It also has short enough chapters and is a fairly light and easy read, making it perfect for some light reading on the beach or to kill time on a long flight as you head to your own sunny destination. Thanks to much to NetGalley and Xpresso tours for giving me the chance to read this fabulous book and take part in the book blitz tour this week!
Here's the truly exciting part... Check out this awesome #giveaway
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62235921-revenge-honeymoon
Purchase:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3FfaF5f
AUTHOR BIO:
K. J. Gillenwater has a B.A. in English and Spanish from Valparaiso University and an M.A. in Latin American Studies from University of California, Santa Barbara. She worked as a Russian linguist in the U.S. Navy, spending time at the National Security Agency doing secret things. After six years of service, she ended up as a technical writer in the software industry. She has lived all over the U.S. and currently resides in Wyoming with her family where she runs her own business writing government proposals and squeezes in fiction writing when she can. In the winter she likes to ski and snowshoe; in the summer she likes to garden with her husband, take walks with her dog, and explore the Big Horn Mountains. She has written multiple books and plans on writing more.
Author links:
http://www.kjgillenwater.com/
https://www.instagram.com/kjgillenwater/
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKJGillenwater
https://twitter.com/kjgillenwater
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2966445.K_J_Gillenwater
As a hilarious, sexy, and heartwarming read that strikes the perfect balance between feel-good emotions and laugh-out-loud humor, Revenge Honeymoon by @kjgillenwater is a fun and memorable romantic comedy that you won’t be able to put down. Grab your copy today!
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