Review | ARC : Honeymoon Alone

Book Summary (It does not include any spoilers, it is just a more comprehensive synopsis for those interested.) Skip to Review

Lucy Gray is maybe the most reliable person you could meet (No really she got Most Reliable in her high school yearbook). She has a nice job as an elementary teacher which she loves, a home to come back to where her lazy cat Ricky lounges all day long, and a family that she knows she’ll always have their backs. She’s consistent in every way possible.

After being made a humiliating spectacle in her sister’s wedding, embarrassed Lucy decides to test her fate with a psychic reading. Feeling enamoured by the strange meeting she just had, an unbelievable opportunity arrives when her sister forgets to cancel her original honeymoon stay in London before flying off to the Mediterranean. Lucy then and there decides to take the psychic’s advice and pursue the “signs” she was getting. 

She buys a plane ticket and with the help of her best friend Mary, they track down a past high school acquaintance Cary Stewart, who’s currently residing in London and is insanely attractive *wink, to help show Lucy around town…ahem maybe even more…?

The hotel it turns out accepts only Honeymooners, so Cary and Lucy make a deal. They pretend to be married in order to not blow Lucy’s cover and get her kicked out of the hotel. Though once there she faces serious, rude, and awkward Oliver from the concierge desk who can’t help but step into her business. 

Lucy is about to experience the holiday of a lifetime.

Review

I am just a girl who enjoys her share of rom coms and hallmark books and movies…immensely. Sometimes I just need the most cheesiest books (more cheese than a four cheese stuffed pizza) to get me by and bring a bit of lightness to my life and take a break from my usual darker fascinations.

I remember being first presented the synopsis of the book and reading the title Honeymoon Alone I was hoping this wasn’t a classic trope of the MC who “discovers her husband is an asshole” at the beginning of the movie and then decides to vacation on her own. Turns it wasn’t. Great!

Contrary to some reviews who made mention that the story was not engaging I have to disagree, this totally felt like an escapist read and the heroine Lucy is someone who I feel I relate to. Yes some parts were bonkers and others quirky but that is what makes a chic lit book the way it is; it’s supposed to be absurd but heavily romantic.

I’m delighted to say that this was an easy read, the story was warm and light (it gave you all of those wintery feels like a walk through Winter Wonderland) in addition to it being poignantly funny and sweet thanks to Macaulay’s writing style and likable characters.

This book is an equivalent to warm hot cocoa and fluffy wool blankets. The story is well written and it puts a smile on your face. I liked the twist with how things went with Cary and Lucy, it’s not your classic “pretend to be in love than actually fall in love” trope. rHowever at some parts of the story I did feel some transitions or events were rushed. I think is true for the last 15% of the book, a lot of plot lines abruptly started to come together rather quickly for my liking.

I loved the characters, they were really great and you can tell that even though they fall in the “Hallmark” catalogue of characters, each had a distinct personality and I really got invested on how their endings were going to be. They’re not too “normal” to the point that they’re basic but I liked the little quirks about them.

I think Macaulay does a great job of making you care about them and laugh with them and celebrate with them. I loved the banter between Lucy and Oliver. You can tell that although Oliver had been a nuisance at the beginning he was the only one who could’ve sparked up the sassy and witty side of Lucy. And it’s cute as a reader to read between the lines and see this relationship being developed into something more. Throughout, the book had a lively sense of humour and Lucy reminded me so much of Emilia Clark. I literally cannot picture anyone else playing her in a movie, specifically the Emilia Clark from Me Before You. I could see this book being made into a major film that could potentially be a “winter romance” classic like The Family Stone

To conclude I thought this was a lovely book that was utterly cheesy yet romantic which gave me all the snuggly wintery feels.

Do I recommend? Yes if you’re into all things sweet and sugar.