The Honeymoon Trap by Christina Hovland – a Review

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Description:
How to Survive Your Next Relationship Disaster 101

Step 1: Get pumped. Your new house, in your new town, comes with a sexy and shirtless man next door. Score!

Step 2: Don’t let your freak-out show when Mr. OMG Shirtless turns around—and it’s your old crush.

Step 3: Hold your head high when you run into him again on the first day of your new job—literally—and spill coffee all over yourself.

Step 4: Stay calm when he introduces himself as your new boss…and then announces that your first assignment is to go on a fake honeymoon together.

Step 5: Keep your $h*t locked tight when the new boss/old crush and you are forced to sleep in the same room…with one bed.

Step 6: Try to ignore just how freaking hot he is, and how much you want to touch him…

Review:

The Honeymoon Trap begins with William trying to interview a chicken for the t.v. station that his family owns.  Having just relocated back to Confluence as his 30th birthday approaches, he has two goals:  stay away from his dad, from whom he will take control of their media empire on said birthday and find a place to live.  Neither proves easy.  Seems his dad has a wide reach and is trying to force William’s hand (and his body) into moving back into the family home.

When his interview didn’t go as planned, he heads out, only to encounter a beautiful young woman who gets her car window shot out by a little boy with a slingshot.  Will intervenes, but has no idea that he and the young woman had before during a part of his life he’d rather forget. 

Lucy can’t believe it when Will intercedes on her behalf, as she thought she would never see him again.  She was both thankful and a little hurt that the man that she had crushed hard on didn’t recognizer her, even though she went through a transformation that left her almost unrecognizable………….almost.  It also doesn’t help when Lucy realizes that she and Will are neighbors in a little tiny apartment complex, let alone the fact that his family owns the very station she is starting her new job.  She settles into her new job well, and enjoys her co-workers, while getting to know Will again.  However, when a piece that Will is working on requires him to have a ‘wife’, she tries to distance herself and have him pick someone else.  But, he wants her.

They travel to the resort that their investigative piece is about, and to say she’s nervous about the whole setup is an understatement.  Once they reach the resort, tension is ramped up another notch when they find themselves in a little cabin with one bed.  They get to know each other better by playing an old board game that they find in the cabin and things get pretty steamy between the two of them.  However, when Lucy finds out that he is set to become her boss on his 30th birthday, she makes the decision that they will have a temporary fling and then it’s over.  One thing she didn’t count on was Will’s determination to keep her in Confluence, and in his life.

The Honeymoon Trap is a nicely written story, and the first I’ve read by Christina Hovland.  Lucy and Will are great characters who play well off of each other.  They both have histories that have affected the way they handle themselves.  Both of their backstories make your heart ache for each of them.  I love Lucy’s independent streak and love Will’s determination to become the man who would make his mother proud.  With all of that said, the thing I loved the most was that it made me laugh out loud.  A LOT!!  I loved the banter between the two of them, the sarcasm and the underlying vulnerability.  This is, honest to God, one of the most enjoyable reads I’ve had in a long time.  Not too complicated, just two characters who draw you in and make you cheer for them.  The secondary characters are awesome as well.  I loved their quirky little town and hope this is the start of a series, because I’d love to know more about the residents of Confluence.  As I said before, this is the first I’ve read by Hovland, but it will not be the last.  Well done, Christina Hovland!  Very well done!

Reviewed by Vickie

Copy provided by Publisher