#and massaging myself into something that isn’t exactly what it says on the tin is just off the table rn

[coffee-at-annies]

Anon you’re fine. If I wasn’t down to answer it would have stayed in my inbox. Send shit whenever. I’ll answer when I have time and energy and headspace.

[blackirisposts]

Team Building Exercise of Sorts

Summary:  Or the time (almost) everyone got a hair cut regardless if they needed it or not.

Chapter 1 of 3 of Showing Support Through Paraphernalia 

Word Count: 1604

Notes: Un-beta’d, fluff, Russian translations are probably not the greatest, sorry, and I own nothing; you’ve been warned. 

Originally posted here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/2145744

“Ok, I’ll give you three guess.” She said to the room as a whole, ticking off fingers as she spoke. “Who wants a haircut. Who needs a haircut. And whose hair I cannot wait to cut.” She grinned devilishly as she pulled various tools and products out of an over sized red bag.

“Oh, come on, does no one want to play? You all know you have to do this at some point in time. And I know I’m not the only one in this room with trust issues a mile long, so come on, let’s make this a group project. Yeah, I might be talking to you, Tony. Besides, it’s fun!”

“And why exactly is it fun, Lewis?” Stark eyed the clippers suspiciously.

“Because I’m here, duh. Now come on people, who’s first?”

“Romanov wants it, buh-dum ching. Winter Grump Grump needs it, an even bigger buh-dum ching. And, of course, you want your hands in my hair, which isn’t going to happen. Oh, nice case. Did Jarvis give you these specs? These are highly classified.” Stark was now eyeing her phone case; black and sleek with white drawings of the Iron Man suit on it. She had gotten the case on a whim.

“Har, har. And no, you’re wrong, as usual tin man.” A sneer of approval came from Bucky. “Tash, you can’t guess. You’ll ruin it for everyone cuz you’ll be right.”

“То есть, как я делаю” She replied, arching an eyebrow.

“See.” Darcy smiled. She didn’t know a lick of Russian, but assumed it was an appropriate response nonetheless.

“So, any other takers before I assign you a line up?”

The room remained silent. Bruce walked in with rather shaggy hair and towels but didn’t say anything as he put them on the counter next to the sink. Steve kept reading his paper the way you see older men at breakfast joints do; seemingly ignoring the world, but taking everything in regardless. His hair, as always, was at its high and tight standard, well, to anyone that didn’t know him at least. He had gotten wind of their plan two weeks ago and had forgone his last regular cut. Clint seemed to refuse to give up his perch atop the back of the couch as Natasha continued to lazily thumb through a magazine. Clint’s hair never seemed to need a trim and Natasha’s changed regularly. Bucky moved deliberately slowly as he refilled his coffee mug, knowing all too well his chin length hair was soon to be gone. Thor and his luscious locks, luckily or unluckily, were off world. And Stark sat on a stool, arms folded over his chest still staring Darcy down. He had his hair cut earlier that week.

“Ok then. Doc. You first, if you please. I know you’ll show them there’s nothing to fear.”

“Really? You look way too happy to be hold scissors around us.” Stark chimed in, expression not changing except the addition of a quirk of his eyebrow, again.

“Tony relax. It’s a cut and a wash?” Bruce said, turning the last part toward Darcy, she nodded. “Not the end of the world.”

It was, originally, Bruce’s idea. And Darcy was grateful that he brought it up. She had cut hair before; guys and gals. In college it was a way for everyone to save money and have a calm moment in between exams, projects and stressing about the future. But with this group of odd balls, she knew it was going to even better, even if it was a little awkward at first.

She started with Bruce, who relaxed immediately as the water rushed through his hair; her fingers massaging the dust, debris and stress from the labs away as she lathered product through his hair. The tension in the room soon started to dissipate as they all watched her towel dry, cut and then lightly style his hair. Bruce kept his eyes closed almost the whole time, a content smile on his face.

“Ok, Steve. You’re next.”

“Me? Not –”

“Yes. You. Figured I’d get the good kids done first.” Bucky chuckled and she threw a wink his way. “Yours won’t take long. ‘High and tight’ is a specialty – shut it Tony.”

“I suppose my guessing won’t get me out of it?” He grinned and walked toward the sink.

“Nope. Not at all, but you are welcome to play.”

“Well, clearly Dr. Banner wanted the cut.” A soft hum came from Banner as he sipped his tea. “Buck, here, clearly needs a cut.” Bucky glared in response.

“He does kinda look like a ripped hobo.” Darcy grinned as she started washing Steve’s hair. “Oh and just so you know everyone is At Least getting a wash. And no, I don’t care what you say. Think of it as a team building thing if you have to; it is happening. Sorry, Cap, please continue.”

“ Doctor Banner, Buck, and..” His checks turned the slightest bit red as he looked over to Bucky, who glared back.

“And..”

“Me.”

She laughed and softly tugged on his hair playfully before wringing out the water.

“Well, you’re almost completely right with Doc there, but that’s about it.”

A few short moments passed filled only with the buzz from her clippers, ending with a few snips of her scissors.

Clint went next, getting a light trim. Natasha followed getting a cut and setting a time the following week for a color.

Stark’s stubbornness faded with each pass of the clippers and scissors. “Only a wash this time – maybe a style if you can manage it, Lewis.” Darcy shook her head and sighed but knew she had won a small battle with his ‘this time.’ Her plan, their plan, was shaping up well.

After finishing up with Stark’s wash and style, which she nailed the landing on, there was only one person left. James Buchanan Barnes.

“Ok, mister.” She said, nodding her head in the direction of the sink. “You’re up.”

He hadn’t moved from his stance by the coffee machine since she started, a safe yet observable distance away.

“Fine, doll, but try not to get too excited.” He said, voice low and gravely from lack of use.

She smiled slightly and raised an eyebrow at him and then Steve before she grabbed another towel and shampoo.

After thoroughly washing his hair and massaging his scalp, which calmed him more then she could have ever hoped, she reached for the scissors.

“Is this ok?” She asked, holding up the scissors in a non threatening way.

He nodded once, lips almost pursed.

She moved slowly behind him and began snipping away. She had seen plenty of pictures of him from before his time as the Winter Soldier and had originally, deep down inside, wanted to cut and style his hair back to how it had once been. All of her self control kept her from doing so. She knew he wasn’t that James Barnes anymore. Instead, she cut and trimmed until he resembled something of both of the men he used to be; both Bucky and Soldier.

Taking a quick look around, mainly to distract herself from her proximity to him, Darcy noticed how calm everyone became; Stark and Bruce talking about something that flew directly over her head, Clint and Natasha playing chess, and Steve at the crossword in the paper. It looked so domestic, so ordinary.

She checked the length one last time by standing in front of him, her fingers threading through his hair, her skirt brushing his knees and hands. A slight upturn of his lips was the only evidence of a deeply suppressed smile. She didn’t notice as she was trying very hard to only focus on his hair, regardless of how close she was to his face. She quickly, but skillfully styled his hair and stepped back.

“Alright everyone, I expect to see you all in six to eight weeks for round two, pending of course some world crisis.” She said, handing the mirror to Bucky.

At that Natasha and Clint left with nods to her, followed by Steve, who was followed by Stark and Bruce still chatting away; leaving Darcy and Bucky alone. She hadn’t realized it as first as she was picking up bottles and cleaning off the counters. The sound of a broom startled her from her ministrations. She looked up to see Bucky sweeping the kitchen floor.

“Thank you.” He said, meeting her surprised look.

“You’re the one helping me, no need to thank me.”

He raised an eyebrow at her in response. “So do I get to put in my wager now?”

“I suppose.” She drawled as she began shoving damp towels in a large plastic bag.

“Banner and Natalia. Steve. And Myself.” He finished sweeping a short distance from her and stared down at her intently.

“Right you are. I’m surprised you didn’t think I wanted to cut Tasha’s though. She is the only lady of this group.”

“It was hard not to tell with the way you kept grinning at me.” His almost blank look transformed into a grin from decades past, one she was surprised (and grateful?) to see. “And, you spent more time on me then the rest of those punks.”

“What can I say?” She blushed ever so slightly. “You have great bone structure and it’s a shame to keep it fully hidden under that mop of hair.” She paused for a moment, face turning serious. “Thank you though, for letting me.”

He chuckled lowly, turning to leave. “Anytime you want to run your fingers through my hair, sweetheart, just let me know.”

[thetravelersjournal]

Gear Foxx- Chapter 2

Force Your Way Through It! Escape The City!

I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.

Standing in front of me, atop a pile of smashed up… ‘Shadow-bots’..., was Sonic the Hedgehog. A fictional character from a comic book/video game series was wiping the dust off his gloves on top of a giant pile of robot parts as if it was normal to wipe the dust off your gloves on top of a giant pile of robot parts.

I suppose it wasn’t the strangest thing I had seen today.

Sonic jumped back as more laser fire incinerated the mechanical garbage underneath him. He turned to the group of people I had tried to rescue myself.

“Everybody- you’ve gotta, like, juice to Knothole village right now!” he shouted.

“Juice?” said a duck next to me, “What does that mean?”

But Sonic was already running ahead. “That means RUN!” he called back, before beginning battle with even more robots.

“Come on, I’ve got you,” the duck said, trying to put my arm over his shoulder.

“No, no, I’m good,” I grunted in pain. This leg of mine needed some real support, and fast. “Walk me over to what's left of that scrap metal.”

“Huh? If you’re sure,” he confusedly said.

He helped lower me to the ground next to the smoldering pile of scrap, and I got to work making a brace for my leg.

“You go on ahead,” I said, absorbed in my work, “I’ll-egruh- I’ll catch up.”

The duck looked at me like I had a death wish, before finally turning and running away.

Questions swirled in my head, helping me ignore the pain. Just where the heck was I? For Sonic the Hedgehog to actually exist…

It dawned on me that this situation seemed familiar. I couldn’t remember all of the details, but I’m pretty sure everything that happened within the last five minutes was a part of the Sonic comic book series the Human used to read. I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen next, but I believe it was along the lines of the city being destroyed by missiles or something. Or was that later?

It didn't matter. I needed to focus on the here and now before I got myself killed. I finished the leg brace and tested it out. My leg was still burning, but at least I could run now. I checked my gun to make sure it was still working before running towards Sonic.

I got close enough to see him tearing circles around the Shadow-bots, trying to find a weakness in their armor. The robots seemed to be trying to calculate where he was going next, but he was too fast for their processors, making them look like they were unsure of how to walk. They shot at him blindly, beams of light hitting buildings across the street. I looked at the gun on my hand, smiling.

“Guess I’m shooting some blanks,” I said, before grimacing, “My puns need work.”

I shot a few of the tin soldiers in the back, directing their attention towards me rather than sonic.

“Oops… think I just shot myself in the foot,” I smirked before scampering in the opposite direction.

I could hear heavy footsteps gaining ground behind me. My leg burned brighter with every step I took. I fired my gun over and over, waiting for the rich sound of metallic clangs. Hot air massaged my back, and I turned around to see Sonic triumphantly standing near the Shadow-bots, who were not only on fire, but also stuck to the sidewalk.

“Thanks, but I could’ve handled that myself,” he said.

“Figured you’d need a hand. Or an arm,” I added, pointing to my gun.

“Yeah, well, why didn’t you run away like the rest of the Mobians I told to vamoose?” he asked.

“Mobians? Vamoose?” I thought.

“I would’ve, if it weren’t for the fact that- hey, what’s she doing?” I asked, pointing to a mongoose that was running up the stairs to the center building.

“What? Hey, wait!” Sonic exclaimed, swiftly jumping in front of her, “Are you out of your mind?”

“Are you out of yours?” The girl cried, trying to get past him.

Sonic and the girl continued arguing as I ran over. Just as I reached them the girl burst into tears.

“Essh- What the heck did you say to her?” I asked.

“I didn’t say anything!” Sonic declared before turning back to the mongoose, “I totally will listen, but don’tcha get it? Robotnik’s back and he’s playing for keeps!”

“Wait… Robotnik? Isn’t that an anagram for Kintobor?” I muttered to myself.

“But someone I love was captured and taken away by those awful swat-bots… what’ll I do?” the girl continued crying.

“Well, we go and rescue them, right?” I interjected. The girl looked up at me hopefully.

“No way. If they’ve been captured by Robotnik,” Sonic turned back to the girl, “It probably means that they’ve already been turned into a mindless machine, lacking all free will whatsoever. If we were to go in there, the same thing would happen to us.”

I was getting slightly confused by the conversation, especially about the person turning into a ‘mindless machine’. What the heck did that mean? If only I remembered more of what the Human read. Suddenly, the mongoose was in Sonic’s arms, crying her eyes out even more. Sonic looked at me with a sorrowful expression. Just what was going on?

“Mission accompli- Sonic? Who are they?”

I turned to see the source of the noise. A brown female chipmunk wearing a blue vest and a tiny, bald, male human had walked up behind us.

“Survivors, Sal,” Sonic said, looking at the chipmunk.

‘Sal’ walked over to comfort the mongoose, placing her hands on the girl's shoulders.

“There, there. Don’t cry. Everything will be okay. What’s your name?” she asked.

The girl choked a little on her tears, before finally answering, “Mina…”

Sally looked up to me to ask my name as well, but thankfully the human cut her off.

“I must be going- And I suggest you get back to Knothole village if you know what’s good for you! So long!” he said, walking deeper into the city and out of sight.

“What is he...? Does he have a death wish? Why isn’t he going back with us?” I asked.

“Huh? Don’t you know who he is?” Sonic questioned me in return.

“Er… I’m new in town?” I said, not really sure how to respond.

“He’s Snively, one of our worst enemies.”

“If he’s one of our worst enemies, then how come...?”

Sonic sighed, “Yeah, I don’t understand it either.” He turned to Sal. “What’s next? The Sonic and Snively comedy hour?”

Sal smiled, “Don’t worry. We managed to install the virus, so we should be in the clear.”

“Good,” replied Sonic eagerly, “Then let’s juice!”

“Yeah,” I added, “Before even more robots show up.”

We started running to catch up with the other animals (I think Sonic had called them Mobians), who were wandering in the desert. Once we reached the group, Sonic and Sal walked up ahead of the others, supposedly leading us to Knothole. I walked next to Mina.

“So… pardon the stupid question, but is that Sonic the Hedgehog?” I asked her, pointing to the blue hedgehog.

“Well, you’re right,” she said, smiling, “That was a stupid question.”

“Heh. Just wanted to be sure, I suppose.”

“Yeah, that’s him alright.”

We continued walking in silence for a moment or two, before I finally asked, “The person you were trying to rescue… what will Robotnik do to them?”

Mina looked at me, and I glimpsed a shadow of annoyance on her face. “You really aren’t from around here, are you?” she asked.

“No, I’m not,” I replied sheepishly.

She gazed at the ground, her face emotionless, “He’ll probably robotize her. My mother… she’ll just be a robot who does his bidding. Forced to move and obey only him.”

“I-I’m sorry I asked. I didn’t...,” I looked away. I felt my stomach flip from her dark statement. I almost ended up like her mother, even if in a different way...

She peered up at me, “No, it’s fine. After all, I never even got the chance to say thanks.”

“Thanks? For what?”

“I was in the group of Mobians you tried to rescue. And you stood up for me when I tried to go back- even if Sonic was right. So… I wanted to say, thanks, I guess,” she blushed.

I looked at her quietly for a second, before asking, “Well, if you had been in my shoes, you would have done the same, right?”

“I wish. You were amazing! Although the arm gun is kind of creepy. And you hurt your leg,” Mina looked down at my injury.

“Don’t worry, the gun comes off,” I said, taking it off and putting it back on again, “And my leg could be doing better, but it should be fine for now, with the brace I made for it.”

She smiled at me for a while, finally saying, “I don’t think I ever introduced myself. My name is Mina Mongoose. What’s yours?”

“Er… w-well, I-,” I stammered.

Fortunately, I was cut off by Sal, who suddenly shouted, “Quickly everyone! Robotnik sent Shadow-bots to cut us off! We don’t have the time to walk to Knothole, so we’ll have to run!”

Mina and the rest of the Mobians hit the dirt, but I paused, looking at my gun. It had enough power left for a few more shots. I looked back towards the city to see three hovercrafts racing towards us. I smirked, standing my ground. I looked over to see Sonic doing the same.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” Sal asked, but it looked like she was asking Sonic more than me. In fact, I don’t think she even noticed me.

“What I was born to do-,” replied Sonic, “Kick some serious robot butt!”

I watched as Sonic and Sal started bickering. I sighed before realizing that the Shadow-bots were closing in.

I jumped just as the robots started to surround us. I fired a round into one of the crafts, before turning around midair and firing two shots into another. Both hovercrafts went down. Sonic and Sal stared at me incredulously as I landed.

“Would you two pay attention?” I said angrily, taking off my gun and throwing it to the floor, “I’m out of ammo!”

That’s when a large green dragon came from out of nowhere and took out the last remaining craft with her tail.

“Dulcy the Dragon?” Sal exclaimed.

“Way to go, Dulce! And you weren't bad yourself,” said Sonic, turning and giving me the thumbs up.

“Thanks! Glad to see you both back from orbit,” Dulcy said, looking at the two, “Need a lift?”

“Whoo, boy,” I thought, looking at the ground far below.

“Not a fan of heights?” asked Mina.

“No… more like not a fan of falling,” I replied.

Dulcy was now carrying me, Mina, Sonic, Sal, and the small group of Mobians back to Knothole. Wind traveled up and down my fur as the scent of tree bark glided upwards from the forest below. I tried to find a comfortable seating position, but my leg still stung like crazy. I leaned it over the side of Dulcy, hoping to relieve some of the pain.

“You did it again. You stayed behind. Why?” Mina questioned me.

“I don’t know- I just did. I wanted to make sure nobody else got hurt.”

“Sonic was there though. He could've taken care of it. After all, he is a freedom fighter.”

“Hmm? I suppose…” I said, thinking.

“Hold on tight, everyone- I’m about to touch down!” said Dulcy suddenly.

Cold air now threatened to lift my shirt as we descended to the ground. I kept it down, not wanting to reveal my brand. Dulcy landed, and, once we were all off, flew away into the hazy summer air. I looked around, confused.

“Where’s the village?” I inquired.

“Down the Great Oak Slide,” Mina said, leading me to a hollow tree, “Here, I’ll show you!”

Mina gave me a small push into the oak tree, and a second later, I was sliding down a narrow, winding, and twisting passageway. I held on to the ridge of my shirt tightly as I flew down the slide into Knothole village.

I grunted as my butt hit the ground, dust spraying in all directions. People started cheering, overjoyed that more people were able to escape. I looked up at the most bewildering sight.

Hundreds upon hundreds of Mobians were all slam packed into a small village. Wooden walkways stretched to treetop condominiums, creaking under the weight of so many people. Sunlight flooded through the trees, leaves softly falling to the ground. The grass was stroked gently by the wind. A soft aroma of pine flowed through the crowd of people lining the entrance.

I stared in amazement at the sight. It looked so… beautiful. Mina landed beside me, noticing my expression.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” she said.

“Yeah,” I nodded, “It really is.” I put my hands in my pockets, admiring the scenery. I felt the cold metal of the gear I had swiped from George. I took another step forward, only for me to wince from the pain in my leg.

“Your leg-! We should get you to Dr. Quack!” Mina said, seeing me grimace.

“Don’t really know if I can trust a doctor with a name like that…,” I quipped, before taking off my leg brace. “This was good for me to walk in, but it’ll probably only damage my leg more if I keep walking around in it.”

“Here, I can help carry you,” Mina wrapped my arm over her shoulder.

“Erm… Thanks,” I said. I wasn’t really sure how to respond to the kindness of a stranger. We walked slowly in silence for a while. At this point, most of the villagers ignored us, focusing more on the arrival of Sonic and Sal. I realized I was still tightly holding onto the small cog.

“Maybe now you can tell me what your name is? Since we were so rudely interrupted before,” Mina asked suddenly.

“Uh-,” I started panicking internally. What was I supposed to tell her? I couldn’t just say I was called ‘Project X’ or something like that. She’d think I was a freak. And maybe I was. Even I didn’t really know what I was. I look like a Mobian; does that mean I am one? I was getting so worked up I couldn’t even remember the Human’s name. My hand closed tighter around the cool gear.

Gear…

I looked at the small trinket quizzingly, seeing a poor reflection of a perplexed fox, before finally chuckling to myself. It only took one moment of inspiration to know what my true name was. I was pretty good at building machines or mechanical items, and I was no Project X. Still… Even if it was ironic, it fit me perfectly. Mina, who couldn’t see what I was holding, looking at me questioningly.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

“Hmm? Oh, nothing. But, to answer your question,” I looked up at her, smirking, “It’s Gear. Gear Foxx.”

Read the Beginning!- Prologue

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

Gear belongs to me.

Sonic, Mina, Sally, Dulcy, and others belong to SEGA, Archie(?) or Ken Penders.

[thesffcorner]

The Unhoneymooners

The Un-honeymooners is the latest adult romance, by writing duo Christina Lauren. It follows Olive Torres, the bridesmaid at her twin sister Ami’s wedding. When everyone at the party, except for Olive and Ethan, Ami’s brother-in-law, get food poisoning from the seafood buffet, Olive and Ethan decide to pretend they are the married couple and take Ami’s free, all -expense honeymoon trip to Maui. There’s only one problem: Olive and Ethan can’t stand each other. Have you guys seen that Adam Sandler film Just Go With It? This is basically the book form of that film, except sans the kids. So before I even say anything else, if you enjoyed the thomfoolery of that film, you will probably like this. This is the first Christina Lauren book I’ve read, and it’s really the first one I’ve ever been interested in reading. Their premises never intrigue me, but having these 2 characters who hate each-other, but have to pretend to be a freshly married couple for a whole vacation sounded hilarious to me. And for the most part this book delivers. I did have more than a few issues however, and most of them come down to execution. There is something inherently hilarious about spending 10 days in one of the most gorgeous locations in the world, but having to spend it pretending that you love someone you hate. It’s like your own personal hell inside of heaven. However, I don’t feel like the book took full advantage of this concept. For starters, Ethan and Olive don’t really hate each-other. This is understandable and expected; it would be pretty hard to write an enemies to lovers romance if they genuinely hate each other or have done bad things. Instead, Olive hates Ethan because of a misunderstanding, while Ethan is more conflicted than anything else. While this made their romance more believable, it diffused a lot of the comedy of the premise, and the scenes where they are supposed to be enemies pretending to be lovers aren’t as funny as a result. As much as Just Go With It was not a good film, the scenes where Sandler and Aniston have to pretend to be bitter exes were hilarious because of the combination of hatred, annoyance and sexual attraction going both ways. The book does have scenes like this; the best one was the dinner with the Hamiltons, but for the most part, they ended up being more awkward and sweet than funny. The most I laughed in this book was the bathroom incident and the paintball, and unfortunately both of those lead into my second complaint. Both those scenes, could have taken place anywhere. This book is set in Maui; the advertising plays this up too, and yet we get so little of the island, that they might as well have stayed in Minneapolis. The descriptions of the island are vague and uninspired; telling me the sunset is beautiful and the ocean is blue can signal any place. I never got a sense of the island or even the hotel they were in, and the duo didn’t take advantage of any of the activities you could do at the island for the sake of humor. There’s plenty of chances for location specific shenanigans, but we don’t get any, and the only thing that was legitimately tied to Maui was the scene at Haleakala. Moreover, even the premise isn’t fully utilized. Olive is supposedly a terrible liar, and the duo having to lie about being on a honeymoon isn’t really used a lot. The only part that was funny was the couples massage; you’d think that in a book about honeymooners, the hotel would have more outlandish activities for the couple, and seeing as we are shown Ami is a control and schedule freak, she’s have booked all the things that Ethan and Olive would have to do. Instead, after the initial contrivance with the Hamiltons, the duo is never forced to lie again or comes in any danger of potentially being uncovered or exposed, so them pretending to be married fully falls away by the wayside. To switch to some positives, the relationship between the characters was actually really endearing, funny and enjoyable. Both characters were great individually; I enjoyed all the parts where Ethan was in some kind of misery, because I could just imagine this germaphobic, lanky homebody being forced to fly in a tin can, sleep on a tiny couch or give a massage, and it was hilarious. Additionally, the authors do a really good job of showing him to be a pretty sweet, if a little dense dude, someone who comes off as rude and inconsiderate because he’s not great at being present and alert, rather than someone who is actively harmful. His banter with Olive was also funny, and I absolutely love running gags where people come up with increasingly outlandish versions of each-other’s name as a jab. Olive was great too; I liked that she was curvy and liked her body, while still being self-conscious about it. I liked that she was presented to be the adventuring type, suggesting snorkeling, diving and ziplining, while Ethan was the more subdued type. I also liked the gag of her not knowing how to lie (though in hindsight it didn’t make that much sense with her character). The thing I really liked about Olive was the fact that she was so pessimistic and defensive. I found a lot of myself in her; always thinking the worst of people and situations, always thinking everyone hates me or doesn’t want to be around me for superficial reasons, and making my mind up about people without giving them a chance. It really opened my eyes, because at several points I was frustrated with how dense she was about her conviction that Ethan hated her when it was clear he really didn’t and was just being awkward around her. However, the biggest issue with this book was its last third. It’s hard to talk about this without SPOILERS, so if you don’t want any, skip to the last paragraph. The short version is that as soon as Olive and Ethan come back from the honeymoon, the book changes tones and genres, and becomes a much more serious affair than the lighthearted shenanigans in Maui, and I don’t think it was successful at that. We find out that Ami’s husband Dale might have been a horrible liar, and though Olive gets direct proof of it, neither Ethan nor Ami believe her. She also loses her job. This was so jarring compared to what the book had been about up until that point, that it completely took me out of the story. I don’t think any of these things were handled well. First, Ami exploding at Olive was understandable, but she goes way overboard and tells her some really awful things that she never apologizes for, and Olive just forgives her. I understand it was the heat of the moment, but that’s exactly why Ami should have apologized to Olive afterwards. The whole thing with Ethan was even worse. Not only does he not believe Olive, he refuses to confront his brother about it even a little bit, and tries to gaslight Olive into thinking she’s crazy or bitter or attention seeking. It was honestly something beyond what a big romantic gesture can solve, and the fact that Ethan, in spite of having one failed romantic gesture still tries to pull another one on Olive, meaning he hasn’t learned anything, really put a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t think the ending was necessary for the book it was in. This should have been part of a different story, not this one, and it happening at the very end of this book meant that it was rushed and had no time to properly develop or get resolved. I have heard that Christina Lauren tend to do this with their endings, and I wasn’t a fan. Overall this was a solid, if a bit average romance. I think Christina Lauren are good writers who could write an excellent book, but this just wasn’t it for me. It’s still fun and fast paced, and I think it would make a perfect summer read.

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