Author: Christina Lauren
Series? No, this is a standalone
Pages: 384
Publication Date: December 4, 2018
Publisher: Gallery Books
Source: I won the goodreads giveaway for the book! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Millie Morris has always been one of the guys. A UC Santa Barbara professor, she’s a female-serial-killer expert who’s quick with a deflection joke and terrible at getting personal. And she, just like her four best guy friends and fellow professors, is perma-single.
So when a routine university function turns into a black tie gala, Mille and her circle make a pact that they’ll join an online dating service to find plus-ones for the event. There’s only one hitch: after making the pact, Millie and one of the guys, Reid Campbell, secretly spend the sexiest half-night of their lives together, but mutually decide the friendship would be better off strictly platonic.
But online dating isn’t for the faint of heart. While the guys are inundated with quality matches and potential dates, Millie’s first profile attempt garners nothing but dick pics and creepers. Enter “Catherine”—Millie’s fictional profile persona, in whose make-believe shoes she can be more vulnerable than she’s ever been in person. Soon “Catherine” and Reid strike up a digital pen-pal-ship...but Millie can’t resist temptation in real life, either. Soon, Millie will have to face her worst fear—intimacy—or risk losing her best friend, forever.
It is no secret that Christina Lauren is one of my favorite romance authors. In the beginning of this year, I hadn't read anything from them. By the end of this year, I have read 11 books and 2 novellas by them! This year has made me a huge fan, and I was ecstatic to have won the goodreads giveaway. My Favorite Half-Night Stand ranks in the lower-middle of my favorites by CL. Even though I had my problems with the book, I still enjoyed it a lot.
My main fault with My Favorite Half-Night Stand is the catfishing plot. When I first read the synopsis, I was a bit put off by the synopsis. To me, Millie doesn't get enough consequences with the catfishing plot. Yes, there's some conflict in the late part of the book, but I thought she got off pretty easily. If this happened to me, I think I would have had a much more severe reaction than Reid or their friends had. The book justifies Millie's catfishing. While she has a reason, I don't think it was responsible for CL to excuse catfishing.
Besides the catfishing, which is pretty hard to ignore since it's a huge part of the plot, I didn't have any issues with the book. Millie and Reid's chemistry was off the charts, and I was really rooting for Millie to open up and for them to get together. There was also a great cast of characters. Millie and Reid have the same group of friends, and seeing all of them interact, whether in real life or in group chats, was so much fun and genuine.
My Favorite Half-Night Stand really focuses on online/app dating, which CL hasn't focused too much on in their prior books. While I only had Tindr for a good week, the authors really hit the nail on the head. I don't know if they have ever done any online dating, but Millie's experiences and anxieties were spot on and were very similar to my own.
As always, I loved Christina Lauren's writing. I'm not too sure what it is about their writing style, but they always hook me into the story, even if I don't care too much for the plot (this book) or the characters (Beautiful Bastard). In the midst of finals, I read this in three days. CL are great at writing tension and humor, and they delivered with My Favorite Half-Night Stand.
At the end of the day, My Favorite Half-Night Stand was solid addition to Christina Lauren's body of work. I may have had issues with the catfishing plot, but the cast of characters was great, the online dating experiences were spot on, and the humor and writing, as always, was fantastic. Autoboyography, Beautiful Player, and Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating are still my favorites by this author duo, but My Favorite Half-Night Stand is pretty good. If you aren't troubled by catfishing, are a huge fan of best friends to lovers romances, or enjoy Christina Lauren's books, you will like this one!
With that, I give My Favorite Half-Night Stand
4 out of 5 Flowers!
Holy binge read! I had read a few of the Wild Seasons books, and then Autoboyography came out, and I knew I had to read more and more. Every book they released this year was wonderful, and I too, am enjoying a CLo love affair. I was ok with the cat fishing, because it was explained, justified, and there was consequences. They didn't pretend that it was ok, but it wasn't going to ruin the book for me, because I adored the group dynamic, the characters, and the romance.
ReplyDeleteHahha, I know! I really went crazy this year with NG. To be honest, I'm not a massive fan of the Wild Seasons books. They're pretty good, but I think the first was the best. I haven't read the fourth though, which people seem to really like! Let's hope our CL love affairs continue. :)
DeleteI think my issue is that it was justified. Millie's reasoning makes sense, but I just don't like how ultimately, there were no long term consequences for Millie. To me, it almost came off like, "catfishing is fine as long as you don't have wrong intentions!" Agree to disagree? haha!
I also adored the group dynamic too! I wouldn't mind if there were companion novels, but it doesn't seem like there will be, according to goodreads!
I haven't read anything by this author, but My Favorite Half-Night Stand looks interesting.
ReplyDeleteI would really recommend them! My favorite adult romance book of theirs is Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating, but all of them are pretty solid. They're first couple releases do go more towards erotica though, so just be aware of that if you ever pick them up!
DeleteThanks for visiting Breana!