4.5

Millie has always felt most comfortable as "one of the guys". A professor at UC Santa Barbara specializing in female serial killers she, along with her four best guy friends - Chris, Alex, Ed, and Reid - are pretty much perpetually single. As a unit, they've been fine with this. But when their school's annual gala pretty much requires them to bring dates, they all agree to sign up with a dating app in hopes of changing their social status.

However, after they've made this agreement, Millie and Reid spend one half-night together. Afterwards, they tell themselves that, for friendship's sake, it cannot go any farther. They then both proceed with the dating app, Millie unsuccessfully and Reid not-so-unsuccessfully. When Millie modifies her dating profile, she winds up being paired with Reid. The problem is: Millie used a fake name Catherine. Now that "Catherine" and Reid are messaging back and forth, Millie finds she can open up to him in a way she can't when they're face-to-face. But as the charade deepens ever further, and Reid begins falling for Catherine and Millie separately, Millie risks losing Reid entirely.

Lately, Christina Lauren have been hitting it out of the park with their romantic comedies and My Favorite Half-Night Stand can be added to that list.

The downward spiral that Millie finds herself in is at times both hilarious and heartrending. After the death of her mother at a young impressionable age, Millie taught herself to close off, never revealing too much of herself or her feelings. The freedom she feels when she creates the Catherine persona is wonderful, but you also know it's not the right thing to do. Especially when your best guy friend, could-potentially-turn-into-more-than-just-a-friend is caught in the middle.

The book is extremely quick-paced as we draw to the natural conclusion of how Millie comes clean to Reid and what it means for their relationship in the end. I found it full of sweetness.

I loved the group dynamic between the four guys and Millie. In her quest to figure out how to get Catherine out of the picture, we see Millie leaning on the guys for help, thereby revealing more of her feelings to them than she ever has before, and acknowledging that it's ok to talk to people about your feelings. This group is wonderful and the various hints and glimpses we get of everyone makes me hope that Ed and Alex and Chris will also get their own books (please!!).

I felt like Half-Night was a twisted version of You Got Mail that justifiably deals with the fact of one person hoodwinking their friend (or someone they want as a friend) or more.

I felt like Christina Lauren dealt with the situation very well. I think it's safe to say and agree to the fact that Millie should have been forthright with Reid from the beginning, but I also found the way the situation continued to spiral out of control very plausible.

If you've enjoyed other books by Christina Lauren, I can't see where this one would disappoint. It'll keep your eyes glued to the page as you make it to the inevitable conclusion.

"I want to rub Purell on my brain. Trying to be cool about banging your best friend is a lot harder than I would have anticipated."


While a funny and modern take on the friends-to-lovers trope, this book felt a bit rushed to me and it is definitely not the first book I would recommend from this dynamic writing duo.

What I loved: Millie is smart and accomplished and very, very funny. I loved the scenes between Millie and Reid, one of her very best friends. They spend a very hot few hours together one night (the "half-night stand" of the title) but decide to go back to being just best friends.

Despite their mutual attraction for each other, Millie and Reid decide to create online dating profiles to secure dates to a university black-tie formal (which never even occurred, or if it did, I completely missed it).

“So,” she says out of the quiet, “in the interest of returning to Best Friendship, we should probably find other dates for commencement.”

“Looks like it.”

Millie actually creates a fake dating profile and lo and behold, Reid is a match! He thinks she is a woman named "Catherine". Their correspondence was very witty and I really liked the story but somehow the resolution felt rushed and a little forced. I thought there would be more the conclusion. With that said, I loved the clever plot, and I can always count on the authors to deliver on the witty dialogue.

"Basically, I need Reid out of my space. Not because I want him out of my space, exactly, but because I’m feeling the same way I felt the night of his tenure party—like it might not be such a terrible idea to invite Reid into my bed, and I’m thinking these things while he’s reading a message from another woman. Who is actually me . . . Hello, twenty-first-century predicaments."

This is a cute, modern story that you might like if you want a fast-paced, sexy romance with a happy ending. Reading is totally subjective so definitely give this one a try if you're a fan of Christina Lauren!

Christina Lauren is one of my favorite authors when I need, what I like to call, a pallet cleanse. You know, when you've been reading something that's super heavy and you're ready for some light and fluffy? Or you've immersed yourself in a fantasy world and you need a nice dose of reality before you dig into a new one? YEAH! That's when I start looking for one of their books (or something similar). This one came at the perfect time for me.

As someone with quite a few single friends, the synopsis for this one really appealed to me. Online dating both intrigues and terrifies me. Haven't you ever seen Catfish?!? MY FAVORITE HALF-NIGHT STAND is the story of Millie Morris and her 4 male best-friends (and co-workers). By the end of the third chapter I was pretty sure I knew where this story was going. But you know what? Sometimes predictable doesn't mean bad. Especially when it comes to CL books. I feel like they still keep things fresh and interesting. The dynamics of this crew of friends was really the glue of this story. I enjoyed watching everything unfold.

If you're like me and just need a quick, lighthearted and fun read, then I definitely recommend picking this one up. It's got humor, comradery, and a wonderful friends to lovers story with an ending that will leave you grinning from ear to ear!

**Complimentary copy provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

From the text conversations to the confusion over dating apps and all of the adorable banter in between, I freaking loved this book! It was cute and fresh and just had me wishing I was a part of this group of friends who looked out for one another, nosed in each others business, and created their own family with bonds stronger than blood.

With Obama coming to speak at a university function, Millie and her four male colleagues and best friends need to find dates. But with options being slim, this geeky chic group decide to head online to find love. Millie has trouble with opening up to people, but when she creates a profile as an alter-ego of her true self, she is matched with Reid, one of her best friends.

In real life, Millie and Reid begin a “friends with benefits” relationship. The physical connection between this pair is great, but emotionally Millie is still closed off. Ironically, “online Millie” has no problem opening up to Reid. The problem? Reid is unaware of who he is talking with and falling for online, just as he falls deeper in love with Millie IRL.

Told from dual points of view, I had trouble putting this story down. It was unique and modern and full of characters I just adored. I did have a few moments where I wanted to smack the Millie and found myself almost yelling at my kindle, but beside those feelings of angst, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and this fun, heartfelt story.

4.5 stars

I couldn't read this book fast enough! I found myself grinning and full of ALL. THE. FEELS. Millie was quirky and very interesting. She was friends with a bunch of guys and they all hung out but no one was attracted to her. Until Reid was. Their half-night together was completely unexpected and out of the ordinary for them but the chemistry between them was combustible! While they knew that couldn't happen again, they went the online dating route. While Millie innocently created an account to try to be more herself without stating her name, she and Reid clicked online. He had no idea it was her but she tried to tell him without telling him. I was lost in this story and never wanted it to end! I enjoyed watching them move from friends to possibly more. I found myself laughing out loud at times, cringing and then hoping! I don't want to ruin this amazing story for you so I'll stop talking and just let you go ahead and one-click it. Seriously. Don't miss this read!

I have read everything that these ladies have written. I love their writing, the flow of their words, the banter they use, and the way it all consumes me while I'm reading. Lately, though, I feel like they are getting away from the reason I fell in love with them in the first place. My first encounter with their work was shortly after Beautiful Bastard was released. The story had swoon, feels, steam, and so much chemistry between Bennett and Chloe that you were swimming in it. I have not felt the things that that book made me feel since they ended that series and the Wild Seasons series. Yes I love their work, yes I still read the books, but no I do not love them anywhere near what I did with those books. I keep reading hoping they get back to that.

This book was enjoyable, and I loved Reid. I liked the dynamic of their circle of friends. I loved the premise of the story, but I feel like it missed the mark on several aspects. I don't think that Reid and Millie had any chemistry. I hated that she kept lying to someone who supposedly meant so much to her - good reason or not. When his other friends started helping her that really made me feel bad for Reid, he didn't deserve it. I do think that it was over an ok book. I just wanted and expected more from these ladies.

If a book could just be refreshing for mind and soul, this would be it. My Favorite Half-Night Stand by writing duo Christina Lauren is funny, light-hearted, filled with loveable characters, and charming. Though I (unlike our protagonist Millie) am more of a girl’s girl than a tomboy, I ended up really embracing her ragtag group of guy friends by the end. And Millie herself I felt a bit of kindred spirit with! Add that to a truly fun love story filled with witty repartee and a few sophomoric boy jokes, and you have a recipe for a book that will just make you feel happy!

About the Book

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.

Reflection

Well let’s get it out of the way—I was destined to love this book by nature of them all being Ph.D. “nerds” working at a university. My PhDiva heart was thrilled with this setting! Whenever Millie would talk about making her book deadlines—that was too real for me. And then having her favorite spots on campus? Been there, Millie! Even if you are cool and not a Ph.D. nerd like I am, I think you’ll find this setting fun.

Millie is a truly wonderful character. She is closed off—a bit of damage from her mother dying young and her father encouraging her to keep it positive when telling her sick mother about her day. After awhile, Millie learns to just keep the negative things pushed down. Now as an adult, Millie hasn’t really unlearned this tendency, and it is creating problems. She doesn’t connect as well with others as she’d like. To be Millie’s friends, you have to accept that there will always be a wall up. Millie’s growth as a character in this book was one of my favorite things about it!

And then we have the boys, Chris, Ed, Alex, and Reid (the love interest). Let’s get Chris and Alex out of the way first—they are ridiculous characters who add some much needed humor. Ed, on the other hand, should have his own book! Every reader on the planet will want to learn more about Ed, I’m sure. He is such a great side character—he’ll sneak up on you, I think!

And then Reid… Oh Reid. The book besties will tell you that my opinion on Reid changed multiple times through this book! Sometimes I couldn’t stand him, and other times I loved him so much that I wanted to dive into the pages and hug him! I don’t want to spoil anything by saying why my opinions kept changing, but I’ll say I ended firmly in the “TeamReid camp, so he is ultimately a great character.

There is a scene in this book that made me visibly cringe while reading it! It is a date scene but I won’t say which characters it is between because I want it to surprise you too. It is such a fantastic scene, though! I love the way the authors wrote it—I could feel every awkward moment as though I was the one on the date!
And then we have those steamy sex-scenes! Yowsa do these two have chemistry!!! And the genuine love—well that makes it even better, doesn’t it?

Thank you to Gallery Books for our copies to review.

I would give this book a 3 1/2 stars. It was an enjoyable story about best friends that aren't sure whether to develop their relationship into a romantic one. This book would make a good beach read, for anyone just needing something light and easy to read.

This was my first Christina Lauren book and it was such a fun read. This group of quirky, nerdy friends were a delight. I would love to read more books focused on each of their stories. The book’s format was right for the times and the use of the online dating app will appeal to many readers.

Here tit is: I loved this on SO MANY levels tits* compelled me to hashtag my review ;)

#tropeilicios
Soooo many of my fav tropes done well! Friends-to-lovers, masquerade/disguise/mistaken identity, oblivious to love, everyone can see it, love triangle (yes, there is some OW drama but no real cheating 'cause of the "masquerade" thingy *wink wink*), spontaneous fling (tits in the title), redemption (Mills has to do the hard work!) and unrequited love (Reid. Those texts to Catherine. Sigh.)

But don't let my overexcited trope ramblings confuse you. Tit's simple. Everything I love about reading romances is in Reid and Millie's journey toward each other. Respect, caring, laughs, they just feel right when they are together. They are solid friends unwittingly drawing closer to each other, yet they both haven't consciously considered crossing the friend zone. But one of them doesn't do serious speak...

#cutenerds
The authors refreshingly switch it up and give our hero Reid the nurture gene, while Millie remains closed mouth about her personal life. I really thought this twistabout played out well.
Tit *damn autocorrect* It felt genuine and organic between these two right from the start and stayed that way. I absolutely loved the emotional character development, as Reid struggled to stay true to himself and Millie struggled to find herself. In spite of the lie. And neither one wanting to lose each other. Because of the lie.
Oh, the sweet angst of it all.

#textual
Online dating is not in my wheelhouse, but what a band of merry men and one smartmouth woman these five nerds made in their goals to find a date for an upcoming university gala. Witty banter, self deprecating academic 30-somethings kept me smiling with every texty convo. Like Millie's autocorrect for its as "tits" too funny! Still, there is a soft undercurrent of modern life playing out here too...young, lonely workaholics yearning to make an emotional connection beyond a hook up.

See? Just a really great overall read. Something for everyone looking for a little HEA.
5 stars and a new rereadable favorite for my library.
Now I wonder if Alex gets a story?

*ARC received through NetGalley for an honest review *

millie and reid are clearly otp. as super smart university professors you'd think they'd be smarter about their love lives, but they are not.

my favorite half-night stand is a frothy, enjoyable rom-com that has a lot of heart. i love millie and reid's relationship. and the way they complicate their feelings for each other. how they misunderstand each other. how they open up to each other in unexpected ways.

millie is the one who really messes up here, and i love that she's the one who grovels. there are so many romance novels where it's pretty clear the heroine has been the one to mess up communication and the hero is still the one with the grand gesture. this is the main reason i dislike the grand gesture most of the time, because the wrong person is doing it.

but here, the way millie works her way back into reid's life is perfection. and i pretty much enjoyed everything about this book. the real friendships these characters have. the way they communicate with one another and how they see each other's failings. it's all so well-done.

**my favorite half-night stand will publish on december 4, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/gallery, threshold, pocket books (gallery) in exchange for my honest review.

Summary:

What if you haven’t found “the one” because they’re already your best friend? Do you risk everything for love?

Millie is one of the guys, and she’s okay with that. She’s fun and quick with a joke, and let’s face it, her group of guy-friends are awesome. It also keeps her from having to get too personal with anyone which, let’s face it, she sucks at. Besides who wants to keep explaining her interest in female-serial-killers to prospective dates? When a black tie gala makes the gang realize they might have a real problem finding dates, they decide to look to the internet for the answer. Online dating for the win! The guys are getting real, interesting matches and Millie’s getting (wait for it…) dick pics. And the guys have the nerve to say that it may be because of her introduction!

Then there’s the fact that she may have had really hot sex with her best friend- but totally does not want to mess things up there. It was a one time thing right? Besides, they’re both adult enough to handle this. Still, when Reed starts getting matched and she’s getting bozos, she decides to try something. Enter Catherine, her online persona- more personal, more open. When she matches with Reed it starts as a joke, surely he’ll know it’s her right? But he doesn’t…. and she likes who she can be as Catherine. Can she pull herself together and decide who and what she really wants, or will Millie loose her best friends?

My thoughts:

I actually finished this one over a week ago. I had been putting off writing a review and I don’t even know why. For the most part, I loved this book. In fact, I feel like we’ve have a really great batch of romances coming out recently. I really liked Mille and Reed, I liked their chemistry- it was odd because of how different they were emotionally. Reed is very giving, open and maybe overly warm; and Millie doesn’t do personal. At all. When you think about her past and how she grew up, it makes sense; but it still makes it difficult for her to be in the type of relationship Reed would want long term. I felt for both of them here, even when they were being stupid they were lovable. I also fell a little in love with the other guys in the group and would absolutely read their love stories if they were ever written. One thing I found odd was that we read about Reed at work- lecturing, or doing other things- but we never actually saw Millie doing any work. Her work is mentioned a lot, but in a more vague way. As I consider her the main character I found that odd. I would still give this book four and a half stars.

On the adult content scale, there’s some explicit sexual content, drinking and language. I would give it a five.
I was lucky enough to receive an eARC of this book from Netgalley and Gallery books in exchange for an honest review. My thanks!

There is something about a Christina Lauren book that just makes me happy, so it comes as no surprise that My Favorite Half-Night Stand left me with a goofy smile on my face.

Millie is emotionally stunted—often frustratingly so—but also kind and quick-witted. Reid won me over with his charm and easygoing nature. This is a friends-to-lovers romance, and while I obviously couldn’t wait for Reid and Millie to get their act together and jump aboard the love train, I fell equally in love with all five best friends. The funniest moments in the story come from their get-togethers and wacky group chats. They have such a wonderful camaraderie that I really wanted to be part of their close-knit group.

Having just finished a string of highly emotional books, this very fun romantic comedy was just what I needed.

If you are looking for a book that will make you laugh, then this is one you might want to read. I don't think I have laughed so hard in quite some time.

Millie and Reid are best friends but are attracted to each other, or at least in an inebriated stated Millie realizes how hot Reid is and starts looking at him in a new light. Reid has always had a thing for Millie but has never acted on those feelings. But this isn't where the fun really starts...no it starts when they decide they need to find dates to a university function and try their hand at online dating. I should back up and give you some insight into this small group of 5 - Reid, Millie, Chris, Alex, and Ed. They all teach at a CA university and have a close-knit friendship. None of them have a steady so they all sign up for a dating website called IRL. Millie decides that the guy's profiles say nothing and writes a new one for each of them. However, her profile doesn't say much and she gets all the weirdos responding to her profile. Unbeknownst to the guys, she creates a new profile for herself using her middle name as her online name and surprisingly (or maybe not) she matches 98% to Reid. At first she thinks that her first reply to him will clue him in that it is her with various references (because the profile picture isn't going to do it) but of course he doesn't pick up that it is here...hello, he's a guy and while smart and intuitive, he is still a guy.

While most of the book is light and funny, it does get somewhat serious when Reid discovers that Millie is who he has been chatting with on IRL. I am sure you can imagine the fallout from that conversation. But is Millie willing to take the risk? Is she willing to open up to Reid about who she is and her background? You'll have to read the book to find out those details.

I loved the format of the book as it flipped between Millie and Reid's point of view. Millie has an obsession with serial killers and can be snarky when it comes to her circle of friends. There are group chats within the book which add their own element of humor. As I said before I laughed a LOT in this book and will have to seek out more of her books (once I read more of my TBR pile)

An awesome take on today’s dating scene. I was agonizing over the relationship that Reid and Millie have and what I know they should have. It was like watching a horror movie. You know you should look away when the man with the chainsaw comes after the group of teenagers but you just can’t stop yourself from peeking between your fingers.
5 stars!!

Christina Lauren has been on my TBR for awhile but this book is my first. I was drawn in by blurb and the concept.

Millie and Reid have been good friends for years. One half-night stand before their friend group decides to give online dating a try to find a date for a work gala definitely blurs the lines but they decide to keep their friendship and forget about the awkwardness. When Millie gets nothing but unpleasant experiences from her online matches, she decides to make a different profile that her friends don't know about. As Catherine she gets matched with Reid. As Reid and Catherine get closer, so do Millie and Reid. The lines were blurred after their first half-night stand and now they can barely see them at all.

I love modern retellings of stories so I loved how this one was going to be a kind of blend of The Twelfth Night and Cyrano de Bergerac. I didn't feel like this book lived up to what I thought it was going to be. Maybe that's because I love those two stories or maybe it's because I've built up this author duo a lot but I had to force myself to finish this book. I felt like while Millie and Reid were supposed to be best friends, I couldn't really see why they were friends and it made Millie's actions that much worse. I will definitely still try another book by Christina Lauren since I think this one just wasn't for me.

*This is my voluntary review of an advanced reader copy*

This was my first Christina Lauren book and these two authors made it straight to the top of my auto-read list. Everything and everyone in this story was lovable that the book felt almost a little too short which is by no means the authors' fault and only my love and enthusiasm for this wonderful friends-to-lovers novel.

Millie loves her job and her small circle of four friends who consists only of the XY-chromosome variety and are all scientists. One of them is Reid, her best friend, and their relationship is truly amazing. The ease with which they treat one another almost could have fooled me into thinking that they are really solely platonic. But while they have a beautiful friendship, Millie keeps Reid and everyone else at arms length, so far that Reid wonders at some point if she has the emotional capacity to feel deep emotions.

But one night Millie is a little tipsy and feels a little frisky so she makes her move and they end up spending, you guessed it, half a night. Apparently the underlying attraction they've felt for one another has been brewing and neither of them has acknowledged it. So how do you go back to friendship when the night you had with your best friend rocked your world? How do you keep the awkwardness out?

***Trying to be cool about banging your best friend is a lot harder than I would have anticipated.***

When the five friends need to attend a black tie function for work and don't have dates they have the glorious idea to register for an online dating platform. Millie signs up with a name none of her friends is aware of and finds herself being a 98% match with Reid. They start messaging each other, with Reid being none the wiser that he's talking to his best friend. For so long Millie has kept everything she feels inside: about her sick dad, the way she's dropped the ball with her sister. For the first time Millie can be herself, but she does it on the sly and as we all know...secrets always have a way of coming out at some point.

Often times emotionally closed off characters come across a little distant, maybe even cold. Not Mllie - she has a warmth about her that I found enchanting. She is wicked smart and has a kickass sense of humor, she just bottles up her feelings. The way she explained them totally resonated with me and I think this is what made this book so special to me. I saw myself in a lot of things Millie said and did. Her loneliness, not being able to say the things that moved her...in her mind she voices things many of us aren't able to admit.

***I’m lonely. I’m lonely because I don’t tell people what I need or what I want, and then get hurt when they don’t figure it out on their own.***

Reid is dreamy and so so swoon-worthy. Ahhh he has this charming, humorous and intelligent way about him I love. There is also an innate kindness that makes him stand out. And don't get me started on his nerdiness. I LOVE a hot nerd. I adored Millie and Reid's friendship. It was easy, sweet, and strong enough to overcome mistakes made on both sides.

***The way he smiles up at me is the same way he always looks at me: like there is nowhere else he’d rather be. There’s no awkwardness or tentative touches. It’s just us.***

Their circle of friends is a hoot, totally quirky, endearing and nerdy and when they interact you can feel the love they have for each other. You can also feel a sort of reverence they all have for Millie.

The graphic format of the friends' online chats is extremely well done - so hats off to whoever decided to make the book look interactive and alive!

MY FAVORITE HALF-NIGHT STAND is a beautiful and enchanting study of characters and online dating with surprising depth and a little angst towards the end. I had such a ball reading about the friends' antics and Reid and Millie's path to love in this modern and crisp writing style. So as always, when I find a new author to love, I'm desperate to catch up on their other books. If you love a cute, delightful friends-to-lovers story that will have you swoon and make you think then grab this. You're welcome.

“I love you, too.” He punctuates each small phrase with a kiss lower on my throat. “All of you. The silly, the quiet, the argumentative, the sarcastic, and even this side.” He kisses my shoulder. “The softer side.”

I loved this book! The catfishing was kind of a typical thing for romance books, but it was done well. Nerds are hot. I love Catherine and Mills equally!

My Favorite Half-Night Stand is a bit Big Bang Theory-ish with its group of almost geeky friends who are more like family. Each character has his or her own issues with dating and since they all need a plus one for an event, signing up for online dating just makes sense. As if wading through the clear as mud waters of online dating isn't confusing enough, things are further complicated when Reid and Millie cross the friendship line. Given her age, Millie's actions in the book do stretch the believability scale, but she's such a hot mess emotionally that it works and of course, we get plenty of the wit and sarcasm the authors are known for. As things progress, both in the online world and for Millie and Reid, it's pretty easy to see the problems before they happen, but the journey is engaging, often laugh out loud hilarious, sexy, and loads of fun - sometimes, all at the same time. What always sets Christina Lauren's books apart for me are the characters. Even the secondary characters are interesting, love them or hate them, they add something to the story. From Reid's over-sharing mother to the ever so lovable Ed, this one has terrific characters in spades and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend time with all of them. All in all, another entertaining, witty romance from these authors.

Okay, I'm now 2 for 2 when it comes to reading Christina Lauren! <em>My Favorite Half-Night Stand</em> is yet another fun, engaging feel-good story about sexy smart people falling awkwardly in love... and I loved the heck out of this story.

Millie is 29, intelligent, adorable, the center of a friend circle consisting of four guys plus her, and she has a great life -- except she hasn't been with anyone romantically or sexually in way too long, and isn't feeling particularly up to starting down that road again. After childhood losses and some strained family relationships as an adult, Millie prefers to keep her depths bottled up, showing her friends her bubbly outer persona but not letting anyone get under her skin or see too deeply into her soul.

Reid is her best friend, and they spend one very steamy night together -- but Reid is looking for a relationship, and Millie can't quite figure out how to be vulnerable enough to let him get closer to her. When the group decides to join a dating site, it goes pretty much how you might expect. Millie creates a second persona as an attempt to jazz up her profile in a safe way, but when this new profile "Catherine" gets matched with Reid, Millie lets it play out for far too long.

She and Reid have excellent chemistry and definitely heat up the page when they're together. It's interesting to see the tables flipped here, where it's the woman who has a fear of intimacy and the man who's frustrated by his partner's insistence on keeping things light.

Told in alternating chapters, we see the events develop from both Millie's and Reid's perspectives, and get to see snippets of the online dating messages and group texts as well, which are funny and silly, and help illustrate the group dynamic. Both Millie and Reid are intelligent, sensitive people. I just wished they'd been more upfront with each other sooner. By pretending their nights together were just about the sex, they ended up tangled up in a situation where they both got hurt and risked losing something great. (Of course, as with many of these types of books, if they'd been clearer at the start, we'd have gotten to the HEA within about 50 pages, and then there'd be no story!)

My quibbles with this book are minor. First, everyone is gorgeous and successful in their fields. Not much to complain about, right? But it can be a bit hard to relate to people who are so perfect and flawless. My more serious complaint is that we don't see enough of Millie at work. She a university professor with a book in the works, and her subject matter -- female serial killers -- is fascinating. I would have liked to see Millie actually teaching a class or being more active professionally in the book. Yes, we hear about what she does and what her field of research is, but I would have liked to have seen her in that role, so we'd get a clearer picture of her as a strong, brilliant woman, to offset the emphasis on her romantic triumphs and failures.

After reading <a href="http://bookshelffantasies.com/2018/11/23/book-review-josh-hazels-guide-to-not-dating-by-christina-lauren/"><em>Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating</em></a> (and loving it), I was sold on Christina Lauren and needed more. Now that I've read her (their) newest release, I need to go back and read their previous books too. <em>My Favorite Half-Night Stand</em> is a smart and sexy romance that's a quick read, perfect for a night in -- best read with cozy pajamas, a fluffy quilt, and a mug of hot cocoa.