Okay. Wow. So.... Millie = Me. I mean, I’m not really in to serial killers (although I do love a good Criminal Minds binge) & (thank God) my mom is still living but, the whole emotional unavailability thing hit way close to home. I blame growing up as the only girl with five brothers. Millie’s reasons are way more legitimate but, still, I get her & I love Reid for her. Reading things from his perspective as well made me feel like I should probably thank my husband lol. Anyway, Christina Lauren did an amazing job with this one. It was as funny as it was angsty & the character development makes you feel like you know every character in real life. Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the advanced read! It was definitely one of my favorites of the year!

Friends can be more then that right? It’s hard to imagine that two people can be intimate and a. Keep it a secret from their friends and b. Not let it effect their current relationship. Millie and Reid try to do that after they have a ‘half night stand’ after drinking too much.

This kind of story has been told quite a few times. The whole can two friends have a benefits and not let it ruin their friendship. But while that has been done, what sets this book apart is that Lauren uses more modern techniques to tell the story. She uses group chat, mentions popular dating sites, and really shows the hardships that come with trying to find a relationship. It’s funny, cute, and a really enjoyable read.

The story is predictable and there isn’t s whole lot of ‘turmoil’ but like I said before it’s very enjoyable to read. It’s a quick read that can be read in 1-2 sittings and the perfect book for when the winter months hit us hard.

In all honesty, this book isn’t ground breaking and I don’t have much to say about it. I enjoyed the story and found it confirmed that Christina Lauren is (are?) an author that I will add to be automatic read list. If you like friendship to more romance stories, I would recommend this book. I wouldn’t have minded it being longer if I could have had some more of the group friendship interactions because I greatly enjoyed them. I also wouldn’t mind getting books about each of the friends and their romances.

My favorite thing about this book is the quirky, witty, likable and intelligent characters!

Millie Morris is just one of the guys. She is a UC Santa Barbra professor who hangs with her group of male professor friends: Reid (her best friend), Ed, Alex and Chris. She is funny, intelligent yet emotionally guarded and doesn't like to reveal too much about herself. When their university decides to host a black-tie event, the group of friends decide that they need to find dates and begin by signing up to an online dating site. The guys in the group need help with their profiles which Millie happily writes for them. The profiles she writes for them are hits with the guys, she has captured their personalities and included their areas of interest. During all of this, Millie and Reid share a night (ahem * a half night) of passion but decide to stay friends and not become romantically involved. When Millie does her own limited and non-personal profile, the men in her group declare that it sucks and after receiving some dick pics, she decides to create another secret profile using her middle name where she will share and divulge information about herself. Things become interesting when the computer matches “Catherine” (Millie’s secret profile) and Reid! oops as in a big OOPS. Drama, angst, longing and secrets take center stage.

The characters live in the modern digital age, so it was fun to read not only their chats, but the online dating messages as well. The group of friends is cohesive and have a lot of fun together. I enjoyed their chats and found them to be clever and showcased each character sense of humor and intellect. The book is also told through Millie and Reid's POV which helps the reader get to know each character even more, but we also root for them. When I wasn't rooting for them, I was wishing I could shake each of them! The writing duo of Christina Lauren have the gift of creating fun, witty and interesting characters that are instantly likable and ones we want to root for. There is angst, there is love, there is laughter and there are revelations.

I found this book to be a fun fast read. It was no surprise how the book ended, but gosh, was it fun watching the characters get there. This book did not disappoint and succeeded in not only entertaining me but causing me to want to binge read the rest of these Authors books! Another HUGE plus for me was that the ending did not feel rushed. My biggest complaint with any books in the romance genre is the rushed endings. The ending in this book felt natural and not rushed in any way. The pacing was spot on!
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Thank you to Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

4 fun stars!

I must say, I was expecting a sort of cheesy rom-com going into this book. My Favorite Half Night Stand was definitely a rom-com, but far from cheesy. It was super fun and cute! I love books about friendships. What I wouldn’t give to have a group of friends like Millie, Reid, Chris, Alex and Ed to hangout with on the regular! Don’t get me wrong...I love my friends, but there’s just something about this fivesome that makes you kinda envious.

This is my first Christina Lauren book. I love the fact that these two best friends combined their first names into one name to create a writing duo. I definitely look forward to reading more from them.

My Favorite Half Night Stand was enjoyable from the first page to the last. I laughed out loud quite a few times. Predictable? Of course! What rom-com isn’t? That didn’t take away from any of the fun I had reading it. It was a quick, easy read that was a nice break from my usual thrillers - especially during this time of year. I think it would make a great movie too!

A Traveling Sisters group read. 😊

Thank you to NetGalley, Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books and Christina Lauren for the ARC in exchange for my review.

I really loved this book. Christina Lauren, this duo is magic. They've created a story about being emotionally unavailable, friendships, uncanny love and forgiveness. Sometimes cheesy, but I laughed out loud and smiled my way through this book. So many odd moments make this a solid read for me. I would love to have this friendship, 4 friends, different backgrounds, different needs but always being there for one another. I recommend this one as a palate cleanser or when you're in the mood for a feel good story with a happy ending (they do happen sometimes).

Well, that was adorable. This was my first Christina Lauren book, and now I definitely will be reading the others. It was a super fast read. Not anything groundbreaking, but cute without being too sappy.

Millie is a college professor, and her four best friends are guys. Millie is totally confident in their platonic status, until the night when wine and loneliness lead her to sleep with one of them. Reid has always been the one she felt closest too, but they're both shocked by how right it feels. They insist it's only a one night thing, until it happens again. And then again. But Millie is a closed book when it comes to feelings and problems, and Reid doesn't want a relationship that's not open and honest. Things get complicated when Millie matches up with Reid on a dating app...under a false name. Through their messages she's able to open up about herself to him for the first time, but will it all come crashing down when Reid finds out she's been lying?

As I said, it's super cute. The sex isn't too graphic, there's character growth, humor, tension, Reid is utterly swoony and Millie isn't a perfect Mary Sue. I highly recommend!

This was a light-hearted rom-com. Millie and her four male colleagues (and friends) need to find dates for a work event, so they sign up to a dating website. When Millie creates a profile under a different name and and uses a mysterious photo, she gets matched with her best friend Reid.

When Millie and Reid start communicating through the dating website they click immediately and have the best conversations but Reid has no idea he’s been chatting with Millie.

Outside the website, they’re attracted to each other but factors are preventing these two from throwing themselves into a relationship.

I liked the humorous dialogue in the book, there’s some back and forth banter that’s entertaining. My favorite sections were the group texts, excellent dynamic. This book would make a great, fun movie adaptation.

Overall, I enjoyed it and recommend it to readers of romantic and contemporary fiction.

Received ARC from the publisher via Netgalley

Super cute and fun, My Favorite Half-Night Stand was enjoyable from start to finish.

I absolutely adored Millie and Reid’s friend group. All my favorite parts were when they were all together or group messaging. They were funny, but could also be really supportive. In my younger years, I had a lot of very platonic guy friends and some of the conversations they have in this book reminded me so much of hanging out with my friends and being the only girl in the group. I loved how relatable they were.

I liked Millie and Reid together, too. They had a closer friendship than Millie had with the other guys and I really enjoyed their banter and how they were with each other. I didn’t love their half-night stands, but seeing as that’s the title of the book, I knew what I was getting myself into. The scenes were more graphic than I wanted, but not that bad as it could have been since I was expecting it. And of course, a large part of the target audience will be all about it.

So where it went a little downhill for me was Millie’s absolute inability to talk about anything emotionally heavy and how the online dating storyline was extremely similar to another book I’ve read recently. I didn’t like Millie’s deceit, even though she had good intentions, and I knew that it would eventually blow up in her face. She really frustrated me at times with her refusal to communicate, too. However, I did like that she really learned some lessons and started to grow as a person because of what happened.

Overall, I really enjoyed My Favorite Half-Night Stand. I liked the romance and the humor and the characters. The group of friends is the reason why I’m upping my rating a little bit more than I thought I would originally give it. Christina Lauren fans will definitely want to give this one a try, as will other Romance/Contemporary readers.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 4 Stars

I had never read a book by Christina Lauren before, but I knew she wrote in the modern romance, chick lit and new adult genres. I did, therefore, expect an easy-to-read, fluffy romance, which would also hopefully be funny. Bridget Jones Diaries and the Shopaholic series are the unwritten standard setters for me in this genre in terms of the overall entertainment value.

First of all, I was surprised to see that My Favorite Half-Night Stand has 400 pages. It certainly did not read like it did. I finished it easily in a couple of days. Secondly, it definitely does not measure up to some of the better books in the genre, which makes me wonder what the fuss is all about with Christina Lauren's books. I will have to read some others and see if they are any better.

This novel focuses on a group of four friends (four men and one woman) who on a whim decide to try online dating in order to secure partners for an upcoming work event. The story gets a bit more complicated after Millie (the only female in the group) hooks up with Reid (one of the four male friends). They do decide that it would be better to keep their relationship strictly platonic, but then they also get matched by the dating app. As they start communicating via the app, only one of them knows the real identities behind their online personalities.

Overall, I would say this is not the worst book I've ever read, but it is definitely not the best. It is what it is: a cheesy romance novel with some cringy and hard to believe situations. It is however a quick read and helps pass the time while sitting on a long flight. 3 out of 5 stars.

I received an advanced e-copy of the novel from NetGalley.com. It will be available for purchase in December.

Wow what a great story with amazing characters that you are guaranteed to fall in love with! I adore Millie and Reid!! Both of these characters are so great but I especially love how complex Millie is and just everything about her. I love Reid's dilemma and how that all turns out and where the story goes. All the friends in their group bring something extra to this story line and it truly was so much fun to read. I really like that this book takes a different angle on relationships and is just so much fun while still giving us some super sexy times.

Thank you to Netgalley/Publisher for this ARC!

I really enjoyed this happy book that really made me laugh out loud.
This is a rom-com for the ages!
The plot is a bit predictable, but how can you not love the quirky loveable characters.

This was a light read that at the end of the book I was smiling :)

Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “My Favorite Half-Night Stand” by Christina Lauren

Christina Lauren, Author(s) of “My Favorite Half-Night Stand” has written a unique, witty, amusing, enjoyable and entertaining novel. The Genres for this novel are Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Humor,and New Adult. The author(s) describe the colorful characters as quirky, slightly dysfunctional, and complex.

The author(s) tackle the subject of on-line dating today for late twenties and thirty year olds, and the trials and tribulations that go along with that. Also the question of can male and female be friends and have half- benefits? I did have some laugh out loud moments that caught both my husband’s and dog’s attention.

Millie Morris is just one of the guys and her best friends are a group of men, that are professionals. Millie is a specialist: WAIT FOR IT: “a female killer expert”, a Professor, no less. Millie has a great sense of humor, and wit, but is seriously lacking getting personal skills. Millie keeps everything about herself quiet. When the group of friends get together to celebrate, a special black tie event is brought up. How are they going to get dates? It is decided that they will try on-line dating. Millie has to brush up her friend’s profiles.

Millie finds that Reid Campbell, one of her buddies seems more attractive than usually. After the group meets, Reid takes a “tipsy” Millie home and the two have a half night stand of sex. The two immediately regret and worry that this could hurt their friendship, and decide that will be the end of that.

Millie finds it easiest to change her On-line profile to Catherine, her middle name, and finds that she is 98% compatible with one man, but the problem is she knows him. I would recommend this fun-loving and entertaining story to those readers who enjoy novels with Romance and Humor. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.
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PUBLISHED BY LINDASBOOKOBSESSION

My Favorite Half-Night Stand, written by Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, who is better known as Christina Lauren, is a friends to lovers romantic comedy that has a hilarious take on the online dating scene. This is the first book by this author that I have read, and I was unable to put it down…read it in a day and a half.

Millie is a well-respected college professor, her field of study is female serial killers so she smart, right? Well, she may be book smart, but not so bright in her personal life. She experienced a major tragedy during her childhood which has resulted in her being emotionally stunted, not letting friends get to know the real Millie. Although Millie is flawed and did some unacceptable things I did like her, for me, it just made her character authentic. Her four best friends, all guys, Reid, Ed, Alex and Chris, are also professors at the same university. They are all cute somewhat geeky guys. I really love the relationship that they all share and felt that they all really care about one another. Reid and Millie share a special bond, best friends absolutely, and then there was that little misstep of that half night-stand. I definitely agree with Millie, Reid is both brilliant and beautiful.

The group needs to find dates for at the university’s formal event, with no prospects they turn to an online dating site. That's when things get interesting. Profiles are written, with some get more attention than others and some getting unwanted attention, which had me cracking up. Millie and Reid get tangled up in the online dating scene which creates some fascinating complexities in their friendship. There is so much more I could write about that, but I wouldn't want to ruin the fun of the read.
I loved the whole storyline of this book. These authors did a super job of inserting pop culture references throughout this well written well thought out book. Character development was expertly done, the characters growing and maturing throughout the book. Written from a dual point of view, which happens to be my favorite, the authors uniquely give the reader a glimpse of the innermost thoughts of these two very complex characters. In conclusion, My Favorite Half-Night Stand was a fun, sexy read with the perfect amount of angsts. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it.

***I kindly received an ARC of this book by way of NetGalley/publisher/author. I was not contacted, asked or required to leave a review to read this book. I received no compensation, financial or otherwise. This review is my honest opinion .***

I'm going to be honest here: My expectations of My Favorite Half-Night Stand were not super high going into the story.

I hated Beautiful Bastard, a book that most readers love, and haven't read Christina Lauren since. And, to make matters worse, contemporary romances are my least favorite subclass of romance, and get my consistently lowest ratings. As a result, I was shocked at how much I enjoyed My Favorite Half-Night Stand .

The book was funny, like really funny. I was highlighting and laughing out loud for so much of the story- just funny, witty banter that put a smile on my face. I wasn't expecting that.

I usually feel wishy-washy about friends-to-lovers. I don't like when the emotional bond is already there prior to the story's start, but in this case, it really worked. I related to both MCs and I loved the duel POV.

My Favorite Half-Night Stand was just simply a really, really good read. It made me happy, and I believed in the main couple, and, for me, that's what reading romance is all about.

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

There was so much to love in this story. The friends to more, the relationship between this group of friends—their interactions, their game nights, their banter—and the fact that they went into this online dating app together, attempting to grow up and date and go outside of their comfort zone. I love this writing duo for their romantic comedies, their wit and humor, their amazing story telling that shines through again and again.
Millie is a bit closed off in her emotions but she is a GREAT friend to her best friends—4 guys—Reid, Chris, Ed and Alex. They love her for who she is and have never asked for anything more. Until they all decide to create profiles for a dating app that will help them find dates and Millie's fake account is matched with Reid, her best friend she had a half-night stand with, someone who has started to mean more to her than just a friend.
I have to admit that while I loved all of the guys, and most especially Reid who I felt was the most open and emotionally mature of the group, I didn't love Millie. I understood some of her gripes and hang ups about opening up and exposing her feelings, but I didn't love the lying to the one person who meant so much to her. And when things come out in the open, I didn't love how some of the guys played a role in continuing the lie and how fast things seemed to wrap up in the end. I just wanted more. I felt sad for Reid who I felt just deserved more.
After reading Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating, maybe I had high expectations because I just loved that book so much. This one was definitely fun and held my interest, but I felt like it could have been so much more coming from this writing duo I love so much.

There is a reason that Christina Lauren is a favorite amongst romance readers. They get it right every single time, and My Favorite Half Night Stand is just another shining example of why that is. They took a popular sub-genre (friends to lovers), put a modern spin on it, and gave us characters we wished to befriend and cheer for. They turned something that could have been predictable and expected into a story that was fresh and captivating.

Millie and Reid are best friends within a group of friends who all work together. While everyone is tight, Millie and Reid are especially close. Until one night, that friendship turns into a tipsy hook-up. Deciding not to let this “misstep” get in the way of their plans to find dates for an upcoming event, Millie, Reid, and the rest of their group create online dating profiles. It's all fun and games until Millie matches with Reid...and he has no clue it's her.

There was a lot to love about this story, but I think the best thing Christina Lauren did with these characters was to make their female lead as flawed as she was. Too often in romance novels, it's the men who are emotionally detached, but not in this story. To put it bluntly, Mille is a hot mess. She really struggles to open herself up to people, especially those closest to her. It turns out to have a major effect on her relationships. I don't want to give anything away, but the way Reid did not allow himself to be treated like a doormat or a second choice was high up on my list of favorites parts as well. This was not an easy love story. Generally, books that follow a deception storyline are automatic no’s for me. But there was something very different about the way it was presented in this book. I just loved it!

My Favorite Half Night Stand is a story that was perfectly thought out and executed. It had plenty of romance paired with non-stop laughs and true chemistry between both lovers and friends. I could not walk away from this book and read the entire story in one sitting. It has cemented a spot on my top reads of 2018.

What an entertaining group of friends! I loved the main couple but I loved the group of friends just as much. The fact that they all decided to join a dating app so that they would have a plus one for a work event was pretty comical.

Sometimes I struggle with a friends to lovers story because you gotta get that transition just right to be believable. I admit, at first I thought things were just a little too easy, but the more we learn about Millie and Reid the more believable these two were.

This is the third book I've read from this writing duo and after finishing this book, it made me think about why I've loved all three so much. I realize they have been like a sneak attack. They start out light, funny and very entertaining. Then as the story progresses, I start to see a subtle shift to a more serious side that just pulls me right in.

It surprises me to get that serious look into these light and funny characters and I love when a book surprises me. This was a fun story and I can't wait to see what these authors bring next.

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own*
3.5 stars

Friends, this is a hard review to write. I have turned into such a Christina Lauren fangirl this year, but I wasn't a huge fan of this book. My problem might be that I just expected so much more from this amazing duo.

I liked the set up, I really like the concept, even the characters started out interesting to me. Also part of the dialogue is through IM which I found to be so cool. This is how we converse now! Even the online dating talks were interesting because I'm sure so many people have been there before. And of course, the writing is magnificent as always.

So, even though I'm gushing over this book, I still giving it 3.5 stars... why? I think it is because I have such issues with Millie. She didn't handle things right, and yes she does grow and get better, but at times I thought she was super thickheaded. She didn't feel like a 30 year old, but someone who should still be in her early 20s. Really, all of the characters felt younger than they should have been, yet older since they had such a hard time with their dating profiles. There was just so many disconnects.
Another thing is a praise open communication, which totally didn't happen here-- in fact it is the main conflict in this novel, so I should have known I was going to have problems with it. I could understand Millie's ability to be more open online, I get it, but :/

I think 3.5 stars is the lowest I've rated a Christina Lauren novel. I will definitely read whatever they write next and hope this was just an outlier.

I’m always here for a Lo and C book and I love a BFF to more story.

I liked Millie and Reid and their group of friends. She’s closed off and he’s a bit of a marshmallow and their interactions were fun. I loved all of the scenes of the group together and definitely wanted more.

Plot wise...I found it a bit lacking. I wasn’t a fan of the catfishing slash lying, especially when other people found out. With so much emphasis on the dating site, I think I was expecting more humor {even though that’s more of the Josh + Hazel storyline} than feelings.

Overall, it was a quick read and I did enjoy it. Maybe it’s because I recently read J+H and I might be obsessed with it? Logically, I know that every book they write shouldn’t be the same but there was a bit of a spark that was missing for me.

**Huge thanks to Gallery Books for providing the arc free of charge**