How I loved THIS BOOK.

I am late to the Christina Lauren party...but I'm so glad to be here now.

This book is the story of Millie, the lone female in a circle of friends that includes several male friends who teach at the same university. Unbeknownst to others in the circle, Millie and their other friend Reid shared a passionate "half-night" together after an evening of drinks.

You can read the synopsis, which tells of the whole pact that they all make - to join an online dating website in order to find dates to a black tie function the university is throwing. Of course, Millie (using "Catherine") and Reid are drawn to each other. Reid doesn't realize the side view, semi blurred profile picture is Millie; Millie is shocked when he doesn't realize it is her because in her mind, after replying to his first message she feels she has tossed out obvious clues in her reply that... well...Catherine IS Millie.

There was not a thing I didn't enjoy about this book, and let me tell you - that is saying A LOT. Because usually, books that contain a situation such as this one does - that being one character keeping a secret from the other - make me squirm. And not in a fun way. I get full on anxiety from hell reading stories like that, knowing that it is going to get ugly.

Did I get anxious while reading this situation as well? A bit. However, the humor of the book kept my anxiety slight rather than the "giving me a tummy ache" kind. The writing is wonderful. The characters in this book are people I want to MEET; they are so kind and so damn funny. These are the kinds of friends I like - the ones who know that when you're giving them hell, it's because you know they can take it and you are doing it either for fun or because you love them.

I adored that the couple in the book started out as friends of several years before a romance developed. Maybe because I think you should be in love with your best friend? I don't know, all I can say is I loved that aspect of the story as well.

If you love a good rom-com, this book is for you. If you love a good romance, this book is for you. If you love characters that you miss when you finish a book - this book is for you. I have nothing but love for this book and look forward to reading this author's back catalog of books.

Somewhere along the line books by Christina Lauren moved up to the top of my must read immediately list. I know once I have one safely loaded onto on my kindle that I am settling in for a few hours of bliss.

The premise of this book does not sound particularly original. It seems as if it will be a typical friends to lovers story but not even close. Millie and Reid are certainly friends and they do become lovers but there is so much depth to this story. Reading about Millie and the emotional journey that she must undertake to figure out her feelings honestly had me tearing up more than once. Reid is pretty close to perfect, with enough boneheaded moments to keep him from being sickeningly perfect. I loved their group of friends and their text exchanges.
There honestly was not anything that fell flat for me in this book. It was the kind of book that made me want to hug it when it ended.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

SO cute. I loved the format, especially the text message chains and IM conversations that kept me giggling.

This was my first Christina Lauren book and I was a little nervous going in as I’ve seen lots of praises for their previous works so my expectations were high. I needn’t worry though, as My Favorite Half-Night Stand was the perfect weekend read with relatable characters.

Millie, Reid, Ed, Chris and Alex all work in academia at UCSB and need dates for a formal event at the school. They decide to try online dating, but at the same time Millie and Reid begin a physical relationship. Then when Millie creates a secret profile under the name "Catherine" and matches with Reid, she begins an emotional relationship with him under this ruse.

This was a great friends-to-lovers romance. Millie felt like my spirit animal. She's a criminology professor who's obsessed with serial killers, has mainly guy friends, and is emotionally closed off. Reid on the other hand is sensitive and someone his friends can lean on. As Catherine, Millie is able to connect to him on an emotional level that she finds so hard to do in real life. Of course things come to a head when Reid discovers that Milie was Catheirne.

I really loved the dynamic of all the friends and wouldn't mind seeing each of the other guys get their own story. Even at 400 pages this felt like a quick read and I read it in one setting. Now onto the bookstore to get Christina Lauren's other books.

You can't go wrong with a book by Christina Lauren! All of her books are laugh out loud funny and have well developed characters. Millie and her 3 best friends, who are guys, have a great relationship. They can talk about anything and often do. When Millie and Reid, one of the best friends, start realizing that they have feelings for each other it throws the whole dynamics of the group off. Add a dating app and things really go off the rails. Hilarious, heart warming, sweet and sexy, this is a must read.

Pretty much your typical friends to lovers romance.. I have to confess that I just didn't feel the chemistry between the two main characters.

Another wonderful refreshing and laugh out loud novel by Christina Lauren. The trouble and terrors of online dating and how it does not always work out for everyone. I mean anyone who has ever tried online dating can tell you its a lot of smoke and mirrors and determining who Is true or false.

One of my favorite books I've read this year was Josh and Hazel's guide to not dating. It was one of those books that I didn't think could be topped, but then My Favorite Half-Night Stand came along and move over Josh and Hazel.

I want Millie to be my BFF. She's fun, not over the top and obsessed with female serial killers. Reid was a lot of fun and not super obnoxious. Mill, Reid, and their gang of friends have to find dates for a work function and thus online dating begins. Reid has some hilarious encounters, while unsurprisingly Millie gets the skeevy dick pics and requests. This causes her to start a second profile, unbeknownst to her group of friends, and gets matched with Reid.

As a fan of all things contemporary romance I know where this is going, but it's all about the journey and Christina Lauren took us on quite a ride. It was cute, funny, tense, sweet, and sexy. There were times where I wanted to scream at Millie to just tell him, but I also get why she was so insecure about it. There were plenty of times that Reid made me swoon.

Chris, Ed and Alex rounded out the friend group. I enjoyed the texts between them, they were hilarious. They were supportive and tough love givers. I'd like to see books about them in the future (hint, hint).

If you haven't picked up a Christina Lauren book, I highly recommend it!

Christina Lauren as a writing duo has proved themselves to have superb writing skills and getting into the heads of their characters. They usually leave me laughing to myself in public. That’s why I was so disappointed that I couldn’t relate to either of these characters. Their interactions didn’t feel authentic and I actually didn’t finish this book – which is a first for anything written by this phenomenal duo. You haven’t lost me though; I will still anxiously await their next novel.

This is only my second Christina Lauren read but holy crap I’m kicking myself for waiting so long to find her witty fun. A truly swoony, friends to lovers and I smiled through the whole thing.

I love this group of characters, I devoured the back and forth filled with push and pull AHHH it’s just an addicting read. I couldn’t read fast enough but yet wanted to slow down to savor each word. Reed and Millie are the definition of swoonage. They tug you along on their emotional journey of wading the treacherous waters of online dating when what you need is under your nose.

The chat formatting is wonderful and full of long time friend fun. I was captivated, stunned and all kinds of squirmy with the chemistry and heat between Millie and Reed. I especially liked the charisma of thier friends. A spectacular adventure in finding sweet love and hotness with your meant to be.

Millie Morris, a professor at UC Santa Barbara, has accepted her perma-single status and place as "one of the guys", but things get shaken up a bit when a drunken celebration ends in a "half-night stand" between herself and her colleague/best friend in the world, the handsome and charming Reid Campbell.

Despite sharing a great night together, the two of them decide to stay friends, and even more, to create online dating profiles! When Millie can't find a way to be honest with her own name and picture, she creates a fake profile, but has no idea how to respond when Reid unknowingly "matches" with her and begins to fall for both the real Millie and the fake account.

I am such a sucker for the friends-to-lovers trope it’s not even funny, so when I heard that the writer duo Christina Lauren was putting out this story about best-friends/colleagues turned friends-with-benefits turned lovers? I was all over it! This is only the second Christina Lauren title I’d read, the first being Autoboyography, which I enjoyed, but had high hopes that I—like many of my friends—would like their adult novels even more.

Luckily, my suspicions were right, because I was obsessed with this read and could not put it down once while reading it. It was one of those things where I started it right before bed one night, planning to read “just a few chapters”, and the next thing I knew, it was 5am and I was finished it. That’s when you know a book sucked you in, right?

First of all, the writing in this is absolutely fantastic. I find that a lot of adult contemporary authors are great at writing emotions and feelings, but not amazing at the actual verbiage; that’s not an issue with this duo at all. Millie and Reid both felt like these wonderfully complex, three-dimensional characters. Also, can we talk for a second about how freaking awesome it is that Millie’s main character arc (besides her closed-off nature) is an obsession with female serial killers? Hello, can we be friends?

Another thing Christina Lauren has going for them is that they are just so damn good at making me smile, because the story is so cute and charming and fun. If I wasn’t cheesing over the cuteness, I was cringing out of my skin from secondhand embarrassment (in a good way, if that makes sense) because some of the interactions are so perfectly awkward.

Of course, there’s also the steam factor, and while Half-Night isn’t what I would consider the most sexual adult contemporary read, it definitely has a healthy dose of steamy scenes and they’re really well written—I don’t recall ever grimacing at any phrases or thinking that anything felt corny or unrealistic, which is a pretty common issue I have with sex scenes from lesser authors.

Honestly, I don’t have a single complaint about this book—great writing, fun characters, cute story, and perfect pacing.

All in all, My Favorite Half-Night Stand is such a delightful and heart-warming read. Whether you like your romance stories sexy, funny, or just sweet, there’s a little bit of something for everyone here. I’d happily recommend this story to anyone who’s a fan of adult contemporary romances, but I also think it would be a great introduction to the adult contemporary genre if you’re someone who’s more accustomed to YA contemporary and is looking to branch out into an older age range!

All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to Gallery Books for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

While this wasn’t my favorite Christina Lauren that I’ve read recently I still absolutely loved the story line, the writing + plot. As always it was LOL hilarious, sexy and everything readers are expecting from a Christina Lauren fix. The only reason this book doesn’t get 5 stars from me is because I didn’t connect with these characters as much as I have with those from the other two books I’ve read by them this year (Love and Other Words & Josh and Hazel). If you’re looking for a great rom-com though, this should definitely be on your TBR.

You guys!!! Christina Lauren is/are the kind of author (duo) that I always have high expectations for and who have consistently met and far exceeded anything I could have ever hoped for. I absolutely loved this book! It was so so funny and heartwarming, but also heartbreaking in that it highlights the fact that we are all a work in progress. It was raw, realistic and such an amazing story! I never wanted it to end!!

This book was truly fantastic in that it had the typical chemistry and humor that this author is known for but honestly the banter? THE BANTER WAS LIFE!! The tightknit circle of friends Millie and Reid were a part of was seriously my favorite part of this book. I was completely head over heels in love with the group comraderie and the banter. The group chats were life and I might have had belly aches from the amount of laugh out loud moments I had while reading this book. And Millie and Reid. Sigh. They were bestfriends that were so adorable, fun and just so real. I loved their chemistry and connection and the way they both needed more from one another even when they didn't realize what was in front of them from the beginning. Millie in particular touched my heart as Lauren portrayed her as a deeply caring friend and woman who just needed to get her life together and how she processed emotions. I related to her so much. 

All in all, while the idea of "secrets" and "secret identities" aren't my favorite, this story overall was fantastic. I can't wait for more from this dynamic duo in the future. Bravo! 4.5 stars! ~Ratula

I really enjoyed this book in spite of the terrible name. Yes, it was that old cliche of friends with benefits that moved along predictably (throwing in even more dating cliches along the way) but the emotional journey Millie went in added a little bit of depth. It was the perfect light hearted read I needed today.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Millie was just "one of the boys", and she loved her band of merry men. But, after a half-night stand with Reid and a group promise to online date together, things got messy when Millie masqueraded as one of Reid's digital suitors.

• Pro: This book was billed as a rom-com, and it delivered tons of laughs for me. The characters were so fun and quirky, and their musings and antics kept me in stitches.

• Pro: Speaking of musings, there were these conversations about dating and dating apps, which was hilarious. It was definitely a fun look at how dating has evolved in our digital age.

• Pro: I was shipping Millie and Reid at 7%. I always love to see a romance built on a strong foundation of friendship, and Millie and Reid had that. They had an ease with each other, that I envied, and they always seemed to enjoy their time together. I had no problem envisioning this turning to more.

• Pro: This friend group was awesome! These were my people. There were so many nerdy, science people in one place, I know I could sit down with them, and have the best time. You could see that they were more like family, and their dynamic was simply fantastic.

• Pro: I am always a fan of dual POVs, but CLo upped the game by adding in amusing group messages, texts, and some really heartfelt letters. I loved the way they utilized the additional media, and thought they incorporated it well into the story.

• Pro: I have seen some negative things about Millie, but I adored her. I felt like this was more a story about her, than anything else. She was emotionally stunted, and it was through her friendship with this boisterous group, that she grew, and was able to start her healing process. She was the character I shed tears for. Just thinking about her act of atonement is bringing tears to my eyes right now.

Overall: A great rom-com, which explored friendship, family, love, intimacy, which produced lots of laughs, but also some happy tears.

Another great Christina Lauren read. The modern day love story has to include online dating and I’m glad to see my favorite contemporary duo take this on!

I have not read these authors in a very long time think the era of the Beautiful Bastard Series. Which means my assessment of this book is probably not the most ideal since I have been out of the loops for awhile. This book is about Millie a criminology teacher( hey that’s my degree) and Reid who is like a teacher of brain stuff.. basically this book is a story about 4 geniuses who are best friends but are stupid in love. They all decided with the impending gala instead of just going as a fun party of 4 they want to find real dates to dance with and kiss. They all decided to download IRL ( in real life) which is geared to finding real connections and hopefully less dick pics. Which was not the case. I think the book would have been more fun with some dating fails and shenanigans but it was still sweet and nice how it was portrayed. This was a book about friends to lover. Millie refuses to ever be honest about her life, her past and her feelings and Reid is running around trying to dins the perfect and messy parts of love. The book did feel like it was trying to be too hip and it came out too cheesy and over the top with its random additions of “21st century speak” that didn’t fit our characters at all. For me I think the ending needed to be longer because the quick little tied in a bow didn’t really feel resolved to me. It was adorable and sweet tho.
For me it was too much deception by everyone involved.

3.5 After reading their awesome "Josh & Hazel" book, I was really excited to get another Christina Lauren book, but this was a bit different. The lie is my least favorite trope, and while the results of it are dealt with in a really deep way towards the end (the authors are REALLY good at getting into the characters' heads), I wasn't as big of a fan of this one because of it. Other fans of the authors might not have that particular handicap and probably will enjoy it more than I did.

Millie meets her match in this adult contemporary romance.

This book is essentially a cross between <i>Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating</i> and <i>Love and Other Words</i>, which is interesting considering I loved one and disliked the other. <i>My Favorite Half-Night Stand</i> has a very similar premise to the first – two best friends try to find love elsewhere only to discover they love each other. Yet despite the fun premise, this book had the same problematic characters and overly dramatic story line as <i>Love and Other Words</i>. While the main characters, Millie and Reid, obviously connect to one another, I honestly didn’t think their romance was necessarily healthy for either of them. The novel’s last chapters lifts some of my concern over their problematic relationship, but not enough to justify a “happily for now” ending.

This is the second CLo story I’ve read where one of the main characters loses a parent at a young age, stunting their emotional development as an adult. I just don’t connect to these characters. Granted, I’ve never lost a parent. When I do lose a parent (’cause it will happen), I’ll be well past my formative years. Do most adults having lost a parent at a young age struggle with connecting on a deeper level to others as adults? God, I hope not. The story would be more enjoyable to me if it focused more on Millie’s emotional growth not with just Reid, but with her other friends and family. Less romance, more character development please.

<b>tl;dr With a cute friends to lovers premise, I should have loved it; but the emotionally stunted main characters and overly dramatic story line didn’t cut it for me.</b>

This is my first book by Christina Lauren and I will definitely be going back and finding more! Such a delightfully funny read.
Millie is the singular female in a group of friends and is treated just like one of the guys...well, by all but one. An upcoming event will require them to have dates so they decide online profiles are needed to find them. Her profile is a little blah so she creates a second one. What follows: secret relationships, "almost".lies, hookups and good ole life lessons is sure to please.
I think you will fall in love with this book like I did and I'll definitely be recommending it to my book groups!

I received an advanced reader's copy for a fair and honest review.