This is a light romantic comedy about a circle of friends who meet as grad students/early career academics. Set in Santa Barbara, the novel is long on melodrama and not so great about details of setting. One weekend they all head up to the wine country (aka "Sideways" territory) but characters do little to engage with their habitat. There's a plot involving online dating which is fun and funny, as far as it goes. Missed opportunities to develop some of the other characters, and to explore career insecurities and workload issues that would likely be realistic with this setting. Millie, the main character, is sexually confident yet emotionally immature. Whereas the male lead is emotionally sensitive, available, as well as intellectually brilliant and great looking. For those who want an escapist fairytale book, there's much to like in this novel.

This one just did not do it for me. Although I usually enjoy these authors books (actually, I usually love their books) this one was all over the place. Nerdy girl, nerdy friends, pretend personna's, just too much going on for me.

The heroine is just ok, a little too standoffish for me and the hero, well his feelings get hurt way too easily. The friends did fill in the gaps nicely, but I just found my mind wandering off to never never land while reading this one.

Book Info
Paperback, 400 pages
Expected publication: December 4th 2018 by Gallery Books
ISBN 1501197401 (ISBN13: 9781501197406)
Other Editions (7)
Source:Netgalley EARC

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BOOK BLURB



From the New York Times bestselling author that “hilariously depicts modern dating” (Us Weekly) comes a sexy romantic comedy about online dating, and its many, many fails.

With a world-famous speaker at their university, Mille Morris and her four woefully single male colleagues make a pact that they’ll all find dates. Unfortunately, Millie has more success helping them make matches online than she does navigating the onslaught of lewd pics in her own feed. But when she creates a fictional name for a new account, Millie finds herself vying for the online attention of a man she sees every day in the flesh.

My Thoughts


4 single men and 1 single woman, friends who work together at the same University, all sign up to a dating service.

Mille Morris finds her personal dating profile attracting the strange, weird and downright creepy so in a bid to better her chances she creates a new account and in doing so surprisingly finds the match that may end up being her last.

My heart goes out to those who find online dating their last resort. With the world in the shape it is in with people stretched thinner than ever on time simply meeting someone the old-fashioned-way gets harder and harder for many.

Time being a commodity that is in short supply in true urbanite fashion Millie and her group think that they have found an easier method of meeting someone for the express purpose of scoring a date for the University event.

Finding out the hard way that online dating is no easier than meeting someone by chance that they like proves not only stressful but in Millie's case also a bit more serious. Her best match could result in the end of a wonderful relationship she already has with the man in question.

While also filled with all kinds of nonsense this story touches on hope, honesty, loneliness and the kind of powerful love that we all hope to find. Luckily for Millie she may just have found hers, if she doesn't mess it up.

[EArc from Netgalley]


On every book read as soon as it is done and written up for review it is posted on Goodreads and Netgalley, once released then posted on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles as well.

If the cast of The Big Bang Theory were less socially awkward, they might be something like Reid and Millie and their group of professor friends. However, these guys actually seem to be inspired by the cast of Stranger Things - now there’s a mashup I wasn’t expecting! I love the gang, and the fact that more of their stories are set up here.

I've enjoyed reading writing partners Christina Lauren's books over the last few years, but My favorite half-night stand is hands-down my favorite. A friends-to-lovers story, it features one of the best friend groups I've seen in books or movies in a long time; I wanted to spend a lot more time hanging out with the group! I loved seeing Millie and Reid's relationship develop, but I also could have just read 300 pages of group chats from their friends. This was a delightful distraction from the horrors of the world, and couldn't have come at a better time.

this book was SO freaking cute. I absolutely loved it. The characters were MY friends and Reid and Millie's friendship was absolute perfection.

I was instantly drawn to this book because the main character is a criminologist and it's a romance, so what more could I want! The beginning was a little rocky for me, not because I didn't like it but because it was just so different than how most modern romance books start out, but I definitely enjoyed it once I got into it. I loved Millie as a character, for once the conflict between the two romantic leads felt incredibly realistic and not just something stupid to cause them to split up before the big finale. I loved getting a look inside both of the character's heads and thought the author did a great job of building a full, rich life around them. The ending was good, but of course it left me wanting to know more about their lives together, but it's that what a good book is suppose to do?

Reason I picked up the book: I'm a huge Christina Lauren fan, and it sounded super cute.
And what's this book about?
From the New York Times bestselling author that “hilariously depicts modern dating” (Us Weekly) comes a sexy romantic comedy about online dating, and its many, many fails.

With a world-famous speaker at their university, Millie Morris and her four woefully single male colleagues make a pact that they’ll all find dates. Unfortunately, Millie has more success helping them make matches online than she does navigating the onslaught of lewd pics in her own feed. But when she creates a fictional name for a new account, Millie finds herself vying for the online attention of a man she sees every day in the flesh.
Recommended for: Anyone who likes chick lit, or who has navigated online dating before.
Favorite paragraph: I'm the kind of tipsy where I should want to hug everyone, not pull my best friend's pants down.

GAH.

Strictly platonic best guy friend. Strictly platonic best guy friend.

Heat rushes to my face and I stand so quickly my chair teeters on its back legs. Four sets of curious eyes swing in my direction, and I turn, making a beeline for the bathroom.
Something to know: You'll probably figure out the HEA before you get to the end of the book, but it was still enjoyable to read.
What I would have changed: Nothing.
Overall rating: 4.5 stars out of 5.
Where can I find this book? Click here to purchase on Amazon - this book will be in stores and online on December 4, 2018.

CL had had an amazing year!!!! I have loved both of the books that I have read this year, CL is fast becoming on of my go to authors. My Favorite Half-Night Stand is no different. The dynamics between friend is AMAZING! The Dating App drama is LOL funny!

✨ ARC provided by @gallerybooks in exchange for an honest review ✨
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I LOVED the premise of My Favorite Half-Night Stand. Millie, a criminology professor at UC Santa Barbara, and her four platonic male best friends and colleagues, need to find dates for an upcoming event. After a drunken “half-night stand” with Reid, Millie starts to question how platonic her feelings really are and agrees to join the boys in signing up for an online dating app. Unfortunately for Millie, she’s better at writing the profiles for her best friends than she is at making her own. Her life gets more complicated when she makes a new profile under a different name and matches with one of her best friends.
•
This is definitely a rom-com with some emotion, but I loved being along for the ride as Millie tries to work through her flaws and her feelings for one of her best friends. I’ll admit it, I definitely cried during parts of this one, vulnerable characters always make me emotional (and Christina Lauren are DAMN GOOD at writing flawed but lovable characters). But I honestly adored everything about this book! I loved the awkwardness of educated characters in their thirties trying to navigate the world of online dating, and in an academic setting? Yes please!
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This was an easy 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read for me (as most of their books are!) and I highly recommend grabbing this one when it comes out on December 4th!

Well, this was fun. Totally a reworking of Pride and Prejudice, like a more modern, flip flopped version of You've Got Mail. Nostalgia runs rampant even though it feels totally "modern".
Millie and Reid are part of a group of friends, professors at UC Santa Barbara. Each of them needs a date for commencement so they all sign up for a dating app. Hilarity as matchmaking snafus ensue.

Not my favorite Christina Lauren book, but it was a good read. A fun look at online dating with a few serious issues, but for the most part this book was a lighthearted read.

Christina and Lauren deliver once again! In their signature conversational style, this was a delightfully entertaining read. What happens when four friends decide to take to a dating site to find dates? They find that the world is smaller than they think! Sometimes you don't have to look far to find your perfect match. This book delivers all the feels.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2511739290?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

I did not love this book. I didn't hate it either, the love story was enough to keep me reading. Overall it just didn't wow me or make me heart go pitter patter. I will say dating in the digital age is so crazy!

The story cute and if you don't go in with your hopes too high you'll enjoy it!

I think this is my favorite Christina Lauren book yet! The characters were real, the situation, while a little overly complicated, was funny. And the resolution was believable; which always makes me happy in a romance!

I really love Christina Lauren's romances. They are fun, funny and very relatable. I loved that Millie really struggled with expressing her emotions and that Reid showed his emotions. . .

This was fun, quick, light read. Millie and her four best friends (all men) decide to join a dating app to find dates for commencement at the university they all work at. I liked the flip of traditional “male” and “female” characteristics. It was a little light on the romance (I categorize Christina Lauren as a romance author in my head), and in the moment that bugged me a little, but after finishing the book and sitting with it for a while I can see why the book is like and why it had to be like that for the characters development. It isn’t my favorite Christina Lauren book that has come out this year, but I still enjoyed it and it is very easy to read.

With My Favorite Half-Night Stand, Christina Lauren has hit a sweet spot in their writing, coupling the sexy rom-com they're known for with more emotionally weighty topics. Wrapped into a look at the crazy, shady that is online dating, My Favorite Half-Night Stand ventures into themes like forgiveness, empathy and emotional intelligence. It's still sexy, but I'm loving the evolution of their work beyond the light side of romance and would love to see them do more in women's fiction.

In this friends-to-lovers romance, Millie and Reid are the most developed of the characters, but Lauren has also created the framework for what could be a pretty entertaining series. The university backdrop is ripe for exploration, and I was hoping for more online dating horror stories from their friends Ed and Alex.

Fingers crossed.

My Favorite Half-Night Stand just might be my favorite Rom-Com ever! I loved every minute of this book, it was everything I wanted it to be plus so much more. I felt completely connected to Millie and her four best male friends and couldn’t get enough of their friendships. I laughed so hard so many times and heck I even cried – yes cried in a romantic comedy. ALL THE FEELS!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

Christina Lauren takes on the friends-to-lovers trope in a new way. Combining current trends in online dating and a group of friends looking for dates we get <i>My Favorite Half-Night Stand</i> in a big and hilarious story. The camaraderie between this friends group was perfect and the tension between the two main characters who start feeling more was palpable. It made for a fun, relaxing romance.

The story started off really strong for me. In the middle thought it stalled out a bit though. Dialogue become a lot and the back and forth of what happened in the plot became a little cumbersome and a bit cheesy to a point. It held me back from really loving the story but not from truly enjoying it. The writing team of Christina Lauren always pulls readers to the connections of people through lasting friendship and the overwhelming love through those friendships. It's a favorite of mine to see two friends become more while navigating how to maintain that friendship within a new context. The tension and hilarity with which these authors connect those elements is always a satisfying and romantic read. Additionally, it's an easy read in which you feel eager to continue and finish.

A romantic comedy where friendship abounds and the writing keeps you attuned to the story as you feel a small part of this friends group - that's what you'll find in this newest release from Christina Lauren. <i>My Favorite Half-Night Stand</i> is as fun as it is important in showing the true meaning of understanding, friendship, forgiveness, and coming into one's true self.