This is my second Christina Lauren book and I continue to fall more and more in love with them. I have already added a couple more to my shelves and cannot wait to read them. These books always seem to be the perfect, sweet, romance novel that I need at the right time.

My Favorite Half-Night Stand focuses on Millie a professor of Criminology with a good group of guy friends. They have a faculty event coming up in which they all need dates and they propose the idea of using a dating app. When Millie makes her account under her middle name she ends up matching with one of her best friends. He has no idea that she is the person he has connected with online. Where will this lead their friendship and could it possible turn into a relationship?

In this fun and entertaining book you will end up rooting for all of the characters to end up with happiness. This is such a great fun and light read that is the perfect break from creepy Halloween reads or deeper fall fiction reads.

I was really looking forward to reading this book. I’m excited I got a chance to read it early. It’s a really cute and fun friends to lovers story. The friends are hilarious. There are some plot lines that make me second guess the characters but I reminded myself to buy into the mystery.
It’s a fun book.

This was a quick read for me, and was also my first Christina Lauren book. I thought the concept was interesting, and started off fine, but the execution fell a little flat for me. I think maybe the facade drug on a little too long, or maybe I just couldn't believe Millie was so strong in every facet of her life but could not really expose any deep part of herself to her friends? I get that she wouldn't have many (if any) female friends, but it seems like these guys would know more about her just inherently from seeing her so much over the years. That was really my issue here, the rest was fine.

Now the ending?? Ah-mazing. I am not ashamed to admit I was in tears, and just loved loved loved it. I figured I knew how it would go, and it pretty much did go that way, but in much more of an epic way than I thought. That alone was worth it. I don't have a problem recommending this one, as I think there are plenty of folks who will disagree with my thoughts above and love everything about this book, and that's okay. I will definitely be reading more of their books though, that is for sure!

Pub date is December 4, 2018. Thank you to NetGalley for an electronic ARC of this book to review. All opinions above are my own.

Last night I said I'll just finish this chapter and go to sleep... and we laugh and laugh. More than 2 hours later and I was still reading. I had to force myself to stop if I wanted at least some sleep before going to work. This book felt so easy to read. It's a big mess up were the little lie that opens the door for Millie to show more of her feelings, also snowballs into alter egos, and more lies, and secrets and many other things. But thank God Reid is a man full of patience and forgiveness. after all, he is her best friend. This book is full of fun easy going characters and good friends that really care for one another. A friend to friends with benefits to lovers kind of story. One were friends become family.

Funny and sexy. The authors handle the manic pixie dream girl trope in a very realistic and relatable way. There is a lot of depth to the characters and story without sacrificing the fun and humor. Depth doesn't need to mean angst and drama as the authors expertly show.

Millie and Reid will be all yours December 4th!

Whenever I need to find a reading pick-me-up I always head straight for anything written by Christina Lauren. Funny being my first thought and endearing being the latter.

My Favorite Half-Night Stand has firmly planted itself on my “perfect reads” shelf without even trying! Millie and her four uproariously funny male best friends bring down the house with their lovable antics. Each of these guys has a rye sense of humor, as different as they are alike, with a thread of sincerity that makes them instantly likable. Only… one of the four has a little something extra. Reid. One half drunken night changes things and when this group makes a pact to online date.... Well… things get complicated.

Laughter, tears and unwavering friendship makes My Favorite Half-Night Stand a perfect read! AND an even better stocking stuffer for the upcoming holidays.

My Favorite Half-Night Stand was a funny, relatable novel that I couldn't put down.

Millie's four best friends - her only friends - are guys: Ed, Alex, Reid, and Chris. All five are single and spend most of their free time together. And all five need dates to a work gala. To find the right date they all sign up for In Real Life, a matchmaking dating site, and soon the guys are getting promising matches. Not Millie, though. All she's getting are dick pics. The guys say it's because she doesn't open up on her site, which is no surprise, since she's also extremely private with them. Just to see if they're right, Millie starts a new profile. A private one under the name of Catherine. And soon she's matched with the perfect guy...too bad it's Reid. She sends him a jokey message, knowing he'll soon realize it's her and they can laugh about it. Only Reid not only doesn't pick up on her hints, he's interested in Catherine and the other girl he's been matched with, Daisy. Maybe it's jealousy, maybe it's her competitive streak, but Millie decides to make Reid fall for Catherine. Or her. But really Catherine.

My Favorite Half-Night Stand is a quick, enjoyable read. The characters are quirky and unique when it would have been very easy to make them caricatures or underdeveloped secondary props. Millie is a complex, emotional character with flaws and hang ups. Reid is less complex - mostly because he wears his heart on his sleeve, but he's likable and a good foil for Millie's closed book mentality. The novel is told from Millie and Reid's points-of-view in alternating chapters, increasing readers' emotional investment in their lives. The plot is very well paced and the writing is excellent.

It's rare that I stay up late to finish a book, but I couldn't put My Favorite Half-Night Stand down. I highly recommend this one to fans of Penny Reid, Molly Harper, Victoria Dahl, and romances that make you laugh out loud.

I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, I love reading these kinds of stories! There's a fine line between cute/endearing and annoying/eye-roll-inducing and it's so easy to veer towards the latter. Fortunately, Christina Lauren did an amazing job of avoiding the saccharine, unrealistic characterizations that plague this genre.

Millie is delightful! She's flawed and weird and amazing and I identified with her more than I was comfortable (and way more than I expected). The whole cast of guys were individual and meshed really well together. Reid sounds too sexy and sweet for his own good.

I think what I most appreciated was the depth lurking throughout the story. It carries more weight than just a beach read and I enjoyed that a lot.

I'd recommend this to anyone who:
- has lots of platonic relationships of the opposite sex (maybe it'll be eye-opening?)
- is looking for more substance from their vacation reading
- enjoys contemporary romance

Before this book, I didn’t even know a half-night stand, aka a post-coital exit to avoid the awkward morning-after "walk of shame" completely, was a thing. I did know quite a bit about online dating, having done it myself briefly, having a ton of single friends in their 20’s and 30’s suffering through it currently and looked into related business ventures. But this book is about more than hooking up and finding more than just a hook-up online.

This book is mostly about Millie Morris and her tight knit group of hilarious fellow academic guy friends, which includes the bestest friend she has ever had, Reid Campbell, which she has the sex with after a wild night of playing Monopoly. The book is written from both their point of views.

In true Christina Lauren fashion – this is the third stand-alone book I’ve read by this dynamic duo – Millie is a complex character. She’s at the near top of her career as a criminology professor, budding author and expert on female serial-killers but has pretty much remained at emotional rock bottom since losing her mother at a young age. She’s one of the guys, hilarious, self-deprecating with a touch of confidence, smart, laid back and so easy to be friends with. She’s also emotionally stunted, cagey even with those she loves most, and her own worst enemy when comes to love. I mean I was simultaneously cursing her out, done with her and rooting for her. The heifer is Jim on The Office level hilarious while edging on female douchebag in terms of internal emotional intelligence and self-awareness (though she has high external emotional intelligence). She’s also young-old, she’s 29 and has the technology savvy of my mother. These factors actually made for a great read and interesting plot and character development.

At the center of Millie’s story is Reid, the hot neuroscience associate professor, who doesn’t want to ruin the relationship with his best-friend or break up the band by making it awkward. Reid is a monogamous, smart guy with high emotional EQ and the chemistry with Millie (unbeknownst to them) is amazing. I mean their progression to a night of being more than friends feels completely authentic.

Major supporting characters aka other dudes in the formerly strictly platonic best friend circle include:
Ed - the neuroscience post doc with a frat boy stance of beer and video games and a Zach Galifianakis reflection in the mirror.
Alex – the Ecuadorian and field playing professor of biochemistry
Chris – the tall, dark and handsome chemist with a great heart.

The interaction between these five keeps pace with the funniest moments on New Girl or The Office. I actually and literally spent the first few chapters cackling. I had to put the book down a few times to simmer on some of the sentences and paragraphs – they were damb funny. On the flip side the character develop is very strong, the plot progression actually a bit surprising in its consistency and depth.

The only thing I didn’t buy into was the why of the whole online dating competition/fiasco which provides a great sub-plot to the entire story: Barack Obama is giving the commencement address and keynoting the Deans’ Banquet which is black tie with the optional plus one with all the additional fanfare of having such a big name. Which means they can’t blow if off or go together. My love for the Obamas is not enough for me to contemplate Tinder to find a date and avoid the plus-one wilderness. This was the one part of the book that was foggy and underwhelming – it felt like an arbitrary plot device.

With that said. I enjoyed this book. It’s commentary on dating, mental and emotional health, being a single professional woman in the age of online dating and dick pics is priceless. It was funny, fluid and well executed. I would recommended it to anyone looking for a great contemporary romance read.

Post Scriptum: I’m a devoted science fiction, fantasy and historical fiction reader, but 2018 has been the year of contemporary romance novels. I’m embarrassed to admit that I don’t like to tell people when I’m reading a romance novel when asked “what are you reading now?” I worry that they’ll picture me as some Fabio obsessed thirst bucket who reads what she’ll won’t allow herself to experience. I cringe just thinking about those books with bare chested Dukes and corset chicks with their accompanying historically scandalous décolletage. This year has been a year of getting beyond my own literary bias. And Christina Lauren’s books has been a huge part of that.

Post Post Scriptum: If you are anything like me, you might have had a fleeting thought along the lines: “hey, Reid is totally the name of the male love interest in cliché chick li, hard pass.” Still give the book a chance for no other reason than this quote:

“There are some who might say Reid is an especially pretentious name.”
With a hand to my chest, I feign insult. “No one says that.”
Millie reaches out, curling her hand around the forearm of a passing student. “Sorry. Quick question. Is ‘Reid’ a douchey name?”
The guy doesn’t even hesitate or bother to look at me. “Totally.”

There are so many things I love about these two authors, one of them being how real their characters feel. I adored Millie and Reid's characters. Their struggle with online dating is so relatable and I could feel their frustration and worries going through the process of finding the right person. The other thing that I really liked about the novel was the amazing friendship in between the five friends. It was so beautifully written that I wish I was one of their friends. It is beautifully interwoven in between the main romance. I also hope that the authors are planning to write Ed, Alex and Chris's stories. This story is sexy, charming and really emotional. I would highly recommend this book.

* I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review*

I was caught up in this book and didn’t want to stop reading it. I had to keep reading to find out how everything would unfold. There were a few moments that I was annoyed by Millie, but the annoyance was balanced out with her quirkiness. Overall it was an excellent book!

This is not a book for the faint of heart when it comes to language or for those that are offended by sex. :-)
I honestly didn't know what I was getting in to when I started this book. I had recently heard a lot of great things about the authors so I thought I would give it a try and I am so glad that I did.

I loved the themes of friendship. The friendship between these five individuals was so heart-warming. I enjoyed seeing the inner workings of a group of "misfits".

I definitely will be watching reading more books by Christina Lauren in the future.

I am Millie! This was a huge eye-opener for me. I mean I knew some of this about me, but I didn't realize how bad I was (although different reasons for it). Kind of crazy to have a romance book make you realize how stuck you are, but this one did it. I really enjoyed this, even though you knew what a disaster everyone was headed for as you are reading. Reid was an amazing hero! There is plenty of angst in this book to keep you going through to the end. I don't want to spoil it, but read it! I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free, advance copy of this book from the publisher. This is my unbiased and voluntary review.

This is a new author for me, I was pleasantly impressed with the book. I took a chance on requesting it based off the title and description and am so happy that I had the opportunity to read and review it.

Friends to lovers is one of my favorite stories and Reid and Millie have a relationship that was meant to be. All of their friends saw it, it just took them a while to get with the program!

It was a phenomenal year for Christina Lauren romance novels. We were treated to not one, not two, but three delightfully addictive love stories from the writing duo and I thoroughly enjoyed them all. If I had to rank them in order by favorite, My Favorite Half Night Stand would hold strong in the third spot... but that's like ranking candy in the grocery store. Even my third favorite candy is still delicious and special and unlike anything else on the shelf. 

At first I thought Reid and Millie's story was shaping up to be pretty similar to Josh and Hazel's. Two friends who are so oblivious to their own chemistry help each other seek out romantic opportunities with other people... this time using dating apps. But I soon realized this story would be nothing like Josh and Hazel's sweet and sexy rom com. Millie is a character like no other Christina Lauren character before. At times I struggled with relating to her until I realized she actually represented some of the things I dislike most about myself. She's emotionally detached. She avoids making herself vulnerable by keeping herself closed off. She's often unable to open up with even the people closest to her. I might not have always liked her or agreed with her behavior, but I completely understood her and her story. 

While there were definitely aspects of this book that held me at arms length as opposed to fully enveloping me the way Love and Other Words and Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating did, I honestly couldn't put this book down. It took a bit to really feel invested in these characters but it happened and when it did, I was hooked. My Favorite Half Night Stand just serves up a different experience that I anticipated. I was pulled in by it's jagged edges rather than with the melty, comforting sensation I can typically expect. This one's a bit edgier, I think. It hurt more than I thought it would which is also why I enjoyed it so much. 

This story is funny and sweet and refreshing. It's sexy and emotional and packed with humor, heartache and drama. This magnetic group of friends had me laughing out loud, had me secretly desperate for more about each of them. Reid and Millie's friendship was both frustrating and perfect and I absolutely loved them and their dynamic despite how complicated it became. But what I probably loved most was how achy and sore my heart was by the end of the book. I measure any good book by those painful heart pangs I feel as I endure the conflict and difficulties within the story and the drama packed quite an unexpected punch on these pages. It hurt so good and I really enjoyed the book even more because of it. 

The vibe of My Favorite Half Night Stand was a different one and I appreciated that. The age of the characters, their career paths, the dynamic in their tight knit group, the bit of angst that peppers the story, and a heroine that makes it often difficult to relate to her all felt different and fresh and it all culminated into a delicious little story that I could not look away from. My third favorite Christina Lauren romance of the year is still a favorite regardless of where it ranks and I hope readers enjoy it as much as I did. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, with its complicated romance and all its fun quirks, and I really can't wait to see what this writing pair has in store for us in the new year!

Sigh... always so damn good. They just know how to write a love story.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I absolutely love the humor of Christina Lauren. They have amazing way of creating characters that are fun and so real to life that you wish you were part of the group. This new release is a perfect example of how a friends to lovers book should be written.

The story is a lot of fun. Millie is the only girl in the group and the guys tend to treat her like a guy. Except for one. Sparks are flying soon; they just can’t help themselves.

Then the brilliant idea came about post on a dating app so each had a date to go to a banquet. Millie’s intro was a little plain. So she created a secondary profile and who should she be connected with but her man she is crushing on.

As the story wove in and out of the friends, secret relationships, and almost lies, the authors kept me heavily attached to the story with their inventive situations, sexy hook ups, and heartbreaking lessons to learn. My heart took a beating on this one.

I never tire of the amazing stories by Christina Lauren. They are completely unique in the industry; bringing us delightful contemporary romance that not only celebrate friendships and love, but they tend to teach us a lesson or two.

My Favorite Half-Night Stand is a little emotional and a lot addictive. The story is definitely one I think you will fall in love with. I know I did.

I love Christina Lauren! If you are not yet familiar with this incredible author, it's actually two people! These besties churn out some amazing novels and I've been a fan for a while, therefore, I was super excited to see this new novel, My Favorite Half-Night Stand. This story is about Millie who is best friends with four guys. She is happy in and successful in her career, loves her times with her best guy pals, but isn't the most open and honest person. With a huge, upcoming event coming to UCSB, they all decide that they need dates and that the best way to find them is a dating app. But when Millie and one of her guy pals Reid end up hooking up one night, everything changes for Millie, her online dating profile, and the dynamics between her and all of her best friends.

Let me begin by saying that I absolutely loved this novel! I love the hilarious banter, the moments that are supposed to be embarrassing just for the character(s) but embarrass the reader also, and the incredible honesty within the writing. Now, if you have read this already, you will know that this book is not a shining example of honesty, but I'm talking about Christina Lauren's uncanny characterization that I could spot anywhere without even knowing who authored the book.

I loved the cast of characters in this book, including the distant family that had appearances, however, I was not a fan of Millie's overall persona: guy's girl, funny, successful, yet refuses to acknowledge any real emotions whether dealing with family or friends. I feel as if I've read too many female characters over the years that are a great time, funny, smart, yet emotionally stunted. Nevertheless, I loved how Millie was willing to throw herself out there with Reid and continue to develop an honest line of communication even after rejection. 

I think the primary theme in My Favorite Half-Night Stand revolves around love being right around your nose, but you didn't realize it because you weren't ready or receptible. I doubt there are many of us that haven't been there at some point, whether we realized it in time or they ended up being the one that got away. Regardless, I was cheering for Millie and Reid the entire time, and also hopeful for Ed, Chris, and Alex. This was the perfect read at the end of a busy and hectic day, and one that I devoured in only a few hours. I loved this and highly recommend this one, especially when you need a good laugh!

*Thanks to NetGalley and GalleryBooks for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I really really liked this book, but I just had a major problem with how one character reacted to finding out something at the end (I don't want to give away anything!). I felt like it was totally unjustified and I also didn't like how the other character just took it and thought they deserved that treatment. It just felt like an over the top reaction to me. I did love the story other than that. The romance was so cute!

Witty, sexy, and so fun to read! It was crazy and awesome all rolled into one with the perfect amount of emotion mixed in. So fantastic! I never wanted it to end!

Reid and Millie were the best, I loved these two and their friendship. The bond they had was priceless. I love the tension and chemistry between them and this unique situation they’ve gotten themselves in. Reid and Millie had this underlying chemistry between them, I loved seeing that, feeling that, and watching it all play out. It was sweet, flirty, and playful. Throw in a dating app, a bit of tension and angst, and of course, Millie's persona of Catherine and things get out of hand. But it was fun and so entertaining, I couldn’t stop smiling.

I loved learning about both Reid and Millie. I loved watching her open up and grow and I really felt for her. I loved Reid and totally understood what he was going through and what he was thinking. I loved all the emotion that started to come out in the midst of this great humor as feelings really come into play. The ending just about killed me but I love how it all played out.

All the friends together were amazing! This little family they’ve created full of ribbing and camaraderie. It was so entertaining. I can't even tell you how many times I laughed. I really enjoyed the group dynamic and friendships, everyone had such distinct personalities and brought a lot to the story and made it fun to read. The story had a great flow, I loved that it was told from dual POV’s and how the texts and emails were set up, it made it engaging and exciting to read.

Hilarious, sexy fun for the win! I'm not sure what I loved more, Reid and Millie or the group dynamic of the four friends. It was all so wonderful and I loved everything it made me feel!

Christina Lauren is a new author for me, so each book is like some new discovery, just waiting to be explored. I was lucky enough to read an early copy of this with my friend and blog mate, and we both just loved it to pieces. I recently read her book Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating, and while I really related to the main character and loved the book to pieces, it didn’t jump to immediate everlasting love, for me. What it did do, however, is awaken a new kind of hunger for this author and the addicting type of writing she (they) can accomplish. And, because of this hunger, I found an absolute and total winner in this fun little read.

I absolutely fell head over heels for Reid, the guy in this one, whereas in her other book, it was Hazel that hooked me and kept me going. The chemistry between Reid and Millie just flew off the charts, and I adored how they were best friends first and explored their, ahem, needs after. But what happens when pushed to find dates for an event through a dating app, even though the heat is through the roof between these two, secretly?



I can willingly admit that I needed more drama in Josh and Hazel-and perhaps that makes me a monster that I can’t just enjoy a happy book with just a light smidge of angst instead of a full out oh-my-gosh-when-is-he-going-to-find-outi’mgoingtodie. I just love that feeling. I mean, obviously I hate that in real life, so why do I love it so in books? Well, it came full force here and I LOVED how it wasn’t just brushed under the rug. I loved Reid. I loved his pure heart. I loved everything about how he slowly fell for Millie…even as he fell for a girl online he hadn’t met…that was, in fact, Millie, too.



A tangled web they weave, slowly falling for one another, but in different ways that could alter their friendship forever. Reid isn’t all innocent, talking to other women on the app as well as falling for his best friend, but I’d say he’s a lot less at fault-but that’s for you to decide.

With an awesome group of friends surrounding them (I loved them all!), you can’t help but to love this story with its quick wit and friendly humor. But Ed, as a secondary character, really stood out to me as the most-sincere, loyal, and just an all around sweet and tender-hearted guy looking for love. I found that he made my heart beat with all the most wonderful feels, right beneath Reid and Millie.


Honestly, this review has been really hard to write, because I don’t want to say too much and ruin the whole plot-but I also wanted to stress just how much I love this angst, this drama, this I’m-falling-for-my-friend deep and emotional roller-coaster. I just…I loved it, and I loved how deeply I fell for it. But, to be fair, I am OBSESSED with online romance/'I don’t know who it is but the other person does' romances. I’m actually a rabid fan of them and it’s been forever since I read a good one…so what an amazing, surprising new favorite for me.

I can’t wait to purchase this for my bookshelf when it comes out and I think many fans of this author duo will really like it. To those who haven’t read anything by her yet? It’s definitely a fun one and I highly recommend it-though, I may be biased because this trope duo is a favorite of mine 😊.