Book Review: Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating
Josh and Hazel's Guide To Not Dating
Author: Christina Lauren
Genre: contemporary romance
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: September 4, 2018
Stars: Four stars
Amazon ~~~ GoodReads
Description: Hazel Camille Bradford knows she’s a lot to take—and frankly, most men aren’t up to the challenge. If her army of pets and thrill for the absurd don’t send them running, her lack of filter means she’ll say exactly the wrong thing in a delicate moment. Their loss. She’s a good soul in search of honest fun.
Josh Im has known Hazel since college, where her zany playfulness proved completely incompatible with his mellow restraint. From the first night they met—when she gracelessly threw up on his shoes—to when she sent him an unintelligible email while in a post-surgical haze, Josh has always thought of Hazel more as a spectacle than a peer. But now, ten years later, after a cheating girlfriend has turned his life upside down, going out with Hazel is a breath of fresh air.
Not that Josh and Hazel date. At least, not each other. Because setting each other up on progressively terrible double blind dates means there’s nothing between them...right?
Stars: Four stars
Amazon ~~~ GoodReads
Description: Hazel Camille Bradford knows she’s a lot to take—and frankly, most men aren’t up to the challenge. If her army of pets and thrill for the absurd don’t send them running, her lack of filter means she’ll say exactly the wrong thing in a delicate moment. Their loss. She’s a good soul in search of honest fun.
Josh Im has known Hazel since college, where her zany playfulness proved completely incompatible with his mellow restraint. From the first night they met—when she gracelessly threw up on his shoes—to when she sent him an unintelligible email while in a post-surgical haze, Josh has always thought of Hazel more as a spectacle than a peer. But now, ten years later, after a cheating girlfriend has turned his life upside down, going out with Hazel is a breath of fresh air.
Not that Josh and Hazel date. At least, not each other. Because setting each other up on progressively terrible double blind dates means there’s nothing between them...right?
Review:
Straight up, I am a huge fan of friends to lovers books. An even bigger fan of friends who become lovers first and then fall in love second. (Helloooo hot sex that turns into emotion-filled hot sex.) This book hits all of these buttons. Our MC Hazel is weird af, and quirky, and delightful. She is one of those quirky main characters who legitly does awkward and strange things, and doesn't spend the book hating herself for doing them, she just does them because it's part of who she is. Also, she has a menagerie of pets, including a fish named Daniel Craig. Bonus points.
Josh Im (our hero, who also is a person of color, so well done there) I was kind of so so on. He's just a nice dude, who was hot, has an adorable sister and mom who we meet. Nothing about him stood out to me, except his unwavering devotion to Hazel. She more than filled the personality quota though, so I'll give Josh a pass.
The relationship was well developed, but I definitely got the "Josh is in love with her from day one" vibe off everything. He had that perfect guy feel. The sex in this was fantastically written, hot as hell, and we got it from both POVs, since the book switches off between the two of them, so I love love loved it a lot. Could have used more sex. All the sex. Sex and snogs.
It gets four stars instead of five because I didn't care for the ending. Don't worry folks, it's still a HEA, but it felt a bit random to me, and definitely not where I'd have taken the novel. Still, don't let it put you off. If you loved Roomies, you will love this one bunches.
(P.S. Thanks Edelweiss for the free e-arc. You are the bee's knees!!)
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