I tried another new author, well it is two authors actually. Christina Lauren. Writing partners and best friends Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. How fun would that be? Writing novels with your bestie? I need to get mine on board with this idea. I already have characters and a plot in the works.

Anyway, now onto My Favorite Half-Night Stand. I surprisingly LOVED IT! This was a modern day hybrid of You’ve Got Mail and Friends with Benefits. I couldn’t put it down.

The story centers around UC professors, Millie and her guy friends, Reid, Ed, Chris, and Alex. They do game nights together, have weekly lunches as a group, and share some really funny group chats. They are their own little family. However, the focus is more on Millie and Reid. I really loved their dynamic and obvious love for each other on a “friend” level. They have this connection with one another that is different from the rest of the group.  They basically finish each other’s sentences like a married couple. Things start to get a little tricky when Reid and Millie hook up one night. They promised each other it would be a “one time” thing, they wouldn’t tell the group, and it would not get weird. Keeping their promise gets a little hard when the group decides that they should all set up online dating profiles to find dates to a work function.

Millie ends up writing profiles for the guys because they are awful at it. When she does her profile it lacks any of the luster and creativity that she gave to her friends. Millie has a problem being personal and sharing things about herself, even with her best friends. She’s more about keeping things funny and light, than bringing people down with her sad stories. Instead of bringing on some promising matches, her profile brings nothing but creepy guys and dick pics. On a whim, she creates another profile using her middle name, Catherine. Catherine ends up being a 98% match for this really great guy….REID.

And so it begins. At first Catherine makes a couple of jokes while chatting with Reid that are sure to clue him in that they got matched together, but he doesn’t get it. She then just starts to play along and actually starts revealing personal stuff about herself. Stuff she never told Reid or her friends. She shows a side of herself that makes her feel vulnerable.

Then there is Reid. Reid who asks Millie for advice on what to say to this Catherine. While he has this physical relationship going on with Millie, he has an emotion and personal relationship going on with this woman he has never met, Catherine.

As you know, this can’t go well. Their group dynamic and friendships are now in jeopardy. It is a page-turner.