For What It's Worth


Thursday, December 13, 2018

review: my favorite half-night stand by christina lauren


38357345By the New York Times bestselling author who “hilariously depicts modern dating” (Us Weekly), My Favorite Half-Night Stand is a laugh-out-loud romp through online dating and its many, many fails.

Millie Morris has always been one of the guys. A UC Santa Barbara professor, she’s a female-serial-killer expert who’s quick with a deflection joke and terrible at getting personal. And she, just like her four best guy friends and fellow professors, is perma-single.


So when a routine university function turns into a black tie gala, Mille and her circle make a pact that they’ll join an online dating service to find plus-ones for the event. There’s only one hitch: after making the pact, Millie and one of the guys, Reid Campbell, secretly spend the sexiest half-night of their lives together, but mutually decide the friendship would be better off strictly platonic.


But online dating isn’t for the faint of heart. While the guys are inundated with quality matches and potential dates, Millie’s first profile attempt garners nothing but dick pics and creepers. Enter “Catherine”—Millie’s fictional profile persona, in whose make-believe shoes she can be more vulnerable than she’s ever been in person. Soon “Catherine” and Reid strike up a digital pen-pal-ship...but Millie can’t resist temptation in real life, either. Soon, Millie will have to face her worst fear—intimacy—or risk losing her best friend, forever.


Perfect for fans of Roxanne and She’s the Man, Christina Lauren’s latest romantic comedy is full of mistaken identities, hijinks, and a classic love story with a modern twist. Funny and fresh, you’ll want to swipe right on My Favorite Half-Night Stand. ~
Goodreads

Source: ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Review:

I ADORED Josh & Hazel's Guide to Not Dating and was really looking forward to this one. It seemed to have the same funny, romcom vibe. I was a little wary of the catfishing set up but decided to request it for review anyway. I should have went with my gut.

The positives:

I liked the whole gang of friends. They're kind of weird but fun and supportive in their weirdness lol

Both Millie and Reid are good people - until the dating fiasco which I'll get to.

I loved the idea of the all of the friends using the dating app together (as a way to find dates to an upcoming business function) and the look at online dating. It can lend itself to a lot of hilarious situations (like in Josh & Hazel)

The negatives:

Almost the entire plot of this book is based on lies and miscommunication between two people who are supposed to know each other better than anyone else.

Millie and Reid are matched on the dating app but Millie had used an alias. She realizes it’s Reid but he doesn’t know it’s her and she continues with the charade as they continue to text each other, with her pretending to be Catherine, even though they start hooking up occasionally in real life. One conversation would have resolved things in either direction - staying friends or moving on.

As the story went on and both Millie and Reid did more and more questionable things - I lost interest in their HEA and started disliking them as people. I did get where they were each coming from most of the time but all of it went on too long and walked a line that wasn't romantic at all IMO.

I’m tagging a few of my other negatives under a spoiler warning -

HIGHLIGHT for spoilers –> Millie's initial catfishing of Reid was understandable and not intentional. She was trying to be safe using an alias, didn’t know she would be matched with Reid and she thought he would know it was her and seriously - why didn't he catch ANY clues?? Made me start questioning if they really as good of friends as they kept insisting.

Millie carries on with the lie way too long and Reid absolutely deserves to be angry but he also was engaging in intimate (emotionally - not sexual) conversations with *Catherine* RIGHT after having sex with Millie. Egging Millie on to be jealous then storming about when she doesn't open up right away. What is he 12? Expecting her to spill her guts while he didn't bother to have an honest conversation with her either. Dude kept bailing right after they had sex .


Pot meet kettle.


But he's never called out on any of it. Again - Millie is wrong - but Reid wasn't all that straightforward either.


Then...after finding out about Catherine/Millie he could have re-read their emails and realized what Millie was going through and that she was spilling her guts out to him but nah, that would have ruined his pity party.


I don't know...I just didn't like either of them by the time I got to that point.

<- END SPOLIER

Lauren’s books are always hit or miss for me - Josh & Hazel will be on my Best of 2018 list but this was a miss.

32 comments:

  1. I've been hoping to try one of their books. Sucks that this one was a miss for you although I have Josh & Hazel on my radar for quite some time now.

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    1. Their books are always a mixed bag for me. Mostly because they tend to write alpha heroes (but the guys in this and Josh & Hazel are NOT alpha) but this one bugged me for different reasons. I highly recommend Josh & Hazel though if you're looking for fun and low angst.

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  2. I can not stay away from a spoiler ;)

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  3. Sorry that plot point ruined the book for you. I really enjoyed it. Like you, I loved the gang and their dynamic, but I was ok with what went down, because I felt like it was explained and justified and there were consequences.

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    1. I was ok with how it first unraveled but then some of the things that went down didn't make sense in relation to the friendship they kept saying they had.

      And I also felt like Reid put a lot of blame on Millie but never had to discuss his shenanigans lol

      But I'm glad you enjoyed it Sam!

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  4. Ughhh I got wary after Nick's review, now I'm super nervous. I have this one on hold. I definitely get disliking the characters after their shenanigans.

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    1. Yeah - after a certain point I didn't think they should get together and that's never good in a romance.

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  5. Damn, I had high hopes for this one too after seeing how many readers loved Josh and Hazel but like yourself, when I read the synopsis, the catfishing aspect didn't sit well with me. It's one of my peeves about any narrative, the lack of communication. It can feel as though it's used as part of the storyline as filler. If these couples actually communicated truthfully, there wouldn't be a storyline. Sorry you couldn't have enjoyed this more Karen but wonderful review nonetheless darling.

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    1. The initial catfishing was ok with me because it was more out of self protection on Millie's part. When she realized it was Reid, she put out a few clues thinking it would be a funny story once he figured it out but then it started crossing lines for me.

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  6. I'm gonna have to give one of her books a try one of these days.

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    1. If you like bad/alpha boys (I think you do right?) try their Beautiful and Wild Seasons series.

      It's not my thing but I they do write fun romances. I just like a different kind of hero so they are hot or miss for me.

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  7. Hmm! What sounds like an interesting premise poorly executed which is a shame.

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    1. It could have been a fun take on catfishing and modern dating but they just ended up being an unlikable couple for me.

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  8. Ack! I was on the fence with this one, because I've seen a lot of meh reviews, but I really hate it when the entire story can be resolved with a conversation. They did the same thing in Roomies! There's no substance to a book when they do that -- aargh.

    Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬

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    1. I see Millie getting a lot of flack for this one but less so Reid and I think I had even more problem with his actions than hers.

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  9. I feel like this would irk me too, tbh. Like- the "miscommunication" trope is one of my least favorites ever, because I am a fan of being straightforward in general, and it bugs me in actual life when people do this crap, so I am thinking I don't want to read about it either hah. I think I'll just try Josh & Hazel first and leave this one for... never hahah. Great review, sorry it didn't work out for you!

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    1. I would have never read this if I hadn't loved Josh & Hazel so much. I was riding the reading high of that one and thought...well, maybe and NOPE. It didn't work.

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  10. I have not read anything by this author. I can understand why you didn't like this one.

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    1. These authors are always iffy for me. I tend to like their light, humorous romances.

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  11. You're not the first person I've seen having issue with the catfish scenario with this book and it's really the reason I am giving this book a hard pass. Like, a little fin miscommunication in a romance is fine, but this one sounds like it carries way beyond the point of being fun miscommunication and right on to it being wrong and totally unacceptable.

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    1. I understood the initial catfishing and even why she didn't tell him right away - it's how they both continued to act that bothered me and that it didn't match how close they said they were as friends.

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  12. Yeah...I think the lies and misunderstandings and all that would drive me nuts too. I can handle a bit, but not when that's most of the story.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  13. Yikes, this does sound frustrating to read, and I don't think I'd like those characters either. Which is not necessarily a requirement for me to like a book, but for a romance like this? Yeah, I think it'd be a problem. Sorry it was a disappointment!

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    1. I had a harder time with Reid - which put me int he minority - but it wasn't so much unlikable but that it goes against everything the author was telling me about their awesome friendship.

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  14. I don't think I'd handle the whole catfishing thing well with this one either but I do want to read one of this duos books at some point. I think I'll start with Josh & Hazel as that one got a lot of good feedback. :)

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    1. I understood it initially but then it went on too long and the lies snowballed.

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  15. I agree with your thoughts about this book too. I enjoyed the friends too. But this wasn't a fave of them either.

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    1. I thought you had liked this one Julie. Their books are 50/50 for me.

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  16. I never do this, but I totally highlighted the spoilers because I wanted to see what comes of everything. What a huge bummer :( I've always loved book on dating and dating apps (maybe because I got my start as a dating blogger) but yea, I'll skip this one!

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    1. I hate to turn people away from books because it may work for you but a lot of the things didn't feel true tot he characters to me so that on top of the lying was a big nope from me.

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