Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren

ROMANTIC COMEDY

Publication date: 09/04/2018
Kindle Unlimited: No
Cliffhanger: No

Hang with me, folks, because this one’s going to get a little gushy…

Holy crap, I loved this book. I mean, I love this book with a gushy, impossible, fangirl-y type of love I’ve up until now reserved for Jensen Ackles (aka: Dean Winchester, aka: my future second husband). If you want to go ahead and skip reading this review to go 1-click the book, I’d totally understand, and you’d be doing the right thing. It’s that good. But just in case you’re still reading, here’s what I loved:

Hazel
Hazel, the heroine, is the quirkiest romance heroine I’ve ever read. She’s like Bridget Jones times ten, but without all the self-doubt and insecurities. She’s a true wild child, but that’s not what I love most about her. What I love most about Hazel is that she’s totally unapologetic about who she is. She knows that her quirkiness is a turn-off to some people, and if those people don’t want to be around her, she’s cool with that. She didn’t need them anyway. Hazel is 100% true to herself and she’s happy. She doesn’t need a man or love to “fix” her or “tame” her, which makes her totally badass.

Josh
Josh, the hero, is pretty much Hazel’s polar opposite. He’s a little uptight, sedate, and professional to the extreme most of the time. But while he finds Hazel to be (in the beginning) a little exasperating, he accepts her for who she is and learns to appreciate and love her quirks, because he knows that underneath all the crazy fun, Hazel is a kind-hearted, generous, beautiful person.

Also, Josh is Korean-American. I’ve been harping on how romance needs to be more diverse FOREVER, so seeing a proud Korean American romance hero was a real joy for me.  

Laughed until I almost peed my pants
Especially in the beginning, this book is FUNNY, y’all. I can’t stress that enough. Don’t read it in public. You’ll either snort laugh or pee your pants, and it’s really hard to recover from doing either in public.         

These are few of my favorite tropes...
(Extra points to you if you sang that subhead in your head to the tune from The Sound of Music. All you kids in the reading audience might just have to go look that one up).

This is a slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance. Josh and Hazel really get to know each other before jumping into bed together, and there are few tropes I love more than slow-burn and friends-to-lovers.

So, if all that doesn’t convince you to give this one a read, I really don’t know what will. And if you don’t read it, well, I feel kind of sorry for you. You won’t know what you’re missing!   

Full disclosure: I received an ARC from NetGalley at no charge. 

Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
It’s clean and sober. No rehab needed. 

Other reading suggestions
Read Christina Lauren’s back list. It’s awesome.

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