Title: Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating
Author: Christina Lauren
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: September 4, 2018
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?
FINALLY, A FIVE FOR ME!
Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren was everything this romance reader needed (and was desperate for) in a book.
There are so MANY things I loved about the story and about the characters. It has become apparent to me that I tend to love quirky and special female characters. Hazel was amazing! She was funny and very unique, a breath of fresh air. In a genre where there are so many other romance novels, she excelled, that's for sure.
What's the novel about?
Our heroine Hazel Camille Bradford lacks a filter and she behaves in a different way than your usual heroine. She says things without thinking first. She rambles when she should remain quiet. She puts herself in embarrassing situations but the difference is that she knows she is like this and she accepts herself this way. She doesn't want to settle for a man who doesn't like her for herself. In a way, she reminded me of Bridget Jones.
The world seems full of men who are initially infatuated by our eccentricities, but who ultimately expect them to be temporary.
Hazel met Josh when they were in college and the first time she met him she made quite an impression after vomiting all over his shoes. Over the years in college, she created a reputation for being quite crazy and she knows some men are uncomfortable with her personality thinking she's too much to handle. In college, Hazel had a crush on Josh. After all, he's "the blueprint for Perfect" but she knew a relationship with him was impossible.
Josh was the quiet one. A good guy whom a decade later is currently dating a girl who's living in California. The long distance relationship is hard on him. He then bumps into Hazel who wants to turn him into her best friend. In a turn of events, Hazel is best friends with his sister Emily without realizing it but now that Josh is back in her life, she wants him as her best friend. Hazel thinks Josh will never want to be more than friends with her because he knows how she is, a tornado or more like a hurricane. In her mind, if you can date them then you can make them your best friend.
As friends, Hazel and Josh decide to go on double dates after Josh discovers his girlfriend is being unfaithful to him. Of course, the double dates go horribly wrong but it also makes Hazel and Josh realize that there are other feelings in play. Discovering those feelings are what makes this book so humorous and sexy.
I love this novel. It was deliciously funny, witty and one of a kind! Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating has become my favorite book by this duo.
“I know I’m like Pig-Pen in Charlie Brown, and I have chaos around me, but it’s like he doesn’t even care. He doesn’t need me to change or pretend to be someone else. He’s my person. He’s my best friend.”
Cliffhanger: No
5/5 Fangs
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