content warnings: past loss of a loved one, consensual drunken sex, potential problems during pregnancy, homophobic slur, off-screen infidelity
representation: korean protagonist and side characters


“She’s breathless, hair wild and face flushed and how has nobody seen how crazy and fucking amazing she is?

I decide right there to make sure somebody does.”


Everything that you've heard about this is true: it's an extremely fun, fluffy and sexy romcom, and then a ~~plot twist~~ at the end fucks it all up. But I'll talk about that later.

The title is fairly self-explanatory with this one: Josh and Hazel, acquaintances from college who have recently reconnected because of Josh's sister/Hazel's best friend, become friends and decide to go on double-blind-dates with one another. However, none of the dates end well - varying from 'just okay' to 'scarred for life' - and Josh and Hazel always end up going home together. ROMANCE ENSUES.

This certainly isn't a new take, but Christina Lauren are really good at writing romance. Specifically, the dynamics and chemistry between their characters are always great. Josh and Hazel hit it off almost immediately upon reintroduction and are such fun characters to be around; even when it's awkward (and a decent amount of the time, it is) you still enjoy spending time with them.

For a second I want to zero in on Hazel, because everything to do with her character makes it so obvious that two women created her. She's quirky, to say the least, and could have been an extremely one-note characters who had no substance and came off very Manic Pixie Dream Girl. But Hazel is a fully fleshed out character, one who is extremely eccentric, but who is never boiled down to her eccentricities. I also loved that she openly tells everyone who thinks she's "being weird" or is "embarrassing them" to fuck right off.

Just because I'm going on about Hazel, doesn't mean I didn't love Josh too. Of the two characters he did feel a little less developed - he's a physical therapist who opened a business with his supposed best friend Zach, a character that we either never met or was so inconsequential that even though I finished the book ten minutes ago I don't remember meeting. But Josh was still a really fun character who was a complete sweetie, and I loved how he and Hazel balanced one another out without ever changing the other, indirectly or otherwise.

NOW, the plot twist. I actually thought I had gotten to it and went "huh, this isn't so bad", and I thought I was going to be the one (1) person who didn't hate it. But then I got to the actual plot twist. I had to physically put the book down and scream in anger. To Christina Lauren's credit, it didn't go exactly like I thought it would, but it was still a frustrating and unnecessary plot device thrown in at the end. Yes, the epilogue was adorable and I swooned a little, but the dumb plot twist wasn't needed in order to get there.

In saying that, I would still definitely recommend this. The plot twist at the end doesn't ruin the book by any means (I rated it four stars for a reason). Everything leading up to said plot twist is so cute and fun that it's definitely worth checking out if you're looking for a new romcom to read.