Narrated by: Todd Haberkorn & Jayme MattlerAudio CD, 6 CD'sRelease Date: September 5, 2018Published by: Simon & Schuster Audio
Read from: December 2-7, 2019Stand-aloneSource: LibraryTW:For fans of: Romance, Friends to Lovers, Rom Coms, Contemporary Romance, Multiple POV, Adult
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?
BETWEEN THE COVERS!
*This book is part of the new adult contemporary romance genre! It is more mature than YA. I have featured it in Between the Covers as a way to feature the few Adult and New Adult titles I am beginning to read!"
*MY THOUGHTS*
I wasn't going to write a review for this, but I kept thinking about this book days after I finished it. That's rare for me and adult books. So, I thought that was worthy of a review for only that reason lol
Hazel is a bit of a wild child. And Josh is the opposite. But even still, Hazel wants nothing more than to be his friend. And maybe, one day in the distant future, more. But for now that's out of the picture. She knows that the most they'll be is best friends because she's too wild for his tastes. But 10 years later they cross paths again and they are actually ready to be friends. But are they also ready to be more?
The best thing about this book is hands down the characters. I loved Josh because he was so serious and Hazel was so not. They were hilarious together and it worked so well. I remember cheering them on while listening to them in my car. The best kind of romance is one where I love the characters by themselves as well as them together. And this was one of them. Hazel was hilarious and reminded me of a character from another book I've just finished reading. It was fun to compare them.
Another thing I loved about this was the writing style. It was such an easy listen read. I sat in my car sometimes just to finish the chapter and I brought the last CD in the house to play on my laptop because I needed to finish the book but couldn't wait until the next day to finish it. I expected that though because of how much I loved The Unhoneymooners, so I decided to give everything by Christina Lauren a try, and so far, it's been another hit!
The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars was because of the narrator. At first I was cool with them, but then there was the trivia game host at the bar. I don't know what he was trying to do, but it was not good. It was a bit ridiculous. I laughed through most of it. And not because anything he said was funny. Just because it was terrible.
Another thing I didn't care for was the ending. I'm not a fan of these types of endings because I feel like the characters are together for that reason instead of being an organic relationship. Especially in this case because they weren't even really together. I wanted to see more of them by themselves. Although this is a realistic outcome that could have happened, it's just not my personal preference.
This was a great story and I can't believe as a contemp romance lover I didn't have it on my radar. It's a book I know will stay on my mind for quite a while to come. I can't wait to read more by Christina Lauren if they're anything like this.
Overall, I give this
