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

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

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?

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I was trying to make sure it downloaded correctly after getting from the library and as soon as I looked at the first sentence I was hooked. I think that it was because Hazel had such a unique voice that captured me immediately and didn't let go. She didn't apologize for who she was but was still able to be vulnerable when she received looks or comments from others involving rejection. I loved that she was awkward and didn't have a filter. Awkward girls unite! I'm all for more awkward, weird female leads in books. I liked Josh as well and actually thought that he and Hazel were a good match for each other. I think that it's good to have characters that are different from each other. He was the calmness she needed to feel secure to fly and be silly.

I normally become annoyed easily with romance books that have the whole will they won't they, we don't want to risk being rejected trope but the author was very clever in her execution of the story. I didn't feel that there was any unnecessary drama added to the story. The dynamic made sense because of their past with each other combined with how Hazel views her dating life. 

They only part of the book that felt a little bit off for me was the end. My mind and emotions were still in one place when the book jumped to the epilogue. I wasn't ready for that at all. I thought that the story wrapped up nicely but I would have liked a bit more filler before the epilogue.