Melissa's Reviews > Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating

If pure FUN is what you’re after, look no further than Josh and Hazel. Theirs is a love story riddled with enough comedic relief to inspire bouts of couch-shaking laughter, earning side-eye from drowsy felines and leading my husband to question, “are you all right over there?” More than all right, I was a giddy and giggly gal, smitten with this dynamic duo and their quirky quest for love.

It’s been a while since I’ve picked up a Christina Lauren and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. For the entirety of the Beautiful Bastard series, I was transfixed by the light and fun approach these co-authors bring to the world of dating. Their ability to relay humor and sexiness through such irresistibly charming characters always felt akin to magic. No surprise here, the terrific twosome delivers again with Josh and Hazel.

This time around it was Hazel—a character laced with an entirely unique approach to life and an enchanting nature—that I found most endearing. There was some part of me that wanted her to pick me to be her new best friend—forget Emily or Josh. A self-proclaimed “hot-mess”, with an admirable sense of self, Hazel has never allowed herself to feel that cringe of embarrassment that inhibits so many of us. Instead, an unabashed free spirit, prone to bouts of rambling, she has the wherewithal to understand that changing herself to appear more dateable would never work long-term. Her plan: find a guy with enough guts to take on her Hazy tornado.

The one person she knows is (a) out of her league and (b) too mellow to handle her brand of fun is Josh Im. Back in her life after 10 years—he was once her biggest crush and someone she showed all of her cards immediately—she decides if she can’t date him, she’ll settle for second best. So starts her campaign to make him her new bestie.

What fun would a love story be without the gorgeous guy with an athletic build demanding our attention? Hey, wait a minute. Don’t be so shallow. *wink* A little buttoned-up initially, Josh is more than just a pretty face; he's patient, kind, sensitive and also incredibly respectful. Let’s just say, it didn’t take much rallying for me to join Team Josh.

Josh is a little apprehensive about letting Hazel get close and you kind of can’t blame him; she did once proposition him and then proceed to barf on his shoes. Despite their differences in approaching life, it’s easy to see the organic chemistry that exists between them—like their innate ability to communicate with simply a look. It's sort of awe-inspiring, but don’t go getting any ideas, they’re just FRIENDS.

“I like being your person.”

Having deemed one another undateable, but craving a connection, they make a game out of finding their potential partners. Each enlisted to find a match for the other, so they can double date. The resulting rendezvous are nothing short of hilarious!

As the plot thickens, everyone seems to be in on the secret except for Josh and Hazel. And I mean everyone. Their journey to love is intoxicatingly quirky, perfectly paced and all around fun. It’s one I could watch reread over and over. In fact, when I turned that final page, my love-drunk heart wanted to go back to the beginning and experience it all again.