Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating

Christina Lauren

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? 

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.

My Opinion

(3.5 / 5) Ten years after their last meeting, Hazel finds that her long-time crush is the brother of her best friend. Now Hazel is wild. Like, really wild. Like “don’t let her drink too much or she will take her top off” wild. And she’s crazy, crass and weird in every situation. Most of Hazels antics made me laugh, some got a little tiring because she’s somewhat exhausting. I’ve never had that much energy! But I do love that she wouldn’t let anyone squash that side of her. Love requires someone to love you for you and not try to change you. She found that in Josh and  I loved their relationship and that they started out as good friends. 

I listened to this on audiobook and the female narrator was great, just how I imagined Hazel to be. But the narrator for Josh wasn’t great. His voices for anyone other than Josh grated on me. His Hazel voice and his child voices were a bit cringe-worthy. I fully believe the narrator can make or break the story.

The severity of content was high in language (F words) and in sexual situations. There was sex quite a few times with quite a few details. It was a very steamy book if you like that but I tend to gravitate toward less steamy.

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