Many thanks to BookSparks for the chance to read and review this novel!
I have a bit of an unspoken rule — if I’m able to finish a book in a day with my crazy family and near-constant interruptions, the book is almost always going to receive a five-star rating from me. Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating was the perfect book for tearing through on a slow-Saturday. It was an easy read and equal parts hilarious and romantic.
BLURB:
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?
Despite their rave reviews and frequent Bookstagram sightings and even seeing the writing duo, Christina Lauren, in person, I had yet to read a book by the authors. Thanks to BookSparks, I have been given the chance to be a Fall Reading Ambassador for their 2018 Fall Reading Challenge, and one of the novels on the list happened to be this very book! I decided to kick off my #frc2018 with Josh and Hazel because I was in dire need of a fun and light read. Luckily, this story checked all of the boxes I hoped it would.
One of my favorite Romance tropes has to be friends-to-lovers! I can’t get enough of watching an already good relationship bloom into something swoon-worthy. These are the relationships that are built to last in the long run, but give us all of the angsty-feels as readers. No matter how many times I read this trope, it never seems to get old. Josh and Hazel’s relationship was everything a reader could want and more. Their interactions were side-splitting, their understanding and acceptance of one another was unmatched, and their love was obvious to everyone, except for them, of course.
I loved reading about Hazel’s career as a teacher! Her personality and constant zany antics were perfectly suited to her profession as an elementary teacher. Her heart was huge and I couldn’t help but love her!
I’m not normally a big fan of complete opposites attracting in a story, but I think matching Josh’s straight-laced nature with Hazel’s eccentricity was absolutely well-done. I appreciated both Josh and Hazel’s unwillingness in making Hazel become someone she wasn’t. In a book like this, one would expect the characters to make some concessions to make the relationship work. The authors were able to show readers an alternative, where that didn’t have to happen; it was truly an unconditional love story.
Overall, this was exactly what I needed. A perfectly amusing, light read! However, I was a little bummed we didn’t get to see how the diarrhea cruise panned out. 😉 If you’re intrigued, definitely pick up this book for more hilarious plot lines that will leave you laughing out loud. Now I’m eager to read more books by this pair of writers!
Ashes Books & Bobs 