As a criminology professor with a particular interest in female serial killers, Millie Morris’ dating life is in dire need of resuscitation. To be honest she’s more than happy spending countless hours towards research for her book deal, but an upcoming black tie gala at the university forces her to dissect her dating life. 

Her first thought (and most easy option) is to ask one of her four best friends who also happen to be her co-workers. Like her they are all career driven professors, and more interested in reading the latest educational journal than trawling through dating apps. But not ones to shy away from a challenge they come up with an alcohol fuelled plan to create dating profiles and secure genuine potential love interests to take as their plus ones to the gala.  

Although they are all firm friends Millie has always had the closest relationship with Reid. When she allows herself to, she can admit to the underlying sexual tension that escapes through the layers and layers of denial. It’s been a long time coming *wags eyebrows* but they eventually give into the low-key raging attraction between them. It’s the most intense experience she’s ever had, but thought of ruining her friendship with Reid is greater than the unknown of exploring things further, so they mutually agree to keep things platonic. 

Maybe it’s because she’s the only female in the gang but Millie gets roped into creating an honest but interesting profiles for each of them. Officially she resents doing it, but unofficially it’s kinda fun.  A by-product when it comes to her own profile is it starts to expose just how little she offers personally/emotionally in both her friends and relationships. 

What starts as a simple idea quickly escalates into hilarious escapades and dating disasters. What should be a distraction from her attraction to Reid only serves to heighten it, and results in some actions that are far from friendly. 

I absolutely adored the supporting cast and I’m secretly hoping this will develop into a series.

This year has seen me become a huge fan of Christina Lauren. They have pretty much monopolized my favourite reads shelf this year, and with this swipe right romance I image the same will be said by many others.

There are some times when I’m just in the mood for some tooth-rotting fluff. I read and loved When Katie Met Cassidy earlier this week and it was exactly what I needed after a couple of months of heavy reads. My Favorite Half-Night Stand was similarly adorable fluff that also had some angst.

This is my second Christina Lauren book and I ended this one with a smile on my face. Yes, there were times when I thought the conflict dragged out unnecessarily but ultimately, this book has so much heart! I found the two leads refreshing and loved that they seemed to genuinely care about each other. The ending was perfect! It was just what I needed (and had me staying up late to finish even though I had work the next morning!). I’m glad I read this book and would definitely recommend it!

I just ordered Love and Other Words — hopefully I like that one as well!

Thanks to @netgalley for the e-arc provided in exchange for an honest review!

3.5-3.75 stars. This was a pretty good book. My favorite half-night stand is Reid and Millie's book. Millie and Reid are friends and colleagues, both professors at a university. They are part of a friend group with 3 other male professors that spend all their time together, with Millie being just another one of the guys. They are all single, so the friends decide to join an online dating website to find dates to a faculty party. One night, while drunk, Millie makes a move on Reid and they have a "half-night stand", where they hook up, but don't spend the night together. They both agree it was a one-time thing, and it came out of nowhere seemingly, as they had never thought of each other romantically before. They both enter the world of online dating, and Millie begins mistakenly "catfishing" Reid. Things get really complicated between them, fast. But they manage to work it all out between them and fall for each other. 

As someone who didn't love the last few Christina Lauren books, I did feel this book was an improvement. I do think it's worth reading. It is a good story, has emotion and complicated characters with depth, as well as good writing. It is not a bad book at all. For me, though, what's missing was chemistry. I wanted to feel more of a spark between Reid and Millie. I also wanted to see them actually together in a relationship before the epilogue. I did like Reid and Millie. They're likable, easy to identify with characters. I do think that when the big conflict came to light, Reid was a bit rougher on Millie than I wanted. I felt pretty bad for her. I thought if he loved her and understood why she was the way she was, he should be a little more understanding. Still, I did enjoy the book. It had some serious moments, some emotional ones, and some lighter, funny ones. 

Overall, I do think this is a book worth reading. I just didn't totally fall in love with it. Still, you should read it for yourself and see what you think. In the meantime, I will just keep holding out hope that Christina Lauren will write another sexy couple with good chemistry that I can really truly love. I need another Will and Hannah.

My Favorite Half-Night Stand tells the story of moving beyond the friend zone.

Reid, Chris, Alex, Ed and Millie are best friends and colleagues. They are all scientists and teachers at University of California Santa Barbara. When their college schedules a black tie dinner with President Obama, they worry about finding dates. They decide to use IRL, an online dating site to find some.

Millie’s real IRL profile attracts just douches and dick pics. Millie decides to create another profile for “Cat”. When she is matched with Reid, she becomes unexpectedly honest behind the anonymous profile and they hit it off. In the meantime, Reid and Millie have a somewhat drunken night of hot sex. They try to return to just being friends afterwards. But why is Millie jealous of Reid’s IRL girl Daisy? And why is Reid asking Millie about the mysterious Guy who she met on IRL? He doesn’t even realize Guy is actually him.

It is easy to see parallels between this story and Pride and Prejudice. In the latter book, British rules of politeness prevent the speaking of one’s mind. In My Favorite Half-Night Stand, it is nerdy shyness and introversion that prevents Reid and Millie from talking about their feelings. Overall, this a great book for a cold winter evening when you just want to settle in your book nook with some undemanding chick lit. 4 stars!

Thanks to Gallery Books and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Millie Morris is just one of the guys- literally. She’s 1 of 5 friends who work as professors at UC Santa Barbara and meet for meals, video games and hanging out.\
Millie is emotionally distance and private.
Even her best friend of the group, Reid only know surface facts about her – even after their friendship ends up with some half-night benefits.

All 5 friends decide to join an online dating service to find a date for a university gala.
When Millie’s 1st profile attempt only attracts the creeps, she decides to create a second one using her middle name with an artsy photo that hides her face.
The dating app. matches her second profile with Reid and their “anonymous” pen paling allows her to open up to him about her personal life, fears, and regrets.
Reid begins to fall for her

Millie throws out some subtle hints via direct message assuming Reid will figure out it’s her, but when he doesn’t and their online chatting also allows her to gain a better understanding of her friend, she lets it go on too long to confess.

Any other info. Is a spoiler and it’s more fun to read it for yourself.
The story is told from both Millie and Reid’s POV with the friend’s group chat conversation interspersed.

With the writing duo’s sense of humor, unique take on romance and smart witty banter, My Favorite Half-Night Stand is a page-turner just like their previous books.
If you never got around to reading Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating, read that one too.

4.5

Millie has always felt most comfortable as "one of the guys". A professor at UC Santa Barbara specializing in female serial killers she, along with her four best guy friends - Chris, Alex, Ed, and Reid - are pretty much perpetually single. As a unit, they've been fine with this. But when their school's annual gala pretty much requires them to bring dates, they all agree to sign up with a dating app in hopes of changing their social status. 

However, after they've made this agreement, Millie and Reid spend one half-night together. Afterwards, they tell themselves that, for friendship's sake, it cannot go any farther. They then both proceed with the dating app, Millie unsuccessfully and Reid not-so-unsuccessfully. When Millie modifies her dating profile, she winds up being paired with Reid. The problem is: Millie used a fake name Catherine. Now that "Catherine" and Reid are messaging back and forth, Millie finds she can open up to him in a way she can't when they're face-to-face. But as the charade deepens ever further, and Reid begins falling for Catherine and Millie separately, Millie risks losing Reid entirely. 

Lately, Christina Lauren have been hitting it out of the park with their romantic comedies and My Favorite Half-Night Stand can be added to that list. 

The downward spiral that Millie finds herself in is at times both hilarious and heartrending. After the death of her mother at a young impressionable age, Millie taught herself to close off, never revealing too much of herself or her feelings. The freedom she feels when she creates the Catherine persona is wonderful, but you also know it's not the right thing to do. Especially when your best guy friend, could-potentially-turn-into-more-than-just-a-friend is caught in the middle. 

The book is extremely quick-paced as we draw to the natural conclusion of how Millie comes clean to Reid and what it means for their relationship in the end. I found it full of sweetness.

I loved the group dynamic between the four guys and Millie. In her quest to figure out how to get Catherine out of the picture, we see Millie leaning on the guys for help, thereby revealing more of her feelings to them than she ever has before, and acknowledging that it's ok to talk to people about your feelings. This group is wonderful and the various hints and glimpses we get of everyone makes me hope that Ed and Alex and Chris will also get their own books (please!!). 

I felt like Half-Night was a twisted version of You Got Mail that justifiably deals with the fact of one person hoodwinking their friend (or someone they want as a friend) or more. 

I felt like Christina Lauren dealt with the situation very well. I think it's safe to say and agree to the fact that Millie should have been forthright with Reid from the beginning, but I also found the way the situation continued to spiral out of control very plausible. 

If you've enjoyed other books by Christina Lauren, I can't see where this one would disappoint. It'll keep your eyes glued to the page as you make it to the inevitable conclusion.

“Is it possible to be a highly functioning adult with a successful career, awesome friends and a lovely family, and still be a Level Five Hot Mess? I may be living proof.” 

OMG! You guys…Millie Morris is ALL OF US! I absolutely ADORED the heroine of Christina Lauren’s latest standalone romance, My Favorite Half-Night Stand. It was cute, quirky, swoony, and downright hilarious! I couldn’t get enough! This delightful and charming friends-to-lovers romantic romp was everything that I could have ever wanted in a world class romantic comedy. I expect nothing less from the ladies of Christina Lauren. The writing was superb. The banter was immensely enjoyable. The storyline was unique, playful, and just an absolute joy to read! The minute I finished, I wanted to experience that kind of joy all over again.

Not only did I adore our heroine of the book, but our hero, Reid Campbell was such a great character! Their hot and cold journey from friends to lovers put a smile on my face and butterflies in my stomach. Alex, Chris, and Ed make up the rest of their tight knit academic crew and trust me, I could write a few paragraphs more on these secondary characters alone, but I won’t waste your time because you need to hurry up and DEVOUR THIS BOOK! Every character is a scene stealer and I’m not mad at all about it. If you only plan to read one romantic comedy this year (please don’t limit yourself like that), make sure it’s this comedic gem right here!

"I want to rub Purell on my brain. Trying to be cool about banging your best friend is a lot harder than I would have anticipated." 


While a funny and modern take on the friends-to-lovers trope, this book felt a bit rushed to me and it is definitely not the first book I would recommend from this dynamic writing duo.

What I loved: Millie is smart and accomplished and very, very funny. I loved the scenes between Millie and Reid, one of her very best friends. They spend a very hot few hours together one night (the "half-night stand" of the title) but decide to go back to being just best friends. 

Despite their mutual attraction for each other, Millie and Reid decide to create online dating profiles to secure dates to a university black-tie formal (which never even occurred, or if it did, I completely missed it). 

“So,” she says out of the quiet, “in the interest of returning to Best Friendship, we should probably find other dates for commencement.” 

“Looks like it.” 

Millie actually creates a fake dating profile and lo and behold, Reid is a match! He thinks she is a woman named "Catherine". Their correspondence was very witty and I really liked the story but somehow the resolution felt rushed and a little forced. I thought there would be more the conclusion. With that said, I loved the clever plot, and I can always count on the authors to deliver on the witty dialogue. 

"Basically, I need Reid out of my space. Not because I want him out of my space, exactly, but because I’m feeling the same way I felt the night of his tenure party—like it might not be such a terrible idea to invite Reid into my bed, and I’m thinking these things while he’s reading a message from another woman. Who is actually me . . . Hello, twenty-first-century predicaments." 

This is a cute, modern story that you might like if you want a fast-paced, sexy romance with a happy ending. Reading is totally subjective so definitely give this one a try if you're a fan of Christina Lauren!

Christina Lauren is one of my favorite authors when I need, what I like to call, a pallet cleanse. You know, when you've been reading something that's super heavy and you're ready for some light and fluffy? Or you've immersed yourself in a fantasy world and you need a nice dose of reality before you dig into a new one? YEAH! That's when I start looking for one of their books (or something similar). This one came at the perfect time for me.

As someone with quite a few single friends, the synopsis for this one really appealed to me. Online dating both intrigues and terrifies me. Haven't you ever seen Catfish?!? MY FAVORITE HALF-NIGHT STAND is the story of Millie Morris and her 4 male best-friends (and co-workers). By the end of the third chapter I was pretty sure I knew where this story was going. But you know what? Sometimes predictable doesn't mean bad. Especially when it comes to CL books. I feel like they still keep things fresh and interesting. The dynamics of this crew of friends was really the glue of this story. I enjoyed watching everything unfold.

If you're like me and just need a quick, lighthearted and fun read, then I definitely recommend picking this one up. It's got humor, comradery, and a wonderful friends to lovers story with an ending that will leave you grinning from ear to ear!

**Complimentary copy provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

From the text conversations to the confusion over dating apps and all of the adorable banter in between, I freaking loved this book! It was cute and fresh and just had me wishing I was a part of this group of friends who looked out for one another, nosed in each others business, and created their own family with bonds stronger than blood.

With Obama coming to speak at a university function, Millie and her four male colleagues and best friends need to find dates. But with options being slim, this geeky chic group decide to head online to find love.  Millie has trouble with opening up to people, but when she creates a profile as an alter-ego of her true self, she is matched with Reid, one of her best friends.

In real life, Millie and Reid begin a “friends with benefits” relationship. The physical connection between this pair is great, but emotionally Millie is still closed off. Ironically, “online Millie” has no problem opening up to Reid. The problem? Reid is unaware of who he is talking with and falling for online, just as he falls deeper in love with Millie IRL.

Told from dual points of view, I had trouble putting this story down. It was unique and modern and full of characters I just adored. I did have a few moments where I wanted to smack the Millie and found myself almost yelling at my kindle, but beside those feelings of angst, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and this fun, heartfelt story.

4.5 stars

I couldn't read this book fast enough! I found myself grinning and full of ALL. THE. FEELS.  Millie was quirky and very interesting.  She was friends with a bunch of guys and they all hung out but no one was attracted to her.  Until Reid was.  Their half-night together was completely unexpected and out of the ordinary for them but the chemistry  between  them was combustible!  While they knew that couldn't happen again, they went the online dating route.  While Millie innocently created an account to try to be more herself without stating her name, she and Reid clicked online.  He had no idea it was her but she tried to tell him without telling him.  I was lost in this story and never wanted it to end! I enjoyed watching them move from friends to possibly more.  I found myself laughing out loud at times, cringing and then hoping!  I don't want to ruin this amazing story for you so I'll stop talking and just let you go ahead and one-click it.  Seriously. Don't miss this read!

I have read everything that these ladies have written. I love their writing, the flow of their words, the banter they use, and the way it all consumes me while I'm reading. Lately, though, I feel like they are getting away from the reason I fell in love with them in the first place. My first encounter with their work was shortly after Beautiful Bastard was released. The story had swoon, feels, steam, and so much chemistry between Bennett and Chloe that you were swimming in it. I have not felt the things that that book made me feel since they ended that series and the Wild Seasons series. Yes I love their work, yes I still read the books, but no I do not love them anywhere near what I did with those books. I keep reading hoping they get back to that.

This book was enjoyable, and I loved Reid. I liked the dynamic of their circle of friends. I loved the premise of the story, but I feel like it missed the mark on several aspects. I don't think that Reid and Millie had any chemistry. I hated that she kept lying to someone who supposedly meant so much to her - good reason or not. When his other friends started helping her that really made me feel bad for Reid, he didn't deserve it. I do think that it was over an ok book. I just wanted and expected more from these ladies.

If a book could just be refreshing for mind and soul, this would be it. My Favorite Half-Night Stand by writing duo Christina Lauren is funny, light-hearted, filled with loveable characters, and charming. Though I (unlike our protagonist Millie) am more of a girl’s girl than a tomboy, I ended up really embracing her ragtag group of guy friends by the end. And Millie herself I felt a bit of kindred spirit with! Add that to a truly fun love story filled with witty repartee and a few sophomoric boy jokes, and you have a recipe for a book that will just make you feel happy!

About the Book

Millie Morris has always been one of the guys. A UC Santa Barbara professor, she’s a female-serial-killer expert who’s quick with a deflection joke and terrible at getting personal. And she, just like her four best guy friends and fellow professors, is perma-single.

So when a routine university function turns into a black tie gala, Mille and her circle make a pact that they’ll join an online dating service to find plus-ones for the event. There’s only one hitch: after making the pact, Millie and one of the guys, Reid Campbell, secretly spend the sexiest half-night of their lives together, but mutually decide the friendship would be better off strictly platonic.

But online dating isn’t for the faint of heart. While the guys are inundated with quality matches and potential dates, Millie’s first profile attempt garners nothing but dick pics and creepers. Enter “Catherine”—Millie’s fictional profile persona, in whose make-believe shoes she can be more vulnerable than she’s ever been in person. Soon “Catherine” and Reid strike up a digital pen-pal-ship...but Millie can’t resist temptation in real life, either. Soon, Millie will have to face her worst fear—intimacy—or risk losing her best friend, forever.

Reflection

Well let’s get it out of the way—I was destined to love this book by nature of them all being Ph.D. “nerds” working at a university. My PhDiva heart was thrilled with this setting! Whenever Millie would talk about making her book deadlines—that was too real for me. And then having her favorite spots on campus? Been there, Millie! Even if you are cool and not a Ph.D. nerd like I am, I think you’ll find this setting fun.

Millie is a truly wonderful character. She is closed off—a bit of damage from her mother dying young and her father encouraging her to keep it positive when telling her sick mother about her day. After awhile, Millie learns to just keep the negative things pushed down. Now as an adult, Millie hasn’t really unlearned this tendency, and it is creating problems. She doesn’t connect as well with others as she’d like. To be Millie’s friends, you have to accept that there will always be a wall up. Millie’s growth as a character in this book was one of my favorite things about it!

And then we have the boys, Chris, Ed, Alex, and Reid (the love interest). Let’s get Chris and Alex out of the way first—they are ridiculous characters who add some much needed humor. Ed, on the other hand, should have his own book! Every reader on the planet will want to learn more about Ed, I’m sure. He is such a great side character—he’ll sneak up on you, I think! 

And then Reid… Oh Reid. The book besties will tell you that my opinion on Reid changed multiple times through this book! Sometimes I couldn’t stand him, and other times I loved him so much that I wanted to dive into the pages and hug him! I don’t want to spoil anything by saying why my opinions kept changing, but I’ll say I ended firmly in the “TeamReid camp, so he is ultimately a great character.

There is a scene in this book that made me visibly cringe while reading it! It is a date scene but I won’t say which characters it is between because I want it to surprise you too. It is such a fantastic scene, though! I love the way the authors wrote it—I could feel every awkward moment as though I was the one on the date!
And then we have those steamy sex-scenes! Yowsa do these two have chemistry!!! And the genuine love—well that makes it even better, doesn’t it?

Thank you to Gallery Books for our copies to review.

I would give this book a 3 1/2 stars.  It was an enjoyable story about best friends that aren't sure whether to develop their relationship into a romantic one.  This book would make a good beach read, for anyone just needing something light and easy to read.

This was my first Christina Lauren book and it was such a fun read.  This group of quirky, nerdy friends were a delight. I would love to read more books focused on each of their stories.  The book’s format was right for the times and the use of the online dating app will appeal to many readers.

Here tit is: I loved this on SO MANY levels tits* compelled me to hashtag my review ;) 

#tropeilicios
Soooo many of my fav tropes done well! Friends-to-lovers, masquerade/disguise/mistaken identity, oblivious to love, everyone can see it, love triangle (yes, there is some OW drama but no real cheating 'cause of the "masquerade" thingy *wink wink*), spontaneous fling (tits in the title), redemption (Mills has to do the hard work!) and unrequited love (Reid. Those texts to Catherine. Sigh.)

But don't let my overexcited trope ramblings confuse you. Tit's simple. Everything I love about reading romances is in Reid and Millie's journey toward each other. Respect, caring, laughs, they just feel right when they are together. They are solid friends unwittingly drawing closer to each other, yet they both haven't consciously considered crossing the friend zone. But one of them doesn't do serious speak...

#cutenerds
The authors refreshingly switch it up and give our hero Reid the nurture gene, while Millie remains closed mouth about her personal life. I really thought this twistabout played out well. 
Tit *damn autocorrect* It felt genuine and organic between these two right from the start and stayed that way. I absolutely loved the emotional character development, as Reid struggled to stay true to himself and Millie struggled to find herself. In spite of the lie. And neither one wanting to lose each other. Because of the lie.
Oh, the sweet angst of it all. 

#textual 
Online dating is not in my wheelhouse, but what a band of merry men and one smartmouth woman these five nerds made in their goals to find a date for an upcoming university gala. Witty banter, self deprecating academic 30-somethings kept me smiling with every texty convo. Like Millie's autocorrect for its as "tits" too funny! Still, there is a soft undercurrent of modern life playing out here too...young, lonely workaholics yearning to make an emotional connection beyond a hook up. 

See? Just a really great overall read. Something for everyone looking for a little HEA. 
5 stars and a new rereadable favorite for my library.
Now I wonder if Alex gets a story?

*ARC received through NetGalley for an honest review *

millie and reid are clearly otp. as super smart university professors you'd think they'd be smarter about their love lives, but they are not.

my favorite half-night stand is a frothy, enjoyable rom-com that has a lot of heart. i love millie and reid's relationship. and the way they complicate their feelings for each other. how they misunderstand each other. how they open up to each other in unexpected ways.

millie is the one who really messes up here, and i love that she's the one who grovels. there are so many romance novels where it's pretty clear the heroine has been the one to mess up communication and the hero is still the one with the grand gesture. this is the main reason i dislike the grand gesture most of the time, because the wrong person is doing it.

but here, the way millie works her way back into reid's life is perfection. and i pretty much enjoyed everything about this book. the real friendships these characters have. the way they communicate with one another and how they see each other's failings. it's all so well-done.

**my favorite half-night stand will publish on december 4, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/gallery, threshold, pocket books (gallery) in exchange for my honest review.

Summary:

What if you haven’t found “the one” because they’re already your best friend?  Do you risk everything for love?

    Millie is one of the guys, and she’s okay with that.  She’s fun and quick with a joke, and let’s face it, her group of guy-friends are awesome.  It also keeps her from having to get too personal with anyone which, let’s face it, she sucks at.  Besides who wants to keep explaining her interest in female-serial-killers to prospective dates?  When a black tie gala makes the gang realize they might have a real problem finding dates, they decide to look to the internet for the answer.  Online dating for the win!  The guys are getting real, interesting matches and Millie’s getting (wait for it…) dick pics.  And the guys have the nerve to say that it may be because of her introduction!  

         Then there’s the fact that she may have had really hot sex with her best friend- but totally does not want to mess things up there.  It was a one time thing right?  Besides, they’re both adult enough to handle this.  Still, when Reed starts getting matched and she’s getting bozos, she decides to try something.  Enter Catherine, her online persona- more personal,  more open.  When she matches with Reed it starts as a joke, surely he’ll know it’s her right?  But he doesn’t…. and she likes who she can be as Catherine.  Can she pull herself together and decide who and what she really wants, or will Millie loose her best friends?

My thoughts:

I actually finished this one over a week ago.  I had been putting off writing a review and I don’t even know why.  For the most part, I loved this book.  In fact, I feel like we’ve have a really great batch of romances coming out recently.  I really liked Mille and Reed, I liked their chemistry- it was odd because of how different they were emotionally.  Reed is very giving, open and maybe overly warm; and Millie doesn’t do personal.  At all.  When you think about her past and how she grew up, it makes sense; but it still makes it difficult for her to be in the type of relationship Reed would want long term.  I felt for both of them here, even when they were being stupid they were lovable.  I also fell a little in love with the other guys in the group and would absolutely read their love stories if they were ever written.  One thing I found odd was that we read about Reed at work- lecturing, or doing other things- but we never actually saw Millie doing any work.  Her work is mentioned a lot, but in a more vague way.  As I consider her the main character I found that odd.  I would still give this book four and a half stars.  

 On the adult content scale, there’s some explicit sexual content, drinking and language.  I would give it a five.  
        I was lucky enough to receive an eARC of this book from Netgalley and Gallery books in exchange for an honest review.  My thanks!

There is something about a Christina Lauren book that just makes me happy, so it comes as no surprise that My Favorite Half-Night Stand left me with a goofy smile on my face.

Millie is emotionally stunted—often frustratingly so—but also kind and quick-witted. Reid won me over with his charm and easygoing nature. This is a friends-to-lovers romance, and while I obviously couldn’t wait for Reid and Millie to get their act together and jump aboard the love train, I fell equally in love with all five best friends. The funniest moments in the story come from their get-togethers and wacky group chats. They have such a wonderful camaraderie that I really wanted to be part of their close-knit group.

Having just finished a string of highly emotional books, this very fun romantic comedy was just what I needed.

My Favorite Half-Night Stand is funny, sexy, and an interesting take on online dating.  Millie and Reid are best friends and both are on faculty at UC Santa Barbara, along with their three other best friends.  Millie is private and emotionally closed-off, but with a quick wit and sense of humor appreciated by her friends.  Reid is sexy, charming, and an all-around great guy.  Millie and Reid seem closer to each other than anyone else in their group and they have a memorable half-night stand.  They awkwardly transition back into best buddies, but both struggle with seeing each other as "off-limits" after that.  In a pact, everyone sets up online dating profiles and relate the funny, promising, and horrifying details.  Things take a turn when Millie and Reid are matched online, but under Millie's second profile.  There is conflict, angst, friendship, family, love, and lust.  Christina Lauren developed an entertaining groups of best friends who banter and support each other through life and love.