Oh my, this story is just so dang sweet. Sam and Lane are lovable and sweet and as their anonymous hookup turns into more, you cannot help but root for them.

Novellas are not typically my favorite. There just doesn't seem to be enough details or character building in them. Jax Calder somehow managed to do a perfectly good job of writing a novella that didn't feel like anything was missing.

Would I prefer to still be emersed in the world of Sam and Lane's love? Yup. But I'm also content with everything about this story as is too.

This book was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

A queer saucy novel with a good plot. The protaonigsts decide to, as the title suggests, start hooking up but thye do not share names. However, it seems that fate has other plans. There is a twist about who is the Chess name Charles Dickens, whom one of our protagonists is playing with online. The outcome is definitely a call from a higher power that they coupling is fate, at least in the writer's mind. It was beautifully crafted with realistic characters, who have realistic qualities. Overall, this was a great short story to read with enough spice to bring any romance reader but too much for those of the faint-hearted to run for the hills.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from #netgalley , thank you. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

Anonymous hookup ends up being not so anonymous after all. Love angst, HEA, mm novella that pulls you in on the first page. I only wish it was longer!!

This was a fun and sweet romance. I almost wanna call it a slow burn even though the characters were together practically the whole time because Lane was hesitant to attach any stings to his and maybe Sam's romance. This was a low-stakes, guaranteed HEA story that I never really get tired of! Definitely need to pick up more Jax Calder!

The anonymous hookup? More like two idiots obliviously dating and accidentally falling in love. 😂

Going into this I had no idea it was a novella, I inhaled this in one go and I could have easily read another 300 pages about these two.
It was absolutely sweet, I completely understood Lanes hesitance going into another relationship with anyone after the horrible experience he had with his ex (and also his neglectful parents).
His anonymous man slowly crept inside his and my heart and I thought they were so cute together!
I loved the plot of how they slowly got to know each other better kind of by accident and without even realising what they were doing.

The humour in this was right up my alley and I laughed out loud multiple times. Especially about Lanes thoughts and his sassy best friend saying the exact things I was thinking!
I loved that there was no drama and the ending was perfect. I’m not religious at all, but I 100% believe in fate, so this was simply perfection.
Definitely need to read more books from this author!

I've seen the name Jax Calder pop up a few times in my Instagram feed, so when I saw this novella, I had to pick it up.

The book was told from Lane's POV for the entire story. He's a few months off a rough breakup from a boyfriend who never let him truly be himself. With encouragement from his best friend, he embarks on a super steamy one night stand.

A while later, he runs into his anonymous one night stand and they start meeting up, no strings attached. Sam turns out to be a TV Director who ends up helping a group of high school students chosen for a film contest or something. (the application part was prior to the start of the book)

Turns out the one night stand chemistry they had was real and through friendship and a continued dating-but-not-really-dating non-relationship, they fell for each other and fell hard. Yes, it was predictable, but it made me smile the whole time. I absolutely adored Sam and Lane. I can't tell you how refreshing it was to read a story that was all positive with no lying, or cheating, or overwhelming self-doubt and angst. OK - so there was a little self-doubt, but that's ok. They worked through it.

Jax Calder is definitely an author I want to keep reading. I read that she wrote this as a short story to cheer herself up and it turned into a novella. Well - I"m sorry you needed cheering up, but I'm glad you wrote this story!

If you're looking to feel good, read An Anonymous Hookup!

Lane encounters the man he had an anonymous hookup with a few days after the fact, and they decide to keep hooking up - and to keep it anonymous.

This was fantastic. I read it as a palate cleanser, and this short novella really was exactly what I needed. A lighthearted, sweet and fluffy romance with just a little angst at the end. (Really, just a smidge.) Lane and Sam are absolutely perfect - and perfect for each other - and I was swooning at the end of this. While I would have been super okay with having this be a longer book, it was a good length for the plot, which is hard to do with a novella. This was marvelous and I loved everything about this. (I'm already considering rereading it, lol.)

This book started me down the road of a massive Jax Calder backlist read-a-thon! Lane is a fairly tightly buttoned up literature teacher who is recently out of a bad relationship. His best friend suggests that he should live a little and have an anonymous hookup with the first guy he sees at a club. That hookup quickly progresses into much more. It turns out Lane and his hookup have been orbiting each other for a while now - not realizing it. They have dogs at the same doggie daycare, they run the same half-marathons, and even more.

Lane and Sam are freaking adorable together and they truly seem like it was fate for them to meet and get together. Despite some scars from previous relationships and their life before each other - this book was pretty low angst and anxiety.

I would definitely recommend it for fans of sweet (and very sexy) M/M romance. It will also immediately make you want to plan a trip to New Zealand - or at least watch the Lord of the Rings so you can get your fix.

I received this via NetGalley as an ARC, but these opinions are all my own.

I really enjoyed this short novella about Lane and Sam. Lane's 6 months out of a three-year relationship with his toxic ex Preston when his best friend Jules convinces him he needs an anonymous hookup to help him properly move on. Lane reluctantly agrees and picks up a hot guy at a bar who he has amazing sex and banter with. Just for that one night though, and he'll never see bar guy again. Only it turns out they both have dogs in the same doggie daycare, and as they run into each other again, their casual, anonymous one-time thing turns into something entirely different.

I thought Lane and Sam had amazing chemistry, such fun banter, hot sex, and were just so good for each other. It's told from Lane's POV, and I would've liked to have gotten to know Sam a bit better but I also really felt the length of the novella was suitable so I get the choices made by the author. I liked the element of fate and I adored the epilogue and how the story really felt fully complete by the time we got to the end. Overall, a really enjoyable, short read that I'd definitely recommend.

❤️❤️❤️❤️
💋💋

A sweet and slightly steamy M/M romance, these two were meant to be together, fated it seems.

It’s fun and lighthearted, entertaining and enjoyable, their are so many coincidences, these gents never had a chance.

But what happens to the dogs when the house sitting part is over. What about their friendship.
You understand what I mean when you read the book.

I very much enjoyed this book and would read more from the author.
I received an Arc copy of this book and chose to post this review

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of The Anonymous Hookup by Jax Calder. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC to review.

Land and Sam were such a cute and low angst OTP (one true pairing) that it was easy to fall in love with them as they fell in love with each other. While usually, I would roll my eyes at random fated meet-cute plot arcs, this time it really worked. I loved that their dogs and lives just brought them together, and I was sad that the story wasn't longer. I give this story 4/5 stars.

A wonderful short love story between two great guys. Lane went looking for a hook up after a horrible relationship and needed time to heal. Instead he ended up with Sam, who was wonderful guy who appreciated and loved him just as he was. Ms. Calder has been one of my go to for cute romances. Definitely recommend.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is a wonderful KU read. At 130 Kindle pages, it is a perfect book to read in one sitting. In this book Lane at the encouragement of his best friend decides to have an anonymous hookup. He selects Sam at random at a gay bar and the pair share a hot evening. They soon figure out that their lives are closely intertwined and their anonymous hookup becomes a casual fling which becomes a relationship with feelings.

130 pages is the perfect length for a story like this. If it was any longer the coincidences would not work, but as a novella it works wonderfully to allow so much story to fit in. This length also meant that I did not mind the book being single POV. I really liked both Lane and Sam and I loved that their dogs were best friends. I loved all the literary references and quotes peppered in. I loved that the book had both heat and showed people getting to know each other on a deeper level. The writing was easy to read and brought me joy. This book just made me want to read more books by Jax when I rejoin KU.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jax Calder, and Xpresso Book Tours for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Jax Calder & NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book, I LOVED IT.

I've been trying to make sure to diversify my reading and reading more LGBTQ books this year. If you are like me, RUN, don't walk, to add this to your TBR list.! This was such a fun, quick read that I devoured in one sitting.

We start the book in a VERY spicy way, from there we turn into this genuine, heart filling love story. I found myself smiling throughout the book. I really enjoyed all of the characters (not sure the last time that has happened) and thought that even supporting characters were great.

I really enjoyed how fate had a hand in this book. I liked that everything intertwined and really made it into a complete story.

I can't wait to read more of Jax's stories.