Shanice Harris

Over the holiday season, I decided to sink my teeth into a new read.

I've been reading some pretty heavy material as of late. In November, I finished "The Hate U Give"— a story about a young, black girl navigating her life after her friend was killed by a policeman—written by Angie Thomas. Prior to that, I was mesmerized by the life of Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer in Montgomery, Alabama who documented his start of the Equal Justice Initiative in his memoir "Just Mercy". And lastly, I squeezed in Trevor Noah's "Born a Crime", about his upbringing during apartheid in South Africa.

So needless to say, I needed a little break.

On a cold December morning, I walked into Barnes and Nobles and scoured the tall, brown shelves until something peaked my interest. As I looked, I came across "my favorite half-night stand" by Christina Lauren. She was an author (or should I say authors...it's the combined pen name of best friends, Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings) I've never heard of before. The second I read the back cover, I was intrigued.

The story follows Millie Morris, a late 20-something-year-old woman who is a professor at UC Santa Barbara. She and her four best-guy friends are hopelessly single and decide to join a dating app to find a plus-one for an exclusive black-tie event at the university. And as you can imagine, things get a little...messy.

"my favorite half-night stand" falls into the traps of any young, sexy, rom-com novel. Millie's a "tomgirl", she sleeps with one of her guy friends, she's horrible at dating, and most of her problems could've been solved with a single conversation (Millie, you should have just told Reid from the beginning...ughhh). But, it's weirdly addicting. I couldn't put the book down. Lauren has a way of making me connect to these characters. I felt invested in Millie's relationships (especially with her sister and dad), even though she could be maddening at times. It felt grounded, in a novel genre that usually isn't.

This novel did its job. It was a quick read (I ran through it in two weeks) and it gave me a break from some of the serious material I've been engaging in. It's fun, it's cute, and it has heart. I'll definitely be revisiting some Christina Lauren novels in the near future.

Until next time...

Shanice