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.