Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating

I'll give kudos to Christina Lauren's writing, which drew me in from page one. Their tone was modern, fun, light-hearted, with just the right amount of inside jokes for the social media generation, without seeming like they were trying too hard. The entertainment value of their writing is probably worth a whole 2 stars from my rating already.

I liked that this was one of the very few romance novels out there with an Asian-American male protagonist. I liked that there was just the right amount of Korean culture incorporated in it without going too over-the-top but also without completely ignoring it. All these factors combined made the book more than a sum of its parts. It was fun and I think that's what kept me going, speeding through the book in what is, to me, record time.

But things have to be said about the two protagonists. While they certainly weren't as annoying and cliche as romantic protagonists could be, but I kinda found myself wishing that they were... more. Despite all their quirks, it still kinda felt like the protagonists were generally one-dimensional. Hazel is a quirky girl and Josh is a nice dude who likes crazy. That pretty much sums up the entire characterization arc.

Another thing I wasn't so hot about was the way they were thrown into each other's paths again. The whole “we are going to be male/female best friends!” thing fell super flat for me, because they were clearly attracted to each other from the start (no matter how many times they tell each other they're not) and I didn't feel like they were close in a platonic way. Every time they drew closer to each other, it felt like there was always sexual tension there that you, as the reader, just knows will get explored at some point. Perhaps it's a personal preference, but if we're doing the best-friends-to-lovers thing, I'd like to see a very, very clear friendzone happening before attraction sets in, rather than it having been there from the start.

Last but not least, the ending...
If it hadn't been for that ending, I may actually round this book up to 4 stars. The ending felt rushed as hell! Josh and Hazel hadn't even gotten to the point of verbalizing their feelings for each other (although a lot of HINTS were made) before wham bam, suddenly Hazel's pregnant from the very first time they had sex. Talk about bullseye, eh? Sure, this situation could happen and has happened before. But what comes next makes things even worse. We are somehow shuttled forward in time where we meet Josh and Hazel having a date night, before going back to his empty house to have sex on the wooden floor all over again (really?). Finally, we get to find out that Josh and Hazel are not only happily married, but have 2 kids and are expecting a third. A very conventional, almost cheesy, tableau of happy married family life plays out. End scene.REALLY?!Are we really expected to believe that Josh and Hazel had a happy marriage life having gotten pregnant just 2 months after they started sleeping together, and before they actually started dating proper???? It's not to say that this is an impossibility, but to not even acknowledge that this is a thing, that there would've been hard times and arguments and struggles to overcome to get to where they are at the end, and to make it seem like it's effortless and easy to get from infatuated sex to happy married couple. I can't imagine if the readers who actually worked their butts off for their relationship when they get surprised by an unexpected pregnancy way, way too early on.