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Josh and Hazel's guide to not dating

Pages
320
Published
2018
Language
English

Synopsis

Hazel Bradford is a self-aware hot mess -- eccentric, unfiltered, and, by her own admission, a lot to handle, with more in common with the third-graders she teaches than with most of the men she meets. Josh Im is her near-opposite: calm, composed, and steady, a physical therapist whose mellow restraint never meshed with Hazel's chaotic energy. The two first crossed paths in college, where a string of mortifying encounters convinced Hazel she had disqualified herself as anyone Josh could date. Years later they reconnect, and Hazel -- certain romance is off the table -- sets her sights on simple friendship. When Josh becomes newly single, the pair hit on a plan that supposedly keeps things platonic: setting each other up on a parade of increasingly disastrous blind double-dates. The arrangement gives them an excuse to spend more and more time together -- and steadily undermines the very boundary it was meant to protect. Warm and broadly comic, the novel follows two friends insisting they are absolutely not dating while the evidence mounts otherwise.

About the author

C
Christina Lauren

Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings write together under the combined pen name Christina Lauren. The two met online in 2009 through the Twilight fan fiction community and decided to write a novel together in 2010, signing with literary agent Holly Root in 2011. Their debut, Beautiful Bastard (2013), began life as a Twilight fan fiction titled "The Office" before Simon & Schuster acquired the series. Since then the duo has built a career in contemporary romance and rom-coms, with titles including...

Characters

Hazel Camille BradfordProtagonist

An exuberant, unfiltered elementary-school teacher who embraces being a lot.

Josh ImProtagonist

A calm, collected Korean-American physical therapist and Hazel's college acquaintance; Christina Lauren's first Korean-American hero.

All characters in Josh and Hazel's guide to not dating

Frequently asked questions

  • Is this part of the Beautiful Bastard series?

    No. It is a standalone novel and is not connected to the Beautiful Bastard series, despite occasional mislabeling.

  • Is the hero notable in any way?

    Yes. Josh Im is described as Christina Lauren's first Korean-American hero, with the story drawing on his experience as the son of South Korean immigrants.

  • What is the central setup?

    Two friends who insist they are not dating start setting each other up on terrible blind double-dates as an excuse to keep spending time together.

  • What is the dynamic between the leads?

    A grumpy-sunshine, opposites-attract pairing, contrasting chaotic, unfiltered Hazel with reserved, even-keeled Josh.

  • How did they originally meet?

    In college, where Hazel's antics led to a string of embarrassing encounters that convinced her Josh saw her as undatable; they reconnect years later.

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