Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren

Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren is a contemporary romance novel about Hazel, an eccentric, devil may care woman, and Josh, a mellow guy who remembers Hazel from when she threw up on his shoes in college.  I read this almost immediately on the heels of People We Meet on Vacation and they are so similar.  

They lose touch after college, but as she gets older Hazel finds herself friends with Emily and it turns out *surprise* that Josh is Emily's brother! Hazel's apartment is flooded (through no fault of her own, which I appreciate because Lauren writes Hazel as zany and interesting, but not incompetent) and she ends up staying in Josh's apartment while it is being repaired. 

Interesting characters: There's something I find endearing about the messiness of Hazel and the quiet bemusement of Josh.  There is a smidge of "not like other girls" that I sometimes don't care for in romances, but Hazel has female friendships and Josh has male friendships, so it's not the worst I've ever been around. Hazel is just plain funny and I found myself chuckling a lot in this one. 

Believable conflict: I mean, is there conflict? They're best friends and then they're sleeping together. There isn't a ton of conflict, but I do find the whole relationship believable. 

Emotional tension: Sure. Would they or wouldn't they was a big theme here. I wanted them to get together and really felt some eagerness for them to do so.

Happily ever after: The last quarter of the book brought the whole thing down for me. It just made me sad that these two didn't have time together just the two of them.  

I really liked this book, although I think it's an awful lot like People We Meet on Vacation.  I didn't care for the ending, but it's not always about me, is it?  I'd recommend this one and it makes me excited to read more Christina Lauren, although her books have mostly been a miss for me in the past.