My Favorite Half-Night Stand

In the contemporary romance genre, the “friends-to-lovers” trope remains one of the most popular and enduring plot structures. This narrative arc, in which a platonic relationship gradually evolves into a romantic one, is popular because it builds on a foundation of established intimacy and shared history, making the eventual pairing feel both earned and believable. The prevalence of this trope is evident across media, from classic films like When Harry Met Sally… to novels like Tessa Bailey’s Hook, Line, and Sinker, Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation, and B. K. Borison’s Lovelight Farms.    

Christina Lauren’s My Favorite Half-Night Stand is a quintessential example of this trope, centering on the deep but initially strictly platonic bond between Millie Morris and Reid Campbell. The two are part of a tight-knit circle of friends who have become a “sweet little chosen family of sorts” (9). The novel’s central conflict is ignited when a spontaneous night together disrupts their stable friendship, forcing them to confront unspoken feelings. Their subsequent journey is marked by classic elements of the trope: awkwardness, jealousy of outside romantic interests, and the fear of risking a cherished friendship for the possibility of love.