The Right Swipe/ Alisha Rai/ 386 pgs

This is the start of a new series for Rai, though I discovered it's tangentially related to her first series. It can be read as a standalone. Rhiannon Hunter is the creator of a successful dating app who is looking to buy a more traditional online dating company. Rhi has trust issues because she used to work for a different dating app company and became involved with the CEO of that company. When things went sour in their relationship, the CEO spread nasty rumors about Rhi and she was forced to leave the company. Samson Lima is a former pro football player who left the game abruptly due to the NFL's injury and concussion policies (fiction predicting the future with Andrew Luck's retirement?). Samson is the new spokesman for the company Rhi wants to buy and just happens to be related to the owner. You can see where this is going and it's a great ride. Samson is one of those gentle giants, very sweet, very loyal, very patient. Rhi is tough on the outside (because she has to be) and super smart. A wonderful romance and a great start to a new series!

My Favorite Half-Night Stand/ Christina Lauren/ 371 pgs

This is a contemporary romance set at UC Santa Barbara. Reid, Ed, Alex, Chris, and Millie all work at the university in some capacity and are friends. Millie is the only female but she gets along well with all the guys. Though they have been strictly friends, one night she and Reid end up having sex. They don't tell any of the others and neither is sure if they want to try dating since it might ruin their friendship. The five friends decide to try online dating. Millie ends up writing the perfect profile bios for the guys but can't write a good one for herself because she has a hard time sharing anything personal. Even with her friends she's very closed off because of some things that happened when she was younger. When the guys make fun of her online profile, she decides to set up another one using just her middle name and an obscured picture. She and Reid end up being matched by the software and they start communicating, though Reid doesn't know that it's Millie. This is borderline cat-fishing and Millie knows it's wrong but it goes on longer than she wants. This, and her inability to communicate her feelings are the big issues in the story. This wasn't one of my favorites of Lauren's books but the friendship among the five is fun and Reid is a really great hero.