The Roommate

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️- for originality
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️- for readability
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️- for romance.

Overall- ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫 rounded up to 4 ✨.

Thank you so much to Berkley Pub for my advanced copy of the Roommate.

I enjoyed this one.

What I liked-

✨ The Plot- this book was unlike anything I’ve ever read in a romance novel. Props for being outside the box.

✨ The Writing- very enjoyable. I flew through this book.

✨ The Characters- very like able.

✨ The Roommate also takes on the mistreatment and abuse of sex workers.
I appreciated that it was talked about. It happens and is definitely wrong and needs to stop.

What Didn’t Work For Me-

✨ The Romance- please don’t come for me. This is totally a personal preference. When reading romance I want to read about a love interest that appeals to me.
I don’t want to date a porn star lol
I also did not care if these characters ended up together.

I still very much look forward to reading more by this author .

The Roommate is a fantastic Rom-Com debut that is hilarious, heartfelt and sexy!

Clara’s journey throughout this book was filled with growth from a girl who is scared to do anything that will not meet her families expectations beyond chasing after her childhood crush to a woman who discovers her passions and goals for a fulfilling life. I absolutely adored the interactions between Clara and Josh. While there were obstacles to overcome they had a connection that was undeniable. I will say that at the beginning I had a hard time with Clara and Josh as a couple given how quickly things moved but it felt like they got to know one another more and I loved how their relationship grew. The other characters were also well developed and popped off the page. I especially loved Naomi and I am hoping that she will come back with a story of her own.

This book also had a strong message about the stigmas surrounding the pornography industry and women embracing their own sexuality without shame. I really thought that was a well done in this story and it was something I wasn’t expecting when I first picked it up. I really enjoyed this one and am excited to see what Danan writes next!.

The Roommate definitely had a lot of potential. I had a lot of complicated feelings while reading it. That is, at times I was really enjoying it and having fun. But a lot of the time? I was so damn frustrated with the uneven pacing (more on that in a bit) and the heroine in particular.

So often, a pivotal scene would end out a chapter and the next chapter would start up days, even weeks later. These constant jumps would be annoying no matter what, but the thing is? Those jumps always just glossed over the tension and conflict that was supposed to be moving the characters, and the story, forward. So, for example, we'd go from Clara and Josh hooking up and then it's weeks later and they've just been -- what? Somehow avoiding each other even though they live and work together? They've not talked about anything, but the lack of talking and therefore awkward tension hasn't been enough to ruin things with them either? And now we're just jumping into something else and going to avoid that entirely for a few more chapters? Cool cool cool. [Not.] I get that a book cannot cover every minute, every discussion, every conflict on page. But the author/editor instead choose to pretty much avoid *every* bit of tension and resolution, which lead to a really uneven reading and conflict/resolution experience for the reader.

And while I get that Clara is dealing with the whole "spoiled pedigree girl trying to find herself", I really didn't connect to her or care about her struggles. Instead, the things she would do and say and avoid frustrated me to no end. Being hung-up on her family friend for 15+ years and still thinking it's magically going to turn into a love story? Haaaaaaate that damn trope and I really hated it here. Not talking to or about her family for 99% of the book and then throwing Josh's porn career and their new website in his face because "what will my family think??! boo hoo!"? So goddamn annoying. Also: didn't she have any friends? Ever? Because she never mentions them, either. Then again, neither does Josh, with the exception of his ex, of course. IDK, the friendship thing is a minor thing, but something that bugs m in romance novels: give your MCs friendships outside of their work or their partner, please.

Did this book have some fun scenes? Yes. Did it have some hot ones? Yes...eventually.

But those brief moments were not enough to completely overcome all the frustrations I had along the way. Sometimes I wanted to give this book 3 stars, max. Other times I wanted to bump it to a solid 4 star. So I'll leave it at a "it's complicated, 3 1/2 STARS".

The Roommate was probably at the top of my most anticipated romance novels of the year. I've had a soft spot for it ever since the deal was announced and I just inexplicably knew that it would be a book that worked in every way for me. Well, my instincts were right because I read The Roommate twice this year already and it's easily a favorite.

What I loved the most about The Roommate was how it managed to be very very sexy, but simultaneously one of the softest books I've read. The whole experience was wonderfully sublime and I couldn't get enough of it. Part of why the book worked for me was the characters who were absolute darlings. It was hard not to warm up to them because they were crafted and developed in an endearing way. Though Clara and I come from totally different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, there were many parts of myself that I saw in her character. I felt all her anxiety as she made her big move from the East Coast to follow her long-time crush to California, only to have him leave her high and dry. Despite being someone who didn't necessarily like unplanned life upheavals, Clara handled the situation well - she reacted far better than I would have if I were in her shoes. It certainly helped that she had an adorable and very good looking roommate to show her the ropes and a good time, but I thought Clara dealt with the obstacles she faced with grace. We truly see Clara come out of her awkward shell, grow more independent, and find a creative outlet for her passion throughout the book. She faltered but always managed to show a lot of courage.

Her roommate, the biggest high-energy and most charismatic goofball you'll ever meet, Josh, was equally endearing. In terms of energy and emotional rigidity, Josh was the complete opposite of Clara, but once the author begins to dig into the layers of his character, we see that they weren't necessarily very different. Josh, like every human being, had his own fears and vulnerabilities though he was good at hiding them. I was thrilled that he was portrayed, completely the opposite of what I would expect an adult movie performer to be like. I also liked how astutely Rosie Danan depicted the porn industry. She humanized the performers but didn't shy away from highlighting the revolting people and practices rampant in the sex industry. There were several insightful conversations about sex and the power of female sexuality that I especially appreciated.

The romance between Clara and Josh will leave you all with big smiles on your faces. These two were adorable together and I found their banter to be so charming. I highlighted a ton of passages while reading The Roommate, and 90% of them were related to Josh and Clara engaging in back and forth dialogues. Them being roommate definitely helped in the intimacy department - umm hello forced proximity - and Josh also had the reputation of being a very generous lover, which Clara soon found out was nothing but the truth. I loved the balance between the sweet, simple scenes with the burn-your-Kindle-hot bedroom scenes. UGH. I loved Clara and Josh so much. Speaking of characters I love, I can't wrap up this review without shouting out my love for Naomi, Josh's co-star, and ex. Usually, exes in romance novels aren't portrayed very kindly, so imagine my utter delight when Naomi was the complete opposite of an evil ex. I don't want to talk too much about her because she's getting her own story in The Intimacy Experiment, but let me tell you, she is phenomenal and I may or may not love her more than Clara and Josh combined.

The Roommate is a terrific debut and I'm excited to watch Rosie Danan take the romance community by storm. As you can tell, this book owns my heart, and I hope you'll love it as much as I did.

All I knew about The Roommate was that it involved two strangers unexpectedly living together and there would be romance. But wow, that description doesn’t even begin to skim the surface of everything this book encompasses. Clara Wheaton is a Manhattan socialite who doesn’t fit any of the stereotypes that come to mind. She’s a people-pleaser, genuine, kind, a tad naive, smart, and pretty neurotic in an endearing way. (I kind of adored her.) After spending her life catering to her family’s wishes, she makes the impulsive decision to move to LA to live with her unrequited crush. Then said crush drops a doozy on her and announces that Josh will her roommate instead, not him. Hijinks of the best kind ensue and from the get-go, Josh comes across as funny, sweet, attentive, and definitely more of a risk-taker than her. She doesn’t realize it at the time but he’s famous on the Internet and when she (and I) find out why, the book takes an unexpected turn in the best of ways. I never would’ve imagined this topic being handled in a way that could be funny, sexy, and charming but author Rosie Danan makes it happen. And it’s really the underlying themes of taking control of your life, owning up to your mistakes, and believing that you’re worthy of love that make it work.

Do I recommend? Yes! I’ve been in a slump lately with review books, and this one finally got me out of that rut. It’s so fun and sexy and I highly recommend.

Clara Wheaton, yes, part of THE Connecticut Wheaton's, has always been the good girl and never gets into trouble or does the wrong thing. So when Clara's lifelong friend and secret crush, Everett Bloom, invites her to move to Los Angeles and move in with him, she throws caution to the wind and moves. Imagine Clara's surprise when upon her arrival Everett tells her he is leaving for the summer to tour with his band but she will have a roommate.......Josh " Connors" Darling.

As Clara and Josh get to know each other, they begin an interesting friendship. When Clara realizes what Josh does for a living, that is when things get really entertaining! After a while Clara realizes that she and Josh can help each other out with problems that they both have that could be beneficial to both of them. Clara also contacts her Aunt Jill, the black sheep of the family, and is offered a job helping out on a political campaign. Just when it looks like everything in her new life is starting to work out, it all comes crashing down. It will take a huge leap of faith, and a lot of internal processing for Clara to go after the life she really wants.

I really enjoyed this story, and especially the characters. Clara was so prim and proper and it was fun watching her bloom. Josh was just a hoot. I can't imagine what his life is really like. Overall this was a fun and entertaining story to read.

What a fun debut! This was such a fun romance with lots of steam. East coast socialite follows a crush across the country, and ends up with a roommate she didn't expect! Forced proximity romance, which is one of my favorite tropes. This wasn't without missteps: I didn't love Clara or her backstory, although she was fine. She was just so controlled by her family and their reputation, but yet we never even see her have a conversation with them on page - that took the air out of that storyline. I also think that there were some missed opportunities for great banter that didn't quite get there.

Overall, a good-hearted book and I'll be looking for the next in the series.

This book was so naughty. I didn't read the synopsis and the cover was so deceiving, I had no idea what I would find in it!! finished reading it in one day!

The Roomate was a fun and enjoyable read. The characters were well written and I loved their time together. It was fun watching Clara and Josh’s banter. They were absolutely so cute together, and I couldn’t get enough. It was also wonderful watching both characters grow, especially seeing Clara get out of her family’s thumb and come into her own. Highly recommend this one!

A very cute (and steamy) odd couple romance featuring a straitlaced society girl who finds herself rooming with a porn star. The chemistry between the couple was hot and their conversations were funny. I did wish for a little more character development and more integrated conflict, but I think this debut author is one to watch! Definitely recommended for those who like more explicit romance!

This was fast-paced, fun, light, and sex-positive (and sex-work-positive!). Clara moves to LA, hoping to spend the summer with Everett, whom she has believed she'll marry since she was a teen. Instead, she lands in LA and finds out that Everett is going to be on tour with his band all summer, leaving her with a roommate he just found on Craigslist named Josh. Clara becomes more attracted to Josh the more time they spend together, and the attraction intensifies when she finds out he's a well-known performer in the porn industry. Over the summer, Josh helps Clara move past her fear of driving and her infatuation with Everett, and Clara finds a new passion project after just finishing her doctorate.

The story of this is cute, and the chemistry between Josh and Clara is BANANAS. My only complaint is that it felt like there was an unnecessary amount of plot happening: Clara's relationship with her parents, her "love" for Everett, her new relationship with her aunt, her new job, her new project with Josh, Josh's desire to break his contract, the nefarious Black Hat, Inc., Josh's relationship with Naomi, and the list goes on. It seemed to me that a lot of the plot points felt unnecessary and stayed surface-level throughout the book, so they really didn't add much.

Uptight girl from elite family gets involved with her porn star roommate? It's definitely a provocative premise that suggests plenty of steamy scenes. And it delivers on those, but The Roommate also has a lot to say about the importance of prioritizing female pleasure in sex, the need to protect sex workers including those in the adult entertainment industry, and the possibility of creating adult films that don't degrade women and (as before) prioritize female pleasure.

It's an interesting and thought-provoking book that also offers a decent contemporary romance with some good moments of banter, several steamy scenes, and pretty great grand gestures from both the hero and the heroine. However, the heroine is pretty irritating at the beginning, and then gets better but is still pretty bland. And she doesn't act like a woman pushing thirty, she reads more like someone several years younger. Also, if you don't like the trope of people not communicating to create conflict, this does a lot of it. I know this is pretty typical, but I still found it to be annoying. I could see this being a polarizing book where some people love it and others hate it, but I like the project of it and think it's a solid way to debut.

Clara has left everything and moved to LA to pursue her childhood crush. Only to find he's leaving on a music tour and leaving her with a roommate from Craigslist. One who turns out to be a well-known adult performer who cares about prioritizing female pleasure and refuses to do more hardcore films. Eventually sparks fly and they even collaborate on a more explicit version of sex ed videos for adults. I could see this one making waves and could create some interesting discourse. Also note that once the romance between the two begins, the hero does NOT have sex with anyone else. There are plot reasons why he's not performing in films. I was nervous how that would be navigated, but do be aware both of them are involved in producing the aforementioned explicit content. I imagine readers will have mixed feelings on it. I received an advance copy of this book for review via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

This is a super sexy romance for fans of sex empowered stories!

Roommate tropes are always a fun read for me and this takes it to a new level! It was super steamy but also talks about important aspects like the porn and sex work industry.

Clara and Josh were both great characters and I felt like they worked well together.

Overall, I think this is a fun, sexy read and highly recommend! This is a wonderful debut from Rosie Danan!

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Wow. The Roommate is quite the spicy, sexy read! I definitely felt the need for a water mister while reading some of those smoldering scenes. Did I expect it to be steamy? Absolutely but I was still taken by surprise.

For a debut novel, The Roommate is absolutely fantastic. I see a long career for Rosie Danan. Long time romance readers who want all the steam will definitely enjoy this novel.

Clara, a naive rich girl, moves cross country to live with best friend of whom she has unrequited feelings for only to have that so called friend leave her with an entirely new roommate. Enter Josh...a young porn star who loves what he does but also has a soft and insecure side. The attraction between the two is immediate. However, this love story is a slow burn as the two both feel they are not right for each other and do their best to stay away. The Roommate has it all. It's sexy, slow burning, force proximity, roommate and opposite attracts. wrapped into 330+ pages of steam.

My only dislike is that some of the dialogue made me cringe because it felt forced. For example, Josh and Clara are in a pivotal scene that I am all about. I am totally into it. It is this awesome will they/won't they moment...until Josh makes some crude comment that totally takes me out of the scene. It drove me a little crazy to be honest.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one and cannot wait for more!

I don't know who originally referred to this as a raunch com, but it is absolutely accurate. I loved the set up, the different reasons the main characters had for thinking the other might like them back were solid, the sex scenes were top notch. Now I am going to make my roommates watch Speed with me.

The Roommate is a delightfully sex positive romance. Clara, the heroine, is taking a summer away at her childhood friend’s place in LA. Said childhood friend promptly bails to go on tour, so Clara suddenly has no friends in LA and no chance at seeing how her crush on him could work out over the summer. Before he leaves, he sublets his room to Josh, who’s cute, laidback and friendly. And, as it turns out, an adult film star.
What begins as roommates navigating each others’ foibles (Clara and her laminated lists!) becomes something else when Clara finds out what Josh does for a living and he subsequently walks in on her watching some of his work. He offers to give him an orgasm and then it gets awkward for both of them when it means more than they expected.
They wind up teaming up with Josh’s ex and coworker, Naomi, to create instructional-type films that focus on women’s pleasure, a gap in the market. I noted in the acknowledgements that the author thanks a sensitivity reader who works/worked in the industry and really appreciate this because it’s treated professionally in the book.
The romance really worked well for me because Josh realizes he’s falling hard and feels kinda helpless about it. I love a hero who’s really into the heroine. Clara is falling too and has her own confidence issues (plus, this was just supposed to be a summer away) and family expectations to deal with.
The banter between the two is great. I loved all the movie discussions. Sometimes it’s used to avoid having a serious convo but it also helps them build their bond, and helps Clara as Josh teaches her to drive around LA.
The Roommate is a really interesting look at how both of them are perceived by others and how much they’ve allowed it to shape them until now. Now they’re questioning that and what they could be for their own sakes, and possibly what they could build together if they can hope for that. It’s a fantastic contemporary that I expect to see on many best of Romance lists for 2020.

This book completely took me by surprise! I was expecting a cute romcom, which the book definitely is, but it's also so much more!

Rosie Danan's debut novel is funny, sexy, and light-hearted but also a powerful statement on how sex work is real work.

This book has some serious steaminess! This is NOT a closed-door romance, so be prepared for some super sexy scenes. If you're purposely looking for a steamy romance, absolutely pick this book up!! It will not disappoint!

I don't want to give away too many spoilers, so I'll just say that Danan expertly weaves the struggles of the entertainment industry and the stigma of adult performers throughout this very fun romance. It's a topic that I have never read about in a romance book and I absolutely love that Danan goes there, breaking stigmas herself.

The author writes in a lot of laughs as Clara explores her own sexuality and desire, and gets to know her roommate Josh on a whole new level. This book is seriously funny. There were great supporting characters and the ending wrapped up a few different threads, answering lingering questions and doubts both Clara and Josh had.

This is one of my favorite reads this month and I highly recommend it!

A refreshing topic for a romance novel!

Blueblood socialite, Clara Wheaton runs away from a highly well-planned life under her family's thumb, when her childhood friend/lifelong crush, Everett, invites out to L.A. Instead of the connection she's always longed for, he promptly runs off to tour with his garage band. In his place is temporary roommate, Josh. It takes Clara's black sheep aunt, also in L.A., to recognize Josh is Josh Darling, Adult Performer Extraordinaire. Thus begins an interesting relationship where Josh shows Clara what she's been missing out on, and, realizing other women have no doubt been missing out on a great sex life, uses some of her trust fund to create a joint sex-positive endeavor with him. This endeavor can also get Josh and lot of other adult performers out from under a seedy corporation's thumb. But Black Hat is an industry giant that doesn't take no for an answer, and it doesn't help Josh and Clara's existing struggles of how they see themselves, and each other.

It looks like Danan researched the industry well, whether through what's already out there in the media (books, interviews, documentaries), or through people she might've met first hand. And it's interesting to see a character, who enacts one of the most intimate ways to fall in love as a profession, to really and truly fall in love.

Great chemistry, and I love a good roommate trope! The story was new and special, but the writing wasn't great for me.

I first heard about this book on a podcast and was instantly intrigued. A wealthy young woman takes a risk to move across the country for the man their families want her to marry, only to have him leave on tour and have a new male roommate in his place. The forced proximity romance troupe plays out but what makes this book stand out is its feminist approach to sex. The two main characters pair up to produce educational videos for women about how to make sex better for them. It is a very sex positive book and focuses on the women's perspective which is a change from many realistic romance books. The romance was plenty swoony and the cast of characters varied and compelling which made for an enjoyable read.