Somehow this book was everything I wanted it to be and way too much. I enjoyed the characters, but the shift in Clara's characterization seemed like a switch had flipped pretty quickly. The conclusion felt a little lopsided, but overall, this was a fun read with an unusual premise that looks at sex work as what it is - a job.

If you haven’t read this book, what are you waiting for ! It’s that good!! Great characters you’ll enjoy right from the beginning . The author does a fantastic jump at making you feel the tension between the main characters. Loved the strangers to lovers, forced proximity and steam. Breaking barriers and fighting against stereotypes . A great romance read .

One of my favorite romance books ever. Absolutely adored this. Wasn't sure how I'd like the set up, but it was handled so well and all of the characters felt so realistic.

The Roommate has an intriguing romance novel premise: an uptight girl from Connecticut moves across the country for her long-time crush, only to find herself rooming with a porn star. While there is a great focus on female pleasure and the ways the porn industry are harmful to entertainers and women, the story felt forced and at times cliche.

Our main character seems to be a woman written by a man-- so prissy that she laminates house rules, and yet her breasts are just oh-so-big (insert huge eye roll). Can't we give women other traits besides rigidness when we want to write a multi-dimensional character? It all just felt so done, even though this plot was nothing I had read before. Because the characters were flat, I did not even enjoy the spice.

𝚁𝙴𝚂𝙴𝙽𝙷𝙰 | The Roommate - Rosie Danan - The Shameless Series Book 1

Uma das coisas que eu mais amo nesse estilo de livro é que além de falar de duas pessoas totalmente diferentes que se apaixonam, ele traz uma discussão ao fundo que não é muito falada em livros. No caso de The Roommate, temos uma discussão acerca da indústria pornô.

Clara Wheaton é uma garota certinha que usa cardigan e segue todas as regras da família. Conhecida por ser uma socialite da costa leste, previsível e com o destino traçado, a garota está cansada e em um impulso no meio do verão ela decide viajar para Los Angeles e ficar com seu amigo de infância e por quem ela é apaixonada, Everett. Acontece que o rapaz não tem nenhum interesse em Clara e já está com uma turnê marcada com sua banda. Clara chega e ele sai, a deixando com um novo colega de quarto: Josh Darling, nada menos que um famoso ator pornô. Clara e Josh são opostos, mas dizem que os opostos se atraem, não é?

Primeiro eu preciso dizer que demorei um pouco a me conectar com essa história, mas com o passar das páginas a autora conseguiu me conquistar.

Clara é uma personagem muito fácil de se conectar. Ela foi a vida toda reprimida pela família, sempre ensinada a ser a menina conservadora e considerada uma esposa troféu. Quando ela pensa em finalmente fazer algo com sua vida, enfrenta seus medos e se liberta de todas as suas inibições.

Josh, por sua vez, foi um personagem que eu demorei um pouco a me conectar. Ele tem suas questões e parece bem egoísta de início, mas conforme a narrativa avança você vai conseguindo entender alguns dos motivos dele.

Há cenas mais quentes entre esses dois, então eu não recomendo esse livro para menores de dezoito anos.

Outro ponto interessante é que o livro traz discussões interessantes, embora não muito aprofundadas sobre a indústria pornô, a exploração de profissionais e muitas coisas que ocorrem nos bastidores. Achei interessante a abordagem da autora e como ela colocou os personagens para se posicionarem sobre o assunto.

Espero que esse livro chegue logo ao Brasil, pois a leitura vale muito a pena.

I really enjoyed this book! It fit right in with some of my favorite NA contemporaries! I loved the quirkiness and the roommate trope! It took me a while to get into but other than that i’d highly recommend.

What a joy this book was to read! A fun, bantery, so so sexy friends-to-lovers tale between an uptight East Coast socialite and the stranger she ends up sharing a house with. Sparks fly between them while their budding friendship only grows, leading them to launch a sexy start-up together to teach women to own their desires, but a venture between a respectable socialite who is trying to avoid scandals and a sex performer could risk a lot more than just their hearts... I adored this book, these characters, the writing style, and can't recommend it highly enough.

THE ROOMMATE is exactly the type of read that I’ve been waiting for! As someone who reads a lot of romance, this book set itself apart and has lived in my head ever since I finished it. It’s fun and charming and not like any romance I’ve read in a long time. THE ROOMMATE was a breath of fresh air and I loved every minute of it. While Josh and Clara’s chemistry was immediate, I really liked that their attraction wasn’t an insta-love situation. Josh and Clara were individually great characters, and I loved every moment they were together. Their journey into their joint-business venture was absolutely brilliant, building so much tension and letting them both see different sides of each other’s lives. I loved Naomi and wanted even more of her in this story! The sheer uniqueness of this book made it an automatic addition to my tbr, but the characters and chemistry made it an instant addition to my bookshelf as well!

A positive representation of sex-workers? Yes please. As much as I enjoyed Clara and Josh's romance (which had me laughing out loud on more than one occasion), it was Naomi, Josh's ex-girlfriend and co-worker that really had me intrigued. If you haven't read the follow up to THE ROOMMATE, titled THE INTIMACY EXPERIMENT, I definitely recommend that one, as well.

As progressive as some the conversations around sex-work might seem, they do focus specifically in the cis-het white space, so that felt like sort of a missed opportunity. But I'm glad to see that there are at least some conversations being had about sex-work in the romance space.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

*I had the opportunity to interview the author, Rosie Danan for my podcast, Boobies & Noobies, though the conversation focuses mostly on THE INTIMACY EXPERIMENT.

While I loved that it got down and dirty 20% into the book, the insta love was just too strong for me. Honestly I still don't understand how they got into each other but it was a fun read.

★★ 3.5 stars! ★★

What’s a repressed good girl from New York to do when she finds out her unexpected housemate is actually an adult film star? She falls for her roommate, starts a business with him, and discovers herself along the way, of course.

Rosie Danan’s sweet and sexy debut follows the story of Clara and Josh, the aforementioned socialite grad student and the actor. Upon graduation from grad school, Clara makes an impulsive decision to follow her unrequited crush to L.A. to be his roommate (and hopefully more).

Unbeknownst to her, he has sublet his room to Josh. Not only does Clara have to adjust to living with a complete stranger, she also clutches her pearls when she learns that Josh is a prolific adult performer.

Both Clara and Josh learn to navigate their new living arrangements and baggage from the past by having honest conversations and learning to be flexible with one another. Josh is a total sweetheart, which helps ease the awkwardness.

Although I was excited to read this book based on the cover and the blurb, I wasn’t exactly sure how it would all play out. Thankfully, the story is a fresh and unique take on the forced proximity and opposites attract romance tropes.

While the romance is definitely steamy, I had a hard time feeling the emotional connection between the couple. When there are heavy topics addressed in a storyline such as this, the emotional side needs to play a big role and unfortunately, that was lacking for me

However, I did enjoy the book overall and I think it is an entertaining read filled with tons of sexual tension and a cast of relatable characters.

Thus book was okay. It was way too spicy for my liking but if you enjoy sexy times, pick this up! I did enjoy the relationship between the couple but sometimes it was too much sex and not enough story.

This is good, but I expected more! I wanted to read something funnier, sexier and more enjoyable!
The whole concept of " Closed Proximity " and strangers who are forced to learn more about each other is fascinating , especially with the occupation of the hero ( I had HIGH expectations of this novel ) .
But , unfortunately , I didn't like the heroine that much , the emotional building of the story wasn't really clear in the book and I didn't feel the chemistry between the characters .
I loved Josh character , but their attraction was sudden for me , like , I didn't understand their relationship , there wasn't the usual slow-burn I love in " Closed Proximity :" trope .

Actual rating: 4.5/5 stars

I absolutely adored this book.

The characters had some of the best chemistry I've ever read and it translated over so well to the smut. And can I just say this book was hella smutty and I loved every second of it. I loved Josh so much and he's one of the best characters I've ever read. Clara wasn't my favorite because I thought she was a bit flat and her only personality was being rich but not wanting to have that privledge. I overlooked that a bit tho because I enjoyed the dynamic between the two characters so much.

The thing I really loved about this book is how it discussed how society basically shames women for wanting any type of sexual pleasure and also looks down upon sex workers. It worked against both of those stigmas actively and I completely agree with those themes. It's honestly what made me enjoy the book so much because I don't usually like plain contemporary romance as much. It always needs to have that little extra bit for me. The smut and the societal commentary really did that for me.

I also actually listened along with the audiobook for this and the male narrator is phenomenal. I now want to read every single thing Teddy Washington has narratored (and trust me there's a lot). So if you're specific with your narrators, I think this audiobook is quite good.

Overall I would really recommend this for anybody looking for a fun, quick read that also discusses important topics!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group, Rosie Danan, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

THE ROOMMATE is such a fun read. It is sexy and hilarious all with a strong feminist message. Danan delivered a fabulous romance with this one.

You ever think “why did I get denied that ARC???” (even if you’re like me with a dismal review ratio over on NetGalley) only to realize that you haven’t <i>still</i> haven’t ever posted any feedback for something you read well over a year ago.

Anyway, here is my much overdue reaction to this book and maybe one of these days I’ll read <i>The Intimacy Experiment<i/> since the library has copies of that readily available.

The story here is about Clara, a goody-goody from a privileged family who moves across country to live with her long-time crush. What Clara doesn’t expect to find when she gets there is aforementioned crush nowhere in sight and a stranger named Josh being the person she will be cohabitating with for the summer. Things get muddy when they become co-workers as well.

This wasn’t as earth shattering as the blurb led me to believe, but I’ll just chalk it up to a combo of having read plenty of sex positive romances already so this wasn’t as innovative as the powers that be seem to believe as well as the fact that I have also already having dabbled with the porn star male lead in <i>Lingus</i>. Still would most likely recommend to lovers of the RomCom .

Oh and these covers that are reminiscent of The Sims? They are straight fire.

This was addictive, funny, sexy, and sweet. The characters were great!, I love the discussions of sex work and the porn industry, hilarious! This was a great fun read!

This was an enjoyable and quick read that was also a lot of fun. I really loved how sex positive it was, too!

The premise was intriguing if you don’t think too much about some of the logistics, but truly I wish contemporary adult romance didn’t hinge itself so much on that act three “break-up” because once again it felt sudden and out-of-place and forced and unnecessary.

This one was a DNF for me because it was hitting me in a lot of ace feels that I wasn't expecting. I liked the writing and the characters but wasn't enjoying the story itself.

This is a super fun read. I really enjoyed this one!

Many thanks to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for my ARC. All opinions are my own.