I really liked this book and it has my favorite set up, the roommate trope! we follow our uptight, east coast socialite, clara, and she becomes roommates with josh, a laid back LA porn star with more charisma than clara knows what to do with. The opposites attract vibe of the story was really fun and I think the character's personalities complimented each other very well and the dialogue in this story was hilarious. This story also had so many heartwarming, cute moments of domesticity and i absolutely loved to see it. This was the forced proximity trope done right.

The story also delves into discussions about sex positivity, sex education, and it simultaneously validates performers in the adult entertainment industry while also calling out the unsavory aspects of porn production that often leaves performers at risk mentally, emotionally, physically and/or financially.

cons:
I really disliked some of the conflict near the end because it happens so quickly and while the issues that arose made perfect sense, I honestly could not buy the resolution of those issues, I think more time should have been spent unpacking that final disagreement instead of brushing it all aside with dramatic love declarations and rapidly wrapping things up. Either the book should have been longer to accommodate this narrative choice or the argument could have been avoided entirely because there was enough conflict to carry the story without it.

Also i really think this book wildly missed the mark in terms of clara's family prominence and her worries about reputation and the "society pages" and whatever the hell else. It really did not make sense to me that so much of her inner conflict revolves around this and yet we never encounter her family at all on page and we don't see her resolving her issues with them. It was a weird choice, or maybe i just don't care about rich girl problems idk. So the ending was not satisfying to me despite this book being really enjoyable prior to then so I'm feeling conflicted on how to rate my experience with the story.

3.5 stars but i suppose i'll round up.

The Roommate was sooooo much fun to read! I smiled so hard. My husband was making fun of me from across the room because of the gigantic smile on my face. I just couldn't help it. The Roommate was adorable, sweet, slightly innocent while also being extremely sexy. I don't know how Rosie Danan managed to combine those two things, but she did and she did it well.

What was so fun about this book? Well, it stars an uptight young women who is breaking free from her socialite upbringing. Clara thinks she's going to be roommates with her childhood best friend who she's had a crush on FOREVER. Everett throws a kink in her plans to seduce him when he rents out his room to someone else for the summer. Josh isn't at all what Clara was expecting for the summer -- he's a porn star. You can only imagine the shenanigans that take place once Clara figures out what Josh does for a living, and how things take a turn when Clara finds herself falling for Josh. It was all kind of crazy, sweet fun.

I guess what made me love this one so much was the writing and the romance. I am not a fan of third person, and this would have been that much better in first person, but I didn't care. I was so in love with the story and the way it was written. There was so much heart and that's what mattered. It was a fabulous read. I can't believe it was a debut novel! I cannot wait to find out what Danan has coming next.

First off, look at this cover! Right away, I knew I wanted to read about the characters on that couch, and thankfully, the story didn't disappoint.

Pairing a wealthy, sexually inexperienced socialite with a porn star hero as her roommate for the summer was pretty much everything you'd expect it to be, and yet I found myself pleasantly surprised at how sex positive and sweet the story was (it's sexy but not erotica).

I had a few editorial quibbles about some of the characterizations and conflict, but mostly that's just because there was so much potential with this story and setup. Overall, it was a quick, fun read, and I already can't wait to see what Danan writes next.

RATING: B+ (4½ stars)

*3.5* This was a really fun read! It offers a fresh twist on the "unlikely couple" trope with a prudish, good-girl finding herself roomates and eventually business partners with a well known porn star. The character and relationship development are well done and the steam-factor is just right. I will be reading more from Rosie Danan for sure!

I enjoyed this book, but immediately forgot I had even read it. While the concept is cute and original (shy rich gal trying to avoid the limelight runs smack into a famous porn star), what exactly happens in the plot was not. Clara is the quintessential poor little rich girl who is too naive to survive in Los Angeles let alone the socio-political maneuverings of rich society. She's a bit hard to root for. Josh is a woke porn star and the author uses him to make some excellent points about the industry and sex work...except the reality of that type of work is still dark and difficult. I enjoyed reading it and am looking forward to talking about some of the points the author made, but the premise and discussion points took precedence over the actual romantic plot. Which, honestly, is okay sometimes.

3.5 Stars
I can not in good faith give this 4 stars because it missed the mark for me in several places.

Positives: The premise of the story is about Clara a naive East Coast girl who travels across the country to pursue the guy she has been secretly in love with since she was a kid. When she gets to L.A. she finds the boy she moved across the country for has up and left with his band and in his place is a guy on Craigslist that applied to be a roommate for the summer. Her new roommate is not only hot but also a porn star. The story that follows is a sex positive story that is different than anything else on the market right now and will be catnip for those 50 shades of Grey fans. There is also some really great one liners and the banter can be great.

Negatives: This book needed to either have more sex in it to be an erotica or more romance in it to be a romance novel. It feels stuck in a weird place were it is sexually explicit but not in a thrilling way. The sex is very clinical in a way that it isn't in an erotica and the romance feels lukewarm. I needed more connection and more reason for these two to be together.

Maybe I just done reading about rich white girls who have sexual awakening stories? The writing is very good and there were several interesting characters. I loved Naomi and wished through parts of the book that I could be inside her head.

Give to fans of Helen Hoang, who can't wait for her to write another book already and 50 Shades of Grey fans.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fantastic book. I found myself not wanting to put it down. The scenes are sexy and titillating. The realness of the characters and events make for a more interesting book. A wealthy socialite and a pornstar find themselves as roommates. His charming ways and her uptight ways make for an interesting clash. These two find love, but how feasible is it for them to make a relationship work?

The Roommate is WILD in the best possible way. It follows two roommates who team up to challenge the male gaze of the porn industry. I've never read anything quite like it and haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I read it. Can't wait till September to talk about it with everyone I know! We've already selected it as the October pick for my romance book club. I'm excited to see what Rosie does next!

Oh boy this took a turn I didn’t see coming at all—in a good way. It’s fun and steamy and totally different than anything I’ve ever read. If you’re in the mood for a romance that will literally make you forget about everything else, pick this one up!

Why yes I did just binge this in almost one sitting. Would I encourage others to do it? Absolutely!

I loved this book. Clara was such a fun character. I liked that she was a bit odd and knew she hadn't quite found her niche. As we progress we find out a bit more about her background that allows us to really love her character.

Josh's character was not what I was expecting and I loved it. He added the perfect banter and wit. He also has some baggage that we get to work through as a team.

Together Clara and Josh were so much fun. I love a close-proximity romance and this one didnt disappoint.

I enjoyed that the added baggage of this story didnt feel too heavy. It was necessary but didnt make the book feel overwhelming.

I dont want to give away any spoilers so I will remain vague. Just know... I loved it! I love when people get together and kick down the big man!

Thank you so much Berkley for the advanced readers copy. All thoughts are my own.

This book was everything I didn’t know I needed. Clara and Josh make a wonderful team and I love how fate brings them together. This book has empowered me and has the potential to empower many other women too.

Rosie Danan if you’re reading this right now, THANK YOU!!!! Thank you for writing a romance novel with great sex scenes and positive empowerment for women in the bedroom!!!

The storyline of the book was surprising for me. I went in to this one thinking it would be another stereotypical forbidden love story, but it was so much more. I loved how this story highlights the importance of a woman’s satisfaction in the bedroom and the importance of being comfortable when being intimate with someone. Besides the steam, the actual relationships between characters was very well written. I really felt connected to Clara and her sense of not wanting to disappoint people. It’s one of the things I struggle with daily. I honestly don’t think I can write enough good things about this one without telling you all the good stuff so just trust me when I say it deserves all the stars!! Way better than 50 Shades of Gray in my book!! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 & 🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆 for steam

This book was fine for what it was, which was a very slight romance that never fully engaged me.

The premise of the book reminds me of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, in which a woman upends her life and moves from NY to LA for a chance at unrequited love. In the book's case, her unrequited love flakes, and she ends up unexpectedly roommates with a porn star. It's a good meet cute!

I just never liked her character. Apart from the fact that it's hard to make me root for someone whose worries are about Greenwich, CT??? Gossip papers??? she just seemed to have the emotional intelligence of a teenager.

Nothing about the story felt lived-in or specific. She had a Ph.D. in art history, but nothing about her path to that degree seemed to bust her out of her sheltered and naive existence. She nepotistically got a job in politics, but the author didn't have the courage to be specific about even the political party. That and that the campaign was being run on a platform of "family values" made me side eye it.

Similarly, I don't think this book was written with deep knowledge of or research into the porn industry. It seemed to tee-hee at a lot of sexual things instead of incorporate them into the story in fun ways. And the project in the book that puts the two main characters together, a "feminist sex ed" kind of site, didn't feel actually new or vital in the way it was described.

All that is to say, the chemistry between the two main characters is there and makes the book readable, and every other part of the plot is weak.

Thank you to Berkley Pub and NetGalley for a gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. Pub Date - 9/15/2020.

You are going to need a cold shower while reading this debut novel because it's a hot one! I had a great time watching Clara squirm as Josh tries to rile her up. It's always fun to watch someone all prim and proper crack a little bit. They go from physical attraction to love quite quickly though and doesn't really address one of the main questions in the story - how will Clara's socialite family feel about Clara dating Josh? It does all wrap up nicely. Aside from the romance, I thought Rosie Danan did a fantastic job highlighting an industry/topic we don't usually read in a novel. She calls out the stigma and marginalization of the adult entertainment industry and shares a different perspective. People get into the industry for different reasons and are often judged automatically, including family and friends. This book is also very sex positive and celebrates healthy intimacy between partners.

If you love the Kiss Quotient, I think you will enjoy this one!

A delightful debut romance that is perfect for long time fans as well as new! Has both the romance tropes and themes we know and love as well as some new ones that turn the genre on its head. I loved the sex positivity and discussions surrounding sex work. Overall a great read!

A terrifically fun and sex positive story that made for a lovely, quick romance read. The opposites-attract characters are a wonderful escape from the get-go, and the world building was believable and easily digested.

(This review is scheduled to post on August 14, one month-ish before publication. The BLUF and 'Boring Complaints' will be cross-posted to goodreads the same day as the review, and cross-posted to Amazon and B&N on publication day. The rest of the off-topic ranting will only be published on the Sarcasm and Lemons blog.)

Bottom Line Up Front

Clara Wheaton is an uptight socialite from Connecticut who has lived such a deliberately, carefully perfect life that she realizes she's got nothing real holding her in place. In a bid to change, she takes an offer to move across the country and live with her long-time childhood crush, with the aim of making him fall in love with her. However, on the day she arrives, Everett announces he's going on tour with his band and leaving her alone with some random roommate he found on craigslist.


Clara determines she's going to just head home, this Josh Darling guy be damned, but before she knows it she's got a job at her aunt's PR firm and a budding friendship with her roomie and decides to stick around. Then she finds out Josh is a porn star. A porn star who's currently not performing because he's in a contract dispute with his production company. One series of shenanigans and UST-filled nights later, Josh and Clara embark on a plan to open a female-focused porn site and see if they can't rock the adult entertainment industry a little.


I have PROBLEMS with this book that all stem from me not being the target audience* (probably) (I think) so here's some good stuff up front before I start complaining: Josh is a sweetheart, the slice-of-life stuff is really cute, and the sex is hot. It's well written on a technical level, and a few bits made me laugh out loud in spite of myself. All around it's a pretty easy read that definitely fits in the category of 'light rom-com.'


*As near as I can tell, the audience for this book is women who like the idea of porn but haven't spent any significant amount of time watching it. I...like more than the idea of porn. *shrug emoji*


The Boring Complaints

I feel like Clara and Josh had a really good start-of-a-relationship going, but they jumped from giddy-new-crush straight into declarations of love in a way I didn't find believable. I'm not sure why; maybe it was because the slice of life stuff was so enjoyable in a light-and-cute way that the jump to anything heavier without a proper transition was jarring.
Too much stuff happened off-page that should have happened on-page. A major plot point in the climax of the book involved a Big Bad that had, until that point, only been kind of shady with their business practices but not illegal. Then, BAM, a lawsuit happens. Also it happens off-page. What...did they do wrong? I fully believe an entity like that could have, but like, maybe tell me about it?? Also jarring.
Josh's various complaints about the Big Bad and the porn industry in general are only alluded to. The only thing that gets spelled out on page are regarding a poor contract he signed and how much he wants out of it for financial reasons, and everything else just got hints. But then the finances end up not mattering and the hints...uh, I complain about after the content warnings.
The company they start is...kind of boring. Also there's an overall attitude of "we invented feminine-focused porn, go us!" which made me roll my eyes so hard. Go check out Feminist Porn Guide or Ersties and also make sure to always pay for your porn, y'all!
There were too many things going on, with Clara and Josh starting this new company, and Clara working on some DA's reelection PR, and Josh's contract woes, and both of them having family hang-ups, and Josh's ex being a major character...but the only thing that had any real weight to it was the main couple's UST. Everything else felt kind of thrown in there and most of the work was put in off-page. When it came together at the end, felt a little too convenient.

The Content Warnings

THIS BOOK IS FINE and my content warnings apply to my review only. There is one scene where Josh gets pretty verbally pushy and short with Clara's boundaries, but outside of that, I can think of no trigger warnings for the book itself. (Unless you think the existence of porn itself needs a warning, in which case kindly fuck right off.)
HOWEVER my review is going to talk about abuses within the porn industry, rape, sexual predators, and one particular rapist named James Deen.
People are probably gonna get mad at me for bringing up a bunch of stuff that's not even in the book itself, but I had some very emotional reactions to this book so I'm gonna talk about them. If you don't like that, stop reading the review; I've already covered all the story/plot/writing related stuff.

So, Why James Deen?

Because Josh Darling was written and published in a post-James Deen world and I can't get around that fact. They're too similar. I had reactions, okay? I'm not saying the similarities were deliberate, I am very much not making that accusation, but it gave me feelings.
James Deen was a very prolific porn star who was so popular that he got multiple features and write-ups outside of the porn industry. His public-facing persona was big on education, sex ed, feminism, and other progressive topics. He was extremely popular with female fans, who even gave themselves a collective nickname (Deenagers) and was known for his "boyish good looks."
Josh Darling is a prolific porn star who got a write-up in a non-industry publication that was all about his 'female-centered' approach to pleasure, who has hoards of female fans who gave themselves a collective nickname (Darlings), and gets consistently praised for his "boy-next-door good looks."
Again, I'm not saying this was deliberate. Deen made his public persona into a sexy romance hero; it's only natural that a fictional romance hero would follow the same steps.
DEEN WAS A MAJOR FUCKING RAPIST. There's a reason I've said 'public persona' in this section. And his outing as a predator was a big deal at the time, and shit got...messy.
So seeing Josh come on the page with all of these big similarities to the "Bill Cosby of porn" just...got me feeling a whole bunch of ways, okay? A whole bunch of mad ways.
Because Deen is not some minor footnote, nor is he the only person in porn to ever use feminism as a cover for being a rapist. (Or in any industry to do that, frankly.) So if you're going to set your story in the porn industry and write a character with that many red flags it just feels important to...acknowledge that? Do enough research to know it is red flags?
Again my operating theory is that this book is not written for porn-watchers, so it's not going to throw off everyone or even most ones, but jesus I was skeeved.
Like, it wouldn't even take much, a throwaway line about fellow lady co-stars being once-burned, twice-shy and him having to work against suspicion is all it would take.
He's just too similar and I hate it.
I'm sorry, Josh, in a vacuum you'd be great but you're being published in the real world and I came into this reading experience with baggage.

I yelled "oh my god, watch some real porn" so many times

There's actually not a lot of porn in this book, it's just obliquely referenced a lot and has porn actors as characters. Exactly one scene of a pornographic video is described on-page.
But the oblique references had me rolling my eyes so hard.
Why is the ultra-ripped hero who doesn't actually work out such a popular trope? No, Josh, you did not get those abs just by fucking a lot. (And also steroid abuse is a big industry problem, among other performance enhancers.)
Josh's only mentioned female-pleasuring-reputation cred is that he performs cunnilingus which, uh, is really popular in porn? Sorry, he would not stand out with that.
Josh is also not unique for being 'ripped but not muscle-on-muscle jacked' like his described body type is also fairly popular. Along with a wide variety of other male body types.
Aaaall of Clara's initial complaints about porn are so bog-standard and don't scratch the surface of the huge variety of types and styles and production quality available. And her assumptions about the quality of porn out there never get corrected, only her opinions on the actors themselves. Which is why I developed that belief that this book is aimed at readers who like the idea of porn but don't do much actual watching.

Maaaaybe a topic with this much abuse around it shouldn't be "lite" rom-com

Don't get me wrong, I am fucking down with funny shit going on around porn sets/actors/etc.
Have you ever seen porn bloopers? You're welcome.
But a rom-com and a 'lite' rom-com are not necessarily the same beast.
This book, to maintain that lighter mood, had to gloss over so much shit and sometimes in the process it kind of implied some terrible things.
Like, Josh is resistant about signing a new contract with his company because they want him to do "hardcore" scenes. He already does hardcore. Definitionally, that just means genitals are on display, doing their business. People can use it other ways, sure, but this book just leaves it vague so...?????
There is an implication that 'hardcore' means 'kink' and Josh doesn't want to do BDSM scenes because 'you just can't tell if the girl was coerced into that or not.'
....
..................................................................
I mean, yes, the industry is full, full, FULL of shit and atrocious coercive practices are all over the place.
But, Josh, buddy, pal, cutie-pie...
...the same is true of the scenes you're already doing.
You think an actress can't have her boundaries crossed doing the most vanilla shit in the world? Really? REALLY????
Not helping your JD vibes; that kind of attitude is shit.
I think it was an accidental implication, maybe, possibly, but accidenting your way into that kind of an implication is what happens when you can't face head-on the shit that goes down in your chose subject matter. That's why merely alluding to the many abuses in an industry that is rife with them just so you can get on to the fun innuendo parts is...maybe not the best choice.
There are funny as shit memoirs from porn performers who don't pull punches about the bad stuff, and dark comedy is a thing, and...idk, I guess you can idealize your fictional world enough that your characters only ever experience ethical porn companies and that could maybe be a way to keep it lite.
But either admit you're characters got lucky and don't have to face the abuse and they get to have lite adventures, or face the abuse and name it. Don't make the tone of your book lite and easy while also having an 11th hour plot point about how the production company is actually horribly abusive, but don't worry it was all off-page.
And it ain't just actresses getting abused; I already mentioned the steroid and ED drug abuse. Actors are out here fucking ruining their bodies for our entertainment and Josh gets to shrug and say he got his six pack from fucking a lot?
EVERYONE READING THIS REVIEW: PAY FOR YOUR FUCKING PORN.

Did y'all forget cam sites exist?

The big bad in this book is a conglomerate production giant that basically controls the porn industry.
lol, what is this, 2005?
That model is so disrupted and everyone is now operating on razor-thin profit margins because of sites like YouPorn and the fact that everything of quality gets pirated and uploaded for free on the tube sites.
Everything's moving towards a cam site model and there's a million small producers and the push is to find innovative ways to make things personal in order to entice paying customers.
Josh and Clara's cute little live-action kama sutra is not only not new but going to get torrented in a hot second, y'all ain't disrupting shit.
Correct me if I'm wrong - maybe this was set in 2005 - but zero of the issues in this book felt like 2020 issues. Except for all the issues that are only alluded to, of course.
EVERYONE -- PAY FOR YOUR PORN.

I'm fucking serious PAY FOR YOUR FUCKING PORN.


Will I read this author again? Probably. It's the subject matter that got me down, so a different subject would probably hit different.

Will I continue this series? Standalone.

When uptight Clara Wheaton moves across the country, she expects to stay with her long-time crush and childhood best friend, Everett. Unfortunately, he has other plans for the summer leaving Clara with Josh, a porn star. Josh and Clara have a slow burn romance with some extremely steamy scenes that leave both of them changed forever.

Rosie Danan is a magician, making a romcom about the porn industry and she did such a great job. The roommate is so damn sweet without being saccharine or corny and obviously it's sexy as hell. She does an incredible job of drawing out the chemistry and sexual tension until you're dying for Clara and Josh to just get naked already. I loved them together and there were so many parts that made me laugh out loud. If you're a romcom lover, you gotta read this one!

This is a delightful debut by Rosie Danan. The characters were charming and their relationship was a sexy and fun journey. At some points I almost fell off the bed because I was laughing so hard. 5 stars.