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.

I absolutely adored this book! The beginning was a little shaky for me, since it jumps right in without much character background, but after the first few chapters I found myself hooked! I loved both of the main characters and the tension between them. I also really liked the fact that this book was so sex-positive and thoughtful about the lives and rights of sex workers. The story was fun, exciting, and super sexy. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

There's lots of hype about this book, and after finishing it, I can see why! Clara Wheaton, an uptight east coast art historian, impulsively moves across the country because she's decided it's time to make it happen with her childhood best friend. Unfortunately for her, he decides to leave on a music tour around the same time, so Clara ends up living with Josh, a Craigslist roommate and adult performer. Both Josh and Clara judge one another and assume they have nothing in common, but as they spend more time together, they come up with a common goal to create an educational series for women about how to learn more about their own pleasure. All the close proximity and sexy talk leaves them wondering if maybe an uptight east coast art historian and an adult performer have a shot at a happily ever after.
I didn't think I would love Josh, but oh my gosh, I loved Josh. This book was funny, feminist, and sex positive in a way that shows you the important work that romance novels can do. I loved it!

I LOVE LOVE LOVED THIS BOOK! So steamy but with so much heart, you can't help but fall in love with Clara and Josh

This was an amazing read! The characters were well written and feminist to their core. I 100% recommend this title to any romance lover, probably my favourite romance of this year! The author touches on so many important topics of consent and the sex worker industry. Just truly wonderful to read, I immediately fell in love with Josh and I wish more men could appreciate this kind of literature and emulate him.

Hot damn! This book. Whew. This book is nothing short of unputdownable. I read it within 24 hours and had to stay up until 2 am to finish -- there was just way I was going to sleep without reading until the end. I can't wait to recommend this to everyone I know.

The Roommate encapsulates the perfect blend of sweet and steamy.

Clara plans to move in with her longtime crush in California, only to move in with Josh, a random stranger, instead.

Their relationship is so full of tenderness and acceptance (and yes, much steam). There's little I love more in romance than a confident hero laid low by a crush.

What grabs me most about this book are discussions surrounding women's pleasure. I don't want to spoil it, but the project they create together is so important!

Sweet, sexy, sizzling, swoonie, sassy, and so much fun! Rosie Danan has written a clever and entertaining opposites attract romcom. Clara comes from a conservative proper East Coast family and has just moved to LA to force things with her lifetime crush Everett. BUT Everett is off touring with his subpar band and now Clara finds herself living with a complete stranger. Josh is the darling of the adult entertainment industry and does not quite know what to think of uptight Clara. What follows is an engaging story full of heat and humor. Love the relationship that developed between Clara and Josh. Josh was seriously one of the best guys I’ve read about, he was so considerate and respectful it was quite refreshing. I love the endeavor that these two started together. Clara really as uptight as she was she really had an open mind and was willing to learn, listen, and let go. The story addressed a lot of the issues in the porn industry as well as giving the performers a human face. Great story, fabulous cast of characters, slow burn romance, sizzling chemistry.

This book in emojis 🔥 🕯 🎥 🛀🏼 🎬

*** Big thank you to Berkley for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

I really, really liked this book. Forced roommate situations turned angsty romance is my kryptonite.

Going into it, I have no idea it was about the adult film industry/sex work so I was surprised, but in the best possible way. The sex scenes were *chefs kiss*. Rosie is a genius of smut (who thought no penetrative sex could be so hot) and the romance is totally adorable. There were great conversations about being a person involved in sex work, the stigma, exploitation, etc. It also covered self-image issues like body positivity and self-inflicted pressure to please others and family relationships.

Overall, highly recommend for something fun with a good amount of substance!

This book was both sexy and sweet. The chemistry between Clara and Josh was undeniable. It also provided a good, honest look into the adult film industry.

All right, so the premise of this book was unlike others that I have seen and I think that's what drew me to it! And overall, I liked it, but oh my goodness. The way the main girl spoke was beyond infuriating. She felt like a caricature instead of an actual fleshed out character. I couldn't stand the way she spoke or the stupid little lists she made. Like, who does that? Oy vey!

Clara is an East Coast socialite who moves to California to chase her 14-year crush Everett. But when she arrives, he drops her at the front door and says sayonara. Instead of rooming with her childhood best friend, she gets to room with a perfect stranger: oh joy. But, yeah, oh joy, is exactly right because the new roommate happens to be Josh Darling, porn star. With Josh's help, support, and --dare he admit it-- love, Clara steps out from her family's thumb, learns how to enjoy sex, learns how to be a powerful woman in her own right, learns what love actually is (Everett who?), and sets the business of pleasure on fire.

The Roommate does exactly what Josh and Clara's new company Shameless does: sets the world of sex on fire... but for women-- NOT men. It's steamy, has all the right fireworks of emotions, and characters that /both/ grow into their best selves.

On the chaste to steamy scale, it's 8.5.

I loved The Roommate, and I read it in giant gulps. Clara is a socialite from Connecticut who is always very concerned about what her family will think, and is all about avoiding scandal. That is, until her lifelong crush offers her a place to stay in his LA house, and she abandons her life to live with him. Too bad once she arrives she finds out he's going on tour with his band and that he's found her a roommate on Craigslist. I really don't want to give up any more of the plot. I will say that Josh, her roommate, is super dreamy, and that I loved their relationship. This book sucked me in and it's definitely one I can see re-reading a bunch. It's funny and feminist and just so good. Highly, highly recommended.

This was an enjoyable read. The romance scenes are served with an extra side of steam. This, and the general theme, would not be for every reader. The characters were well drawn and the story had humor and heart. The last chapter was anticlimactic. Two years is a big time difference and only a couple of pages of exposition is really not enough to tie up the story.

This was a very swoony and sexy book! Loved the characters and the inherent sex-positivity. A thoroughly enjoyable debut!

Is Hallmark made erotic movies this would probably be the type of movie they'd make.
I'm not making fun and I'm not saying that the author didn't make a really good story is this hard to compare it to anything else . The heroine in the story was really irritating and annoying at times because I just wanted her to grow a freaking backbone! She grew on me and in some ways grew up so to speak.
If you ever need a reminder about living your truth and doing the things that need to be done regardless of what people think this is a good book for that and sex....lots of sex....lol.