The Roommate by Rosie Danan is a book that has been on my TBR way too long, and I am really happy to have finally read it. For some reason I kept putting off reading this book, (actually I have just been in a reading slump for months), but if I knew how fast I would end up reading this book, I definitely would have started it sooner. And with the sequel coming out this month, it felt like to perfect time to read both books!

So… I can’t say that I have read many, if any, books romance books about the porn industry. I was definitely curious to see how the story was going to play out and it was not at all what I expected from the story. I really liked the idea of the website Clara and Josh created, and I think something like that would be super helpful for both men and women in real life. It was definitely interesting to read about.

The characters in the story were really fun as well. I liked watching Clara come out of her shell, and Josh grow more confident about both himself and his job. I really liked Naomi too, and I was super happy that though she was Josh’s ex, they were still friends, and she wasn’t a mean ex-girlfriend. AND I love that she’s the main character in The Intimacy Experiment! I am so excited to read her story.

Overall; The Roommate was not at all what I expected, but was a quick, fun read! The cute interactions between the two main characters and the fascinating storyline definitely kept me hooked. I can’t wait to get started on The Intimacy Experiment now, and I will definitely be checking out more books by Rosie in the future!

3.5. Entertaining story, solid chemistry between the main characters. Looking forward to the next book featuring Naomi.

Really struggled to get into this one and I'm not sure why. I will definitely try again as I hear that it may be turned into a movie.

Not at ALL what I thought this book was going to be by the cover, description or title but I ended up really liking it. Interested in Naomi’s story now…Thank you Netgalley for an ARC. All opinions are my own.

The Roommate was a great, light read, perfect for a college-aged reader. Danan weaves together a narrative story with an explicit/sexy premise. I would have almost enjoyed even more character development and backstory, but it was a quick and fun book to read over a weekend.

HOLY JALAPEÑO BATMAN.

This was so far beyond the spicy level I was expecting and I loved it. I loved the characters. I loved the setting. I loved the growth of everyone completely. This was a phenomenal read as a romance. Touching topics you might not even regularly consider. I can't wait to read what happens next in The Intimacy Experiment!!!

Danan is one to watch

Sometimes the 'on the fence' books are so hard to review. I really enjoyed this book, but I really didn't LOVE it. There were some parts that were wildly outstanding, but others that made me want to tear my hair out. I truly couldn't stand Clara for the first 50% of the book or so, and yes I understand that her character was meant to be like that, but it was too much for me. Josh, on the other hand, was perfectly adorable. I loved how the author took his profession and made it so positive, and frankly professional, as it should be displayed. I loved the chemistry and the way they worked together, but I just wanted so much more given all of the glowing reviews I saw on this book. The steam factor however, did not let me down in the end, I loved the build up and then the whole...execution of it. Perfection. So, while it wasn't necessarily going to win book of the year for me, it was a quick, flirty, steamy rom com and I'd say pick it up if you need a palate cleanser!

I don't know why I've struggled to write a review of this novel, because it was a pretty straight-forward, no fuss no muss, hot feminist romance! She's a buttoned-up member of the East coast elite, and the first time she did something impulsive for herself, it backfired on her. He's an emotionally adept porn star with a heart of gold . . . and is now her new roommate.

I loved about THE ROOMMATE that it was frank, sex-positive, and pretty explicitly female pleasure-focused. There's a sense that romance is written for the female gaze and so EVERY steamy romance scene is written with a female reader in mind. But more often than we'd like, that actually leads to a regurgitation of male-centric notions of intimacy and pleasure, so Danan's take was wholeheartedly refreshing. It also brought its main characters to a satisfying *emotional* climax and resolution.

I wished at times that Clara's life was more fleshed out--where are this girl's FRIENDS?!--but we did get a peak at her familial relationships, and the length of the book honestly wouldn't have allowed for much more in terms of secondary characters or B plots.

Overall 4 solid stars, and I look forward to reading what Danan writes next!

I jumped in the book with a pretty high expectations since many people have claimed to love it. I can say that after reading, it is not a favorite and the entire book just felt okay/meh for me. Please also brace yourself because this book contains x rated scenes. However if you’re a pro romance reader. You probably have encountered similar heart pounding encounters like in here.


I am still not convinced by the attraction and chemistry between our love interests Clara and Josh. I’ve read quite a number of romance novels where i felt the authentic attraction. There was just something missing with how they both fell into the spell. Our heroine is also feeling dull despite her being a socialite, beautiful and very smart. I could not sympathize with her life choices and her problems.

While those are the things i didn’t like in the book, here are the facts which led me to give it 3.5. Aside from the romantic aspect, the book also explored on the rights of marginalized and stigmatised. Of the sexual workers and the respect or lack thereof that they experience. It is my first time reading about a porn star character so i think this is fresh and bold for the author to tackle. It also focused on the importance of giving women pleasure and how the author believe everyone should be educated that women also must be bold enough to expect it from their partners and be comfortable with their own skin. Our hero Josh also have a well rounded up character development as compared with Clara. I liked Naomi’s character even more, i think she’s a very capable, independent and strong woman who has faith in herself despite the adversities she encountered in her job as sexual worker.

This is one of those books I didn't know I needed until I stumbled upon it, and gosh was it a fun one. I was flying through the first chunk of this book, giggling and smiling like a fool while I got a big helping of what felt like dessert in book form. What I didn't necessarily expect was to feel so empowered by this story, especially since I found the main character to be so surprisingly relatable on many levels. It really made me reconsider how I view sex workers too, and had me thinking about how we internalize societal stigmas. Definitely for mature audiences, but this is the epitome of sex positive, bright and addicting romance. Highly recommend.

What a delightful, sexy, feminist read! The characters are well rounded and the sex is hot. Bonus - it's a RomCom that is geniunely funny. Recommend!

10000/10. this book was everything! definitely one of my favorites of 2020. i couldn’t put it down and all the while i was swooning, laughing, blushing, full on squealing!

Thank you Berkley Publishing for gifting me a copy of The Roommate to read and review!

Okay, so, I knew going into this book that Josh works in the adult entertainment industry so I had some idea as to what I would be getting myself into. Steamy romances are my jam. Love them. It’s how I get myself out of a reading rut. But, this one. This book takes the cake.

I loved how the author turned Josh’s career into something that could benefit people and didn’t just become about having sex. I also enjoyed watching as Clara slowly came out of her shell and owned her experiences. She went from being a character who I didn’t have much interest in, to a character that I was rooting for. As for “bad boy”, Josh, he had my attention from the start. I knew there was a lot more to his story than the author originally let on. Overall, I loved how the book played out and it was exactly what I needed to get out of my rut.

I was able to read this book on my Kindle but I also decided to give the audiobook a listen. I 10/10 do not recommend listening to this book while sitting at a stoplight with all of your windows down. Let’s just say the car next to me caught an earful of one of the steamier chapters of the book…

The Roommate is out now and can be ordered from here! I encourage you to check it out.

This was delightful but I wanted so much <i>more</i>!

The set-up is pure gold. Clara moves across the country to be the roommate of her friend Everett, who she is desperately in love with (he DGAF and it's irritating she doesn't realize this - come on, you're a grown ass adult woman) but he ends up ditching her, so she's left living with his subletter, Josh.

Clara is rich and uptight. Josh is an adult film star.

Shenanigans should ensue! For the first little bit, things are great. There's sexual tension, some banter, a good amount of sarcasm and wit. But when Clara and Josh end up joining forces on a business venture, things went off the rails a bit for me. There's no... <i>pining</i>. I wanted there to be lots and lots of pining - I mean, they LIVE together, so it's prime time for some angst.

Regardless, the book is very entertaining and readable. I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a frothy romance with the friends-to-lovers theme.

This was a DNF for me.

I struggled with the writing and the characters. I did not feel any kind of connection between the characters. Sure there was attraction and interest in sex, but that was it.. The spark, a real connection was missing. For a romance to work there has to be more than just sexual attraction. Also the characters needed more development, and the novel itself could have used more substance. Maybe a different plot. The pornstar premise didn't deliver, and felt like the author tried too hard.

I never expected to read and love an erotic romance that is partially set in the adult entertainment world, but Rosie Danan’s The Roommate managed to pull it off. Danan also got me to love and care about a rich white society princess, a group of people for whom I have extremely low sympathy in general. But I loved this book. I loved the complex characters and the realistic relationships and the swoon-worthy romance and the laugh-out-loud lines and the steamy sex and the fiercely sex-positive feminist culture of Josh and Clara’s world. This was one of my “hero books” that kept me reading during the dark pandemic year of 2020, and my only regret is that it fell victim to my inability to write reviews at the time, and I’m only just reviewing it six months later. Josh and Clara’s story deserved better.

Josh is sweet and thoughtful and enthusiastic. He thinks outside the box, and leans into what he is good at, for which he feels no shame…mostly. He does have some baggage of his own. But not nearly as much as the uptight and repressed Clara, or as Josh calls her early in the book, “a pint-sized, tightly wound socialite”. She’s got a whole cart of baggage. Hermes, probably. Together, though, in living situations, friendship, work, and more, they slowly grow together, into confidence and responsibility and communication and trust and confidence. It’s an incredibly tender and real connection that I very much enjoyed reading.

The supporting cast isn’t bad. It took me awhile to warm up to Naomi, but I suppose that’s rather the point of her character. Naomi’s carpenter friend Wynn was fun. Clara’s friend Everett, the person who kicked off this whole story, is annoying, but that seemed not only intentional but necessary for the story. Josh’s family is sweet, and Clara’s black sheep of the family aunt is tough and likable all at once.

There’s not a lot of diversity in this story. I did appreciate Clara’s strong Black female boss. I appreciated the sex positive attitude. And there were LGBTQ+ supporting characters. But everyone in their circle was remarkably able-bodied and conventionally attractive and mostly white. And mentions of mental health were mostly reserved for slurs, mostly employed by Clara as self-criticisms: “crazy”, “insane”, etc., but also used by Josh, however affectionately, calling her a “nutjob,” for instance. I hope Danan’s future books are more intentional about using inclusive language and depicting diverse casts of characters.

I absolutely loved the Roommate, and how not only Josh and Clara’s relationship, but also their own personal growth and actualization, their ability to defy the expectations of others, was central to this story. It was hot and tender and raw and real and sometimes hilarious. Josh and Clara were just the protagonists I needed to keep me reading during a difficult time. I look forward to more books by Rosie Danan, which will hopefully increase the diversity of representation, while retaining all the heat and heart and beauty of this one. Highly recommended if you want a sweet but filthy erotic romance.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Berkley for letting me read a free digital #advancedcopy of #TheRoommate in exchange for my honest review.

Let's talk about sex, baby! 😜 Going into this book I knew it was going to be HOT from what I heard and the fact that our main character works in the entertainment industry (aka porn.) And holy moly, it was. But it was also SO darn funny and cute. I LOVED it.

Right away, I was cracking up at Clara and Josh's interactions. It was so funny because they're so different. I've decided that the roommate trope is definitely one of my favs and way too underrated.

This book was so different from anything I've read before due to Josh's profession. These two had some SERIOUS sexual tension and I was allllll about it. 😍🔥 I thought their friendship and interactions were so cute. They're both such sweet characters. Once Josh's protective side came out. I was a GONER. See quote at the top! Swoon!! The shower scene! 😍 *Clutches pearls and fans self.*

This was just the light hearted book I needed. But I did want to note this probably isn't everyone's cup of tea and that's totally fine. Their is a LOT of sex talk so you definitely gotta be comfortable with that. I was brought up we didn't talk about sex AT ALL. 🙄 So this was so inspiring to see sex talked about in such a positive way! There is nothing to be ashamed of! 🙌

I will say the miscommunication, "I'm not good enough for them" conflict isn't my fav but it was still done well. Their relationship was more of a slowburn but still with some *VERY* hot moments which was wonderful to see their connection grow. But I do wish we had got to see them as a couple more. I would have been fine with the book even being a little longe. Overall, I absolutely loved this hot and fun story! Just prepare for some serious blush worthy scenes!

Everything was a bit much and a little campy/ stuck in the tropes. Still fun and steamy, just more enjoyable if the stereotypes in romances were turned down a little. Also, why does this not come with a PDF from Shameless?

The Roommate definitely has a lot more steam than the average romance, so reader be aware. At times, this qualified as soft core porn, it ultimately didn't really distinguish itself from other romances. The main character, Clara, is a "prude," yet somehow converts after meeting Josh, her new roommate, who also happens to be a porn star.

Josh is seemingly flawless in every way possible, something that drives me nuts about male characters in romance books. In fact, the whole conflict prior to the resolution was supposedly both of them, but really, I thought Clara was the most out of line. Josh was his true, perfect self the entire time, which I think was what bothered me. That and the fact that these two characters just fell in love basically at first sight, even though they had nothing in common whatsoever.

I loved the sex positivity in this book. I did enjoy reading about the porn industry and trying to normalize sex workers. There is a huge stigma against porn, but many of the people involved (not just the actors) are doing this because it is their job. It was definitely a different background to a predictable romance.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this book, but I’m glad I kept reading because it surprised me. At first, adult performer Josh seems kind of dim and academic socialite Clara is super uptight. But they subverted their respective stereotypes as they got to know each other and tried new things. By the end, I was rooting for both of them.

My one quibble: the pink-hearts cover with the floating couch really doesn’t do the book justice, and looks amateurish. I almost didn’t read the book because of it. Hopefully it’ll get updated sometime soon.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.