Clara is a straight laced rule follower who has never stepped a toe out of line. She's determined to withhold the "proper" image her socialite family demands and because of this, has always colored within the lines. Her latest cross country move is the most daring thing she's ever done and it's to chase her long time unrequited crush to her childhood friend. This move doesn't quite end up with the result she's hoping for though as her friend takes off, leaving her to room with a complete stranger -- Josh, who works in the adult entertainment industry. What could happen in the next few weeks? Everything, as it turns out.

I absolutely loved this book. Clara is someone who I could relate with - her determination to stick to the rules and have everything planned out is so <em>me</em>. She's a little shy, a little awkward and would much rather stay in than navigate a party with strangers. When she meets Josh, sparks fly. Josh is such an adorable, charismatic and swoony man - it is no surprise that he takes Clara by storm. Josh is a fantastic character as well. I really appreciated his many layers. He is dedicated to his work and he's also a genuinely kind hearted person, unwilling to bow to pressures of questionable things in the porn industry but at the same time, knowing his career and livelihood is on the line.

Rosie Danan does a great job highlighting issues that exist in the porn industry. I also appreciated the sex positivity and focus on being shameless. The message is so great especially with the sexist views society has when it comes to sex in men vs women.

The character arcs for both Clara and Josh are great. I loved seeing Clara progress and learn more about herself and figuring out who she is and what she's capable of. Their relationship together progresses perfectly on pace. There are funny moments, sweet moments and the FIRE moments because the chemistry between these two is insane.

In Short...

All in all, this is a romance that should be on everyone's list to read! I'm deeming it one of my favorites of the year. The fantastic characters, riveting relationship and off the charts chemistry makes for the perfect combination! The Roommate is simply so much fun. I love Josh and Clara and absolutely can't wait for the next book!

Oh this was just as wonderful as everyone promised! I really enjoyed the frank discussions of sex in this.

Don’t let the cutesy cover fool you, The Roomate was just the steamy kind of romance I love! Josh is a porn star and uptight Clara has become his roomate. The recipe for an enjoyable read!

I think I have discovered a new favorite romance trope which is being forced into a situation together, and I loved the idea of housemates to lovers. The chemistry between Josh and Clara was so hot, and I loved their fun banter.

*many thanks to Berkley and Netgalley for the gifted copy.

One of my favorite reads all year long! I went into this not really knowing what to expect based on the summary, but needless to say I fell in love! These two were so amazingly written and the story was sweet and sexy and just everything that I needed to read in 2020!

Thank you for an early copy!

This review was originally posted on <a href="http://booksofmyheart.net/2020/12/20/the-roommate-by-rosie-danan/" target="_blank"> Books of My Heart</a>
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<i>Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i>

I heard some good things about <strong>The Roommate</strong> and decided I need to read it.  I liked the main characters Clara and Josh.  They were different and the same in their backgrounds and personality.  Clara came from a wealthy family. She is the one who keeps herself under control, never causing a scandal or gossip.  She has plenty of money and is well educated.  She also has always had a crush on Everett who was a childhood neighbor, and now invited her to relax and visit California for the summer.  She decides to drop everything and go as a last chance at a relationship with him.    He leaves town with his band, leaving her Josh as a roommate.

Josh is a porn star. He's become more main stream and doesn't do the really hard core pornography.  His girlfriend kicked him out and he needed somewhere to stay until they were back together.   He came from an average background but was never interested in school.  Now he's found something where he has talent but he's treated like a joke or scandal by most people.

Clara is like a lot of women who are a little shy about their sexuality, and not used to saying what works for them or what they want.  She and Josh have an attraction which they fight.  She's worried about the gossip and he isn't into relationships and Josh can tell Clara is "too good for him.".  Oddly,  they do well as roommates and are kind to each other.  As their friendship grows, so do their discussions about sex and their lust.

I really enjoyed the way they worked together on something new.  Each had some trouble being honest with themselves and each other about their concerns and their feelings, though.  However, I understand it as part of the learning process for two people who neither one has ever had a serious relationship. They both were unhappy feeling like they couldn't be the person their parents wanted and had to accept being themselves.  The ex-girlfriend, Naomi, was fascinating and the next book in this series(?) is about her,  <strong>The Intimacy Experiment</strong>.

This book was so fun. Cute and steamy. I loved the characters and had a good time watching them get on each other’s nerves and fall in love.

First I would like to start this off by thanking Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Before I get to share my thoughts on this book I would like to say I had high hopes for this book because so many others loved it. While I did not hate the book, I did not 100% fall in love with it as I have others. It was overall an enjoyable read.

I would like to share that this book does take you out of your comfort zone a little, while I am by no means a prude, this book has a lot of conversations about sex, sexual positions, and the porn industry. While by no means was this book not tastefully written, if blatant sex in your face is not your thing, this book is definitely not for you.

With that being said I did enjoy the sex scenes, and man was it steamy, this is the type of book you don't want to read about people because you will get a little hot under the collar and from looking at the cover of this book you would not expect that. The sexual chemistry between Josh and Clara is what saved this book in my eyes.

There were a lot of things that left me questioning when the book was finished. See Clara comes from a wealthy east coast family who is not shy about scandals, so Clara's whole life has felt the need to be perfect. What is the opposite of perfect? Well falling in love with her roommate who happens to be a porn star and creating a business about teaching people how to please women. But while we are told in the book this would be another scandal in her family, we are shown the outcome of Clara's family finding out. It is just resolved at the end of the book.

Another issue I had with the book was the lack of communication between Josh and Clara, they spent the whole book clearly into each other, but both believed that they were not good enough for the other. Josh thought that Clara would never respect or marry someone who was in the industry, and Clara spends the book believing that she was not pretty enough or experienced enough to hold Josh's attention since he was in the industry. I felt had they both communicated their feelings early on a lot of miscommunication could have been avoided and they would have had more time to have sex which I would imagine would be very steamy.

Overall the book was an enjoyable read, just did not feel too passionate about it. I would definitely recommend this book to friends to read and will be letting my best friend borrow my paperback of it. I am excited to read the next book in the series and hopefully see Josh and Clara again.

Perfection. One of my favorite books of the year, and one of my new all-time favorite romance novels. Empowering, steamy, and lovely. I adore Clara and Josh.

I don't know what to say that hasn't already been said by so many people about this book. It is sexy and sweet and does a great job (in my opinion) of depicting a sex worker. I think in romance we get these messages about who deserves love and who doesn't. This can come in many ways but I think by very rarely seeing sex workers on the page, particularly sex workers who are not ashamed or shamed. Josh was so sweet. Clara was the perfect amount of stuffy and they worked really well together. I was immediately invested in their story. I loved how it worked out. Danan did a great job also of planting seeds for side characters. Specifically Noami. This was a great debut and I look forward to more books from Rosie!

Thank you, thank you, thank you so much to @rosiedanan @berkleypub and @berkelyromance for an eARC of this title!

Clara Wheaton hails from the East Coast, where she is the consummate socialite: over-achieving, well-mannered, predictable. But every Wheaton has their weakness, and when her childhood crush, Everett, invites her to move cross-country, the offer is too good for her to pass up. Unfortunately, it's also too good to be true. After a bait-and-switch, Clara finds herself sharing a rundown bungalow with a random roommate Everett found on craigslist. And he's not just any guy, either - he's a well-known porn star.

Will this turn into the biggest Wheaton family scandal yet, or could it turn into something far more?

When I started seeing and hearing about this book, the main headline was that this title was super steamy. With that in mind, I tiptoed my way into this one because, much like our main character, Clara, I'm pretty shy and reserved, and can also be somewhat uptight. I wasn't sure if this book would be for me, but let me tell you, I'm so glad I gave The Roommate a chance because it ended up being so much more than a steamy romcom.

Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of steamy and sizzling scenes in this book, but there's also a lot of humor, witty banter, self-reflection/growth, and the realization that if you try to please everyone else, you will never make yourself happy. As a shy people-pleaser, I related SO MUCH to Clara. I've never been super comfortable with sex or the adult entertainment industry, but what I loved about this book was that through Josh, Naomi, her aunt Jill, and even politician Toni Granger, Clara was not only able to overcome the misconceptions she had about pornography and the adult entertainment industry, but she was also open-minded and brave enough to step out of her comfort zone, stick her neck out for those she loves, and ultimately take ownership of her own life and happiness.

And Josh! What a sweet, respectful, and considerate guy. He truly listened to and accepted Clara for who she was; adored her, flaws and all; and brought tears to my eyes with how much he loved and adored Clara. Although Josh and Clara are definitely opposites, they bring out the absolute best in each other.

Aside from the amazing main characters, I also loved how much readers learn about the adult entertainment industry. While I had a feeling there were a lot of issues, this book opened my eyes to even more of them, while at the same time showing readers that adult entertainment performers are human just like everyone else.

So why did this book not get a full 5 stars from me? While I loved the majority of this book, the last segment fell a little flat for me. Don't let that deter you, though - give it a read for yourself because it's definitely worth it!

Overall, I really enjoyed this one and look forward to more from Rosie Danan because she definitely has a lot of talent! This was a refreshing take on a romcom, and I'm excited to see what comes next!

This book was not what I thought it would be - in a good way! I did not expect to learn so much about the porn industry and the inequities the performers receive. Thank you for my advanced copy. While this is not my favorite romance, I did learn a lot and am glad to have read this book.

The synopsis for this one sucked me right in. I really enjoyed this book and then I found out it's going to be a series!!!! I may have gotten a tiny bit excited when I heard about The Intimacy Experiment!

What I loved about this book:

1. This book is full of laughs and all the intense sexual tension you could hope for. Considering this is a debut novel, I was completely impressed.

2. The characters were definitely part of this book's appeal. I loved reading Clara and Josh's story and enjoyed watching both characters evolve. Their witty banter and steamy scenes made this one impossible to put down. Honestly what's not to love about a book that tackles the stigma surrounding a womans desire while exposing the dark side of the porn industry?

3. I love reading a variety of romance tropes and I don't read opposites attract enough. This one was done so well and makes me want to read more of this trope.

If you're not into open door romances you should probably pass on this one, but if you love steamy and 🍆 definitely grab yourself a copy of this book ASAP!

I honestly expected to love this one, but unfortunately it was just okay for me. I enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it. My biggest problem with this story was I never felt the connection between Clara and Josh. I could appreciate the author's attempt to tackle the concepts of sex positivity, the adult entertainment industry, and the need for trust and communication to achieve intimacy that were discussed in this story..I just felt that Clara and Josh were so different from one another that the connection was lost. I also didn't feel like Clara's character was fleshed out.. Nothing about her backstory had any substantial weight except the reunion with her estranged aunt and even that felt tenuous because what I thought would be a strong component was underdeveloped as the story went on.

I guess I am in the minority with this one and couldn't find the connection to the characters like most of the positive reviews by other readers. Not every book is for ever reader and this one was not for me.

I went into Rosie Danan’s debut novel, The Roommate, spoiler free and just have to start off by saying this book is such a breath of fresh air. The Roommate is a rom-com about a socialite and an adult entertainer (yep, a porn star) that I didn’t even know I needed in my life. The premise, with its focus on the porn industry, is so unique and the main characters, Clara, Josh, and Josh’s ex, Naomi, are just so precious that I wanted to be bffs with all of them.

The characters are what really sold me on this story, mainly because they weren’t at all what I expected them to be like based on the usual stereotypes associated with socialites and porn stars. Clara is pretty much the exact opposite of a Paris Hilton type. She’s sweet, awkward, and lacks confidence when it comes to most areas of her life. When the story opens, Clara has also just quit her job and moved from New York to California to live with her childhood crush because she has misread his signals and thinks she’s heading toward her happily ever after. Instead of happily ever after, however, Clara finds herself shacking up with a random male roommate her crush has found on Craigslist and sublet his place to while he goes on tour with his band. Talk about awkward!

Josh, the roommate in question, is just as endearing as Clara. At first he comes across as very arrogant – he’s obviously proud of his ability to please women, but he’s also very charming, fun, and sweet, and pretty soon Clara warms up to him and so did I. I grew to love him even more as Clara gets to know him better and it becomes clear that some of that arrogance is just a front. Josh has a lot of layers to him, and just like with Clara, some of those layers are filled with insecurities, fears, and doubts. I just loved how real both characters felt and how their relationship developed. Yes, they certainly have their sexy, steamy moments filled with delicious banter, but they also have a lot of sweet, heartfelt moments that made me smile.

The Roommate also has its fair share of drama, some revolving around family expectations, but also specifically drama that revolves around the porn industry. I really loved how Danan portrays all of the adult entertainers as scrappy underdogs fighting the greedy corporate villains for what is rightfully theirs. She gives the readers an interesting look at what goes on behind the scenes and I really liked the depth it added to the story. I also adored Josh’s ex, Naomi. She’s Josh’s partner in most of his adult films and she’s also a badass in her own right. I read that there will be a companion novel that focuses on Naomi, and I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy!

If you’re looking for a fresh, sexy, and heartfelt romance with perfectly imperfect characters that will have you wishing for a happy ending, The Roommate is the book you’re looking for.

For a book that talked a lottt about sex, there wasn't much actual sex being had. I was expecting a steamy steamy read (because that's what I was promised) and I was a bit underwhelmed. I didn't even like our main character, Clara, all that much. But the banter was cute enough and it was a quick read.

I originally received The Roommate by @rosiedanan from @berkleyromance and @netgalley but I loved it so much I had to buy a copy.

Thank you Rosie for writing such a female sex positive book.

If you are looking fur steam this book has it. On a scale of 1-5 it’s definitely 10 🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆! 🤣 it’s not just steamy it’s also sweet. You fall in love with Josh and Clara. You root for them even though you can probably see the main issue that is going to crop up between them a mile away. None of that matters because these characters are just so darn likable.

After reading this book in hours I can’t wait for the next Rosie Danan book!

If you love steamy, open door romances with lots of tension this is the book for you. One of the best I’ve read all year.

Thank you again @rosiedanan @berkleyromance @netgalley for the egalley.

What was the last steamy romance you read?

4.5 rounded down. This book was so fun and also steamy AF. I loved all of the characters and the storyline was unlike anything I’ve ever read. I’ve heard so many people say how much they loved the banter between Clara and Josh and I think that’s what made it so fun. Love them and this book, and also it reminds me of the book Beautiful Disaster (which I’m embarrassed to admit how much I loved) with a much nicer leading man.

This was such a delightful I really loved how it tackled sex positivity and issues in the porn industry. Definitely a great addition to the contemporary romance genre this year!

Unfortunately this one didn’t work for me as well as it seemed to for most readers. I didn’t feel much connection with the characters or between the hero and heroine. I did find the premise to be enjoyable and liked the themes. Not the right book for me but I seem to be in the minority.

Thank you Rosie Danan, Berkley Pub & Netgalley for my #gifted copy.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 Stars
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 5/5 Steam Rating

I hope you’re ready for the steam... this book will bring it!! I mean... one of the MC is a porn star after all. Socialite Clara moves all the way to the across country to move in with her long time crush and best friend. Unfortunately for Clara, she gets dropped of on the front porch and told that her best friend is leaving town to tour with his band and she has a new roommate. Enter Josh... Clara’s new roommate and a well know male porn star. With Josh’s help, Clara explores her sexuality and wants to share that knowledge with other women.

I loved the premise of this story and how it was executed. This is a story told from the POV of both Clara & John. I thought that the conversations flowed naturally and that the push/pull of Clara and Josh were entertaining and natural. Josh was my absolute favorite character of this story and honestly, one of my favorite book males in a while! I mean... can he be my book boyfriend?!

The only thing I wish was a bit different was that I was left wanting to know a little bit more about the Wheaton curse. This was a big driving force behind Clara and I just didn’t feel like I understood it enough. With that said, it was an overall small part of the story and didn’t have a big impact on my love for Clara & Josh’s story.