This book was fantastic, and I expected nothing less coming from Elena Armas. The writing really makes you both fall in love with the characters and the personal journeys they find themselves on. I could not put this book down! It was also so fun to see snippets of Lina and Aaron to see where their relationship left off a little while after the conclusion of the The SLD. This book was the perfect speed in terms of romance, not too slow burn but also not insta-love. It is one of my favourite new release of 2022 for sure! Recommended for lovers of any of Armas' previous works, Sarah Adams and Ali Hazelwood.

Forced proximity, friends to lovers, fake dating??? And a dog named Taco?!

Yes to all.

Due to a lot of mishaps Rosie (apartment troubles) and Lucas (running from his past) end up both needing to stay in Lina’s apartment while she’s away on her honeymoon. They also fail to ever mention this to Lina.

Rosie is having a major case of writers block and Lucas with nothing else to do decides to help her get past it. Since she is a romance writer fake dating it is! He agrees to take her on dates and follow her carefully drawn out plan of how the dates should go. One catch, they cannot fall for each other.

Definitely go on this journey with them as things continue going wrong for them every step of the way. Fall for them. Get your hearts broken with them (and their families). And definitely laugh along with them.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for a review!

A fun continuation of the crew from The Spanish Love Deception as Lina's handsome, charismatic cousin Lucas comes to stay in her apartment while Lina and Aaron jet off for their honeymoon. Only problem is Lina's bff Rosie also tries to crash at Lina's, unknowing of Lucas' plans. And did I forget to mention Rosie's long time crush on Lucas ever since a social media sighting? Lucas hopes to help Rosie with a tough case of romance writer's block, which turns into the sweetest story of falling in love. Not as spicy at book 1, but a more smile stupidly to yourself while reading kind of story, which we love.

This is my first time reading a book by this author and after hearing the hype she did not disappoint. Rosie and Lucas’s characters were amazing to follow. I loved the character development and depth from each character. Each person was holding back a secret until they found each other. The romance part I felt was a slow build and wish it almost happened sooner. Overall I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read more by this author. Thank you netgalley and publisher for the advanced read. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

This book is everything a romance-lover dreams of. From the characters' compatibilities to the mild contentions, Armas's "The American Roommate Experiment" is a story that will surely blow up BookTok upon its release.

If you're a fan of the rom-com, I'm sure you're familiar with the following topes: Pretend relationship; forced proximity; semi-forbidden love; belated love epiphany; meet-cute; and insta-lust. While the thing about tropes is that they often turn into tripes, Elena Armas employs all of the aforementioned in her novel in a way that makes the reader fall head-over-heels for her story. I was never annoyed with the cliches, only happy and grateful for how the whole story warmed my heart.

I am very fond of the two main characters, Rosie and Lucas. They are great people, and watching them grow and develop a relationship was a joy. To see two complex characters in a rom-com is rare, but Armas successfully developed both Rosie and Lucas all the way through. There have only been a few books where I cared so much about two characters, and this is one of them.

This honest review was written in exchange for an ARC of #TheAmericanRoomateExperiement. Thank you to #AtriaBooks and #NetGalley!

Once I started reading, I could not put this book down. Rosie is for all the overthinkers, people pleasers, and girls who feel the need to bottle up feelings so they don't upset others. The story focuses on Rosie, whose apartment ceiling collapses so she has to stay at Lina's empty apartment. Lucas, Lina's cousin, was told he could stay at the apartment while he is visiting New York. SInce Lina is on her honeymoon, they decide it would just be easier to share the apartment instead of one of them having to find another place to stay. Rosie started writing books but has writer's block so Lucas offers to take her on four dates to inspire her. This story is so cute and loveable. Elena Armas continues to blow me away. I don't think five stars is good enough for this book. I can't recommend it enough. The American Roommate Experiment had me blushing, screaming, and sobbing.

I fell in love with the Spanish Love Deception, and I couldn’t wait for Armas’s next release. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long. I didn’t think anything could compare, but I was pleasantly wrong. I felt the character descriptions were incredible, allowing me to connect and empathize with Lucas and Rosie, more than with SLD.

Elena Armas is an author and woman after my own heart and this book lives up to the hype and more ♥️ What I loved about this book? Everything! TSLD was such a hit for me because of the Spain component, and this one was no different. It was funny, sweet, charming and sooo romantic! And Lucas 😍😍😍- he’s every Spanish guys I wish I had met during my summers in Spain #majorswooning #newtopbookboyfriend Add in that Lina and Aaron are part of this story too- loved it!

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for giving me a chance to read this ARC!

I loved The Spanish Love Deception, so I was very excited for this new book! However, about halfway in, it still didn’t catch my interest. The characters and the plot fell flat for me. There was nothing inherently wrong with the story, it just didn’t catch my interest.

I so enjoyed this slow burn romance. The chemistry between Rosie and Lucas was great, and Armas did a fantastic job of keeping the tension throughout. I feel like with her second attempt, Armas has created a reputation for great chemistry between love interests, original characterization, and top tier writing. I'm so excited to recommend this to my fellow romance lovers!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

Elena Armas does it again. If you liked her first book, you will definitely not be disappointed here! It is a slow burn (be warned!!), but that did not stop me from devouring it and wanting more. Rosie and Lucas are adorable, and I definitely could feel the chemistry between them. At this point, I’ll read anyone the woman writes!


4.5⭐️

Elena Armas surprised me with her writing in her first book and absolutely blew me away with this one. Just like in her debut novel, Armas creates characters that our unique, strong and interesting. The slow-burn romance and the chemistry between the two characters is immaculate and off the charts. I wish I could read it for the first time again and I know I will go back to it time and time again. She has grown into her own, found her voice and writes a love story that I wish I could live. It has the perfect balance of lighthearted moments, tearjerker instance and tooth-rotting fluff. Absolutely incredible read for anyone looking for a good romance and to get out of their own lives for a few hours.

Wow! I daresay this book is even better than the first. Elena Armas became a TikTok sensation for a reason- her writing is persuasive, relevant (without being too trendy so as it falls behind the current trend), and moving. The Spanish Love Deception's greatest criticism was that it was too slow a burn- the characters took a few dozen pages to warm up to and we weren't rooting for their romance until halfway through the novel. The American Roommate Experiment, on the other hand, will not receive this criticism. These characters are electric and their spark is immediate and palpable. The book was paced perfectly and enjoyable throughout. Spanish readers-- you may find some Spanish dialogue to be a bit *off* (this may be a regional or dialectal difference) but it doesn't detract from the reading experience. I'm recommending this book to everyone I know.

I really enjoy Elena Armas. Her first book had a lot of charm and banter in it. I liked the Spanish-speaking heroine and family. Here, the roles are reversed, and the male romantic lead is the Spanish-speaking cousin from the first novel. Lucas is hot surfer who has clearly undergone some trauma that he's physically and emotionally still working through. When he comes to New York to stay at his cousin's place, he comically discovers that this cousin's best friend is already staying there. Rosie's ceiling has just caved in, she has writer's block, and the man she's been internet stalking for a year has shown up to live in the apartment she's squatting in. Of course, they agree to be roommates with building sexual chemistry. Of course to improve her romance novel writing, they agree to experiment with each other, going out on four romantic dates before Lucas leaves New York.

The build here is super slow. Lots of friendly dialogue. It's nice, but I wouldn't call it steamy. There's plenty of character development. It's a sweet book that shows you a little faith in yourself can go a long way.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Oh man I really liked this, like more than The Spanish Love Deception. Lucas and Rosie were both really fun, nuanced characters and I appreciated the way that Armas wrote their relationship. The tension was so delicious and I cried at part of it. I feel like there are so few men in romance who get to be sweet right off the bat, so I loved that Lucas was funny and sweet immediately and how that was informed by his past. I only have positive things to say about this romance, except for the fact that I wish the perspectives felt a little more balanced. I feel like there were way more chapters from Rosie's perspective than there were from Lucas's and I wished we heard a little more from Lucas!

While not quite as wonderful as The Spanish Love Deception, this is a lovely offering. This book features a great cast of characters and an especially adorable love duo. I found it to be a quick read, entertaining, and well written. An instant-read author, to be sure, with a very successful read!

This was fun. The story is the second in The Spanish Love Deception series by Elena Armas and it follows Rosie and Lucas, the best friend and cousin, respectively, of Catalina, the protagonist of the first book. Rosie is forced to flee to Lina's studio apartment when her own ceiling caves in, but luckily Lina is on her honeymoon. Unluckily, and unbeknownst to Rosie, Lina had promised the apartment to her cousin Lucas during his visit to New York from Spain. Coincidentally, Rosie has been stealthily following him on social media for months. After a rocky introduction the two become fast friends and decide to stay in the studio together. Rosie is also in the midst of a career change and is writing her second romance novel after having left a high paying engineer job. She's a little stuck and Lucas proposes that they go on some fake dates to inspire her. As these things go, they fall for each other, but each has some hang ups that keep them from admitting and giving into their feelings.

Things I liked:
The two characters were fun and likeable. Their chemistry was pretty great and the spicy scenes were well written.

Things I didn't like:
Some of the side stories, particularly the one about Rosie's brother, were weird and unnecessary. I found the one about Rosie's brother to be kind of in bad taste and a little stigmatizing. I also found the endless interruptions to Rosie and Lucas's almost hookups to be a bit much.

All in all this was a fun rom com and I'd definitely recommend it to any reader of the genre. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Spanish Love Deception so I was so excited to get my hands on this book!

This book gave me all the fuzzy feelings I got with the first book. I love that this stood alone but also loved that we got little easter eggs of Lina and Aaron and got to see their happy after the last book. Rosie was such a lovable character and I saw a lot of myself in her.

The ending was *chefs kiss* and I can't wait for more!

I was so excited to read the next one in the series. Technically it could be a stand alone but was nice to see some of the characters from the previous book.

This is definitely a slow burn but done very well! The MMC was part sunshine part alpha and I loved it!

I would say this could also be a friends to lovers as well.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

All the tropes that this book threw at me: forced proximity, best friend’s older cousin, dating experiment, slow burn. I loved it all. This is my first book by this author and I throughly enjoyed it. This book was a very cute and sweet read with bits of humor and spice sprinkled in for *flavor*.