I loved this book! It had the perfect amount of slow burn. The characters had such depth. Lucas was easily lovable and Rosie was so relatable. If you’re looking for a sweet and steamy romance then this is the book for you!

The American Roommate Experiment (TARE) by Elena Armas is about Rosie and Lucas. They become roommates under unusual circumstances. Both characters are trying to find direction in their lives. Rosie quits a high-paying tech job to pursue her dream of becoming a romance writer. Rosie struggles to find inspiration to write her second novel. In comes Lucas, a tortured man who had to give up his dream of pro-surfing because of an accident. He's at a loss for what to do next with his life.

They provide great support to each other and soon become great friends. Since it's a romance, it's no secret that they begin to develop strong feelings. The name of the novel stems from the story line that Lucas tries to help Rosie find inspiration while they go on "dating experiments". Lucas's creates very romantic and meaningful dates for them. The dates not only help Rosie's writer's block but they also help the couple develop even deeper feelings..

I liked the premise of the book and I had high hopes since I enjoyed Armas’ first book, The Spanish Love Deception (TSLD). Unfortunately, TARE had a lot of repetition and the story went round and round instead of moving steadily forward: he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not …. At a few points, I wanted to shake the main characters and tell them to just be honest and talk to each other.

I thought that Rosie and Lucas had good chemistry and the spice was off the charts, but it was too much of a slow burn; it felt like a long tease.

I enjoyed the appearance of Lina and Aaron, the main characters from TSLD. It was nice to see that their love story still burned bright. I also liked the last scene/chapter of TARE but it took too long to get there.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this e-ARC.

I love a good NYC-based romance, especially one with great food, fun characters and a compelling will-they won't-they vibe.

This one was cute, but it didn’t necessarily hit the same way as Aaron and Linas story did. This was a slooooow burn. The characters didn’t really get together until 75% in. I wanted to know more about Lucas’ backstory and even more about Ollys.

This story was….eh. I really wanted to love this one, the premise could have been a winner. However, Armas incorporated every trope, every generic rom-com situation into one story. It was too much, the story itself could have easily been 100 pages shorter than it was. I was hoping the spicy scenes would be romantic and sweet based on the characters and their history, but the first one just made me feel…icky.

A second winner from Elena Armas, with tons of great food, shameless flirting, a cute dog and a love story. What more could you want?

Really fun rom com - charming and utterly unputdownable. The characters are delightful and while the trope is family Armas makes it work her own way

Thank you, Netgalley, for an ARC copy of this amazing novel in exchange for my honest review.

Oh my gosh. I LOVED this book!!!! Lucas and Rosie were the absolute cutest. I tend to gravitate towards enemies to lovers / grumpy x sunshine, but the sunshine x sunshine and friends to lovers here was so well done. It was adorable. And the ode to fake dating was perfect too. I haven’t had a book I enjoyed this much in a very long time. I also loved the surprising depth in content and character development. This was light and fun to read but also had some parts that were more than just fun.

If you love…
- friends to lovers
- sunshine x sunshine
- a dating experiment (sort of fake dating)
- the Spanish love deception
- a light and romantic pool read for your summer

Then this is the book for you!!! Pub date is Sept 6th!!!

I loved this book! I really enjoyed The Spanish Love Deception, so when I heard Rosie was getting her own story I was so excited. I didn’t think anyone could capture my heart like Aaron Blackford, but Lucas Martín is certified book boyfriend material! This is the slow burn, one bed trope, grey sweatpants, grand gesture, fake dating, best friends cousin story we all needed. So, whatever you’re doing, STOP!! Now go grab this book and thank me later :)

I did not understand the hype around this one. The characters were somewhere between boring and openly offensive, and everyone said each other's names constantly - like two or three times every paragraph. All in all, it left me feeling kind of skeezy.

I loved The American Roommate Experiment even more than the Spanish Love Deception! Rosie and Lucas' relationship was so cute and romantic. I related to Rosie's personality more than I did to Lina's in the Spanish Love Deception which made me love it even more! Rosie was relatable and a bit awkward, and Lucas was sweet and understanding in how he approached her.
The slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance was adorable. I also really liked that the 'conflicts' outside of the romance were more integrated in the story than in the Spanish Love Deception; the trauma, family drama, career moves, etc. were not just an after thought in this story but fully drawn out.
The only downside for me was some of the spicy scenes near the end of the novel. The way they were written just kind of took away from the romance for me.

This is a sweet, sultry international flavored romance that I liked a little better that it’s prequel. While Lina is on her belated honeymoon, her apartment is a natural refuge for her best friend when Rosie’s apartment is uninhabitable. But Lina’s cousin Lucas is in town as a tourist on the last weeks of his visa, and Lina promised him a place to crash. Rosie, a closet romance writer, has been harboring a secret crush on Lucas ever since she started following his Instagram after they failed to meet at the Lina’s wedding due to his barely disclosed surfing accident that has taken him off the national circuit. Lucas must be feeling some vibes too, because he suggests Rosie crash with him, and offers to help Rosie through her writer’s block through a series of dates designed to take them from acquaintances to lovers.

Not so much an enemies to lovers romance, there is an initial meet not-cute when Rosie thinks Lucas is breaking into Lina’s apartment. Frankly, there might be more deception here than in the Spanish Love Deception: Rosie with her crush and new career, both with their feelings and pasts, Lucas with his injury, and hiding their relationship from Lina.

Still, the romance novel plot while not unique is well-done, the writing is good, and the tension palpable. Spanish culture and the New York setting round out the details through language, food, familial expectations and geography. This is a solid spin-off.

A tiny quibble: the last book by this author was The Spanish Love Deception… why isn’t this called The Spanish Roommate Experiment, since it is a Spaniard encroaching on an American’s territory? Why isn’t the Spoiler Alert series called Guardians of the Gates? Why I am not making a lot of money working in publishing instead of moonlighting as an unpaid review? The world will never know.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #WitchaGonnaDo from #NetGalley

Alright friends, if you adored this book, my review is probably not for you. In the interest of transparency, I was essentially hate-reading TSLD by the last 100 pages or so. Maybe it's because I'm 26 & crabby, but I did not get the hype surrounding this book at all. Much like with TSLD, this book was fine. It was your average rom-com that provides an hour or two of distraction from the real world without actually leaving a memorable impression and/or sticking with you.

Here's what I liked:
Sadly, I've got nothing here. I make notes for my reviews, & there is not a single positive thing to be found in said notes.

Here's what I disliked:
As someone who lives in fear of secondhand embarrassment & tries to avoid it at all costs, the first 50 pages of this book caused me physical pain. For the life of me, I do not understand why that much awkwardness was needed? Perhaps it's endearing for some, but it made me want to chuck my Kobo across the room. Moreover, the premise of how Rosie internet stalks Lucas is vaguely creepy to me. This maybe could have been alleviated if the author gave Rosie's obsession with Lucas any explanation and/or substance, but the parasocial relationship that Rosie formed with Lucas made me uncomfortable. Both Rosie & Lucas spend a weird amount of time checking each other out while simultaneously pretending not to check each other out, & for some reason this irritated me a lot. Attraction is not bad. Acknowledge it & move along. The lack of communication between Rosie & Lucas was frustrating, but I will allow for the fact that I have recently been reading rom-coms with really good communication, so it's probably just the contrast.

& this is the part where I get nitpicky & complain about all the small things that irked me.
1) Too many things were compared to crack & in 2022 my belief is that we know better than to compare mundane things to a drug that destroys lives & makes light of something as serious as addiction.
2) Elena Armas has a fondness for the phrase "tucking me into his side" & I have yet to figure out what this means?
3) I have an immense dislike of men being primal & possessive. One or two instances is totally cool, & I know that for some people that's their thing. Not here to yuck anyone's yum; this trope/attitude is simply just not my jam. Men are humans, not animals, & I think we do a disservice to men by making it seem like they can be assholes just because they're in love with someone.
4) "Pulsing length" is arguably one of my least favourite peen descriptors. No thank you.
5) This point sort of ties back to #1. How Rosie treated Ollie after finding out he had been engaging in sex work was really off-putting to me. I can understand concern for Ollie's well-being, but I very much did not like the connotation that he should be ashamed of his work or that Rosie should feel shame on his behalf. Again, this is 2022. Sex work is work. Full stop.
6) Reading how Lucas described his peen almost did me in. "Turned my dick to steel" is a phrase I would like to never read again.

Thank you to Netgalley & Atria Books for this ARC.

This book was everything I wanted! It was realistic, not like other books where you are like has this person ever been to new york? Not only that but Rose is so relatable, so real. This story was AMAZING. Elena did it again, I loved the spanish love deception, so I had high hopes and they were achieved!

Alright, I don't know if it's just my hormones right now but I think I liked this more than The Spanish Love Deception? Am I going to rate romance novels higher than I normally would other days of the month? Probably. I'm too emotional and some parts of this book totally got me in the feels.

Listen, I'm a sucker for the enemies to lover trope, but I've been reading a couple of slow burn, forced proximity books, which might be my new favorite. I loved the dual POV. I LOVED Lucas and the experiment dates that he planned. Who would not fall in love with that? And he cooks?

Not going to lie, I'm used to some steamy scenes but this book had one, in particular, that had me blushing 😳 oh, and having the masquerade bathroom scene from Lucas' POV? Oof.

I loved these characters. I loved that we still saw some Lina and Aaron parts. And I love characters who are so crazy about each other.

Got an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Slow burn, forced proximity, and secret crush are all in this story. I am not really a slow burn fan but this one worked well and I always really love romance stories with the dual POV.

This book completely lived up to The Spanish Love Deception!! I’m absolutely in love with Elena Armas’ writing. I’ve never been the biggest fan of slow burn romances but hers are to die for. I will read anything this author writes!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC to read/review! The American Roommate Experiment was a top tier forced proximity/friends to lovers romance!! It follows Lina’s cousin (Lucas) and Lina’s best friend (Rosie) as they both navigate through a new chapter in their lives. They end up sharing Lina’s apartment and they fake date to help Rosie with writer’s block. I loved the dual POV and appearances from Lina/Aaron!! They helped move the story along perfectly. I wish the ending had a more conclusive ending about Rosie’s family. I loved that background story but felt like it was too rushed. I really loved Rosie and Lucas’ character. He was dealing with trauma in a really relatable way. I felt connected to each of them in different ways! 4.25/5

The book came out September 6th!!!

Yes, I am Team SLD all the way, and while the second read-through didn't give me the same emotional rollercoaster as the first time, I still love that book.
But alas, this review isn't even for that book. I stalked Netgalley waiting/hoping for this arc and pushed that request button SO hard.
Did it deliver? Yes? I liked it, but I didn't love it. I think I went into it expecting that angst, and yearning that I got from SLD, but the romance felt rather quick instead. I just didn't see the connection between them. Show me, don't tell me, you know?! I liked both MC's, but Rosie felt a little flat and Lucas is no Aaron, that's for sure.
Maybe it's not them, it's me. Did I still enjoy it? Yes. Did I buy it? Also, yes. Do I look forward to Armas' next book? 100%

The American Roommate Experiment was not what I was expecting it to be. Rosie and Lucas don’t have any chemistry together. I wish I could have seen more scenes with them bonding. Rosie is an incredibly cringy character and Lucas wasn’t that great either.