𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆
Ariella works in a London PR firm. She’s successful but also good at hiding in the wings. But her secret is that behind the wealthy fiancé, she’s feeling claustrophobic in her relationship with Jasper, her brother’s best family and neighbour growing up. When she takes the plunge and moves out without telling Jasper, she becomes roommates with Caleb that works in their sales department. With a different woman over almost every night, it’s a real challenge for the two to get along, nevermind more.

𝗠𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀
Roommates is Ola Tundun’s debut novel. Set in London with very well developed characters, we get to see so many sides of both Caleb and Ariella and soon understand how their worlds have shaped them. I really enjoyed stepping into their shoes and seeing how their relationships developed. It does feel like that last half/ third of the story is quite drawn out, and then seems to end on a bit of a cliffhanger. It would have been nice to have an ending wrapping up the story.

Read an eARC copy courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher
My rating 3.5/5 - ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫
Pub Date 20 Sep 2023

Roommates by Ola Tundun @olatundunx

Rating - 4/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Date Read - September 14, 2023
Publication Date - September 20, 2023

*I received an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review* - Thank you @olatundunx, @stormbooks_co and @netgalley!

Have you ever really wanted something and then you got it and something just didn’t feel right? Have you ever looked at a relationship and thought to yourself how perfect it seemed? Ariella would be the first person to tell you that just because something looks perfect on paper, doesn’t mean it is perfect in reality.

I appreciated how Roommates made me take a step back and rethink the way I view those Pinterest couples and even the people I compare myself to on Instagram, the ones you look like they have it all and “the perfect life”. 💛 I didn't agree with many of the decisions the characters made, but I didn't have to. The situations in this book were very real and those decisions are often made in reality.

The back and forth of who Sally would end up with felt repetitive at some points but the "why choose" trope just might not be it for me. If you like that trope, you would probably like Roommates! I also wish the conflict between some of the side characters didn’t feel so rushed but hopefully we will get a follow-up story that goes more in-depth into a topic that I feel is really important!

Roommates is now published so read it today! 🎉

*Please check trigger warnings*

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the advance reader copy of Roommates!

Roommates is a dual POV story about Caleb and Ariella. Caleb is a notorious playboy looking to rent out his extra bedroom. Ariella is a coworker who has decided to leaver her fiancé. After taking down the rental adverts for weeks, she finally works up the courage to leave and offers Caleb over what he's asking to move in immediately. As the two of them grow to like each other, both of them start to find their true selves - Caleb begins to give up bringing home different women every night and Ariella begins to take more risks. But as Ariella begins to let her ex, Jasper, back into her life Caleb begins to realize his feelings for Ariella. Who will Ariella choose?

I really enjoyed this story! I loved that there wasn't anything truly wrong with Jasper - Ariella just isn't sure he is the ONE. I spent the whole book going back and forth on who she would choose. That being said, the book isn't about her deciding which one she belongs with. It is about her realizing who she is as a person. The friendships in this book are great. Really, the nuances of all the relationships are very good.

There were a few things that I didn't love. The beginning of the book was almost overly vague and I struggled to get into it a bit at first but Tundun really caught her stride in the middle and I couldn't believe the writing was a debut novel. There were a few ideas that were started and dropped - Caleb had an idea for a new business but that is never fleshed out. There were some pretty significant triggers (and felonies) that happened and then were not really touched on again. My biggest fault is that the ending is abrupt. I know (now) that it is the first in a series but it felt like it just stopped in the middle of the story.

I give this one 3.5 stars but am rounding up to 4 since half stars aren't an option in NetGalley. I can't wait for the next one!

dnf at 39%

I really tried to finish this book but I could not stand the main characters. This got very repetitive.

Ariella was literally so annoying and I get it you broke off your engagement but that doesn’t mean she literally has to mention this is every chapter.

Ariella’s dependance on Jasper also was very weird. Like he had to be the one to allow her to do stuff. Like she did everything according to him. I do think that leaving a notes behind as saying we’re done is honestly disgusting.

Caleb was a bit better but I could not stand him saying that he wants nothing to do with Nicole and when she dresses so lovely he changes his mind. He’s sexist, judgemental.

This had too many swings for me and the ending was abrupt and not satisfying, it might be there is a follow up, but that would have been good to know. I had a hard time rooting for the two of them to end up together but honestly rooted for their real friendship

I absolutely loved this strangers to friends to lovers UK-based romance; the characters were really likeable and there were some interesting subplots too. The book is well-structured and at a good pace, and it's the perfect easy romance read if you're looking for something fun and cosy!

Ariella Mason is a reserved young woman who starts this book by breaking up with her fiancee, Jasper, via a Post-It note. She rents a room from her coworker Caleb Black, a man with a tragic childhood who has done well for himself and who has found meaningful friendships and meaningless sex as an adult. Ariella and Caleb start out as reluctant roommates, and move through friendship and beyond in their time together.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. At all. There is no real plot to speak of. It is a series of scenes with "friends" who treat each other terribly. Ariella supposedly has a close relationship with her family, but they don't try to support her when she and Jasper break up and instead continue to spend time with him and invite him to family events. Caleb and his friends talk about how controlling Jasper was to Ariella, and then immediately control her themselves, literally carrying her around the apartment as though she is a child. If I didn't know better, I would think Ariella was written by a man, she is so naive and timid, and has the whole "you don't know you're beautiful" thing going on.

I think this book really wants to be a story of a woman finding herself sexually and emotionally, and of a man learning that sex and emotional connection can be meaningful. It fell short in this regard. None of their changes made sense, and even when the characters mentally felt one thing they often acted completely opposite their feelings. The dialog rang completely false and the writing style felt stilted.

I also want to include a trigger warning here for sexual assault. At one point Caleb is spending time with a woman who has some control over his career, and with whom he has had a sexual relationship in the past. He tells her that he does not want to have sex with her, but she essentially forces him to, because he is worried that if he refuses he will lose clients and money. This just... happens. There is no real examination of the situation or its impact on Caleb, the author really doesn't make a statement about it, it's just another vignette in this strange, meandering story.

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own. You may enjoy this book if you don't mind a book with minimal plot and if you like reading unlikeable characters. The (consensual) sex scenes are pretty good, even if they felt out of place. I know there are readers who loved this book, which I'm so glad of because I love it that author Ola Tundun achieved her dream of publishing a novel.

Im not going to lied, and I will admit that I choose this book because his cover. I though that this was going to be an amazing romcom with the enemies-to friends-to lover trope, and I was loving already without even started, but what a surprise I got once I started to read it.

In this story we have Ariella Mason, whoa has the perfect life. A gre3at fiancé, a great job and a amazing family, but for some reason she doesn't not feel happy with all that, and in order to make some change in er life, she move in with her co-worker Caleb Black, who is the typical playboy who gives a damn about everything.

The relationship that is build between Ariella and Caleb is one of the most honest and amazing things that I have read this year. I love how Ola gives us so honest and human characters. I love how Ariella and Caleb try to discover themselves and how any of the characters ink this book as a dark side and a white side. Everything here is grey and I loved that.

I can't believe this is Ola's debut novel because is so good written, and the story is so amazing. Please, do yourself a favor and buy this book, you will not regret it..

In addition, I just want to say that this is my first 5start review since I get here in Netgallery.


Thank you to Netgalley and Storm Publishing for a gifted ARC of this book- my review is voluntary and my honest opinion.

I didn't expect to relate to relate to Ariella back story the way I did. She gives the perspective of a woman who is looking for a change from her normal everyday life. Being sheltered majority of her life it was enlightening to see her take charge the way she did. I loved the ability to go back and forth between the characters present day and how it relates to their backstory. Nick felt like your classic grumpy sunshine which I didn't mind and I was rooting for him the entire time.

I truly don’t even know how to write a review about this book. I hope in the published version there are trigger warnings, because the last 15% of the book was a dumpster fire. I feel physically sick. Caleb getting r*ped????? Aari sleeping with Jasper and then having zero explanation for Caleb?? This was the most toxic relationship and was such an emotional rollercoaster— I feel as if I have whiplash. I would’ve like to have known it wasn’t just a stand-alone romance ahead of time. Almost everyone in this book is so unhinged and awful. There are also moments of domestic abuse in this book as well from side characters ?? The cover drew me to this book but my god.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thankyou publisher's and NetGallery for allowing me to read and review this book.

The cover to this book immediately caught my eye on NetGallery which is why I immediately requested it, and I am so glad I did.

I found this book so easy to read, and I found it more emotional than I thought it would be. However it was a really enjoyable read and definitely one I'll be recommending to others.

Never read any books by this author before but this was an enjoyable. I found it a bit slow to start with but as I progressed, it grew on me.

First I'd like to thank Netgalley and Storm publishing for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. This story is about Ariella who finds herself in a complacent relationship with her childhood best friend Jasper. Ariella eventually leaves Jasper and rents a room with Caleb (a man she works with) and eventually they develop feelings towards one another. When reading romance I like to feel and understand the FMC attraction to the MMC, however in this book I at least could not relate to Jasper and Arielles' relationship. Nothing about him helped me to understand how she got to the point of being in love or why it was hard to leave him other than for the fact that they had known each other for a long time and had once been best friends. Arielle and Calebs' story was cute and emotional. The build up was kind of long for my liking but it was overall a good read.

This wasn't for me. Toxic relationships and dependency don't do it for me. Sorry.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 stars rounded to 4

I liked the premise but I don't think the writing style was for me. I know this is knit-picky, but the text lacked the oxford comma in many places, making sentences seem clunky. The dialogue was also not quoted correctly (at least in the standard way for fiction), and was hard to follow at times. I also felt like the relationship between FMC and her fiancé could have been fleshed out more into a slow burn to build out the story more in the beginning.

1.5 stars

I didn't like this at all.
I hated the toxic relationships Ariella has with virtually everyone around her.
I hated the poor, making decisions everyone in this book made.
But what I hated the most was Caleb. He's a sexist judgemental pig. Our first introduction with him, I wanted to punch him in the face. From then onwards, I just dislike him even less.
Overall, this was definitely not a book for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

So I do not normally gravitate towards novels like this, but the cover was brilliant and I managed to get accepted for ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am so glad that I read this novel and moved out of my crime/thriller genre books that I normally read. The author Ola Tundun wrote a very good book and I will be looking out for more of her work.

We meet complete opposition Ariella and Caleb, both super good characters to read about. Ariella. Ariella starts to rent Caleb's spare room, after her seemingly perfect life turns down hill. They sort of dislike each other but the more they talk they realise that they have a connection of sorts.

This novel is not the straightforward romance/comedy, there are some subjects in it that may be sensitive for people to read about.

I loved reading about the characters connections and looking forward to reading about them again.

Thanks to Ola Tundun, the publishers and Netgalley for allowing me a copy of this novel in exchange for my review.

3.75 Stars. Thanks to Netgalley and Storm Publishing for the ebook. I stayed up till 3 am to finish this and I #noregrets. I was here for Calebs man whore vibes and Ariella stuck up-ish vibes. These characters were so real that it was easy to get sucked in not stop reading till I was done. Even the friends were entertaining. I cant wait to see what comes next for Ariella and Caleb hopefully we dont have to wait that long.

Roommates by Ola Tundun is a sparkling romcom with a sweet emotional resonance. Ms. Tundun brings a fresh perspective to several romantic novel tropes, proximity, slow burn, friends to lovers, opposites attract and workplace romance. The story is told from the point of view of both characters, so we are given insight into the unfolding narrative from both sides. Looking from the outside, Ariella Mason should feel like she is on the top of the world; she is wealthy, beautiful, has an awesome, rewarding job, and has a long-term fiancé who adores her. Unfortunately, Ariella’s life is TOO perfect and controlled; she feels like she is slowly smothering. When she sees that coworker Caleb Black has a room for rent, she hastily obtains the space. Caleb is the office lothario but proves to be both sensitive and supportive. Soon Ariella and Caleb have intertwined their lives and depended on each other. Their connection is complicated by Ariella's ex and Caleb's messy love life. Caleb and Ariella had areas of brokenness but with eventual understanding, love, and support they were able to forge a fledgling relationship. Ms, Tundun tells her story in a leisurely fashion and sets up the upcoming sequel nicely, I absolutely enjoyed this quirky, cute story!

I LOVED Roommates by Ola Tundun. I was stressed as hell while reading it, but in a juicy kind of feels bad but feels reeaaalllyyy goooood kind of way, I want to call it a guilty pleasure, but I don't even feel guilty about it.

The book follows Ariella and Caleb, two very different people who start living together in London. The thing I love so much about the book is that it's not afraid to have them make fun of each other's differences and antagonise each other, but never lets it cross a line into giving the impression that the characters don't have respect for each other. It's not antagonising for antagonising sake, but rather the natural result of two very different people with difference backgrounds, philosophies and general life priorities, spending a lot of time together.

The book is more character focused than plot focused, which I love because it means every single person you meet feels like they have fully realised and rich lives, and are not just place holders to push the plot along, That being said, there is still more than enough plot to keep the momementum going, and the story moving forward. I know its quite long, but I never felt there were any filler chapters. Sometimes you read about the same moment twice, but thats because its coming from the other characters POV.

Special shout to out to Mel, I know she *SPOILER ALERT NOT GOING TO SAY WHAT SHE DID BUT IT WAS NOT A GOOD MOVE*, but I thought she was a bad*ss and I was really enjoying every time we got to meet her character *UNTIL SHE DID THE THING I AM NOT GOING TO SAY*.

I read a few of the reviews already so I feel the need to say that some people really did not like the cliffhanger and thats fair enough. Personally I didn't mind it, and am really looking forward to the next book.

Well done Ola Tundun, this is an amazing debut and I cant wait for more!