A good friends to lovers that made me love Rahul because I understood him. The way he loves her and is willing to just be her person while loving her in silence. Ugh!!! I appreciated Jasmine’s character and how different she was from most fmc’s although she frustrated me sometimes. Great spice!

I was very excited to have the opportunity to listen to this one since I've been meaning to read a book by Talia Hibbert for a while. What I didn't expect when I started listening was that it was in 3rd POV and that the characters were British. As someone who English isn't their first language, I found it a little difficult to get into this book. The accents had me slowing down my pace until I was able to get to a pace where I was able to understand. The 3rd POV certainly didn't help matters. I usually don't pick up 3rd POV books because I find it difficult for me to get into them. I usually do my research if I don't know the author but I was so excited to read a book by this author that I didn't look it up first.

The 3rd POV didn't help when it came to the spicy scenes. I don't mind a book with 3rd POV if there is no spice, but when it comes to spice I find it weird so for that reason it took me even more time to get done with this one. I also didn't find the story to be THAT complicated for the book to be this long. I found it straight to the point boy loves girl, girl wants boy to be his friend, he's stuck on the friendzone for years until something happens that brings them together. Which is another reason why I don't like the friends to lovers trope.

I'll still read other books by the author because I do have The Brown Sisters series on my TBR which came highly recommended.

Oh my I enjoyed this book. TH is quickly becoming a go to for me and when you dive in, you’ll understand why.
The narrator did a superb job in bringing the characters to life. I highly recommend if you love to laugh, like I do! A 3.5 star for me. ☺️

This book is a one night stand, to friends to lovers. The mmc spends the whole time pining for her too of course 👌.
The narrators were great but the male narrator was particularly great.
Very heavy on spice.

The narrators of this book did a fantastic job! I enjoyed the tropes in this one of friends to lovers and also them being roommates. Some of the more emotional aspects of this just didn’t impact me much and I never felt a strong connection to the characters.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

Thank you Dreamscape media and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to this audiobook.

Well first and foremost in this case I have to praise the voice actors! This may as well be one of the best recording I have ever listend to. The actress voice just blow my mind! Her voice gave me goosebumps, I loved it!
Let´s remember that Dreamscape also gave bith to my fav audiobook ever (10 things that never happened, read by Will watt) so I didn´t expect anything less from them. My standards are pretty high now.

Anyway, back to the book.
Talia Hibbert writes so well. Since the first chapter, when we met the cynic Jasmine I knew I was in for so much fun. And this is not a laugh out laud kind of fun (even though I did laugh out laud), it´s the clever kind of fun, the fun that sometimes makes you chuckle because you realise that it´s true, even though you don´t think about it. It´s the fun that makes you question things and wonder.
And yes, this book is a romance, it is spicy, but it is also the portrait of a generation.
A generation that needs to live to high standards, that is emotionally detached, that is scared but pretends not to be.

So yes. I loved the book. It had everything I wanted in it, and the recording was flawless.

Talia Hibbert's romance is republished as an audiobook and with a new look! When a household disaster leaves Jasmine homeless her best friend Rahul comes to the rescue. They're best friends, but Rahul is keeping a secret- his attraction to Jasmine is almost more than he can stand. This fun friends to lovers is guaranteed to delight on its way to an HEA.

This was a charming New Adult romance for any romantic reader. Throughout this novel, the narrators do a wonderful job portraying the friends-to-lovers trope. This heartbreakingly sweet story of Will They, Won't They, will keep readers on the edge of their seats!

2/5

I unfortunately didn't feel any connection to these characters at all. The story also felt so quick and underdeveloped. I am a fan of spice, but the spice in this book just felt awkward to me. Some of the descriptions just gave me secondhand embarrassment.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Talia Hibbert is probably my favorite romance author at the moment. Their books are exactly the right mix of funny, swoony, and steamy. The writing style is quirky without being cringe, a balance that is hard to find. Hibbert characters are dynamic and wonderfully diverse across the board.

The Roommate Risk boasts all of these aspects and was an immense joy to listen to. Narrators Rooke Kingston and Keval Sha brought the story to live with skill and panache.

This particular book felt longer than necessary. I think several of the steamer scenes could have been placed differently and/or combined for more of a punch.
However, my interest was maintained the entire book, so my complaints feels slightly grasping.

Jas and Rahul are the precisely right combination of lovable and flawed. The sweetness of their dynamic doesn’t overshadow their needs and desires to grow as people. Hibbert does an amazing job of providing the reader with all the heartwarming bits, while also choosing growth for her characters.

Plot - 3
Writing and Editing - 5
Character Development - 5
Narration - 5
Personal Bias - 4
Final Score - 4.4

Thank you Talia Hibbert, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for my advanced copy audioboook in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

This audiobook is on sale May 21st, 2024!

Jasmine is scared to get hurt; she doesn’t date long term and doesn’t think she’s worth that type of love. However, her best friend Raul sees all the good inside her and all the love she has to share. He made a choice years before that allows him to be as close as she will allow.
A freak accident has these two living together for the next month of so. This opens both their eyes to something new. I didn’t want to say much more as it will give the story away but this is a book worth reading!
The narrator did an amazing job of giving the characters life. You can hear and feel when they are in pain or happy.
*Thank you Dreamscape and Netgalley for sending me an ARC of The Roommate Risk! This plays no part in how I rated this book.*

~My Book Obsession Approved~

The roommate risk is filled with wonderfully detailed observations about feeling worthy of being loved. This book was extremely spicy and I enjoyed it. There were moments that felt predictable but overall it was a good story about two best friends falling in love.

This cover… THIS COVER! Is everything. Really appreciate the beauty and how well the main characters are captured in this story. That’s what drew me in to begin with. Give me an amazing cover with amazing art and I’m in.
This story was very beautiful. I loved how our characters imperfections and flaws were portrayed. And the character development.. made me appreciate them more. Our FMC could be a tad bit on the grating side, but I enjoyed her most of the time. And the MMC had something against cheese.. that was hard to forgive, but I loved him as well. (Might be spoiler) There is a third act conflict, but wasn’t too bad.
I did listen to the audiobook and I don’t know if that’s what hindered my experience. It was theatrical at times.. especially the spice scenes.

3.5 Stars
Rahul and his golden retriever energy were everything - Jasmine did not appreciate this man, even as a friend and it frustrated me so much (she did redeem herself with her growth though). The audiobook narrators spoke really slow (even at 1.25x speed) and there were a few flashback chapters which could get confusing to follow if you're not paying attention. I loved The Brown Sisters series by Talia Hibbert but this one I just found to be okay and pretty predictable (but it was super steamy lol).

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC!

i love this book, i never read anything by this author and it for sure won’t be the last! i really love the main characters and the storyline as well! it was such a cute read and i really enjoyed this book and hopefully i can read more books by this author in the future!

This story was good but had too many explicit sex scenes for my taste. What happens when you move in with the best friend you have always had feelings for? The narrator was very good.

Audiobook Review

Rahul and Jaz meet when she takes "his " seat at the library. From there, over the years their relationship grows to a deep friendship that had "occasional benefits". Rahul is head over heels in love with her but he understands that she is not ready for anything other than friendship and he "friendzones" himself. He'd rather have her as a friend than not have her in his life at all.
When a pipe bursts at Jaz's apartment and she has nowhere to go, she asks Rahul for help. He can't say no to her and he knows it will be torture, but yeah.... Forced proximity it is.
Told in dual point of view with time shifts going back and forth in time, we find out how they became friends and how they got to where they are now,
This is one of the earlier Talia books and people who have come to know her through her Brown Sisters books may find it a little different in style and tone. It's spicy, it's romantic and it's well written, though.

I enjoyed the story but I must confess that the audiobook was not a home run for me because, though the narrators are good, I felt they were miscast. Rooke Kingston,(please make sure you add their names to the cover of this re-release before release date - "Read by John Doe" is not respectful to their work) sounds much "older" than I would expect Jaz to sound and Keval Shah has a beautiful voice but he sounded "too sweet" when narrating as Jaz and Jaz is anything but sweet.

Great story for friends becoming lovers and Talia Hibbert can entertain you no matter what.

Thank you, Dreamscape and NetGalley for the ALC.

this is such a cute and spicy, friends to lovers roommance!! I really loved the characters, Jasmine and Rahul, as they finally give in to years of pining and feelings. Jasmine has such a sweet story arc as she realizes she is worthy and deserving of an all consuming, fully committed kind of love, and she can have that with her best friend. Rahul is the sweetest, most loving and patient friend, waiting years to finally be with the woman he’s loved for so long. I loved their connection, banter, patience and love for one another so much!
thank you for the alc :)

This was not my favorite romance from Talia Hibbert, but she admits it's a lot angstier than what she typically writes. I'm also a harder sell on this premise- long-time friends successfully transitioning to a relationship after a one night stand when they first met. By the end of the book I was a bit more on board, but I'm a little iffy on someone having feelings for years and hiding them. I get that she has trauma she needs to deal with, but it's not my favorite. This is on the steamier side, and I might have liked that more if I was sold on the two of them earlier on. That said, I think your mileage on this as a reader will really vary. It's still a pretty good book, and there is the forced proximity of being temporary roommates. There's a new audiobook and I liked the narration. I received an audio review copy from NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

I thought this book was pretty good but I had a really hard time with the audio. I ended up finding the e-book and read that and really enjoyed it! I romance did start pretty quick so I didn't feel as connected to the characters but the steam was GOOD!!