Fun banter and a great use of forced proximity! I really loved the sweet way this relationship developed.

“All of the fun, none of the heartache…as long as they stick to the agreement.”
The proposition is simple: if ER nurse Claire Harper and her roommate, firefighter Graham Scott, are still single by the time they’re forty, they’ll take the proverbial plunge together…as friends with benefits. Maybe it’s the wine, but at the moment, Claire figures the pact is a safe-enough deal, considering she hasn’t had much luck in love and he’s in no rush to settle down. Like, at all. Besides, there’s no way she could ever really fall for Graham and his thrill-seeking ways. Not after what happened to her father…

The Roommate Pact is a sweet romance that follows roommates Claire, a dedicated ER nurse and Graham, a fearless firefighter with a penchant for extreme adventure, as they navigate a ‘friends with benefits’ pact. When Graham sufferers an injury requiring medical care, Claire naturally steps into the role of caregiver. The care and close proximity accelerated their connection and confused the boundaries of their pact. Clearly attraction doesn’t seem to be the challenge for them, but their choice of adventure couldn’t be more opposite.

The email journal entries as a means of therapy were meaningful but, other than that, I didn’t find much depth in the story or the characters. Their character growth was mostly two young adults maturing a bit when they began to discover that the line between friendship and romance is blurred. Claire and Graham have things that hold them back from really opening up to someone and that taking risks is an essential part of living a fulfilling life.

The novel explores the delicate balance between maintaining their existing friendship and venturing into romantic territory as well as the healing power of close friends.

Readers of forced proximity and friends/roommates to lovers would enjoy this read.

"The Roommate Pact" by Allison Ashley is a super fun read! It's all about Claire, the ER nurse, and Graham, the fearless firefighter, who make this wild pact to be friends with benefits if they're single at forty. But, of course, things don't go exactly as planned. The book is a mix of hilarious moments, heartwarming stuff, and a bit of chaos. You'll totally fall for these characters and their crazy journey. It's like a rollercoaster of emotions and surprises that you won't want to get off. So, if you're up for a good time with a dash of romance, this book's got you covered!

The Roommate Pact by: Allison Ashley | 📅 Pub Day: OUT NOW!!!

The thing is, you give me a roommates to friends with benefits/lovers book I’m gonna happy eat it up and leave no crumbs!!!

I was seriously drawn in with the cover and stayed when I heard the synopsis of ER Nurse, Claire making a friends with benefits pact with her Fire Fighter roommate, Graham if they’re still both single by 40! As if that wasn’t enough, the plot thickens when Graham is hurt and coincidentally Claire and her nursing skills are there to help in the only way she knows how😇

✨friends to roommates to lovers✅
✨patient and caregiver ✅
✨opposites attract✅
✨one bed✅
✨close proximity ✅✅
✨friends with benefits pact ✅
✨a sassy canine companion ✅

The banter was beautiful and oh so funny. And it had the perfect amount of tension that kept me turning pages late into the night on numerous occasions!

Special thanks to netgalley and the publisher MIRA an imprint of Harlequin Trade Publishing for a eARC of the book in exchange for my honest opinion!



4.50⭐️

Landing back in Allison Ashley’s world is a true gift for her readers. After being pleasantly surprised by just how easily I was hooked on “Would You Rather” and devoured that marriage of convenience romance, I immediately went to add the next book to my TBR. I knew in my gut that the next book would be about the side characters that refused to stay in the background, and happily I was right. Graham and Claire are roommates who get along exceptionally well and have decided that if they’re still single at 40 they’ll marry each other.

A Marriage of Convenience
How many of us have thought about solidifying a marriage pact with one of our friends? The dating world can be cruel, and no one wants to think about facing the future alone. Having that back-up plan, especially with someone we know and like, would make facing that reality a little easier to swallow. Graham and Claire are friends and roommates who get along exceptionally well and have decided that if they’re still single at 40 they’ll marry each other. Claire thought they were kidding. Graham took that pact very seriously.

All The Feels
“That’s the thing about feelings. They don’t always need to be expressed. Some are just meant to be felt.”

Ashley succinctly describes one of the most important ideas that I take from novels through the quote above: some things are just mean to be felt. I won’t speak for you readers, but one of the hardest things I struggle with when reviewing a book (especially one that I LOVE LOVE LOVE) is that it’s so hard to put those feelings into intelligible words.

I wish, more often than not, that I could just shout out *vibes* and that would be enough for us all to swoon.

(Apparently that’s not how book reviewing works. Go Figure.)

Photo by Finde Zukunft on Unsplash
Allison Ashley sold me on Graham as soon as she compared him to James Marsden. That man is H-O-T-T hot. The character Graham is also pretty stellar. He’s an adventure junkie, a fireman, and a lover of fun. He might keep his emotions locked down tight, but he shows his feelings in other ways: ordering take out, playing wing man at the bar for Claire, and fixing things around the house without too much backtalk.

If You Play With Fire…
… you’re bound to get burned.

You can’t go around sleeping with your friends and expect to keep feelings and emotions out of it.

My favorite part of “The Roommate Pact” is when Graham learns to cope with his emotions after his accident. Claire off-handedly tells him that he should journal, or that he could write his thoughts down while keeping someone specific in mind who would read them. He takes that and runs with it, but rather than journaling, he sends Claire emails. I absolutely adored watching Graham evolve from a man who carries himself with carefree abandon to one who realizes he has something special and worth keeping.

“A ship is safe in the harbor, but that’s not what ships are made for.”

Allison Ashley turns the typical third act breakup/reconciliation on it’s head by making our leading lady the one having doubts and fears. Claire needs a swift kick to help her get over her fears. Thankfully, Mia, protagonist from “Would You Rather” and best friend, is there to talk some sense into her.

We Love a Grand Gesture.
We also love when that grand gesture has a unique spin.

Allison Ashley, I will read anything that you write from now on. I devoured ‘Would You Rather” and “The Roommate Pact” both in 24 hours and wish that I could re-read them again for the first time. I love love, I love how realistic your stories feel, and I can’t wait to see where your writing goes next.

I loved Allison Ashley's Would You Rather and I was hoping for a book for Noah and Mia's friends Graham and Claire. I knew their book would bring the romance, banter, and fun and The Roommate Pact did just that. Their chemistry was off the charts and I swooned throughout the book. I can't wait to read more from Ashley!

What a cute story! I really enjoyed the characters and their connection. Gertrude’s attitude was so terrier like, I loved it! The writing is very direct and reading it was very quick and easy. I wish we got more of Graham as a firefighter since we got a lot of Claire as a nurse. I also would have liked more good times between Claire and Graham before Graham moved out. Those 3rd act breakups, ugh! Their third roommate Reagan gives great advice! I’d love a friend like her.

This book was a bunch of romance book cliches in one - friends to lovers, roommates, nursing a friend back to health, etc. I liked how Graham opened up and grew in this book, but I never saw it for Claire. The ending was completely rushed and came out of nowhere. I also would have preferred more steam if it's going to be closed-door romance.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this ARC.

Alright now you know I can never sleep on an Allison Ashley book. I read Perfect Distraction and The Roommate Pact was an amazing second adventure into her writing prowess.

Man, this book was everything I had been hoping for since reading the summary and
*not so* patiently waiting. We've got roommates to lovers, forced proximity, ONE BED, and friends with benefits that fails dramatically. Add in my all time favorite care-taking and I'm hooked.

Nurse Claire and Firefighter Graham agree to enter into a friends with benefits situation while they're both single... Graham perpetually so. After an accident, the agreements gets put on hold and Nurse Claire offers to help nurse Graham back to health.

I think I binged this book in two days. Allison Ashley's writing is heartfelt and humorous. I love how well she writes the character growth, without them even noticing. The emails Graham sends to Claire's unused email address as a form of therapy had my heart.

I didn't mind the fade-to-black romance scenes, but I would've prefered a bit more steam before that point.

I highly recommend this book!!

Read if you like
-Medical setting
-Care taking
-Roommates to lovers
-Amazing witty banter
-Forced proximity


I received an advanced copy through Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! I loved Claire and Graham and how they came to see each other more clearly and learn how to be the best versions of themselves, individually and together. They were funny and silly and sexy and heartbreaking and wonderful.

From the go this was a fun read. I enjoyed seeing Graham open himself up and Claire learn that sometimes love is worth it. I do think that the third act breakup was a too much but I could also see where Claire was coming from. I think this was a hot and sweet love story.

Cute but the ending felt too forced for me. Very thing leading up to the ending was a fun and enjoyable read for the most part. As a beginning climber I enjoyed reading about Graham’s adventurous side. The ending just seemed selfish on Claire’s part. “Oh now I see, I might be in danger too!” Meh. We are all in danger daily. The perils of living.

This was a sweet, friends to lovers, no strings attached roommance between a firefighter and a nurse who make a pact to get married if they're both still single when he turns 40. Full of banter and sexual tension (but no actual on page sex). This was a cute, quick read with some cameos from characters we came to love in Would you rather. Good on audio but not my fav by this author if I'm completely honest. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Thanks to the publisher for the gifted copy.

UGhhhhhh I REALLY wanted to love this one. Roommates to lovers, forced proximity, FMC has to take care of MMC due to injury....all the makings of a book I'd love. I adored Graham, and how he grew so much throughout the book. His journal/letters to Claire were so self reflective and just cute. Claire was an ok FMC, but her enemies to friends arc with Graham's dog made me smile.

Except...It's fade to black. And that killed it for me. I need steam in my books, friends.

SO if you are a fade to black, closed door romance lover....you'll probably really like this one. Unfortunately, it wasn't my favorite.

3.5 stars, because I did like the plot and characters.

3.5 stars

My feelings are all over the map with this one. There are things I adored and I read this book quickly, yet I always felt as though something was missing.

It’s obvious that Graham is not only very physically attracted to Claire but also has feelings for her. This isn’t even on Claire’s radar as Graham is a very anti-relationship type of guy. Graham doesn’t even realize how deep his feelings go. The same can be said for Claire, although she has denied any feelings because she does want a traditional relationship and does NOT want it with anyone with a dangerous job. When Graham gets hurt (not on the job as a firefighter, but pursuing his love of rock climbing) all of their preconceived notions of what their relationship is go out the window.

One of the things I love about this story is a sort of journal Graham keeps. Through this journal, which he frames as messages to Claire, you see his growing realization of the feelings between them. Not that I didn’t get some of that chemistry when the two are on page together, but it’s these journal entries that set the butterflies free in my belly. This aspect of the story is wonderful and kept me engaged with the characters.

I think one of the things that didn’t work for me is how things happened with the inevitable blow-up of this budding relationship. Not so much the reasons it happened but what happens after. Until Claire and Graham reconcile, that space between, it just didn’t make sense to me. That being said, I did enjoy it when they finally made up.

One last thing, that did not affect my rating but was a surprise to me that I thought worth mentioning. This is a closed-door romance. Not a big deal, although it’s not my preference I’m fine with it for the most part. But I found the way it was closed door to be a bit odd. It didn’t read like a closed door until – BAM – the door was slammed in my face. It was almost like the author was going to go back and write the intimate scenes and forgot. The characters would be getting hot and heavy and suddenly it’s the next scene. It is just very abrupt every single time. I’ve never experienced that before, and this is a new-to-me author so I don’t know if that’s her usual style.

All in all this story was enjoyable. I will definitely give this author another try. It’s obvious that these are crossover characters from a previous book of hers so I may try that one someday.

This was a great book. The banter between these two was incredible just as the love/hate relationship between Claire and Gertrude. I loved the emails Graham wrote. For a closed door romance it is surprisingly steamy. This is the second book in a series. It can be read as a standalone but it's even better if you have read the first book.

Wowzer. For some reason I am extremely picky about friends to lovers and I don’t always pick them up, but this one was so so good! I absolutely loved the ER nurse turned NP (me!) + fireman roommates who were a bit opposites with the absolute BEST banter. Banter like this is what I love most in a romcom. There is no way you won’t smile at Claire and Graham ♥️ and you guys know I generally love open door steam, but this closed door was seriously perfection.

My only minor complaint was the third person POV, which is completely personal preference!

incredible, horny, romantic, hot, full of tension. I loved it from start to finish. Allison Ashley once again came with a banger(literally) go read this book!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, MIRA and Allison Ashley for this arc. All opinions are my own.

The Roommate Pact follows Claire Harper, an ER nurse, and her thrill-seeking firefighting roommate Graham Scott. They make a pact that if they are still single when they turn 40, they'll get together as friends with benefits. Just when things seem to heat up between them (shortly after making the pact), Graham has a serious rock climbing accident, and Claire has to nurse him back to health. The more time Graham and Claire spend together, the more they see that keeping their arrangement string-free might be difficult.

This was a really cute and steamy story! I wasn't sure how it was all going to pan out just from the blurb, but I was pleasantly surprised at the different events that happened, and I loved reading Graham's side of things as much as Claire's. There were quite a few times that I was smiling to myself at how sweet Graham was, or laughing at the banter, and that made the story even better!

Love, love, loveeee this book. super cute story. I love the dynamics here. i love the friends to lovers trope so much.