What happens when a vampire wakes up from a 100-year sleep? He needs help getting caught up with modern times so he advertises for a roommate with rent being only $200. Cassie is a down-on-her-luck artist and just can't pass up this opportunity on rent she might be able to afford. Cassie does find out that Frederick is a vampire, but the two learn to navigate all the ins and outs of living together and falling in love. Interesting premise. I did overall enjoy the book, but the ending felt rushed and didn't tie in with the book. I would give this 3 1/2 stars.

This was a very fun, cute book! A broke young woman answers an online ad for a $200 room in an apartment, and though she's suspicious, she can't pass up that kind of deal. Turns out her roommate...is a vampire! It's kind of campy, and there is very little stress or angst in this book. All around a fun time.

"My Roommate is a Vampire" by Jenna Levine is a fun rom-com about Cassie, a pre-successful artist, and Fredrick, an 18th-century vampire floundering in the modern world. Fredrick puts an ad on Craigslist (with the help of his hip-to-the-times vampire friend, Reginald) for a roommate, and cash-strapped Cassie replies. After a little bit of "Wow, my roommate's really old fashioned" Cassie finally finds out Fredrick's secret (as spoiled in the title) and romance follows, after she stops freaking out.
The book was great, I loved Cassie and Fredrick's interactions, and Reginald was a hoot. The peril in the book was pretty low-stakes (har de har), but wrapped up with an expected happy ending. I wish we could have had more of Fredrick's backstory and appearances by his mother, but it was quite enjoyable as is.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC.

This book was incredibly boring and lacked everything a good vampire book should have. I ended up skimming most of it and couldn't finish it. Good vampire books should have angst, danger, neck biting, blood drinking. Instead the vampire roommate only drinks from her finger. what? the spicy scenes were mediocre. I did not enjoy it at all.

Overall, an enjoyable and quirky read.

Much of the book was quite good. The setup of Cassie finding an apartment with an unbelievably low monthly rent, not really knowing what was going on but being willing to go for it due to her situation, and the notes back and forth between Cassie and Frederick. The story then goes into Cassie finding out that Frederick is a vampire and there is some excellent humor while she is teaching him how to blend in with the modern world.

The ending though, man, it needs some more work. Strong meh.

Still, the book was fun and has that fanfic happiness/cozy vibe.

3.5 stars, rounding down. (There is nothing in Chicago that is east of the Lake, hopefully this is fixed in the final book because it is really distracting while reading if you are familiar with the area.)

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cassie needs a cheap place to stay in the Chicago area, and finds a Craigslist ad for $200 a month to rent a room off a lakeshore townhome. It seems sketchy, but she's desperate. Her landlord and roommate is Frederick J. Fitzwilliam. He seems nice enough, but dresses and speaks like someone out of a Victorian novel. He's also good looking to boot! He sleeps all day and works at nice, so he should be a convenient roommate.

I don't think it's hard to see where this book will go. The campy title and cover match the book, so don't pick this up if you're looking for something serious! It's cute and fun. Cassie and Frederick each have unique personalities and lively (pun-intended) characters. The book is primarily told from Cassie's point of view, but I especially enjoyed how each chapter started with a letter or text message written from Frederick's point of view.

I enjoyed this for what it was aiming to be. I recommend if you're looking for a quick and quirky romance. Thank you to the publisher for providing a free eARC via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Okay, I really wasn't sure I was going to get into this. But the writing was so much fun and the concept reminded me a lot of What We Do in the Shadows, which is one of my favorite shows of all time. Definitely give this one a read. The library will be purchasing for the collection.

Ahhh!! I loved this so much! I can genuinely see this becoming widely popular because it is formulaic in the best ways.

Cassie and Freddie are such a good match and I found all of their interactions to be so entirely endearing. Helping Freddie become acclimated to the twenty-first century was so cute. Each of those moments made me smile. I had such a good time and was giggling/kicking my feet at all of the moments.

I found the ending (pre-epilogue) to be the weakest part, it seemed to come out of left field, but at least it wasn’t a third act breakup so I’ll take what I can get.

The spice was minimal, but when it had it, it was GOOD.

Overall, so so cute, I can’t wait to own a physical copy! 4.5 stars

This is a light, fun book that you have to go into expecting cheesiness, mild smut, one or two remarkable characters, and the knowledge that once you finish it you might laugh about how ridiculous it is with fellow bookish people, but after that you won't think about it ever again.

My Roommate is a Vampire
Publish Date: August 29, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a cute vampire romcom and I was all about diving into it. I actually loved the beginning and thought Cassie was a great character. Frederick fell short for me. And while I don’t mind silliness, there were some things that were so out there that it impacted my thoughts on the book. The ending felt rushed and also silly.
Overall, a cute read! I enjoyed the writing style, and the cover is great!🧛💜

Thank you to @netgalley @berkleypub and the author for an advanced copy. This is my honest review.

My Roommate is a Vampire is a PNR I've been dying to get my hands on!

Despite the story being told almost completely from Cassie’s POV, I didn't feel connected to either her or Fredrick, the MMC. Fredrick being thrown in a whole new century and having to adjust to his new life with Cassie's help was interesting. I think for me the actual romance and tension is where the story fell flat for me hence why it was difficult to invest in the characters connection between each other. The characters also read sometimes a little young in certain instances. The resolution and conflict in the third act wasn't fully drawn out. On the plus side, Fredrick written letters to Cassie were very sweet and the spicy scenes (although very few) was pretty good and even had a little blood involved 👀👀

Although this left me slightly underwhelmed and I don't see myself re-reading it, I think this is still cute and worth checking out if it interests you.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a sweet read! I enjoyed the dynamic between these two leads and always love a vampire romance. I think the pacing could have been a bit better to make the ending higher stakes, but all and all it was a really cute book and fun, fast read. Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC!

Here's the thing: Frederick is a rough name for a contemporary romance hero (even if he is an old-timey vampire). Here's the other thing: I absolutely got over it. I'm not much for vampire romances, but I love roommate romances, so I decided to give it a chance, and I'm really glad I did! This book is whimsical, funny, and swoony. It did drag a bit for me, but that's just because both the heroine and hero are so NICE. It's a great low-angst, curl-up-on-the-couch-to-read-cozy romance.

There’s so much to love about this book. It’s filled with a lot of heart, delicious chemistry, and a lot of campy silliness. I laughed out loud multiple times throughout this read. Adequate snark with a side of witty banter is exactly what I need when I look for a romance book, and hooo boy, did this deliver.

I really loved Cassie and felt like we got to know her very well throughout the story; I enjoyed her growth and down to earth sentimentality that I think is needed for living with someone like Frederick. Frederick, on the other hand, is a proper dapper vampire, but I do wish we had gotten to know him a bit more — maybe with a POV chapter of his own thrown in now and then to give the reader more background information to flesh out his character. That being said, I think the epistolary headers at the beginning of each chapter were a delightful way to integrate some of his thoughts and perspectives into the story.

The side characters were great; I really enjoyed Sam and Scott and how supportive they are of Cassie. Reginald is outlandishly ridiculous, and I hope we see more of him again soon. 👀

The premise of Frederick being 100 years out of the loop is hysterical, and I throughly enjoyed his exploits as Cassie (and I guess Reginald, lol) tried to help him adjust to life in the 21st century. Honestly, a whole Instagram could be made to document this process. At some point, Frederick will need to post his first food picture. It’s a right of passage, lol.

I feel like a lot of vampire stories have this excessive world building set up around them, and while MRIAV provided the reader with all the relevant background information needed about Frederick and his existence as a vampire, the world the author created didn’t NEED a hugely complicated world. (That being said, I wouldn’t say no to some more backstory.)

At its heart, it’s a love story, and that’s all that really matters.

Definitely read this book when it comes out August 29, 2023! 👩🏼‍🎨🧛🏼

This is a cute paranormal romance that is apparently based on Star Wars fanfic. Lots of campy silliness.

I requested this book because I read a review that said "If you like cheesy romance novels and Vampires this book is for you"
Uh, yes please. Our leading lady Cassie is a classic stereotype millennial who got an art degree and now needs 3 jobs to (barely) survive. One of the jobs is as a PT librarian clerk so that warmed my Librarian heart.
She's sees an ad for a roommate needed in Chicago for $200 a month. It seems to be too good to be true, albeit a little stuffy, Fredrick doesn't SEEM like a serial killer. He tells her that he will sleep all the day and works all night so they will rarely see each other. She must agree to do 2 things. Never go into his room, and NEVER open a certain closet. That seems ok it her.
Much of the beginning of the book the book is told through epistolary which i enjoy in small doses. Soon enough Fredricks secret is revealed and he tells Cassie the real reason he needed a roommate was he had been asleep for 100 years and needs to be caught up on modern life. She takes him shopping, and tries to teach him to use Instagram. Of course, "one thing leads to another" and she's waking up beside the Vampire.....
The story is fast paced and it made me LOL so many times (especially when I learned what was in the closet. I promise you will never guess) I was made for "cheesy romance novels" This one had a slow burn and some on the page action. Overall this book gave me enjoyment and distraction from life, which is all i really ask for in a book. 4/5 stars. #MyRoommateIsaVampire #NetGalley

The premise of the book was enticing but the story didn't deliver on the elements I was hoping for. At a few points some kind of action is promised (kidnapping) but ends with very little fanfare (a bluff that isn't called). I wanted this story to live up to the action it was setting up.

It threw me out of the story that throughout the heroine uses language that would have been unfamiliar to the hero (as he's been out of society for 100 years) and never adjusts to help his understanding. It is also noted that the vampire characters do not have accents as they've lived outside of England for 100's of years, but they use words like "Alas" in every day speech. These smaller inconsistencies paired with the larger issue of the flow and action feeling inconsistent left me wanting more.

Unfortunately DNF'ed the book. I gave it a median rating cause it feels unfair to rate a book lower when you didn't finish it

I didn't want to DNF but Cassie just got too annoying. She complains about every circumstance but barely takes ownership of creating these problems. Her artsy contrarian girl schtick got tiresome. A centuries old vampire not adapting to the changing times and surviving? Just another implausibility in this book. It's a shame because I was excited for this book. However, it was written in a very juvenile way.

I was willing to suspend disbelief that a Craigslist post wouldn’t get flagged for unrealistic rent, but I draw the line at professional respect.

Anyone who thinks part time work in the library means you have to work in the kids room when you don’t want to is bonkers. That’s a job people fight over. And if you think 3 hours of downtime every afternoon is normal, you’re not doing the job right. As a library lifer, I was aghast.

The third strike to me continuing to read this was the two first characters, both of whom were described as blond- one tousled, one curly. Ick. It sounds like the Bobsey twins.

I did not finish this one.

My Roommate Is a Vampire
by Jenna Levine
Pub Date: 29 Aug 2023
Berkley Publishing Group, Berkley
Romance | Sci Fi & Fantasy
Rating: 5/5

It's safe to say Jenna Levine knocked it out of the park with My Roommate is a Vampire. The story is unique, hilarious, and swoon-worthy.

The combination of Cassie, an attractive middle-aged artist struggling to get by, and Frederick, a handsome vampire, as roommates immediately captivated me. The situation is pure comic gold and still has me laughing.

Besides the humor, I was also impressed by the tenderness and romance between the characters. It is warm, delicious, and not to be missed. I found My Roommate is a Vampire to be a delightful read from start to finish. I devoured the book in one sitting.

Thank you NetGalley, and Berkley Publishing Group, for sharing this cozy romance with me. Upon its release, I plan to add a physical copy to my "most treasured books of 2023".