A very cute (and steamy) odd couple romance featuring a straitlaced society girl who finds herself rooming with a porn star. The chemistry between the couple was hot and their conversations were funny. I did wish for a little more character development and more integrated conflict, but I think this debut author is one to watch! Definitely recommended for those who like more explicit romance!

This was fast-paced, fun, light, and sex-positive (and sex-work-positive!). Clara moves to LA, hoping to spend the summer with Everett, whom she has believed she'll marry since she was a teen. Instead, she lands in LA and finds out that Everett is going to be on tour with his band all summer, leaving her with a roommate he just found on Craigslist named Josh. Clara becomes more attracted to Josh the more time they spend together, and the attraction intensifies when she finds out he's a well-known performer in the porn industry. Over the summer, Josh helps Clara move past her fear of driving and her infatuation with Everett, and Clara finds a new passion project after just finishing her doctorate.

The story of this is cute, and the chemistry between Josh and Clara is BANANAS. My only complaint is that it felt like there was an unnecessary amount of plot happening: Clara's relationship with her parents, her "love" for Everett, her new relationship with her aunt, her new job, her new project with Josh, Josh's desire to break his contract, the nefarious Black Hat, Inc., Josh's relationship with Naomi, and the list goes on. It seemed to me that a lot of the plot points felt unnecessary and stayed surface-level throughout the book, so they really didn't add much.

Uptight girl from elite family gets involved with her porn star roommate? It's definitely a provocative premise that suggests plenty of steamy scenes. And it delivers on those, but The Roommate also has a lot to say about the importance of prioritizing female pleasure in sex, the need to protect sex workers including those in the adult entertainment industry, and the possibility of creating adult films that don't degrade women and (as before) prioritize female pleasure.

It's an interesting and thought-provoking book that also offers a decent contemporary romance with some good moments of banter, several steamy scenes, and pretty great grand gestures from both the hero and the heroine. However, the heroine is pretty irritating at the beginning, and then gets better but is still pretty bland. And she doesn't act like a woman pushing thirty, she reads more like someone several years younger. Also, if you don't like the trope of people not communicating to create conflict, this does a lot of it. I know this is pretty typical, but I still found it to be annoying. I could see this being a polarizing book where some people love it and others hate it, but I like the project of it and think it's a solid way to debut.

Clara has left everything and moved to LA to pursue her childhood crush. Only to find he's leaving on a music tour and leaving her with a roommate from Craigslist. One who turns out to be a well-known adult performer who cares about prioritizing female pleasure and refuses to do more hardcore films. Eventually sparks fly and they even collaborate on a more explicit version of sex ed videos for adults. I could see this one making waves and could create some interesting discourse. Also note that once the romance between the two begins, the hero does NOT have sex with anyone else. There are plot reasons why he's not performing in films. I was nervous how that would be navigated, but do be aware both of them are involved in producing the aforementioned explicit content. I imagine readers will have mixed feelings on it. I received an advance copy of this book for review via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

This is a super sexy romance for fans of sex empowered stories!

Roommate tropes are always a fun read for me and this takes it to a new level! It was super steamy but also talks about important aspects like the porn and sex work industry.

Clara and Josh were both great characters and I felt like they worked well together.

Overall, I think this is a fun, sexy read and highly recommend! This is a wonderful debut from Rosie Danan!

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Wow. The Roommate is quite the spicy, sexy read! I definitely felt the need for a water mister while reading some of those smoldering scenes. Did I expect it to be steamy? Absolutely but I was still taken by surprise.

For a debut novel, The Roommate is absolutely fantastic. I see a long career for Rosie Danan. Long time romance readers who want all the steam will definitely enjoy this novel.

Clara, a naive rich girl, moves cross country to live with best friend of whom she has unrequited feelings for only to have that so called friend leave her with an entirely new roommate. Enter Josh...a young porn star who loves what he does but also has a soft and insecure side. The attraction between the two is immediate. However, this love story is a slow burn as the two both feel they are not right for each other and do their best to stay away. The Roommate has it all. It's sexy, slow burning, force proximity, roommate and opposite attracts. wrapped into 330+ pages of steam.

My only dislike is that some of the dialogue made me cringe because it felt forced. For example, Josh and Clara are in a pivotal scene that I am all about. I am totally into it. It is this awesome will they/won't they moment...until Josh makes some crude comment that totally takes me out of the scene. It drove me a little crazy to be honest.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one and cannot wait for more!

I don't know who originally referred to this as a raunch com, but it is absolutely accurate. I loved the set up, the different reasons the main characters had for thinking the other might like them back were solid, the sex scenes were top notch. Now I am going to make my roommates watch Speed with me.

The Roommate is a delightfully sex positive romance. Clara, the heroine, is taking a summer away at her childhood friend’s place in LA. Said childhood friend promptly bails to go on tour, so Clara suddenly has no friends in LA and no chance at seeing how her crush on him could work out over the summer. Before he leaves, he sublets his room to Josh, who’s cute, laidback and friendly. And, as it turns out, an adult film star.
What begins as roommates navigating each others’ foibles (Clara and her laminated lists!) becomes something else when Clara finds out what Josh does for a living and he subsequently walks in on her watching some of his work. He offers to give him an orgasm and then it gets awkward for both of them when it means more than they expected.
They wind up teaming up with Josh’s ex and coworker, Naomi, to create instructional-type films that focus on women’s pleasure, a gap in the market. I noted in the acknowledgements that the author thanks a sensitivity reader who works/worked in the industry and really appreciate this because it’s treated professionally in the book.
The romance really worked well for me because Josh realizes he’s falling hard and feels kinda helpless about it. I love a hero who’s really into the heroine. Clara is falling too and has her own confidence issues (plus, this was just supposed to be a summer away) and family expectations to deal with.
The banter between the two is great. I loved all the movie discussions. Sometimes it’s used to avoid having a serious convo but it also helps them build their bond, and helps Clara as Josh teaches her to drive around LA.
The Roommate is a really interesting look at how both of them are perceived by others and how much they’ve allowed it to shape them until now. Now they’re questioning that and what they could be for their own sakes, and possibly what they could build together if they can hope for that. It’s a fantastic contemporary that I expect to see on many best of Romance lists for 2020.

This book completely took me by surprise! I was expecting a cute romcom, which the book definitely is, but it's also so much more!

Rosie Danan's debut novel is funny, sexy, and light-hearted but also a powerful statement on how sex work is real work.

This book has some serious steaminess! This is NOT a closed-door romance, so be prepared for some super sexy scenes. If you're purposely looking for a steamy romance, absolutely pick this book up!! It will not disappoint!

I don't want to give away too many spoilers, so I'll just say that Danan expertly weaves the struggles of the entertainment industry and the stigma of adult performers throughout this very fun romance. It's a topic that I have never read about in a romance book and I absolutely love that Danan goes there, breaking stigmas herself.

The author writes in a lot of laughs as Clara explores her own sexuality and desire, and gets to know her roommate Josh on a whole new level. This book is seriously funny. There were great supporting characters and the ending wrapped up a few different threads, answering lingering questions and doubts both Clara and Josh had.

This is one of my favorite reads this month and I highly recommend it!

A refreshing topic for a romance novel!

Blueblood socialite, Clara Wheaton runs away from a highly well-planned life under her family's thumb, when her childhood friend/lifelong crush, Everett, invites out to L.A. Instead of the connection she's always longed for, he promptly runs off to tour with his garage band. In his place is temporary roommate, Josh. It takes Clara's black sheep aunt, also in L.A., to recognize Josh is Josh Darling, Adult Performer Extraordinaire. Thus begins an interesting relationship where Josh shows Clara what she's been missing out on, and, realizing other women have no doubt been missing out on a great sex life, uses some of her trust fund to create a joint sex-positive endeavor with him. This endeavor can also get Josh and lot of other adult performers out from under a seedy corporation's thumb. But Black Hat is an industry giant that doesn't take no for an answer, and it doesn't help Josh and Clara's existing struggles of how they see themselves, and each other.

It looks like Danan researched the industry well, whether through what's already out there in the media (books, interviews, documentaries), or through people she might've met first hand. And it's interesting to see a character, who enacts one of the most intimate ways to fall in love as a profession, to really and truly fall in love.

Great chemistry, and I love a good roommate trope! The story was new and special, but the writing wasn't great for me.

I absolutely loved the premise of this story. It was something that was new to me and coupled with that gloriously bright pink cover, there was no way I was missing out on this one.

I love love loved Clara and Josh. She's sweet and somewhat unassuming. He's charming and somewhat lost. Together they have banter and chemistry for days and it was delightful reading them figure out what they wanted from life as well as navigate a sort-of relationship. Oh, and I'm 1000% here for a Naomi spin off or novella or deleted scene or anything. That woman could rule the world and I would be on board.

Plot wise, it was great. I loved all of the sex positivity and the quest to make sex and pleasure "shameless". The relationship progressed organically and I appreciated how open the communication was. Of course the angsty times were expected, but didn't last long and I'm not sure I've ever read a better grand gesture.

Overall, I loved these characters from the first page and was rooting for them just as soon. I know this will be a story that I read again because it's just that damn fantastic.

**Huge thanks to Berkley for providing the arc free of charge**

Why I requested this: Once upon a time, I saw this pitched as a romance about taking down a porn empire and honestly, I was interested. I had to know. When I had the chance to read it early, I had to know. The fact I didn’t read it the second I could, mind-blowing.

Pros:
The chemistry between the characters was on-point both romantically and sexually.
Discussion of the porn industry. Rosie Danan goes there. She lays it all out there and by the end of it you’ll find yourself wanting to go out and fix the industry.
I suppose I can easily acknowledge that I am indeed a fan of a roommates-to-lovers trope and this one does it right.

Cons:
There is a bit of unresolved conflict that felt like it was going to be resolved to me.

Overall: Thought-provoking and exactly the kind of fun you would want form a roommate story.

‘If the world were fair, Josh would have been able to get into a ring and fight for what he wanted. If the world were fair, he would have a chance.’

As far as debut novels go, Rosie Danan’s, The Roommate delivered with some flirty, sweet, sexy and fun banter in a story about how opposites attract. Plus, there’s some swoony moments and a bit of unrequited love thrown into the mix! Not to mention the gorgeous witty Josh.

‘Wanting him, she could handle. But anything deeper…anything more with Josh was impossible. Unacceptable.’

You couldn’t get more opposite than the pearl-clutching somewhat naïve Clara Wheaton and the uninhibited and outgoing Joshua Conners, and yet, somehow, they worked! We loved the banter and revelled in seeing Clara, who had no life experience outside of her academia world, flounder and flourish in her new surroundings.

‘He’d give Clara everything he had, even if it killed him.’

At 27, Clara plucks up the courage to leave her home and well to do family, to stand on her own two feet and finally confront Everett Bloom, the man she’s held a torch for since childhood. Everett invites her to room with him in LA and it’s the perfect opportunity for Clara to kill two birds with one stone.

Only problem, Everett’s band has had its big break and he needs to head off, leaving Clara pretty much standing at the door to his house. Not only that, but he’s managed to find her a roommate off Craigslist. What could go wrong? Plenty if you know Clara!

Well, nothing much if you think blue blood and a porn star would have anything in common. That’s right, her new gorgeous flatmate is an unapologetic porn star who loves his work and refuses to be shamed over his chosen profession.

‘When she smiled or laughed, he felt powerful; and good. If something hurt her, he wanted to Hulk smash.’

The banter between Josh and Clara was as witty as hell. Josh especially, with his forthrightness gave us quite the giggles, and as Josh succumbs to the quirky charms of Clara, the story becomes quite sweet and swoony with some sexy times to be had by all!

Josh stared up at her. “I can’t believe you said clitoris at full volume. I can’t tell if I’m afraid of you right now or turned on. Possibly both.”

Josh Conners and Clara Wheaton didn’t make sense on paper, but what if somehow, impossibly, two wrongs made a right? We revelled in finding out and whilst a lot of The Roommate worked for us, there were a couple of aspects that left us wanting. We didn’t really experience the conflict between Clara and her family – we were told, not shown, so that aspect fell a bit flat. Clara was sweet but she didn’t wow us. In fact, we really loved the dynamics between Josh and his ‘co-star’ Naomi. Her sarky biting humour more than matched Josh’s openness. Clara’s personality was a little bland in comparison, but she was a real sweetheart.

Now, in saying that, we did enjoy this story, the romance was sweet and sexy, and it’s a wonderful debut that has us excited for what’s to come from Rosie Danan. Oh and message to this author…we’d LOVE a book about Naomi!

3.5 fabulous banter stars!

‘If the world were fair, Josh would have been able to get into a ring and fight for what he wanted. If the world were fair, he would have a chance.’

As far as debut novels go, Rosie Danan’s, The Roommate delivered with some flirty, sweet, sexy and fun banter in a story about how opposites attract. Plus, there’s some swoony moments and a bit of unrequited love thrown into the mix! Not to mention the gorgeous witty Josh.

‘Wanting him, she could handle. But anything deeper…anything more with Josh was impossible. Unacceptable.’

You couldn’t get more opposite than the pearl-clutching somewhat naïve Clara Wheaton and the uninhibited and outgoing Joshua Conners, and yet, somehow, they worked! We loved the banter and revelled in seeing Clara, who had no life experience outside of her academia world, flounder and flourish in her new surroundings.

‘He’d give Clara everything he had, even if it killed him.’

At 27, Clara plucks up the courage to leave her home and well to do family, to stand on her own two feet and finally confront Everett Bloom, the man she’s held a torch for since childhood. Everett invites her to room with him in LA and it’s the perfect opportunity for Clara to kill two birds with one stone.

Only problem, Everett’s band has had its big break and he needs to head off, leaving Clara pretty much standing at the door to his house. Not only that, but he’s managed to find her a roommate off Craigslist. What could go wrong? Plenty if you know Clara!

Well, nothing much if you think blue blood and a porn star would have anything in common. That’s right, her new gorgeous flatmate is an unapologetic porn star who loves his work and refuses to be shamed over his chosen profession.

‘When she smiled or laughed, he felt powerful; and good. If something hurt her, he wanted to Hulk smash.’

The banter between Josh and Clara was as witty as hell. Josh especially, with his forthrightness gave us quite the giggles, and as Josh succumbs to the quirky charms of Clara, the story becomes quite sweet and swoony with some sexy times to be had by all!

Josh stared up at her. “I can’t believe you said clitoris at full volume. I can’t tell if I’m afraid of you right now or turned on. Possibly both.”

Josh Conners and Clara Wheaton didn’t make sense on paper, but what if somehow, impossibly, two wrongs made a right? We revelled in finding out and whilst a lot of The Roommate worked for us, there were a couple of aspects that left us wanting. We didn’t really experience the conflict between Clara and her family – we were told, not shown, so that aspect fell a bit flat. Clara was sweet but she didn’t wow us. In fact, we really loved the dynamics between Josh and his ‘co-star’ Naomi. Her sarky biting humour more than matched Josh’s openness. Clara’s personality was a little bland in comparison, but she was a real sweetheart.

Now, in saying that, we did enjoy this story, the romance was sweet and sexy, and it’s a wonderful debut that has us excited for what’s to come from Rosie Danan. Oh and message to this author…we’d LOVE a book about Naomi!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately, it just wasn't for me- I'm more of a rom com girl than an open door romance. Since I didn't finish it, I will not add a review on Goodreads. Thanks again for the opportunity!

I just read #TheRoommate by @rosiedanan and I can say confidently I've never blushed more reading a book in my life.

Steamy is a word that comes to mind, but with a ton of smarts and heart. It comes out this week. Run, don't walk for this one.

PS - I wish Shameless was real. Read the book and YOU'LL UNDERSTAND.

The Roommate 🎬

Shout out to my friends over at @berkleypub @berkleyromance #partner for the advanced e-copy of this absolute firecracker of a new romance!
When @nerdybooknurse recommended this book to me (and she knowssss my type book reading!) I knew I was gonna love it.

Talk about a unique romance!
This book, based around the adult film industry, WAS AWESOME!
For a Berkley romance, it was filledddd with steam 🔥🔥🔥
I loved the whitty banter between the two characters and the development of their relationship throughout.
Absolutely the perfect end to summer read!

Favorite Quote: “I always wanted to be an enigma”

The Roommate is without a doubt one of my top reads of 2020. It was completely unexpected in the absolute best way. The cover and blurb made me request this book and I was hooked from the very first chapter. I couldn't put it down - I read it in less than 24 hours!

Josh and Clara could not have been more different but they were perfect main characters. Clara was super relatable to me - she was a perfectionist who cared what others thought of her and didn't really know what she wanted out of her career and life. I adored Josh - he was unapologetically himself, but he still had some demons he was fighting. I loved that this book reduced stigma of the industry it was about (don't want to spoil anything!) and I honestly learned a ton.

If you are looking for a fun and steamy romcom, pick this one up as soon as you can! Thank you to Rosie and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I can't wait to read what Rosie writes next!

This might be my new favorite forced proximity romance! Holy cow was this one addicting, fun, and downright adorable! Don’t let the cutesy cover fool you. This book is super sexy, angsty from start to finish, and a refreshing take on opposites who attract! A book I want to reread and devour over and over again!

Blurb: Clara drops everything to pursue a romantic relationship with her longtime best friend Everett, but when she shows up in Los Angelas Everett leaves her behind with a roommate from Craigslist. Clara connects with her roommate Josh immediately. He’s charming, charismatic, and easy to get a long with, but most of all, his job makes it hard to avoid his sexiness.

Without giving too much away, I just want to say that Josh is by far one of my new favorite characters. I love how a huge part of this book was about his occupation, which helped bring about loads of sexual tension. He’s attentive, kind, and he knows his way around a woman’s body.

The chemistry between these two is off the charts and I love how the author showed sexual degradation from a males perspective. Clara and Josh give us an inside view of what it’s like to struggle with identity from two polar opposite situations. This is just all around a fantastic, endearing, and sizzling book that made me smile.

One of my favorite romance troupes is forced proximity. I love the uncomfortable and awkward situations couples get themselves into when they are forced to share a space. So when I read the description for The Roommate and saw it was an unexpected roommate situation I knew I was in for a good journey. Unexpected roommate is like top tier forced proximity and I am always 100% here for it. And I can happily report that The Roommate 100% didn’t let me down. It checked all the great troupe marks and then some.

The Roommate starts with Clara Wheaton, an east coast socialite, moving across the country to live with her childhood crush. But when she arrives she finds out that he isn’t going to be there this summer and has instead rented his room to Josh. Now Clara finds her herself living with a stranger in a place she has never been. The thing is, she finds herself liking Josh the more she gets to know him. But as her and Josh get closer Clara fears she might be heading towards something she has stayed away from her whole life…a scandal.

First and foremost Josh and Clara had super hot chemistry. It jumped off the page in whatever scene they were in. Even if it was just a conversation I could feel they need between them. Second I love that Josh was never ashamed of his profession and either was Naomi. They owned what they did for a living and didn’t care what people thought. I also liked Clara reaction to finding out Josh’s profession. As a reader I originally thought she would be completely horrified, but she really took it in stride and wasn’t stuck up about it at all. I think that is what endeared me to both the characters and the book.

In the end The Roommate was exactly what I wanted it to me. It was fun and sweet and sexy. Clara and Josh were the perfect unexpected roommates and I couldn’t do anything else but fall in love with them. Definitely one you should have on your TBR. Don’t miss this sexy romance.