I first heard about this book on a podcast and was instantly intrigued. A wealthy young woman takes a risk to move across the country for the man their families want her to marry, only to have him leave on tour and have a new male roommate in his place. The forced proximity romance troupe plays out but what makes this book stand out is its feminist approach to sex. The two main characters pair up to produce educational videos for women about how to make sex better for them. It is a very sex positive book and focuses on the women's perspective which is a change from many realistic romance books. The romance was plenty swoony and the cast of characters varied and compelling which made for an enjoyable read.

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”

This book, OMG, Rosie Danan did an amazing job.
Clara decides to move from Connecticut to LA to live with his best friend from high school and long time crush, but when she gets there, she discovers he is going on a tour with his band for the whole summer, and in his place, she is stocked with Josh, an annoying but extremely handsome guy. They couldn’t be mor different even if they wanted to, she is careful, lives by the rules and doesn’t take any risk, because she doesn’t want to disappoint her (very wealthy and perfect on the outside) family, and Josh is careless, risk taker and everything that makes Clara lose her mind. As they get to know each other and discover how to live together, thoughts and feelings will appear, and man, they are reeeeeeally interesting.
This book is funny, steamy, and lovely, all 3 at the same time. Forced proximity, opposites attract, good girl bad boy? I am totally, 100% in.
Clara and Josh’s characters were very well developed, Rosie gives us a lot of information to help us understand why they are like they are with themselves and with each other.
The other characters in the story were pretty important also, they weren’t extras, they added that something special to the story.
This book not only talks about how Josh and Clara’s relationship changes, but also talks about how their relationship with themselves changes, how they start seeing things from a different point of view and how they grow throughout the story.
The best part about this book is how Rosie was able to talk about sex and pleasure in an easy way, not demonizing it, and talking freely but also carefully.

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.

I loved the message behind The Roommate. Normalizing female pleasure and promoting sex-positivity; I'm in. Throw in a forced proximity relationship and that made it even better!

Clara at the beginning I thought she was rather stupid for moving cross country to try to get with Emmett who then ditches her. I loved that she was stuck with Josh Conners aka Josh Darling and how much she learns about herself from being roommates with him.

My only complaint is that I felt that this book needed more. This story has a lot to unpack and it might have needed some more pages to do that.

Socialite, good girl and PhD Clara decides to drop everything and move from Connecticut to LA to chase her longtime crush. On day 1, he is suddenly leaving town and she finds herself with a new craigslist roommate (who just happens to be a hot male porn star). “A celebration of sex and pleasure that didn’t make any apologies.”

Almost every one of my romance reading friends told me I would love this book - and they were right! This was a great forced proximity, opposites attract, steam filled story!! Josh was attentive, sweet and always worried about Clara’s needs (...all of them). Clara was a great character - spoiled upbringing, but educated and doing her best to make positive changes in her life.
I was prepared for steam going in, but what I didn’t expect from this book was for it to be so very sex positive. Danan gives an open and different take on intimacy, pleasure and learning about your own sexual needs all while incorporating a great love story. It was unexpected, unapologetic and a fresh take on romance!
My only critique was that I wish it had been written in first person so I could feel those emotions even more, but that is totally personal preference.

Thank you to @berkleyromance and @netgalley for the ebook in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for letting me read the ARC of The Roommate by Rosie Danan. An honest review was requested but not required.

I wasn’t sure what to think about this book. The premise sounded interesting, but contemporaries aren’t my absolute favorite of the romance genre (too hard to be sucked in to another world when that world has all the annoyances of MY world, ha ha) and the cover looked VERY “chick lit” in a way that made me pause. Luckily it was an eBook, so my husband couldn’t see it and give me grief. Not that I CARE about getting grief from him, it’s just another annoyan- OK, I’m getting off track here.

So I was pleasantly surprised by Clara from the get-go. I wasn’t really into the “Wheaton curse” but the idea of doing (fairly stupid) things for unrequited love really resonated with me. That was my entire high school experience, frankly. WTH was I thinking, LOL. I can also really identify with the idea of having to live up to family expectations.

I also really liked Josh. It made total sense that he would be electrically charming. I’m glad that they got to enjoy being roommates and seeing the less appealing side of each other as it made the attraction feel more genuine. The, uh, initial encounter felt a little “set up” but frankly, it reminded me of an adult film (you know, with the preposterous “meet cute” encounters that segue directly into explicit sex 0_o) which was both ironic considering the book’s plot, and perfect.

At first I wasn’t sure about Clara’s business proposal – could someone as starchy and repressed and neurotic as she was really be a business partner (and funding source) for an XXX-rated enterprise? It seemed like a big personality swing. But on the other hand I really appreciated the sex-positivity of the plot. Why SHOULDN’T Clara expand her horizons? That’s why her denial of Josh at the movies hit me so hard. I felt she owed more of an apology to him than what he got. She was all about making women feel less marginalized and more positive about sex, but I never felt she truly made the leap to seeing Josh with the same eyes. I would have preferred for her to reconcile her feelings and her attitude towards Josh in combination with her family issues on-page. *That’s* the part that I was really waiting for and it never really materialized in the book. If it had, this would be an easy five-star for me.

There is a lot to like though: the friendship between Clara and Josh was excellent and I personally think their chemistry – especially from Josh’s side – is supernova-hot. I loved that Clara got Josh into vegetables. I loved that Josh taught Clara to drive. They were really good for each other in- and outside of the bedroom. And frankly, I LOVED Naomi. I would like to see the author write a book for her and whatever lucky lady or gentleman catches her eye for good.

Would happily recommend this book to anyone looking for a steamy, and I do mean STEAMY, contemporary romance.

I so love the message behind The Roommate. Normalizing female pleasure and promoting sex-positivity? I'm in. Throw in a forced proximity relationship and I'm ALL in.

The Roommate follows uptight, east coast socialite, Clara Wheaton, as she becomes unlikely roommates with Josh Conners aka Josh Darling, a porn star who oozes more sexuality than Clara knows what to do with. Clara moves across the country from richy-rich Greenwich, CT to LA to finally profess her love to her childhood best friend, Emmett...only to find out he's sublet his room for the summer to Josh. So instead of pulling out the childhood photos and reminiscing herself into the romance she's been desperate for, Clara is living with a stranger who's had more sexual encounters in a week than Clara has had in her whole life. And she can't stop staring at his crotch...

Their relationship has a complete opposites attract vibe, and it was fun to read about Clara and Josh opening up to each other and realizing they might be made for each other when both think that shouldn't be possible. Clara surprises Josh with her open-mindedness and Josh surprises Clara with his emotional depth and empathy. Both characters grow immensely throughout the story.

My only complaint about this book is that it failed to hold my attention at times. This is a book that I could easily cruise through in a day, but it took me longer because I kept getting pulled out of the story by one thing or another. I think Clara's familial reputation was a silly plot point - you don't have to have a rich family to have them be hesitant for you to date a porn star, unfortunately. Also, I'm from CT and never seen a "society page"...Granted, I've never done more than drive through Greenwich, but so much of Clara's inner conflict revolves around her uptight family, yet we don't encounter them before the epilogue. There would have been enough conflict without this worry being one of them. The conflict within the book is wrapped up pretty quickly after a couple of declarations of love, but I would love to read more about Shameless and how it takes down the porn industry, rather than having all the loose ends tied up in a short epilogue. This story has a lot to unpack and it might have needed some more pages to do that.

On a petty point, I really think the book should have been titled Shameless and not The Roommate - it feels like a generic title that emphasizes one minor point of the book. Shameless would have encompassed everything this book revolves around in a nice one-word package.

Despite some minor criticisms, I really enjoyed this book. I look forward to what Rosie Danan writes next.

Super enjoyable read. It was funny, sexy, and Josh and Clara had great chemistry. It felt fresh and modern while still following the familiar "opposites attract" trope. Recommended for romcom fans!

What can't be said about this book? It's romantic. It's sexy as hell. It's got a lead in command of her sexual agency. It's everything you're looking for in a saucy romance since the Kiss Quotient and more.

When Clara Wheaton finds herself the roommate with LA's, actually the world's hottest male adult film star Josh Darling, she's finds herself challenged inside and outside the bedroom. Her WASP family's been plagued with scandals for years, and she can't have yet another one added to their history. Josh's is at the top of the adult entertainment game but he can't get seem to get compensated for all his talents. The two strike up and kinship and start up their own business - one aimed at educating couples within the bedroom. Sparks fly.

I love love loved this book. Clara is relatable as heck, Josh is sexy and kind. Hell, even his ex adult film star Naomi is likable. Read it in one day as it was impossible to put down.

Thank you Net Galley, Rosie Danan and Berkley for allowing me to read this ARC. Going up in my top romances alongside Kiss Quotient and Crazy Stupid Bromance. If you want a steamy romance with heart this is it.

I was looking forward to this one. Especially after reading the blurb! It’s just wasn’t for me. It was a bit flat and took me some time to get used to the style of writing.

I have been excited about the Roommate for a while. A steamy rom-com um YES, PLEASE! So I had some pretty high expectations going in and they were most certainly met.
Clara could have been a super annoying character, she was an entitled woman who moves to LA for a guy. But she was completely loveable. The way she reacted to almost everything was unexpected and delightful. I thought she would zig and she totally zagged. Josh is everything he’s super charming and loveable and the perfect rom-com hero! And sexy oh so sexy. Together they were totally adorable and I loved that they brought about the best in one another. They totally built each other up and that’s how relationships should work.
This book was funny like I laughed out loud a couple of times. And it was steamy for a rom-com. I mean the hero is a porn star so…there is certainly going to be some steam. I enjoyed the story a lot, how both of these characters find a way to grow and gain confidence when they need it. Now there were a couple of times, as often happens when I wanted to slap these two!
This was a cute rom-com and I highly recommend it.