The Roommate Pact by Allison Ashley is a captivating novel where chemistry leaps off the pages. Fans of friends-to-lovers stories will undoubtedly find immense pleasure in this book.

This was an adorable read! I didn’t realize this was book 2 in a series, so I haven’t read "Would You Rather" (although I will be going back to read it now), but this worked so well as a standalone. The one extra thing I wish had been included is how Graham and Claire originally met and how long they’ve been friends.

Graham and Claire have an amazing dynamic in every stage of their relationship and I absolutely loved all of their interactions. It’s clear in the writing that they’re close friends who know each other really well and the development from friends to lovers happens so organically.

I especially loved Graham’s journey and how it played into their relationship. From being injured and losing his voice to trying out journaling, he has to face being vulnerable, and it was so delightful to see that side of him.

And Gertrude! Every romance is better with a pet, and having to win the affection of a tiny dog is absolutely hilarious.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

⚠️cw: trauma, grief, anxiety, chronic illness⚠️
ER nurse Claire Harper and her roommate, firefighter Graham Scott have a pact should they still be single when he turns forty. But rather than getting married, they'll be friends with benefits. It seems like a safe enough bet. But then Graham is injured while rock climbing and needs Claire's help. Suddenly, all bets are off.
I was immediately invested in the story, and loved both characters. Claire was funny, and I liked how sassy she was with Graham. Graham was hilarious and such a secret cinnamon roll (my favourite type). I enjoyed the development of both characters as the story progressed. Claire goes from being deeply traumatised by her past to learning to accept and live with it. Meanwhile, Graham starts the book afraid of commitment because of his own childhood. I particularly loved the journaling/epistolary aspect of this story, and I think it was in those moments that I most loved Graham. There was so much emotion in his words,and I really adored his personal journey. I also thought the way Gertrude was written as a barometer of their respective feelings was adorable. Speaking of adorable, I will definitely have to go back and read Noah and Mia's story because they were so cute together. If I have one observation (and it's not a criticism), it's that there was so much talk about Graham and Claire hooking up even from early on that I was expecting more spice. The chemistry between them was SO hot that I wasn't expecting it to just cut off so abruptly. I honestly felt like I was being edged, without any satisfying release 😂. But that's a me problem and it certainly didn't affect my overall rating or my enjoyment of the characters and their story. The romance was SO swoony. I always love a story when the commitment-phobic man falls first and turns out to be a big softy. This was my first book by Allison Ashley but it definitely won't be my last.
If you like sassy lead characters, secret cinnamon roll MMCs, plenty of banter, and a truly deep connection, this one's for you.

Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️.5
Heat Rating: 🔥.5
Emotional Rating: 😂🥰😉💓😲😍💔😢💓💓😂🥰😂😊😍😂💓🥰💔💓😢🥰😍😢💔💓😂🥰😍💓🥰🙈😂😍🥰💓😢💔🙄😲👏🏻💓🥰

*Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to leave an honest review. Saving The Roommate Pact is published on 1st August in the UK*

Favourite Quotes:

“They say love drives out fear. That it brings light into darkness. As long as I have a choice, I’ll choose love and light and hope the power of that choice, and the person that comes with it, does the rest.”

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

The BANTER. The HEART. It’s swoon-worthy, clever, hilarious, and heart-pounding all at once, making for a story that’s too easy to binge through. No matter how much you want to savor each page, you can’t stop turning to the next, needing more and more and more. Allison Ashley's The Roommate Pact is one of the best books of the year. I might never get over it. Full review: https://marvelousgeeksmedia.com/2023/08/01/the-roommate-pact-by-allison-ashley-review/

🥀The Roommate Pact Review📖✨

4/5 ⭐️

Quick and easy read, that can be read in a day! Sequel to Would You Rather. I enjoyed this one more than Would You Rather, but thought it was a little too fast paced. While there were mentions of grief throughout, it wasn’t as heartbreaking as the previous book. I LOVED the emails Graham wrote and really enjoyed this story. 🥹💗 You should definitely check this out if you want to read a steamy romance with a firefighter with fade to black romance scenes! 🔥Thank you for this ARC. ❤️

Summary:
Claire and Graham have a pact to get married when they turn 40. After Graham is in an accident, it seems the timeline will move up. Will they be able to keep things causal?

🥀Dual, 3rd person POV
🥀Friends with benefits
🥀Forced proximity
🥀Nurse🩺/Firefighter 🔥
🥀She takes care of him
🥀Healing

⚠️Grief, loss of parent, loss of friend

I was blessed enough to receive this arc from @netgalley , Harlequin and MIRA the thoughts and opinions of this review are my own.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️
This book is perfection. The characters individual growth and self actualization is so real. The unraveling of their own trauma and not only coming to terms with it but overcoming it, was beautiful. This was the perfect amount of heavy, heartwarming and humor that was so easy to read. Between the banter, the emails(swoon) and the dog, I could not put this book down. You are missing out if you don’t read this one!

I was so exciting for this one, because I was an ER nurse for years; but for me- this fell flat. I didn’t realize that it was the second book in a series which I think may have been the reason I didn’t love it. I don’t want to give spoilers giving exact examples, but I feel like the romance and spice happened too fast without really getting a backstory on the characters so you weren’t really invested In them. It was just ok to me.

THE ROOMMATE PACT by Allison Ashley is a delightful and fun roommates to lovers rom-com, contemporary romance. I fell right into the premise, banter, and romance from page one. This is easily read as a standalone romance even though it does have some carryover characters from book one, Would You Rather.

ER nurse Claire Harper is not interested in any man who is a risk-taker after the loss of her father, but with a hectic work schedule and no boyfriend, she makes a pact one night while at the local bar with her roommate that if both are still single at forty, they will marry each other. She really doesn’t believe it will happen because besides being a firefighter and a recreational rock climber, both very risky, he also has a small rescue dog, Dorothy, that hates her. But a weird chemistry is starting to build between them.

When firefighter Graham Scott is seriously injured in a rock-climbing fall, Claire rushes to his side and will do anything to help him heal including putting up with Dorothy. Can they move from roommates to friends with benefits, to something more?

I loved Claire and Graham both so much. They are both interesting characters on their own, but Ms. Ashley takes them on an emotional journey of growth that is both believable and heartfelt. Graham is so carefree, and you can feel shallow, but when opening up emotionally with his journaling, he pulled at every one of my heartstrings. I always love the addition of a dog to a story and Dorothy was great as she was on her own journey of acceptance. There is something very special about these two, not only their chemistry, but also their emotional journey to love.

I highly recommend this exceptional rom-com, contemporary romance!

4.5⭐
Genre ~ romantic comedy
Publication date ~ August 1, 2023
Page Count ~ 320
Audio length ~ 8 hours 14 minutes
Narrator ~ Ann Marie Gideon
POV ~ dual 3rd
Featuring ~ nurse, firefighter, forced proximity, one bed, friends with benefits, friends to lovers, roommates to lovers, he falls first, fade to black, no steamage

Claire & Graham have been friends for years and roommates for 1. Both still single in their 30's and agree to marry if they haven't found the one by 40. Claire is looking for love and Graham is not the relationship type when they step into a friends with benefits situation.

Graham is on my book boyfriend list. He's so sweet and lovable, and his devotion to his family and his dog, Gertrude, was adorable. He's used to being super active and always down for an adventure ~ camping, mountain biking and rock climbing are his favorites, so when he breaks his leg and is practically bedridden for weeks he gets really frustrated, which I felt was realistically written. He really grew as a person throughout the book and I liked the email/journal entries he wrote as a form of therapy.

Claire was a great caretaker and friend. I liked her for most of the book, but her character went downhill for me at a certain point, stayed down for a bit and then eased her way back up the hill into likable territory.

Overall, I loved these two together ~ great chemistry, great banter and they just seemed like they had a great time together. Love that we had both POV's, too. I have to round down my 4.5 because I absolutely hated the 3rd act breakup, which I usually do. There's maybe a tiny part of me, like my hangnail size, that understands the reasoning, but I'm a YOLO'er. Anything can happen at any time to give you the boot out of life....ya never know, so live it.

So technically this is not listed as a series, but the characters from Would You Rather are very involved here since they're best friends, so do with that what you will.

The Roommate Pact is my first book by Allison Ashley, but I don’t plan on it being my last. This friends-to-lovers romance had just come under my radar when I was invited to read it. Seeing the early glowing reviews from my fellow bloggers had me quickly accepting. And once again, they haven’t steered me wrong. I adored this one. Witty banter, moments that had me laughing, and heartbreaking moments that had me rubbing the pain in my chest.

When I started The Roommate Pact I’d either forgotten or didn’t know that our main characters, Claire and Graham appeared in Ashley’s previous book Would You Rather. In fact, it was the author’s note at the end of the book that brought it to my attention. So it didn’t affect my reading at all. But now that I know, I can’t wait to pick up Would You Rather and get a glimpse of how these two started.

Friends and roommates, Claire and Graham both have some baggage, issues from their past that keep them rooted in their current mindsets: Claire has sworn off dating adventurous men after witnessing her father’s tragic death and Graham has sworn off serious relationships. Period. But one night they find themselves agreeing to a pact: if they’re both single at forty, they’ll become friends-with-benefits. Just as Claire decides to not wait and give their pact a much earlier start date, Graham, a thrill-seeking firefighter, is brought into the emergency room where she works. She soon finds herself taking care of him, even sharing his bed when he needs her, and Graham finds himself being forced to be vulnerable. Their building feelings toward each other quickly overtake the relationship rules they’d set for themselves, creating quite the conundrum.

I was so here for this ride. It’s the perfect romance setup: two friends refuse to acknowledge they have feelings for each other, but are forced to face those feelings when life has other ideas. I also love a good friend group, and Claire and Graham have great friends. They know when to step in and offer advice and when to step back. They have history and have become a found family for each other.

I was rooting so hard for these two and the payoff was rewarding. Plenty of steam in this dual point-of-view romance, but with a surprise closed-door during the sex scenes. It clearly didn’t influence my rating for this one, but just took me by surprise. Probably because my reading experience was reminding me of Christina Lauren and Ali Hazelwood. And probably because I’ve read two romance novels back-to-back about friends-with-benefits and both were closed-door, which seems a bit contradictory, doesn’t it?!

The Roommate Pact has made me a fan of Ashley’s and now her previous book has moved up my TBR. And it’s definitely a book I could see myself re-reading someday. If you’re a fan of emotional, swoon-y romances, give this one a try. Oh, and there’s an adorable puppy, as well. And I’m not even a dog person.

3.5 stars! I really enjoyed this sweet romance book. It was a super quick read for me - read in just two days! I liked that they were roommates, turned friends, turned lovers. If you like this trope along with forced proximity you'll probably really enjoy this one!

I thought it was sweet and while there was some sexy tension between the two main characters, it was pretty much closed door as far as steam went. In truth, I was expecting more steam in this one considering the two mains had a bit of a sex pact going on. I really liked Graham and the way he opened up more as the story went on.

Parts of it felt a tad rushed to me but overall, I thought it was a cute book and enjoyed the story.

The Roommate Pact, by Allison Ashley, is a fun, sweet, and charming romantic comedy. Firefighter Graham and ER nurse Claire have been roommates and friends, but neither has had much luck in love. Graham and Claire make a pact that if by the time Graham is 40 and they are both single, they will become friends with benefits. However, after the pact is made, Graham breaks his leg in a climbing accident. Claire becomes Grahams bedside nurse. When they are forced together will they come together?
The story is funny and cute. Claire and Graham have great banter. Graham refuses to make any kind of commitment, except to his dog, Gertrude. Claire desperately wants to get married and have children. Despite both Graham and Claire stating that they aren’t interested in each other, there is clearly immediate sexual tension in the book. When Graham is injured and Claire has to help take care of him the sexual tension can no longer be contained. When they do finally come together, they have to decide if there is more than sex to this relationship.
I love the letters that Graham writes to Claire when he can’t talk after the accident. You can really tell that his feelings genuinely change throughout the book. It’s sweet to see him realize that he wants to do more than just sleep with Claire, and that he might have genuine feelings for her. I found Graham’s inner struggles to be compelling. Similarly, Claire has compelling inner struggles. Claire has to get over her childhood traumas before she can allow herself to be in a relationship with Graham. Their inner struggles add conflict to the relationship, and it adds some much needed depth to the story.
One small issue that I had when reading this book was the changing perspectives. Ashley changes between Graham and Claire’s points of views throughout the book. I always like to read a romance from the point of view of both characters. However, the point of view changes often, and it is sometimes hard to determine which character is talking. It made reading the book a little bit challenging.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes friend to lovers romance. It’s cute and sweet. It’s a very quick and fun read. It made me laugh and cry. This book did everything that you would want out of a romantic comedy

The Roommate Pact was a cute read! Claire and Graham were well developed, and I especially enjoyed Claire being in the medical field. It was very authentic in the way it was represented. The chemistry between the two characters were there, but when it got down to the nitty gritty- it was pretty lacking. The sex pact plot line but making it fade to black is just slightly disappointing.
I came into the ARC not knowing of the first book in this universe, so if I read it I feel like I would’ve enjoyed the book more. I had a hard time with the formatting of the book as well, with random text in red (mainly Graham’s emails), weird spacing between letters of words, and sometimes the sentence just cut off like the thought wasn’t finished. It was difficult to read with how often there was weird formatting issues. I don’t expect ARCs to be perfect, but I just feel like it should’ve been caught before becoming an ARC.

If you’re into roommate turn lovers, a sassy pet, and medical field representation- this book is for you!

I liked it, but didn't love it. I don't love it when I go to read a bo0k, and then realize it's a companion novel. I liked it fine. I didn't *have* to read the other novel to get the characters or follow the story at all, but it always feel a bit like FOMO when I realize I'm missing something.

As the sister of an ER nurse, I did like Claire. I liked how the author portrayed her work realistically, and her transition to NP seemed organic and logical. I know nothing about being a firefighter, so I can't follow Graham's side as well.

I didn't love the third act breakup, and the *dramatic life happening* leading to the reconciliation always seems a bit tired to me.

Thans, NetGalley!

Big thank you to the wonderful Allison Ashley herself, on getting me this beauty...I had mentioned in a comment on someones post that my request via NetGalley had been pending for months and she was so sweet and got me a direct invite via NetGalley.

I was not prepared for how much I was going to absolutely love Graham *cough* I mean this book 🤭 I highly recommend reading Would You Rather first, if you haven't already...I was sure nothing could compare to Mia and Noah...enter Honey Graham 🥰 and Claire of course, their banter together is to good!

What you'll find:
💕Friends to lovers
💕Marriage Pact
💕Roommates with benefits
💕Forced proximity, sorta
💕Overcoming grief
💕Journaling via emails🫠
💕...the emails🫠
💕Cracked door🌶️

Some highlights:
"Because kissing Claire was like crossing the finish line and looking back to find you won the race. Exhilarating, satisfying perfection."

"Who was this man--tjis impulse-kissing, sweet-smiling, sugar-speaking man--and what had he done with Graham?"

Claire fit in with his family like the puzzle piece that had gone missing, but turned up one day between the couch cushions."

"Sometimes love likes to mess with us and remind us we're not the ones in control."
...Love sounds like an asshole."

Definitely check out Allison's hidden gems too: Perfect Distraction (so good) and Home Sweet (still need to read)

I love these pacts friends make with each other that they will do once they reach a certain age: have a bay with each other by 35 or marry each other by 40.
I liked both Claire and Graham, a nurse practitioner and a firefighter. They’ve made such a pact but when Graham gets injured, they alter it the arrangement to becoming bang buddies.
And of course we know what happens.
Graham is so sweet and Earnest and I loved his emails.
Can Claire move past her past ti grab what’s right in front of her?
Love life to the fullest and quit worrying about what might Happen and instead make life happen for you.

Nurse Claire and her firefighter roommate Graham make a pact - they will enter a friends with benefits arrangement as long as they are both perpetually single. But when Graham suffers an injury at work and Claire takes on the role of caregiver, sparks begin to fly with unforeseen consequences.

Easily one of my favorite reads of 2023, this dynamite roommates to friends to lovers is perfect in pretty much every way. The incredible banter between our MCs Claire and Graham, the love/hate relationship between Claire and Gertrude (Graham’s grumpy rescue dog) and of course, the many appearances from the characters in Ashley’s previous book, 𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, created the perfect, bingeable romcom.

Even better than just the physical book, I did this as an immersive reading, bringing in the audio to listen alongside it. Honestly, this is the best rom-com audio I have EVER listened to. Ann Marie Gideon does a remarkable job of bringing out Claire’s humor and wit, Graham’s charm, Gertrude’s snark, and making the whole listening experience pretty unforgettable. This one definitely left me with a bookish hangover.

While this is book two in an interconnected series, the author does a great job at recapping book one for the reader, allowing this to also be read as a standalone (though you’d miss cuties Mia and Noah so don’t do that).

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞:
•roommate romance
•forced proximity
•friends to lovers
•enemies to friends 🐶
•the wittiest banter
•closed door
•book hangovers

Thank you HTP Books for the ARC copy.

THE ROOMMATE PACT – Allison Ashley
Mira
ISBN: 978-0-778-33424-8
August 1, 2023
Contemporary Romance

Denver, Colorado – Present Day

Emergency Room nurse Claire Harper shares a condo with male firefighter Graham Scott and another female. Claire and Graham have become good friends, and one night while chatting with their other roommate, Claire and Graham make a pact: if they are still single by the time they’re forty, they will take the friends-with-benefits plunge. Both figure it won’t ever come to fruition, so they have a good laugh. As a firefighter, Graham is always exposed to hazardous working conditions, and Claire constantly worries about him getting injured. He is also a mountain climber, and one day while out with friends, he falls, breaking his leg along with a few other minor injuries. Claire is in a panic and refuses to leave his side. Graham will need someone to stay by his side for a few days, so she offers to stay home from work.

Graham and Claire have only known each other for a year, and soon they are talking about their past lives. They have a lot in common, as each is shaped by something that happened in their past. Their friendship turns deeper until they realize they are attracted to each other. It doesn’t take long before it takes a turn to the sexual side. Their other roommate is out of town and Claire has been sleeping with Graham to keep an eye on him at night. It turns out that their joking plan to have a friends-with-benefits relationship is happening faster than they expected.

They never thought their pact would come true, but it does for Claire and Graham in THE ROOMMATE PACT. Friendship comes first, but they can’t deny a sexual attraction. Claire is actively trying to find men to date, though it has proven fruitless. Graham is your typical male in that he spends a lot of off-work time hanging out with his male buddies. They go camping, hiking, and mountain climbing. Unfortunately, one trip ends in disaster for Graham. He hates being immobile, and at Claire’s suggestion, starts a journal which is writing his thoughts into an email to Claire’s email address. She rarely looks at her email.

Claire is waiting for a decision on her Nurse Practitioner promotion at the hospital where she works. She is not fond of Graham’s dangerous job and leisure activities after watching her own father die in a plane crash. That fear has kept her from dating men like Graham, so having a fling with him is the only thing she plans to do with him. However, the sex is fun, and being around him makes her happy. But even as they grow closer, the more Claire realizes that she needs to take a break from him. Will she be able to do this without breaking hearts—hers and his? Will she get around to seeing the journal/emails from him that reflect his deepest feelings?

THE ROOMMATE PACT is an intriguing and funny tale about friends becoming lovers. They enjoy being around each other and think that is where it ends. But Graham’s freak accident changes everything. Will it end with a happy-ever-after for them? If you love an entertaining tale filled with lively banter and a few laugh-out scenes, then THE ROOMMATE PACT is the book for you.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today

I enjoyed reading this book which follows roommate’s ER nurse and a firefighter who make a pact. I’m all here for these types of story and was glad to have the opportunity to read this book. Ashley was a fantastic writer when it came to writing the story. I loved the storyline and the way it was formed in the book. There were many conflicts and the pacing was perfect for the story. I do wish that this book was written in 1st person instead of 3rd person as I couldn’t put myself in the MC’s shoes.

This book is written in the dual perspectives of both Claire and Graham. Claire is an ER nurse who had a traumatic past. Graham is a firefighter who loves a good adventure and is injured. Claire has a great character development in this book but I wouldn’t say much for Graham. Graham was a sweetheart and I loved him a lot more than Claire who was sometimes annoyed me. There were good amounts of side characters who were perfectly involved with the story in the way they were supposed to. The romance is friends to lovers, roommates, and bargains. The romance wasn’t steamy liked I hoped and the chemistry between the couple was okay. In this case, it was just hard to put myself in the character’s shoes due to the 3rd person writing.

The ending was cute and I really liked it. I loved how the characters had their happily ever after because they deserved it. There were some few minor problems I had but that was just me. This book is very similar to When Sparks Fly so if you liked that book then you will enjoy this one.

*this arc was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*

I am not going to lie- this book caught me completely off guard. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect and friends with benefits isn’t on my list of favorite tropes. I was pleasantly surprised with how everything was executed in this book! This might have been my first novel by Allison Ashley but it certainly won’t be my last! The story was engaging, humorous, and heartfelt!

If you like forced proximity, witty banter, and medical settings this is the book for you!

I can’t end this review without mentioning how much I adored Graham and his journaling(technically emailing) as therapy. It was one of my absolute favorite parts of the novel.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, the publisher and Allison Ashley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!