I was just talking about this book at the library I work at with a coworker and I told her how much I loved it and she bought it and put a hold on it so I'm glad to say I loved this book it was a fun read and I loved how funny, and sweet, and fun it was

My Roommate Is a Vampire by Jenna Levine is a delightful and captivating novel, brimming with heartfelt moments and some of the most enchanting kissing scenes I have ever encountered. This book is a must-read for anyone who adores vampires.

Tropes/Info: forced proximity, slow burn, pining, age gap, paranormal romance, friends to lovers, rom com, HILARIOUSLY CUTE NOTES

Looking for a sweet and delicious book to sink your teeth into this fall? Well, you’re in luck! My Roommate is a Vampire is a MUST read this spooky szn for all my romance pals out there! It’s hilarious, fast-paced, and has the BEST vibes.

Seriously, this book had me cracking up every other page. I simultaneously couldn’t put it down but didn’t want it to end! I fell in love with Cassie and Frederick’s banter. And Frederick was too precious for words, my goodness! 😍😍 If you went through a vampire phase as a teenager, this book will reignite that love.

I'm not interested in vampires per se, but the cover looked cute and I'm always on the lookout for romcoms that I can read at one a.m. in the morning when I can't get back to sleep.

There was a real effort here to be quirky, and many of the elements almost worked, but perhaps I'm simply too old for the intended audience. The vampire hero is supposed to be two hundred years old, but there was no convincing sense of history, no mindset from the 1820, a period I know really well after decades of reading in it.

The heroine was maybe a bit too manic and clueless perhaps? Anyway, once she finally discovers what's going on, the story flattened rather than got funnier, and I'm not all that sure about the consent when the two get together.

I think a younger audience, especially one that doesn't read much actual history, will like it just fine.

Short synopsis: Cassie is in desperate need of somewhere to live after being evicted from her current place, finding a Craig’s list ad for a spacious room for dirt cheap she jumps art the chance.

My thoughts: I was a bit in a reading funk when I started this, and I was pleasantly surprised how light and easy this was. I was excited to pick it up and see what happened next.

I thought his little “secret power” was funny and a unique spin on regular vampire powers. I also liked that even though there was much to not understand about each other, they both tried really hard!

Also, I was totally here for the non third act breakup! There was no miscommunication and no snippy remarks just to drive the other person away! Also, the prologue solution was perfection!

I did a mix of audio and physical reading of this, the narrator did a great job at voicing the characters but I didn’t love the male “vampire” voice. It sounded very Transylvanian (maybe that was intentional and I missed the point).

Now please excuse me while I go find a kumquat to try. 😉

Read if you love:
- Craig’s list ads
- Roommates to lovers
- Kumquats and exotic fruit
- Unique art projects
- Vampires
- Age gap 😉

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🌶️🌶️🌶️

A fun, quick read. This book started out strong for me but didn’t hold my interest all the way through. I wish the story was longer and had more time to develop the relationship between the two main characters. It made me laugh, and I liked the main character, but overall the story fell a little flat. Loved the Buffy references though :D

Thank you NetGalley, Jenna Levine, and Berkeley for a free copy of My Roommate Is a Vampire (coming out on August 29th!) in exchange for an honest review.


For 2023, I’ll be using this rating scale:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I mourned the ending of this journey 🥹
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ really enjoyed and would recommend
⭐️⭐️⭐️ it was fine
⭐️⭐️ I didn’t enjoy this journey
⭐️ I dnf’d or wish I’d dnf’d
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ this is smutty smutty erotica 🥵
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ medium burn
🌶️🌶️🌶️ slow burn
🌶️🌶️ romantic b plot / closed door / YA romance
🌶️ no romance / nonfiction

This was such a quirky read and I had so much fun with it!

Blurb: When Cassie sees an ad for a room-for-rent at only $200\month, she’s skeptical, but also desperate. Turns out, her new living situation and roommate are just as weird as she expected. But things get even weirder once she realizes her super hot, weirdo roommate is not only a vampire, but a vampire who was in a coma for the past 100 years.

What I loved: The characters were goofy and lovable. The paranormal rom com vibes were spot on! The writing and storytelling made for a quick read and kept me engaged the whole way through.

What didn’t work for me: The multiple mentions of Instagram and TikTok. It was a bit cheesy at times. The third act problem was resolved way too easily, imo.

Overall, if you’re looking for some fun paranormal books to add to your fall lineup, I would definitely say to put this on the list!

"In the end, though, this is your painting. Make something you love."

Thank you NetGalley for granting me access to a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Rom com + a vampire, count me in! I quite honestly cannot wait to pick this up on August 29 when it hits the shelves. It's the happiest, sweetest, funniest little story ever told.

Let me explain. Think: Hotel Transylvania, but the human world is explained by a girl that's just like you. Fredrick, Cassie's new (necessary) roommate, which is unfortunate by the way, seems to be written right out of a regency novel. He's approximately the least cultured person she has ever met, and if she didn't need to... live, so badly, she would probably leave for the simple truth that he is the oddest person she has ever come across. Well, that is, until she finds out he isn't a person at all. Is it a spoiler when being a vampire is quite literally in the title?

Watching Fredrick learn to manage the 21st century is one of the most entertaining things I have ever read. The low stakes made this so much more than just another vampire story. It captured the absolute joy of fiction and merged it with the hilarious side of what you might do if vampires actually existed. I couldn't put it down. I couldn't' stop laughing at every single reference to vampire fiction in our own reality. I was having so much fun I forgot I was reading at all, honestly. Fredrick could be MY best friend, at this rate.

Cassie was such a fun main character, too. I loved reading about her own view of the world through art and laughter. She was funny, relatable, and kind in a way I feel like authors forget they can voice their characters with. I wanted more of Fredrick's notes, more of his diary, more of his curiosity. I don't think I can recommend a single book more than this one.

Please pick it up on August 29 or any day after. You will not regret it for a single second of the read, I promise.

cassie needs a cheap place to live—and fast. but when she finds a perfect apartment for only $200 a month, she can’t help but be skeptical. beggars can’t be choosers, though, so she decides to move in. sure enough, her new roommate is pretty weird. this is something cassie’s fine putting up with—until she finds bags of blood in the fridge, and realizes the truth: her roommate is a vampire.

ever since i saw this cover i’ve been in love with this book, so i was so excited to get the arc!

this book definitely put the “com” in “rom-com.” a problem i have with a lot of books listed as rom-coms is that they’re not actually funny. however, this was not the case with this book. frederick was kinda stuck in time so his fashion and language were both very outdated, both of which led to some pretty funny moments.

i would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting a fun adult rom-com!

I may be (re)entering my vampire romance era – this book was perfect for spooky season! Yes it’s hokey, but I liked Frederick’s whole “I woke up after being in a coma for a century.. Oh and I’m a vampire” storyline alongside Cassie’s “there’s no way this fancy downtown Chicago apartment is actually $200 but I’ll take it” desperation. Putting them together in this forced proximity roommates-to-lovers romance led to some fun interactions between the characters. I also loved that while it was mostly told from Cassie’s POV, we got glimpses into Frederick’s thoughts through his letters and text conversations. I’d recommend this if you are looking for a quick vampire romance read that was silly and light - I read this in one sitting during a ~5 hour car ride.

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley for the advanced review copy.

Loved this book! Roommates trope done well. Adorable use of notes, texts, emails, and more to offer multiple perspectives to the story. Kept it a fast read but with so much added context! Communication between the characters was open and respectful! The obvious respect for vampire content and lore was apparent. Loved the references to popular vampire fandoms and stories. As an artist, I also really appreciated the descriptions of Cassie's work and process. Her character was fully developed beyond I love color and paint, but here is my point of view and why I care and why I do it. Made me really want to see her finished works!!

Cassie feels like a failure: her art career isn't taking off, she's working part-time jobs outside of her field to make ends meet, and she's being evicted. So, when she sees a listing on craigslist for a roommate in a gorgeous lake-side home for $200, it seems too good to be true. However, Cassie is desperate, so she goes to see the place and meet her potential roommate and decides to move in. Frederick J. Fitzwilliam is extremely odd and old-fashioned, but well-meaning, kind, and she barely sees him anyway. The two start leaving notes for each other (because they're on totally opposite schedules) and slowly become friends...and possibly more. But it all goes to hell when Cassie runs back home early because she forgot something and discovers that Frederick has been keeping a secret: he's a vampire. Frederick convinces Cassie to help him assimilate to the modern world after he's been in a coma for the past 100 years.

The first half *really* grabbed my attention, but it slowly started losing it as the book went on. I enjoyed reading their letters back and forth, and Frederick's journal entries, but I felt there was an odd tonal shift once it was revealed that Frederick was a vampire. I started skipping paragraphs and just wanting to get the the conclusion.

The ending felt like a little bit of a let-down: Edwina was defeated in such a prompt manner, it felt like there wasn't much of a conflict at all. Cassie's constant insecurities bothered me, and the fact that Frederick immediately put Cassie on a pedestal felt somewhat juvenile. I wish the book had focused more on Frederick adjusting to his new time period.

This book is definitely for someone, but it wasn't necessarily me. I do think my library will be purchasing this title.

Romance novels are generally not plot heavy, but that is usually not an issue if there is great characterization and banter. Unfortunately, I was not enamored with most of the characters in this book. Including the leads. Cassie was fine, but I want more than fine in a lead.

I really started heavily struggling through the material around the 35% mark and and think it would have benefitted from much tighter editing as there were quite a few inconsistencies.

Ultimately i think the bones are there to make a great book but this needs some work to bring that out. I am interested in seeing if the next book is an improvement.

A huge thank you to Berkeley for the ARC

This started off very promising for me. But when the reveal happened, it became too formulaic for me. The nostalgia vibes of the early aughts vampire craze phase were very apparent here and I feel this book would have flourished then. Now however I need a bit more substance to a PNR. There was no real plot until roughly 50% and then the conflict was wrapped up so quickly. It read like the author was setting up all these options and then remember that they had to rush to get to a conflict and ending.

Despite what the above said it was a cute read and it is definitely breach read material that will be popular. But nothing made it stand out for me or differentiate it from any other vampire novels that came before it. .

Go ahead and pick this up if you like romance, vampires, and/or Austen-esque heroes.

Or if you’re on this page, really. I truly think this book has something for everyone!

Because the premise lands, folks- Cassie needs a new place to live that’s affordable, and due to a hilarious error, she winds up living with Frederick, who is very obviously a vampire.

And an anachronistic one— he doesn’t know what WiFi is or how to take out the trash, and he dresses in 3-piece suits.

But he’s also an utter cinnamon roll, and a sexy one, to boot.

He falls for Cassie fast, encouraging her with her art, and she opens up to him as she navigates figuring out her career.

Cassie is learning who she wants to be, and Freddie is learning *how* to be in the 21st century. It’s absolutely heart-warming, and really a cozy urban fantasy. Is that a genre? It should be!

I loved this book’s warmth, its pacing, and its humor. I never wanted to put it down, but I was also never stressed— only delighted with these lovable characters.

This Chicago-set world needs more stories in it! I’ll wait patiently.

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance for an advance copy!

This book will be published on August 29th, 2023.

I had been nervous going into this due to some mixed reviews I had heard but I thought let's give it a shot! And I thought it was a quirky, fun rom com!

I am not sure that I believed that they were lovers as it definitely came across as more friends especially as Cassie was trying to help Frederick become modern which I thought was a cute idea for the author to have. But of course I was living for them falling for each other. I love the relationship that Cassie and Frederick developed throughout the book & how they connected by leaving notes for each other.

Sometimes you just need an easy breezy read and this was it for me. If you are expecting a Twilight like book, this is not it. The only part that may be compared that I can remember is when they do become intimate and he doesn't want to hurt her.

I am looking forward to see what is next for Jenna! And hoping that maybe she will do a book for Reginald as he was such a great side character.

Also bonus - love to hear my city mentioned when talking about Taylor Swift

If you are looking for a not so serious romance that include a vampire trying to live in modern times - this is for you!

Swoon: 2/10
Karaoke: Sadly no

My Roommate Is a Vampire follows Cassie Greenberg, who loves being an artist. Unfortunately, art doesn’t pay the rent, so on the brink of eviction, Cassie decides to find herself a roommate. When she answers the ad for a too-good-to-be-true apartment in a beautiful neighbourhood, Cassie can’t believe her luck: there has to be something wrong with the apartment. As it turns out, there is a catch. Her new roommate Frederick J. Fitzwilliam may be charming and talks like he’s walked out of a regency era novel, but there are secrets he hides, one in particular, as Cassie realises when she finds bags of blood stocked in their shared fridge…and suddenly, there’s more at stake than just her new accommodations as Frederick proposes a deal unlike any other.

My Roommate Is a Vampire had a lot going for it. With a fun premise, kooky characters, and some very fun interactions, the novel definitely had me invested. I loved how awkward Frederick was and how he tried to learn “how to be human” in this very contemporary setting he wasn’t used to at all. Cassie, meanwhile, has a true passion for her art and is willing to stand up for her values and her talent when people try to tell her that making a living with art isn’t what she should be pursuing. Together, Cassie and Frederick had an interesting chemistry and their set-up as roommates caused many hilarious incidents, one of them being Cassie finding out Frederick’s little secret.

Overall, I did have some issues with the novel though. For one, the characters felt a bit one-dimensional. Cassie defines herself through her art and Frederick’s personality was very much based on him being a vampire and his past that the reader learns on very late, which made him a charming but almost interchangeable love interest. There are of course a lot of funny moments with him googling certain things he doesn’t know or asking his friend for help on how to be “hip” but through that, the reader doesn’t really get to know him.

I also did wish that the vampire aspect was better connected to the overall plot of the novel. Frederick’s backstory is quite important, yet comes in quite late after teasing it many times which might count as a slow burn but feels frustrating at a certain point.

While it also impacts the romance, it often feels quite distanced from the overall story arc and makes other plot lines and scenes between for example Cassie and her friends (or Cassie and her love for art) struggle to live up to their full potential because the connections between it all aren’t as clear as they could be.

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed Levine’s witty writing and especially Frederick’s dry humour, his attempt at acclimating to the contemporary world and his clear devotion to making Cassie happy right from the beginning. If you ever wanted a roommate who knows how to compromise, you’re sure to fall head over heels for Frederick.

Lovers of paranormal romance and the and they were roommates trope will find a delightful romp in My Roommate Is a Vampire.

One-word review: Charming
Emojis: 🧛🏻‍♂️💞👱🏻‍♀️
Rating: 4🌟s

My thoughts:

The mention of Buffy the Vampire Slayer hooked me! The comparison delighted me, and the story kept me laughing and entertained for the entire evening, primarily when Cassie and Fredrick worked on getting him caught up with societal workings. He’s been asleep for 100 years thanks to a curse and has no idea how to blend in on the streets of Chicago.

The story is relatively fast-paced, but there is one part that I would like to have seen more developed, and that was the last big scene before the HEA. It was full of possibilities and provided the big tense moment in the story, which it needed. That type of thriller aspect is appropriate because of the vampires and adds a bit of zip to a sweet story. But it stopped short where it should have forged ahead.

However, the romance is fun, and there is a bit of spice with some open-door scenes. Also, the characters are well-developed for the story. I loved getting to know Cassie, an artist who works in a medium that isn’t understood by many, and Fredrick who is so old-timey and respectful that he’s a breath of fresh air. His letters to Cassie provided a charming break in the prose and gave insight into his character.

This is the perfect fall read for people who aren’t into horror but love romance and romantic comedies.

Cassie is a struggling artist who lives in Chicago, about to be evicted. She can’t believe her luck when she finds an apartment for rent that’s dirt cheap, and in a great neighborhood. With no other real options to speak of, but no high hopes either, she answers the ad.

When Frederick J. Fitzwilliam, her perspective roommate, responds confirming the room is indeed available, she still thinks he (and the situation) are batty, but agrees to Frederick’s terms. Since he sleeps all day, he asks for her to be quiet, and to steer clear of a few sacred spots in the apartment.

Although they barely see one another due to having opposite schedules, Frederick and Cassie begin to communicate through old school, handwritten notes. Cassie can’t help but to find the formal Frederick funny, even if he and his place are a bit odd. Meanwhile Frederick can’t help but to find himself enjoying Cassie’s company. Then Cassie comes home one day and makes a shocking discovery, turning everything to-quite literal-bloody hell.

My Roommate is a Vampire is an inventive rom com by debut author, Jenna Levine. The initial wacky premise worked, mainly due to the comical quips the “fish out of water” Frederick made. However, the second half of the book devolved a bit into typical spicy romance fare. While it’s hard to take vampire romances seriously, this still somehow this felt like a bit of a missed opportunity to really create an original romance readers could sink their teeth into.

Cassie is a struggling artist that finds herself soon to be evicted from her Chicago apartment. Her best friend shows her a “too good to be true” listing on Craigslist for a roommate in a perfect location for a ridiculous amount of rent . There has to be catch, nothing is this good and nothing this good ever happens to Cassie. After meeting the strange but incredibly handsome Frederick J Fitzwilliam, Cassie decides to throw caution to the wind and move in. There are a few rules that might be a red flag…he sleeps all day and must never be disturbed and there is a secret room that is completely off limits. On the flip side Frederick is as charming as he is handsome and begins to leave Cassie cute little notes around the apartment. That all comes crashing down when Cassie discovers bags of blood in the fridge.
She is justifiably frightened but the two come to an agreement that helps them both.

This started out so cute, and absolutely had me hooked. The relationship between Cassie and Frederick was really good but as their feelings developed and the conflict began it just kind of fell flat. There wasn’t enough tension or strong enough plot to propel the story forward. It was still fun and had some cute parts but I feel like it was missing a stronger storyline. Loved Reginald so I am hoping the next book will tell his story and will have more substance.


3 ⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.