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The Roommate by Rosie Danan
Series: The Shameless #1
Published by Berkley on September 15, 2020
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 325
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library

House Rules:
Do your own dishes
Knock before entering the bathroom
Never look up your roommate online

The Wheatons are infamous among the east coast elite for their lack of impulse control, except for their daughter Clara. She’s the consummate socialite: over-achieving, well-mannered, predictable. But every Wheaton has their weakness. When Clara’s childhood crush invites her to move cross-country, the offer is too tempting to resist. Unfortunately, it’s also too good to be true.

After a bait-and-switch, Clara finds herself sharing a lease with a charming stranger. Josh might be a bit too perceptive—not to mention handsome—for comfort, but there’s a good chance he and Clara could have survived sharing a summer sublet if she hadn’t looked him up on the Internet…

Once she learns how Josh has made a name for himself, Clara realizes living with him might make her the Wheaton’s most scandalous story yet. His professional prowess inspires her to take tackling the stigma against female desire into her own hands. They may not agree on much, but Josh and Clara both believe women deserve better sex. What they decide to do about it will change both of their lives, and if they’re lucky, they’ll help everyone else get lucky too.

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Here’s the thing: I am not a big traditional published reader. However, there was just something about the title and cover that really pulled me in. The Roommate by Rosie Danan was nothing like I anticipated. It was so much more slot gacor gampang menang.

This follows goodie-two-shoes, Clara Wheaton, on her first impulsive plan to woo her childhood crush. She has agreed to move in with him for the summer – on the other side of the U.S. – in hopes something will happen between them. That dream comes crashing down as soon as she arrives because her crush is going on tour with his band. He tells her not to worry though; he has rented out his bedroom to a man named Josh, so she won’t be all alone.

It is abundantly clear that Josh and Clara are complete opposites. Clara has been held to a certain standard her entire life because of her family’s status. Josh, on the other hand, has learnt to do what makes him happy and brush off judgmental eyes. When Clara finds out what Josh for a living, it inspires her to let loose. They join forces in order to take on something bigger than them, but will have a positive impact on millions of people.

It’s only when their budding romance starts to bloom that things start to fall apart. Their relationship is already unconventional due to their different backgrounds. But now that their mutual business venture is important to so many others, can they afford to pursue a romantic relationship? What if it ends badly? And what about Clara’s torch for her childhood crush?

Tropes Included:

• Opposites Attract
• Forced Proximity
• Mutual Pining

For me, the relationship wasn’t the strongest aspect in this book. And that isn’t necessarily surprising to me as this book is traditionally published. Traditionally published romances always fall short for me. But don’t get me wrong – Josh and Clara have some really intense and hot scenes together. However, if you were to omit those scenes, I don’t see them as well-suited for one another. They have this mentor/mentee type of relationship that didn’t successfully transition into a romantic companionship. I honestly feel like my opinion is validated when that third act conflict arises. IYKYK.

Rating Report
Couple/Protagonists
Steam Level
Supporting Characters
Plot
Cover
Overall:

My favorite part of this book was the emphasis of sex workers and how most adult sites are geared towards men. Seeing Clara and Josh come together to try to offer something different in the industry was amazing. I really enjoyed how the author really done her research and it shined through the storyline. It was ultimately why I gave The Roommate by Rosie Danan a slightly higher rating than it deserves.

I hear the sequel to this is even better. Have you read it? Have you read this one? Do you agree with my review? Sound off in the comments below!

xo