Title: The Roommate
Author: Rosie Danan
Rating: ★★★½

ARC provided by Berkley through NetGalley.

The premise of this book is a rom-com lover’s dream: two people forced to live in a shared space together. What could possibly go wrong? Roomies is one of my favorite Christina Lauren books so I jumped on the chance to read The Roommate, whose synopsis was similar. I found myself easily entertained and overall enjoyed reading The Roommate!

“Unfortunately, like grain alcohol, unrequited love grows more potent with time.”

When I started the book, I was convinced I was going to adore Clara. At the risk of getting too personal, I found myself relating to her easily: we both have unrequited feelings and fantasize about being with someone who will, quite frankly, never be ours. I easily connected with her on that front. However, despite that connection with her character, she fell flat. Her character had no depth and she was underdeveloped.

“You imagine, over and over, in a thousand renditions, how he’ll push you up against the wall and press his entire body against yours until you’re trembling with how much you want him to take you.”

My favorite part of the book was all the sex positivity and the steamy romance scenes. Josh is a well-known porn star, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued by that direction the author went in for his occupation. The book sheds a new light on the adult entertainment industry, which is often looked down upon in shame. I thought the author did a great job showing that industry in a more positive way, while also illustrating some of the more unpleasant aspects like abuse (mental, sexual, financial, etc).

And while the sex scenes between Clara and Josh were excellently written and very hot, the actual chemistry between the two was sadly missing. I could never feel the angst and sexual tension between them. The lack of connection between them affected my ability to really believe in their romance and the authenticity of their relationship.

The Roommate does a fantastic job with one of the best romance tropes: forced proximity. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and would definitely recommend it to other fans of contemporary romance books. My only complaints were the lack of palpable tension between the characters and a flat heroine.