Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Roommate by Rosie Danan Published by Berkley on September 15, 2020
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 336
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble, Apple
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 much 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.
I heard some good things about The Roommate and decided I need to read it. I liked the main characters Clara and Josh. They were different and the same in their backgrounds and personality. Clara came from a wealthy family. She is the one who keeps herself under control, never causing a scandal or gossip. She has plenty of money and is well educated. She also has always had a crush on Everett who was a childhood neighbor, and now invited her to relax and visit California for the summer. She decides to drop everything and go as a last chance at a relationship with him. He leaves town with his band, leaving her Josh as a roommate.
Josh is a porn star. He’s become more main stream and doesn’t do the really hard core pornography. His girlfriend kicked him out and he needed somewhere to stay until they were back together. He came from an average background but was never interested in school. Now he’s found something where he has talent but he’s treated like a joke or scandal by most people.
Clara is like a lot of women who are a little shy about their sexuality, and not used to saying what works for them or what they want. She and Josh have an attraction which they fight. She’s worried about the gossip and he isn’t into relationships and Josh can tell Clara is “too good for him.”. Oddly, they do well as roommates and are kind to each other. As their friendship grows, so do their discussions about sex and their lust.
I really enjoyed the way they worked together on something new. Each had some trouble being honest with themselves and each other about their concerns and their feelings, though. However, I understand it as part of the learning process for two people who neither one has ever had a serious relationship. They both were unhappy feeling like they couldn’t be the person their parents wanted and had to accept being themselves. The ex-girlfriend, Naomi, was fascinating and the next book in this series(?) is about her, The Intimacy Experiment.
About Rosie Danan
Rosie Danan writes steamy, big-hearted books, articles, and tweets about the trials and triumphs of modern love.
The New York Times calls Rosie Danan’s debut novel, THE ROOMMATE “a book about people expanding into their best possible selves…warmly funny and gorgeously sexy.” The rom-com has been optioned for film, and a companion book THE INTIMACY EXPERIMENT is forthcoming April 6, 2021 in both the US and UK.
After participating in the writing mentorship program Pitch Wars as a 2018 mentee, she was thrilled to rejoin the organization as a 2019 and 2020 mentor.
When not writing, Rosie enjoys jogging slowly to fast music, petting other people’s dogs, and competing against herself in rounds of Chopped using the miscellaneous ingredients occupying her fridge.
As an American expat currently living in London, she’s developed an incurable fondness for electric kettles.
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- COYER-20
I thought this one was a lot of fun. I found Clara a bit frustrating at times (she held on to her obsession with her childhood/teenage crush for far too long) but overall she and Josh were really likable characters.
I really liked it and I really related to Clara. I think she hung onto her normal routines because it protected her from feeling real things. But she eventually developed.
I am happy to see you liked it, It has been on my radar for a bit and I have been curious. I do like that its sex positive and these characters sound very likable.
I liked these characters but they were isolated in their impressions and certainly their families were not helpful. So they remained isolated to protect themselves which in a way made it harder to be real in any relationship. I hope you enjoy it.
I would be worried about how they’d workout long term with his profession. I don’t think I’d feel comfortable being with a guy who did porn for work. How could you stop the feelings of jealousy? It must have worked here, though.
Yes I think it would be difficult. So I wasn’t surprised it took them awhile to work things out.
Oh it’s a novel I think I could enjoy as well. It looks nice!
It’s not the typical story and I liked that.
So glad to see that you enjoyed this! Wonderful review, Anne? I opted for the audio version.
I hope you enjoy it too. It’s a unusual situation and I like the process.