“Warmly funny and gorgeously sexy.”—New York Times Book ReviewA LibraryReads PickHouse 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 … 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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The Roommate is Rosie Danan’s debut novel and what a fun romantic comedy it is–one you don’t want to miss! Instantly captivated by the blurb and cover, I knew this was a story I had to read.
Suffering from unrequited love, Clara Wheaton uproots her life in Greenwich and moves out to L.A. to live with her best friend, Everett, whom she’s crushed on since forever but of course he’s oblivious. Now, said friend is leaving for three months to tour with his band and she’s stuck alone living with a total stranger who is renting a room. Enter Josh… well, hello there! This is where the fun truly begins *rubs hands together*. You will absolutely love Josh and all his swagger!
“DO NOT GOOGLE your porn star roommate. No good can come of it.”
Uptight and shy Clara soon discovers that Josh is non other than Josh Darling, a very popular adult entertainer. You can say things become a bit awkward at first but soon their close proximity opens up a door for them to become good friends and with time feelings beginning to bloom.
Clara comes to Josh’s rescue and decides to help him with a cause they both strongly believe in; essentially saving his career in the process. Soon the chemistry between the two becomes so strong they can’t fight it any longer… but fear is a fickle b*tch.
“My love for you isn’t an addiction. Being with you doesn’t provide some warped sense of validation for my life. You were never a fling I had to get out of my system. Our love feels like… freedom. The kind people give their lives for.”
Sexy, funny, and so very sweet, The Roommate is just too irresistible! And happy news, Rosie recently announced a companion novel to this one, featuring a secondary character and I can’t wait, Ekkk!
*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Berkley through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.*
Don’t let this super cute cover fool you. This book is horny as hell. It also made me laugh and gave me all the feels, so really it’s the perfect trifecta of a contemporary romance. It’s also another book that’s bringing me over to the friends-to-lovers team, which is quite the feat! Definitely one of my top reads of the year! Highly recommend!
Because I write in the same genre, I have trouble turning off my analytical writer brain when reading contemporary romance. It’s made me a super picky reader. So when a contemporary romance can make me forget to be that annoying writer who pulls apart everything to critique it, it feels like a gift. This book was an absolute delight. The combo of fun, charm, and steam paired with characters I’d want to hang out with made this the perfect summer read.
I was looking forward to this one. Especially after reading the blurb! It’s just wasn’t for me. It was a bit flat and took me some time to get used to the style of writing.
Clara Wheaton moved all the way to LA to room with her crush from childhood. What better way than convincing him that they should be together than being roommates first?
Her plan backfires as soon as she gets to California. Turns out Everett, her childhood crush is in a band and they’re leaving – like right away. Her roommate now is someone she doesn’t even know and she’s not sure how to feel about it. Clara eventually finds out that her new roommate Josh is a pleasure professional and she’s not entirely sure how to feel about that initially.
Enter Josh – oh Josh. Josh has got to be one of the best book boyfriend there is. He’s so sweet and caring and really tries to get to know Clara better. I love that there was such a deep emotional connection between the two of them. They knew each others hopes and dreams and didn’t mock them, instead tried to elevate each other.
This book was HOT HOT HOT. The sex scenes had my kindle steaming! I don’t want to give the plot away too much – but I absolutely love the way the sex was portrayed in The Roommate. Sex isn’t something that should be ashamed of or made to feel “dirty,” and I love the way Rosie Danan is able to portray that in The Roommate.
The Roommate had everything that I love to read in a romance. It had the perfect amount of sexual tension mixed with scenes that had me laughing. At the same time I also have so many scenes highlighted that had my heart completely in my throat. I felt giddiness, excitement, angst, happiness and longing from this wonderful book. I cannot wait to re-read it again!
Do yourself a favor and pre-order The Roommate so you can fall in love with Clara and Josh. The Roommate releases September 15, 2020
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.
I was lucky to get my hands on an early copy of Rosie Danan’s debut. I read it in one sitting and stayed up until 1 am to finish. Danan’s voice and the electric chemistry between Clara and Josh pulled me into the story from the first chapter and I would rec this to anyone who enjoys a smart, fast-paced “raunch com”.
The faded wallpaper exuded kitschy charm, fighting for her affection, but she couldn’t shake the crushing weight of her disappointment. Clara wiped off the seat of the sofa before sitting down.
“So this is how it feels to be well and truly fucked.”
“I get that a lot,” said a low voice behind her.’
Clara is the perfect preppy girl who’s moved across the country to share a house and a summer with Everett, the guy she’s been in unrequited love with forever. But when he leaves town the moment she arrives, she’s too embarrassed to head home on the next flight. Not only has she been ditched, but Everett’s rented his room to Josh, a total stranger with a very unusual job.
The Roommate is one of the hottest books I’ve ever read, with a porn star male lead who is not at all what you’d expect. It’s funny, sinfully hot, and also tackles female pleasure and the porn industry in a refreshing and direct way. I absolutely loved this book. The heat is off the scale and I was rooting for Clara and Josh to make their relationship work, despite all their differences. It’s just a fabulous book.
This was definitely an interesting love story that won me over in the end. I look forward to reading the next book in this series.
This depute novel from Roise Danan was not at all what I was expecting, it was so much more. This was another one where I didn’t read the synopsis before starting, so color me surprised when I found out the lovely, awesome twist in this book!
Clara is a reluctant socialite, too smart to be moving across the country for a 14 year long crush, but that’s what she has done and said crush is leaving for the summer and has set up a roommate for her. Josh is a freakin Porn Star and this sublet is just temporary until he can get his also porn star ex to take him back. Little do either of them know that they’re about to turn each other and the porn industry upside down.
I freaking loved this book, I love Clara despite of her wealth privilege but because of her awkward innocence. I love Josh because though his chose career is in the sex industry he’s not worried about the money or fame, his moral compass is true and he has a heart of gold. They are on opposite sides of society but have some many things in common, and their attraction is immediate.
The burn is slow yet steamy with this one, and Danan did a great job of keeping me on the edge wait for this two to seal the deal.
The Sex industry ed of this book I think is innovative, I know I’ve not read a book yet that shifts the focus of sex work into something positive. This book was more than just a love story is was a question to it’s audience, what if sex work is just work, and why is it so stigmatized?
Excellent work Rosie Dana, I’m looking forward reading the next in this series!
I liked this book and I thought the plot was intriguing with the whole my roommate is a porn star thing. However, I have to agree with another reviewer that said the main characters didn’t really have any chemistry besides sexual. Also the female main character was kind of a lot but also some how boring af (I’ll even admit I see some of myself in her with the whole not wanting to let people down thing). I think the best thing about it was it tried to tackle a lot of important issues and actually succeeded for the most part. Since all the issues were intertwined it helped the author be able to bring them together and explore them decently well.
East coast princess Clara drops everything and moves to the west coast to live with an old flame. But – oh, no! he leaves, and she gets stuck with a roommate who is a gorgeous porn star.
Josh Darling finds his snotty roommate intriguing – upon hearing she’s never had an orgasm with a man, he promptly gives her one – she doesn’t even have to take her underwear off.
It sounds like a raunchy premise – yet this is a heartfelt warm romance with two very engaging heroes and a great plot. Thoroughly enjoyable.
The Roommate: . 5
“Loving you is like sinking into a warm bath after a lifetime of feeling cold down to my bones.”
When East-coast socialite Clara Wheaton moves to LA with her Craigslist roommate and porn star Josh Conners, hilarity ensues as they explore a new business venture and one another together.
This was my Rosie Danan book and I enjoyed the humor and banter in it. It is certainly a unique story, one I’ve never delved into before so I didn’t really know what to expect going in.
I enjoyed the writing and the style of the book but, it is written in third person POV, which as I know I’ve mentioned before, is not my personal favorite style.
Admittedly, the romance aspect of this book was slightly lacking for me and while I did love the individual characters on their own, somehow I didn’t see them… together. I adored Clara’s innocence and her helpful nature as well as Josh’s kindness and his sweet sweet personality. But to me, I simply didn’t see them fit with one another.
Not to mention, I was told this book was spicy. There’s admittedly tension but there are actually around 2.5 scenes—just beware if you were looking for something very steamy.
Anyway, yes I loved Josh very much—he was so cute and he deserves the world. Oh also—NAOMI! What a boss ass bitch and my kind of girl. I adore her and she intrigued me quite much.
It’s a cute read with some domestic scenes thrown in there but the humor was definitely the best part of it!
Steamy, heartfelt, wonderful story! Also, where can I find a website like Shameless?????
Update September 2021: this book is still excellent on the 2nd reading. Absolutely love it!
I found this book to be enjoyable, I know that I have heard some mixed reviews so I went in with very little to no expectation. Rosie Danan’s writing to me was accessible and moderately paced. I found this to be a light story about two people thrown into a forced-proximity situation. Yes at times our heroine can be very naive and single focused when it comes to what she was expecting from her big cross country move. But overall I was pleasantly surprised that this was not about shaming sex workers. This was lower steam then potentially people were expecting, but I loved that the Hero was able to help the Heroine understand and learn how to express her needs. I felt like both Hero and Heroine were able to do some growing and learn where their insecurities lie, I think this is a good start to their relationship and we are really just seeing the beginnings of the foundation they are building. I am looking forward to continuing on to the next book in the series.
Loved it, such a pleasant surprise! This book has been highly recommended by so many people, yet oddly enough I never though to read the summary before diving in. Needless to say, once I started listening to the audiobook, I immediately switched to my earbuds, lol.
I loved everything about this story – the writing, the narrating (I listened to the audiobook), the characters and how opposite they were, yet they perfectly fit together. The writing was great, and I devoured it. I can’t wait to read/listen to the next one!
Yep this was just as good as I heard it was! Definitely steamy and lives up to the hype!! What i really loved was how it was told from both perspectives!!! I LOVED knowing Josh’s feelings throughout the book!
As the discussion questions at the end stated this really does turn typical tropes upside down! This was not your typical romcom book, but it also was more than just an well a book about a pornstar. I am super excited to read this next book and am so thankful it comes out next Spring and not a whole year from now!
I’m not sure what I expected when I started this book, especially since the main character is a porn star, but it was surprisingly adorable. The characters are wonderful, the plot well-structured, and porn angle was actually quite fresh and interesting. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a fun, steamy, sexy, and intriguing rom-com.
Book 72 towards my goal of 280! 4/5 stars for this adult romance read. Yall, this one is another spicy book! Clara moves across the country to chase the man of her dreams….who promptly leaves to go on tour. And who better to have as his replacement roommate than an adult film performer? What could possibly go wrong? Such a fun read with great characters. Love the cover! Highly recommend if you’re needing a spicy book.
I selected the book after reading the blurb which sounds like a rom/com. If I had known more, I probably would have passed. I started the book, read another entire book and came back to it. Trope: Roommates to lovers and opposites attract with a twist.
Just putting this out there, I’m not a fan of the reader’s guides in the back of books. Thanks but no thanks, I can reflect on a story without book club style questions.