Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - The Roommate

idk if it was actually bad or if I should just not try to read smut books again. I will remain an avid smut reader when it comes to fanfiction, but that's because I already know all of the characters depth and know that I like them enough to seek out smut about them. but I don't like these characters or this situation. "and they were roommates" is one of my favorite tropes but this really didn't have anything to do with it. the girls personality was so inconsistent. the boys only character trait was "pornstar". my favorite parts were about her car crash trauma.

Content Warnings

wrappingpaper's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book positively surprised me. I definitely wasn’t expecting it to be so steamy based on the cover loll.
I really loved all the characters in this book. It took me a while to warm up to Clara (girl FORGET Everett) but I grew to love her as she grew more confident and independent.
I think the way the author uses this book as a criticism of corruption in the porn industry is super interesting because I wasn’t expecting to see such topics in a romance novel. Imo the author did a great job - I really felt her passion on the matter.

Overall I would’ve preferred for them not to spend so long doing the ‘oh I’m gonna try to ignore my feelings bc they don’t feel the same way’ bc spoiler alert: THEY DO but they got over it eventually lol. Great chemistry between the characters and I loved the dual pov :)

Content Warnings

anniemae05's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

hannahp95's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Content Warnings

psistillreadyou's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

thereadinghammock's review

Go to review page

funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Josh absolutely saved this book for me in the beginning. Clara's foolish "follow your heart" only to be left by the dumb guy she'd been chasing since high school, only to have her continue to pine after him once she decided to stay in LA, and I almost gave up on this book in chapter 2. But Josh's outrage and exclamation that her pleasure is just as important as any partner's and he would prove it to her right then and there and I was smitten with his golden retriever/sex god energy for the rest of the book.

Once Clara got shaken out of her east coast prudish ways she was so much more fun to read. I did want to shake them both through about 2/3 of the book and just say "TALK TO EACH OTHER!!!" so they could stop pussy-footing around their obvious feelings for each other. The "She's too good for me/I'm nothing like the kind of woman he'd want forever" schtick was real old, real fast. And while I'm not a fan of third act break-ups on the whole, seeing Clara drive out to what-his-nuts last tour stop only to realize she only liked the idea of him and told him that to his face, and for him to take the ego hit and let her go gracefully was a nice just desserts.

I did love the ultimate resolution, with the DA coming around, sticking it to the creeper porn industry guy, and the absolutely ADORABLE epilogue

Content Warnings

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

disclaimer if you’ve read other reviews by me and are noticing a pattern: You’re correct that I don’t really give starred reviews because I don’t like leaving them. Most often, I will only leave them if I vehemently despised a book.

I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not, regardless if I add stars or not.

Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial

This was a steamy fun “teach me” romcom. It was hard for me to feel bad for Clara in the beginning because I was like “honey buns, what are you DOING?!” (wrt moving across the country to LA to move in with her bff that she has had unrequited love for in the past decade or so just because he suggested it?!). However, I can’t blame anyone for doing something wild for love and shooting their shot! Except, her bestie Everett immediately leaves her to go on tour with his band and rents out his room to Josh, adult entertainment star, so Clara spends exactly zero time with the guy she moved across the country for. Again, couldn’t be me (I think & also because I am perpetually convinced no man is worth that😭) but I understand why she tried.

Anyway, this was steamy, funny, and a fun lil romp to read in one sitting. Josh and Clara had lots of tension, and their dynamic of experienced x sheltered was entertaining but I also don’t entirely know how I feel about the trope of “teach me” in general. I clearly have lots to unpack in my own biases here 😂 I liked that Josh called out Clara’s financial privilege because she was a bit sheltered and naive. I also understand that the feelings were reciprocated but it made me sad that she fetishized him the moment she found out he was a porn star. Like I just imagine that happens to so many adult entertainers and the fact that she couldn’t not think about him sexually once during any interaction was wild to me. The steam is probably 2.5-3/5 🌶️

Content Warnings

takarakei's review against another edition

Go to review page

lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Society girl moves to California in hopes of connecting with her childhood crush only to find out he's rented his room to a random guy (who turns out to be an adult film star). Education ensues...
Is the premise a bit absurd, yes. But I really enjoyed the message of sexual empowerment in this book.

4/5 🌶️

Content Warnings

More...