I know everyone says to not judge a book by its cover, but “The Roommate” by Rosie Danan is not a book that I would usually pick up, with its pink, frilly, heart-covered cover. I still have no clue what provoked me to buy this book, I was even low on money at the time and put back a much different book that I believed I would have preferred.
This book embodies a Hallmark™ movie and I have grown to love that about it the more I read it. Yes, I’ve read it more than once – I’m pretty sure I’m re-reading it for the third time.
With only a 3.5 star rating on GoodReads, the book held very low expectations going into it.
It seems that there’s a lot of different opinions about the book. Read By Tiffany left a review but she didn’t enjoy it as much in the end: “When I first read the premise of Rosie Danan’s ‘The Roommate’, I was so excited for a story that seemed to challenge the stereotypes and pristineness of contemporary romance.”
After she finished reading however, her view was different. “With an opposites-attract romance and roommate trope, this book hooked me with its promise of unpacking the complexities of the adult entertainment industry. However, while I found the storyline to be fun, it ultimately left me feeling underwhelmed.”
When I first started reading, I thought that the main character, Clara Wheaton, was honestly stuck up; she was very uptight, self centered, and quite dumb. Her story evolves and gets deeper throughout the book, which I appreciated, because there is nothing I hate more than a shallow princess that needs to be saved.
Josh Darling is the male main character of this book and I thought that his last name was absolutely ridiculous, I still do, but I suppose that’s how this book is – playfully ironic, and just cute enough to bring a smile to the reader’s face. Once you learn about Josh’s profession though, his last name makes more sense.
Although the aesthetic goes against it, this book is all about female power and sexuality. Danan really worked her magic in a way that’s only appreciated with a read.
It’s kind of a, roommates, to enemies, to friends, to lovers, romance. The way it’s done is so tasteful and the transition between the genres is so natural, smooth, and fluid, one can barely notice when they’re in it.
This cute book gives its reader the warm fuzzies from a lovely romance with a tasteful amount of spice and scandal to satiate the little hunger that drama books are for.