Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - The American Roommate Experiment

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Tropes: Forced proximity, fake dating, slow burn.
POV: First person dual POV - Rosie & Lucas
Ending: HEA

This can be read without having read The Spanish Love Deception first. However this wasn’t as good as the Spanish Love Deception 😞. Lucas Martin is no Aaron Blackford and that’s all I have to say on that 😛.

We follow Lucas Martin, Lina’s pro-surfer cousin and Rosie Graham, Lina’s best friend. Their paths cross when they both find themselves in Lina’s empty apartment whilst she is on her honeymoon. They agree to live together as roommates while Lucas is on holiday from Spain and Rosie’s apartment ceiling gets repaired. Rosie has quit her job with InTech to become a full time romance writer but she has an upcoming deadline, whereby she needs to submit a draft of her second book and to top it off she has the worst case of writer’s block.

After confiding in Lucas they hatch a plan to go on four experimental dates where Lucas will show Rosie what dating can really be and the one rule … they won’t fall in love with each other. But I mean these dates!!! OMG Mr Martin has set the bar high for every other man who dares to date a romance reader. These dates were absolutely beautiful to read about and I really loved seeing the effort Lucas put in for Rosie. It was heartwarming!

Unfortunately I don’t have too much to say on this one because it wasn’t my favourite. Rosie wasn’t my favourite FMC of all time. I really couldn’t connect with her the way I did with Lina sometimes I just felt the writing was slightly off. I didn’t fully become invested until much closer to the end hence the three and a half stars.

⚠️ Content Warnings: Parent abandonment, PTSD and panic attack depiction, traumatic event, sexual content, gaslighting (very brief scene), Alzheimer's.

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mezzoanddolce's review

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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macykey's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.75

I am a hole for Lucas Martín, a Lucas Martín girlie, a stan, his biggest fan. We all need a Lucas Martín in our lives. But this book was a little lacking for me. The writing was a little more elementary than TSLD and there were some parts that didn’t fit in the plot. For instance, the whole Olly bit. I feel like that could’ve been reworked
,

Spoiler

him being a stripper because of a girl he wasn’t even dating didn’t make any sense.

Also, I wish we would’ve gotten more about Lucas’ situation, but it just seemed kind of tertiary.

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abibliophobic_nerd's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

1.5

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jessebosco's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted slow-paced

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

2.5

It took me three tries to get into the book and the obsession that Rosie had with Lucas online made me very uncomfortable at the start. There was no real reason ~why~ either of them actually liked each other in the first 1/3 of the book. I think this is why people say its a slow burn, but I wouldn't consider it that at all when Rosie has been obsessively stalking (and saving photos from) Lucas's instagram. Maybe it was slow burn on his end, but I still didn't feel like it was slow burn at all.

I typically love dual POV romances but this just did not do it for me outside of the spicy scenes. At times it felt like i was reading a lot of words but not really being told anything new about either of the characters, especially Lucas.

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izzieisaloser's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

4.5

I liked this book but I think I liked The Spanish Love Deception more then this one. Is that controversial I don’t know but it’s the truth.

SPOILERS AHEAD

There was ABSOLUTELY NO REASON that Lucas and Rosie couldn’t be together other then that his visa was up. AND SHE CONFESSED HER FEELINGS AND HE WALKED AWAY, asshole.

But anyway they could of been together from the VERY BEGINNING there was NOTHING holding them back.

that’s all that’s why it lost a star because I feel like there should of been a reason that they couldn’t of been together.

I loved that it was dual POV and wish all books were. I love male POVS in books.

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dayingst's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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ellelockley's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Rosie is Lina's best friend. She quit her job as a well-paid engineer to become a romance writer only to enter a creative slump. Lucas Martín is the only one that can pull her out. I did really enjoy this book and I think Lucas and Rosie were such beautiful characters and because their flaws were so well written and developed, it made them seem more human. They're relationship was really beautifully written. There were a few bits that were uncomfortable and cringy to read (cough shower scene cough) and I don't think the s3x scene were very well written in my opinion. Even though I preferred the plot of the spanish love deception, i prefer the leads in this book. I'm also spanish so I can relate to the family dynamic which I really like. I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves a slow burn romance.

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