A review by beckyyreadss
The Roommate Risk by Talia Hibbert

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

I wanted to read this book because I am patiently waiting to hear about any of Talia’s new work. I decided to try and read some of her old work in the meantime and saw The Princess Trap all over the book community and it was released as part of a series even though the characters don’t interact with each other. I was interested to see if I can finish this series on a high and it didn’t live up to my standards. The Brown Sisters are just unbeatable.  

This book has two points of view. The first is Jasmine Allen and she believes in bad luck, great wine and the seductive power of a stiletto heel. What she doesn’t believe in is love. Her life is great without all that romance rubbish, until a plumbing disaster screws everything up and leaves Jasmine homeless. Lucky she has someone to turn to: her best friend Rahul. The second point of view is Rahul Khan and for the last seven years, he has followed three simple rules. 1. Don’t touch Jasmine if you can help it. 2. Don’t look at her arse in that skirt. 3. Don’t ever – ever – tell Jasmine that you love her. He should’ve added another rule: do not, under any circumstances, let Jas move into your house. Now Rahul is living with the friend that he can’t have, and it’s decimating his control. He knows their shared dinners aren’t dates, the late-night kisses as a mistake, and the tenderness in Jasmine’s gaze is only temporary. One wrong word could send his skittish best friend running. So why is he tempted to risk it all? 

As always with Talia’s book, I love how she manages to write diverse characters, serious subjects, sexuality and mental health. I love her for it. In this book we have a son who is grieving over his father and trying to be the head of the household and definitely some form of mental health issue with the control aspect. Then you have a daughter who had been abandoned by his mother, which in turns makes her not be able to trust anyone and she struggles to form friendships or relationships that she only uses people for sex and that sex is a transactional thing. I liked the fact that Jasmine wasn’t ashamed about the fact that she likes hook up and that sex is a healthy thing. I liked the character development that happened individually and the fact that Rahul was learning to ease control and to speak his mind and that Jasmine learned how to trust people and to also speak her mind.  

Just like the other books in this series, I felt like it was a bit rushed compared to the Brown Sisters Series and I felt like Jasmine's attraction suddenly came out of nowhere once she slept with Rahul. I would like a bit more of a slow-burn especially with them living together. I would have loved for some jealously to be a part of it. Like Rahul is seen with someone and Jasmine gets jealous. But it’s all just came from Rahul being jealous over a bartender talking to Jasmine.  

I will carry on reading Talia’s work old or new no matter what and hopefully I will enjoy the next series or book that I will read of hers.

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