The Roommate Pact
by Allison Ashley
Published by MIRA
All of the fun, none of the heartache…as long as they stick to the agreement.
The proposition is simple: if ER nurse Claire Harper and her roommate, firefighter Graham Scott, are still single by the time they’re forty, they’ll take the proverbial plunge together…as friends with benefits. Maybe it’s the wine, but in the moment, Claire figures the pact is a safe-enough deal, considering she hasn’t had much luck in love and he’s in no rush to settle down. Like, at all. Besides, there’s no way she could ever really fall for Graham and his thrill-seeking ways. Not after what happened to her father…
Just as things begin to heat up way before the proposed deadline, Graham’s injured in a serious rock-climbing accident—and he needs Claire’s help to heal. She’ll do whatever it takes to nurse him back to health…even if it means moving into Graham’s bed and putting up with his little dog who hates her. But with this no-strings arrangement taking a complicated turn, keeping “for now” from turning into “forever” isn’t as easy as they’d planned.
Genre:
Before I start, I would like to thank Grace Fell from Booksparks for contacting me and asking if I would be interested in receiving an arc of The Roommate Pact in exchange for a fair and honest review.
When I was approached to review The Roommate Pact, I knew I would enjoy this book from the synopsis alone. My gut feeling was right, and The Roommate Pact hit all the things I look for in a romantic comedy.
Fun banter.
Chemistry and tension.
A dash of realism for I can relate to the characters.
Allison Ashley wrote a romance where the reader can feel two characters actually falling for one another. It's not the easiest thing for an author to create chemistry between two fictional characters, but Allison does it flawlessly in The Roommate Pact. There is a subtle tension throughout the book, the will they/won't they, but also that anticipation for the climax, where you know how everything is going to blow up, but you just can't help grabbing that handful of popcorn and diving in for the long haul.
Another thing I appreciated about The Roommate Pact, was how realistic everything felt - to their jobs, their hobbies, how they each felt and reacted to certain situations - I understood it all. I didn't think "Oh, that's a dumb reason to fight or split up." That hint of realism makes romance all the better.
In all honesty, if I had to complain about one aspect of this book, it would be that it wasn't steamy enough for my tastes. That doesn't take away from how I view or rate this book though. In fact, for the romance readers out there that appreciate more romance than steam in their books, but don't want fade to black, The Roommate Pact is a good choice for you to read.
I'm so glad that I was contacted to read this book and review it. It was an unexpected delight. The Roommate Pact is out August 1st, 2023.
Coming soon after publication!