By Annette Quijada
New York Times bestselling author Elena Armas’ new romance book, “The American Roommate Experiment,” is a multicultural slow-burn that makes your heart ache.
Armas introduces us to Rosie Graham, a former engineer who quits her job to have a secret career as a romance writer.
While working toward her second book and dealing with a creative slump, her New York apartment ceiling falls apart.
Rosie moves into her best friend Lina’s empty apartment while her apartment is fixed, but it turns out that Lina had already lent her apartment out to her cousin Lucas Martin.
It’s the same cousin who Rosie has been lightly stalking on Instagram for a few months.
Can you imagine getting stuck in a studio with a hot Spanish surfer/cook? Rosie sure can’t.
Lucas soon finds out about Rosie’s creative slump and to help her he offers five weeks of experimental dating for research purposes.
What follows is an exquisite story of fake dating, forced proximity, and friends to lovers.
The book alternates between both characters’ point of view, which is fun because readers get to feel the rising tension between the two.
Rosie is a strong character that is struggling with always showing she can keep it together and convincing herself that her dreams are worth quitting her high-paying job.
Lucas is a Spanish sunshine who is fighting off nightmares and thinks he’s not worthy of Rosie’s adoration.
The two together rely on their company to help them cope from reality.
“The American Roommate Experiment” has plenty of common tropes, but still exceeds expectations.
It’s full of romantic gestures, experimental fake dating, masquerade balls and some explicit steamy romance encounters that’ll have you wanting more.
While this book is a slight spin-off to Armas popular book “The Spanish Love Deception,” this is a successful stand-alone that’ll take readers out of a slump.