A follow-up to The Spanish Love Deception, The American Roommate Experiment follows Lina Martín’s best friend (Rosie Graham) and cousin (Lucas Martín). When Rosie’s ceiling caves in, she decides to borrow her best friend Lina’s apartment since Lina and Aaron are on their honeymoon. But, unbeknownst to Rosie, Lina has already lent her apartment to her attractive cousin (and Rosie’s internet crush) Lucas, who is traveling in America. Even though Lina’s studio apartment only has one bed, Lucas convinces Rosie that they can temporarily cohabitate. Shortly after, Rosie, who has recently quit her job to pursue her dream of being a romance writer, comes up with a plan to go on a series of experimental dates to combat her horrible case of writer’s block and meet her impending deadline. When Lucas discovers Rosie’s plan, he volunteers to be Rosie’s “fake” date even though his time in America is temporary. The American Roommate Experiment is a contemporary rom com featuring the friends to lovers, forced proximity, there’s only one bed, and fake dating tropes. It deals with themes and topics such as change (e.g., career, lifestyle, geographic, physical abilities), imposter syndrome, mental health and self worth, family and companionship, and love and heartbreak. In addition to fans of The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas, The American Roommate Experiment would be perfect for fans of A Brush with Love by Mazey Eddings, Book Lovers by Emily Henry, By the Book by Jasmine Guillory, Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon, Hang the Moon by Alexandria Bellefleur, and Wait for It by Jenn McKinlay. I think that the moral of this story is that you should embrace change and know your own self worth.
Furthermore, I appreciated that the characters’ struggles (e.g., imposter syndrome, career-ending injuries, job/ lifestyle changes, writer’s block, self worth/ mental health) were very realistic and relatable. Having previously enjoyed The Spanish Love Deception, I loved how Lina and Aaron still played supporting roles in The American Roommate Experiment; I enjoy seeing what my favourite characters are up to post happily ever after!
On the downside, I found that The American Roommate Experiment was extremely slow to start; I was frustrated that it took so long for the plot to be set-up and the story to get going. Furthermore, I felt like some of the information at the beginning of the novel could have been compressed so that the rising action (the experimental dates) could have started sooner. Also, I personally didn’t see the need for Rosie’s brother’s storyline (it didn’t seem essential to the main storyline) and, even though Lucas was swoon-worthy and sweetly protective, I found some of the experimental dates to be overly cheesy for my tastes. I was also surprised that there was very little spice in Lucas and Rosie’s story despite there being a lot of mutual pining; the spice levels were like that of The Spanish Love Deception. Lastly, since Lucas lives in Spain and is only in New York temporarily, I disliked how there was a sense of impending doom throughout the novel because there was an ever-present time limit on Lucas and Rosie’s “experiment”. Overall, even though the plot was a slow to start, I enjoyed Lucas and Rosie’s sweet relationship and comical “fake” dates. If you enjoyed The Spanish Love Deception, you’re definitely going to want to read Lucas and Rosie’s story!
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February 2024
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