Audiobook review: The Roommate by Rosie Danan
September TBR optional theme: Drama!
The Roommate brings the Drama! when an East Coast socialite and a West Coast porn star hook up.
Clara Wheaton surprises herself when she upends her entire life and moves to LA to live with her life-long crush Everett, hoping he’ll finally realize she’s the one for him. Except Everett dumps her on his front porch and goes on tour with his band, leaving Clara with a Craig’s List roommate, Josh. Ready to put her tail between her legs and go back home, Clara is surprised to find a job with her ostracized aunt.
Josh enjoys making adult entertainment and is trying to take charge of his career, but he’s stuck in a horrible contract with an even worse production company. Since he’s made his contracted quota of films, he decides to take a leave of absence from work. Thinking he’s not good enough for any other job, Josh gets excited by Clara’s proposal to create new sex-ed content for adults.
Clara constantly feels the weight of her family’s name and expectations. She promised her mom and herself she wouldn’t be someone who caused the family embarrassment, so she’s torn by her feelings for Josh. Josh never feels he’s good enough, so he tends to push people away before they can hurt him. Yet the pair realize as roommates, they are becoming friends. Josh helps Clara face her fears, such as driving a car, and gives her confidence to push for what she wants, rather than what is expected of her. And that goes both ways because Clara truly believes in Josh, allowing him to clear the cobwebs of self-doubt. However, it takes a lot of time for each individual to come to terms with their truths and what to do about it. There are plenty of scenes when neither is willing to admit their true feelings because of fear and doubt.
As Clara and Josh’s attraction turns from lust to real feelings, I was sucked in. I was all in. I needed them to confess their love and find their HEA. Both characters are full of so many emotions. Both are filled with baggage and defense mechanisms. It’s so satisfying when they realize that they are willing to go the extra mile for the person they love.
Narration: The Roommate is shared via the alternating third person POVs of Clara and Josh. Pressley performs with an upbeat and perky voice for Clara, which suits her personality. However, she can alter the tone to infuse darker emotions such as regret. Pressley successfully alters her voice based on character gender and persona. Hamilton uses a deep but not too deep, voice fitting for large man Josh. He can temper the performance, giving a softer edge to show Josh’s compassion. He also alters his voice for dialogue enough to indicate new characters, giving females a higher pitched tone.
In the end, the Drama! was worth it for Clara and Josh who find their way to a satisfactory HEA.
My Ratings
Story: B+
Narration: B+
Jen
About the Book:
House Rules:
Do your own dishes
Knock before entering the bathroom
Never look up your roommate online
The Wheatons are infamous among the east coast elite for their lack of impulse control, except for their daughter Clara. She’s the consummate socialite: over-achieving, well-mannered, predictable. But every Wheaton has their weakness. When Clara’s childhood crush invites her to move cross-country, the offer is too much to resist. Unfortunately, it’s also too good to be true.
After a bait-and-switch, Clara finds herself sharing a lease with a charming stranger. Josh might be a bit too perceptive—not to mention handsome—for comfort, but there’s a good chance he and Clara could have survived sharing a summer sublet if she hadn’t looked him up on the Internet…
Once she learns how Josh has made a name for himself, Clara realizes living with him might make her the Wheaton’s most scandalous story yet. His professional prowess inspires her to take tackling the stigma against female desire into her own hands. They may not agree on much, but Josh and Clara both believe women deserve better sex. What they decide to do about it will change both of their lives, and if they’re lucky, they’ll help everyone else get lucky too.
Author: Rosie Danan
Narrators: Brittany Pressley, Teddy Hamilton
Series: The Shameless series #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Audiobook Release Date: September 15, 2020
Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio
Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
Source: purchased
Audio Speed: 1.5x
Purchase info:
Audible/Amazon (affilate link)
