Rosie Graham has a problem. A few, actually. She just quit her well paid job to focus on her secret career as a romance writer. She hasn’t told her family and now has terrible writer’s block. Then, the ceiling of her New York apartment literally crumbles on her. Luckily she has her best friend Lina’s spare key while she’s out of town. But Rosie doesn’t know that Lina has already lent her apartment to her cousin Lucas, who Rosie has been stalking—for lack of a better word—on Instagram for the last few months. Lucas seems intent on coming to her rescue like a Spanish knight in shining armor. Only this one strolls around the place in a towel, has a distracting grin, and an irresistible accent. Oh, and he cooks.

Lucas offers to let Rosie stay with him, at least until she can find some affordable temporary housing. And then he proposes an outrageous experiment to bring back her literary muse and meet her deadline: He’ll take her on a series of experimental dates meant to jump-start her romantic inspiration. Rosie has nothing to lose. Her silly, online crush is totally under control—but Lucas’s time in New York has an expiration date, and six weeks may not be enough, for either her or her deadline.

Review

After reading The Spanish Love Deception, this was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I’ve been counting it down. I’ve heard mixed feelings about The American Roommate Experiment however, I was determined to read it, and was so sure that I would enjoy it.

I was very wrong, and it pains me to admit that. Let’s start with the basics. It’s a sequel to The Spanish Love Deception; a book that I enjoyed so much that I have three copies of. This book was to be centered around Lina’s best friend, Rosie, and her cousin, Lucas. It was supposed to be giving roommates, and friends to lovers. Which yay! Two tropes if done well make me sworn.

Unfortunately, this is not the case here. This book felt like the author was provided a list of tropes to check off and a few buzz quotes that’ll go viral on tiktok. It felt like overkill; and they failed at setting up a cohesive and well-developed romance. There were sweet moments that are almost forgettable now. But those moments were few, and the only thing I remember feeling from this book the majority of the time is boredom.

Lucas and Rosie were likable characters and were fast friends. Which is fine. But then we run into the issue of why is this book so slow burn if they already knew they liked each other and had been openly flirting since day one? It seems a little pointless. There were really no obstacles about them being together. And when they got together, there wasn’t this grand moment of joy.

Final Thoughts

The American Roommate Experiment introduces too many tropes and not enough substances to make them feel entertaining nor is able to develop and sustain a memorable romance.