I have some history with Elena Armas. I didn’t enjoy their debut novel, The Spanish Love Deception. It was a terrible book and, while I understand why it’s popular, I’ve read better romance. However, their writing is good and so is the concept for The Spanish Love Deception, so I wanted to give them another chance.

Enter The American Roommate Experiment. I sort of knew about it, but, at some point, I realized it was released, so I requested it from my library and waited until it was available. I was curious to see how their writing would improve and I’m happy to say I enjoyed this book a lot more.

Synopsis

After the ceiling fell in her apartment, Rosie moves to her best friend Catalina’s studio until it’s fixed. She doesn’t expect the arrival of Lucas, Catalina’s cousin to visit. After an incident where she mistakes him as someone attempting to break in and calling the police, she apologizes and they begin a friendship.

Rosie is struggling to write her second romance. In order to help her, Lucas agrees to an experiment where they go on dates to inspire her. Rosie has always had a crush on him, but she begins falling in love with him through these dates.

Lucas is running away from his own issues. He’s comfortable with Rosie and agrees to this experiment to help her achieve her dream. He’s immediately attracted to her, but love blossoms soon.

Unfortunately, they only have a few weeks together. What will they do after?

Book Information

Genre: Romance
Category: Adult
Explicit violence: No
Explicit sex: Yes
Content warnings I noticed: None
This is the second book in a series, but it can be read as a standalone.

Review

The prose is good. Very accessible and easy to read.

I really enjoyed the writing in this story. We get both Rosie and Lucas’s points of view. That’s one of the things I would have loved in The Spanish Love Deception. If you listen to the audiobook, you get two different narrators.

This is definitely instalove. It’s not my favorite trope, but this is not done terribly. It’s okay. The key to instalove is for the characters to have a lot of chemistry. It doesn’t make it a trope I love, but I can still enjoy the romance.

The pacing is good. It’s not too fast or too slow. It fits the story well.

There’s an interesting exploration on romance as a genre and the authors. How society perceives those who read romance. I think it could have been explored better, but it’s okay. I appreciate the attempt.

The characters are great. Very likable. They’re three-dimensional and very exciting to follow. Rosie is my favorite.

I love the family dynamics. I would have personally loved more scenes with family. We get some, but they’re very few.

Conclusion

Overall, I enjoyed this romance. It’s a lot better than The Spanish Love Deception. I’ll continue reading more books from this author. I rate it four stars.