REVIEW: "Roomies" by Christina Lauren (Contemporary Romance)

ROOMIES by Christina Lauren
	Publisher: Gallery Books Genre: Contemporary Romance Publication Date: December 5th 2017 Standalone: Yes
Categories:
Stuck With You, Fake Dating
Other Books by Christina Lauren
Description from Publisher:
From subway to Broadway to happily ever after. Modern love in all its thrill, hilarity, and uncertainty has never been so compulsively readable as in New York Times bestselling author Christina Lauren’s romantic novel. Marriages of convenience are so...inconvenient. For months Holland Bakker has invented excuses to descend into the subway station near her apartment, drawn to the captivating music performed by her street musician crush. Lacking the nerve to actually talk to the gorgeous stranger, fate steps in one night in the form of a drunken attacker. Calvin Mcloughlin rescues her, but quickly disappears when the police start asking questions. Using the only resource she has to pay the brilliant musician back, Holland gets Calvin an audition with her uncle, Broadway’s hottest musical director. When the tryout goes better than even Holland could have imagined, Calvin is set for a great entry into Broadway—until his reason for disappearing earlier becomes clear: he’s in the country illegally, his student visa having expired years ago. Seeing that her uncle needs Calvin as much as Calvin needs him, a wild idea takes hold of her. Impulsively, she marries the Irishman, her infatuation a secret only to him. As their relationship evolves and Calvin becomes the darling of Broadway—in the middle of the theatrics and the acting-not-acting—will Holland and Calvin to realize that they both stopped pretending a long time ago?
My Rating:	Heat Rating:
This was amazing. The characters were so incredibly well written, the chemistry and love so visceral... I was so invested in this that I stayed up all night (which I may regret a bit when my kids wake me in a few hours!). I loved Holland, and Calvin, and the uncles. The way Lulu was written. The misunderstandings, the music, writing, all of it. The emotions were palpable and I was seriously enraptured by it!
My Source: I borrowed this book from the local public library to voluntarily review. This in no way influenced my review. My opinion is unbiased and 100% my own.

About the Author:
Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners/besties/soulmates/brain-twins Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The coauthor duo writes both Young Adult and Adult Fiction, and together has produced fourteen New York Times bestselling novels. Their books have been translated into 30+ languages. (Some of these books have kissing. Some of these books have A LOT of kissing.)

REVIEW: "So That Got Weird" by Amelia Kingston (New Adult, Romance)

SO, THAT GOT WEIRD by Amelia Kingston
	Publisher: Totally Bound Publishing Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance Publication Date: December 24th 2019 Series: So Far, So Good, #1 Standalone: Yes
Categories:
Sex Lessons, Introverted Female, Borrowed Time, Finding Yourself, Heavy Subjects (Family), Virgin & Player
Other Books by Amelia Kingston
So Far, So Good, #2 So Far, So Good, #3
Description from Publisher:
A painfully awkward love story. Incomprehensibly awkward Elizabeth Wilde is desperate for love. Connection. Intimacy. After a lifetime of romantic failures, the twenty-one-year-old gamer realizes she needs help. Professional help. She needs… A sex tutor. The devastatingly hot jock Austin Jacobs is just the man for the job. As the reigning campus sex god, he has the playboy act down pat. But underneath those six-pack abs beats a broken heart. He doesn’t trust people and he sure as hell doesn’t believe in love. The odd couple strike a deal. Four weeks of ‘tutoring’ for five thousand dollars. When Austin coaxes Elizabeth out from behind her computer screen, the attraction they feel is undeniable. They’re both a little broken, but somehow their jagged edges fit. And when their world comes tumbling down on top of them, they each have to decide if this weird thing called love is worth fighting for. Reader advisory: This book includes references to inadequate parenting, parental death, a parent with addiction. There are also scenes including the use of performance drugs.
My Rating:	Heat Rating:
This gripped me. Like, read it all in one sitting and stayed up all night, gripped me. I immediately liked Elizabeth, with all of her naive awkwardness. She was the perfect "duckling" to become a swan. Her transformation over the course of this was really a pleasure. Austin was another strong character, and I adored him from his first smirk. His humor, vulnerability, and how much he CARED made him a really wonderful character. Suffice it to say, these two together were an amazing push and pull, tear apart and build up and up and up that had me laughing, crying, and cheering. And that's not even acknowledging their chemistry!! They were intense and light, and I loved them together. The best way I have heard love described was "You make each other better," and that felt true for this couple. There was a lot to unpack here, much more than just Elizabeth being a virgin and Austin a stud. Imperfect blood relatives were a heavy theme, blended with "the family you choose" beautifully. Supporting characters were present without taking any of the focus off of Austin or Elizabeth. I really loved how this wasn't a step-by-step "lessons" book, as the virgin student trope often is. The fact that their relationship naturally progressed, as though Elizabeth wasn't awkward or inexperienced, felt much more like a genuine situation, and sold her transformation and their sincere interest in one-another that much more.
My Source: I bought this to voluntarily review. This in no way influenced my review. My opinion is unbiased and 100% my own.

About the Author: Amelia Kingston
Amelia Kingston is many things, the most interesting of which are probably California girl, writer, traveler, and dog mom. She survives on chocolate, coffee, wine, and sarcasm. Not necessarily in that order. BR> She’s been blessed with a patient husband who’s embraced her nomad ways and traveled with her to over 30 countries across 5 continents (I’m coming for you next, Antarctica!). She’s also been cursed with an impatient (although admittedly adorable) terrier who pouts when her dinner is 5 minutes late. She writes about strong, stubborn, flawed women and the men who can't help but love them. Her irreverent books aim to be silly and fun with the occasional storm cloud to remind us to appreciate the sunny days. As a hopeless romantic, her favorite stories are the ones that remind us all that while love is rarely perfect, it’s always worth chasing.