I have had two previous experiences with Talia Hibbert’s writing, and that was when I read Get a Life, Chloe Brown, and her YA Debut, Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute. I thought Get a Life was okay, but I was more disappointed than anything. Highly Suspicious. However, I did enjoy it quite a bit. I even gave my copy to a few of my students to read throughout the school year.
I was a little nervous going into Hibbert’s Adult romance, The Roommate Risk, because of my other experience with her other adult romance. But once I started reading, I couldn’t stop.
The Roommate Risk is available at all major bookstores and retailers.
The Roommate Risk by Talia Hibbert
Published on April 21, 2018
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Spicy
Pages: 352
Format: ARC, eBook
Goodreads
Two best friends. Seven years of pining. One explosive summer…
Romance is weakness, and Jasmine Allen doesn’t have time for either. Lifelong cynic Jas is the queen of one-night things—until a plumbing disaster screws everything up and leaves her temporarily homeless. Luckily, she has someone to turn to: her best friend Rahul.
For seven years, Rahul Khan has followed three simple rules.
Don’t touch Jasmine if you can help it.
Don’t look at her arse in that skirt.
And don’t ever—ever—tell her you love her.
He should’ve added another rule: Do not, under any circumstances, let Jas move into your house.
Now Rahul is living with the friend he can’t have, and it’s decimating his control. He knows their shared dinners aren’t dates, their late-night kisses are a mistake, and the tenderness in Jasmine’s gaze is only temporary. One wrong word could send his skittish best friend running.
So why is he tempted to risk it all?
Spicy rating: 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶 (multiple open door spicy scenes)
Trigger Warnings: Death of a Parent, Abandonment, Death of parent, Abandonment from parent, Alcoholism
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Tropes
- forced proximity / roommates
- friends to lovers
- opposites attract
- mental health rep
The Roommate Risk follows two characters, Jasmine and Rahul, who have been best friends since they met in college (well, actually, since they had a steamy hookup!). Rahul has been in love with Jasmine for as long as he’s known her, but Jasmine does not believe in dating AT. ALL.
Several years later, Jasmine finds herself in a predicament: all of her belongings are flooded at her apartment, and she no longer has a place to stay. Enter Rahul, who lets Jasmine stay at his place while her room gets renovated.
The Writing
One of the reasons I didn’t like Get a Life, Chloe Brown was the writing style for the narrator. It very much could be a character choice, but it hindered the experience for me. But the writing style in The Roommate Risk?? A much better experience for me.
I really enjoyed the “Then” and “Now” timelines. When done right, they are one of my favorite writing styles. I thought the different timelines worked well together, and the flashbacks were essential to show how much these two adore each other. They were also essential in making me fall in love with Rahul, but we’ll get into that a little more later. I really think their friendship was well-established, and it added to Jasmine and Rahul’s future relationship.
The Roommate Risk is written in alternating third-person perspectives. This is not something that is accomplished easily, but I was never confused about whose perspective I was reading. It was a nice change after reading so many romances in first-person present.
Another positive of the writing was the spicy scenes. I have read a lot of spicy romances lately, and it has been a while since a book has made me make this face: 🥵 I did not keep track of how many open-door spicy scenes there were, but there were at least four. Honestly, if you really love reading smutty books, I’m going to have to demand you put this one on your TBR. It is WORTH it.
The Characters
I enjoyed Jasmine as a character. Initially, I did not think I was going to like her at all. She came off as very cold and arrogant, especially when she was complaining about her friend’s love life. However, it very quickly became clear that she was attempting to protect herself. She had some very real flaws that she had to work through, and I never felt like her feelings were invalid in any way.
But Rahul?? Now, he was the winner for me. I am not kidding when I say he PINES(!!!!) for Jasmine, and the entire time, I was swooning. I was complaining to my friend the other day that I haven’t read a book lately where a man was pining, and I definitely got my wish with this one. There were multiple points where I was literally kicking my feet with giddiness because I was in love with his character. He cares so much for Jasmine and will do anything for her to be happy, even if it means he isn’t able to be with her.
Both characters were dealing with previous trauma, shown through Jasmine’s abandonment issues and Rahul’s control issues. Jasmine was left by her mom when she was in high school, and Rahul has been dealing with the loss of his dad. I think they both tackled their issues in extremely healthy ways, which was nice to see. Talia Hibbert does a phenomenal job when it comes to writing mental health rep in her stories.
The Romance
I was a little nervous this was going to be an extremely slow burn at the beginning, just based on how some of the scenes were moving along. I love a slow burn, but not when it lasts the entire book (I’m mainly talking about when the two characters don’t even kiss for the first time until 85% of the book is done). Now, it is definitely a slow burn, but I think there was enough going on in the plot that it didn’t feel like it was dragging on.
Slight spoiler ahead: There is a third-act “breakup,” which is usually one of my romance pet peeves. I say “breakup” because they aren’t officially dating, but they’ve been sleeping together for a while. I think the separation is done in a way that makes a lot of sense. When I said earlier that the two characters start to cope with their mental health in healthy ways, the separation was a part of that.
Overall feels
If you couldn’t tell, I absolutely adored this book. It was a pleasant change from some other romances I have been reading recently. I definitely will be checking out more books from Talia Hibbert in the future.
Final Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Have you read any books from Talia Hibbert before? What is your favorite?