by 
Title: Reluctant Roommates
Author: Tara Taylor Quinn
Genre: Contemporary romance
Trope: Forced Cohabitation
Trigger warnings: Off-page death of character. Off-page gun violence with on-page explicit description.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐/5
Format: E-book
Source: Netgalley
Blurb
He just inherited his family estate.
So did she.
Living with a total stranger for twelve months is the only way Weston Thomas can claim possession of his Georgia family mansion. If not, the place goes to the dogs—seven rescue pups being looked after by Paige Martinson, his co-owner, to be exact. West’s instant, unexpected attraction to the free-spirited ghostwriter comes with rules of engagement. But when chemistry deepens into more powerful emotions, is the accountant willing to bank on a future that was never in his long-term plans?
It is only right that I start this review with stating a little pet peeve of mine. I am not always hung up on details, but it is slightly annoying to find a word or phrase taken out of context and misused.
What I am about to say is not a final opinion and should not determine your enjoyment of the book—because, it wasn’t bad; but, more on that later—and this is MY pet peeve, because I couldn’t ignore it.
Statute of Limitation or the Limitation law.
Ever heard of them? Probably not. Unless you have a background in Law—which I do—, have binged Law and Order (or other Legal drama), or you enjoy legal thrillers.
A statute of limitation or the limitation law is a law that restricts the period within which legal proceedings can be initiated (by private individuals or body corporates).
This means that your case will be thrown out if you try to bring it up when the limitation period has elapsed. This is when you may hear lawyers or clients talk about claims being “statute barred” and what not.
So, Weston and Paige—the male and female protagonists—have joint ownership of a house and decide to draw up ground rules for interaction. And, in a bid to curb their attraction to each other, they agree to have a strictly sexual relationship.
Weston starts catching feelings and asks Paige about her ex-boyfriend one day and she goes bananas on his ass. She says he is intentionally disregarding the “statute of limitations” on their agreement.
Wow. Wow. I guess I don’t need to explain further why that was wrong on every level.
While I didn’t enjoy this book, I can see this being another person’s cup of tea.
I liked the house-sharing bit, but would have enjoyed it more if it was between two likeable characters. Under One Roof by Ali Hazelwood is one forced cohabitation book I really enjoyed.
I didn’t like Paige—she was too snarky and entirely too rude for a ghostwriter. She frequently backtracked on her own statements and was too unfeeling.
As for Weston, he would have done with some much needed development. He read like a cardboard character—on one side, a son; on the other, a very horny male.
The feelings, love, sex, and all the other mushy feelings came out of nowhere. One minute they were being snipy and frustrated with each other, and the next they were fighting a weird attraction—and, not in a “cute” way.
The writing felt hurried and I glossed over some sentences because of the over-explanation. Nothing was happening for the first half and it was only until they had sex (75%, I think) that I became interested in their story.
But, the story started going around 95% (I know, right??) and the love was so mushy and sweet. I loved how the protagonists seemed to feed off each other’s energy and healed each other in different ways.
Recommended:
1. You like cohabitation trope.
2. You like contemporary romance with medium steam.
