Roommate

Overall Grade: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Anyone who has entered Sarina Bowen’s True North series has met the baker at Zara and Audrey’s Busy Bean: Roderick. The accomplished and talented baker is responsible for their improvement in business and energy. With Sarina Bowen’s newest book, Roommate, we are treated to his story, and in the same vein as her Him and Us’s Wesmie or The Understatement of Years’s Rikker and Graham or even, Top Secret’s Keaton and Luke, we recognize quickly that not all LGBTQA+ couples are created the same. The prodigiousness of Sarina Bowen’s ability to craft diverse couples such as these, along with Roderick and Kieran’s coupleship in Roommate, is the reason that I keep coming back for more.Roommate follows Roderick, the baker for the Busy Bean, and his struggle to find a home, a place where he truly belongs. Having broken off an emotionally abusive relationship and returned home with the hope of acceptance by his parents, he finds out quickly that he is on his own. After struggling to find a job and a place to live initially, Roderick finds employment with the Busy Bean where he begins to find a place to belong. Still struggling to find a place to live, he is saved by his sullen co-worker, Kieran, who has recently begun renting Zara’s rental home. Believing that Kieran doesn’t like him, he is confused at first by this act, but he realizes quickly that there is more to Kieran. As the story unfolds, you find out quickly the reason for Kieran’s quietude.I think what I love most about Roommate is Bowen’s insistence on finding new spaces for her characters. Her wildly successful M/M duet Him and Us shows us one aspect of M/M romance with one character exploring the definition of his sexuality and the other exploring the depths of his ability to love, to do relationships. With her other stories, we find characters who deny themselves out of their worry over being judged in coming out of the closet. In Roommate, Bowen follows a bit of her formula where one character completely acknowledges and lives his sexuality, while the other is still trying to understand it. What I adore in this story is Kieran’s emphatic acceptance of being gay. His struggle isn’t with his sexuality; it’s in exploring the intimacy of relationships with anyone. There are distinct reasons for this in Roommate, reasons you should read the book to consider. Therefore, what Bowen has done in this story is identify a human failing, not one tied to one’s sexuality. To be fair, I haven’t read many other M/M books by diverse authors, so my knowledge is limited, but I appreciate the way that Bowen chalks up Kieran’s issues to familial shortcomings, not recognizing that his sexuality.Similarly, Roderick has been burned in his past. He has been closeted against his volition, so he too struggles with the intimacy of a relationship. He needs it to be out and proud to forgo feeling his insecurity. As his journey progresses, Bowen adeptly illustrates his acceptance of Kieran’s reasons for his silence. It takes some time and creates the tension of this story, but it’s so beautifully wrought that when the epiphany about Kieran is experienced, you fall apart a little feeling the hurts of these two men. For me, that is where the depth of emotion resides, and it deftly does its job as it tears at your heartstrings.And finally, many of the characters you love in the True North series are in this book. My favorite is Griffin. He shows his mettle so explicitly that, should you have any misgivings about him after his own story, it is completely erased in this one.There are so many layers to Roommate, ones that can only be experienced by throwing yourself into this book. I know it’s qualified as a gay romance or an LGBTQ romance, but there is so much more to this story. Sarina Bowen once again has shown how skilled she is at taking the human condition and applying it to the specific lives of people who look and feel and sound like us. In doing so, it connects our own emotions to the trials of her characters, drawing us in and helping us see how we can transcend our own humanness. In the end, Roommate leaves you believing that a life lived on your own terms is the most abundant life.

Compulsively reading goodness from one of my favorite authors! I was giddy, and positively beside myself with glee, at the prospect of another M/M book from Sarina Bowen, but also that it is also set in the True North world! And it did not disappoint! I simply devoured this...endearing characters, smart and funny dialogue, interesting storyline, with plenty of hot and sexy encounters. And that’s what Roommate had in spades.Kieran and Roderick were absolutely amazing. Their story was swoony and full of the confusion and sexy goodness of any new relationship. Albeit a story that was complicated, rife with drama and conflict, and I couldn't wait to see how it all would play out. This story is so well layered, with an enemies to lovers hate vibe. Family obligations, personal insecurities, strained riendships and a fierce, forbidden attraction all twist and turn into a story that is difficult to put down. I never wanted this story to end!!There is so much to love about this story... the brimming sexual tension and the witty banter, the heartfelt chemistry and the steamy secrecy. I adored these characters and I truly appreciate a story about characters coming into their own, discovering their true selves and finding their well deserved happily ever after following a road full of uncertainty and difficulty. This was a solid read and an absorbing love story. Filled with angst, heat, drama and laughs. Kieran and Roderick’s journey is not an easy one but love wins in the end. LOVED IT!!

ROOMMATE was ADORABLE!!!!This book is going to be a crowd pleaser.It was sweet. Touching. And had an absolutely adorable couple. I loved them both so much!!! And the story was just the right amount of sizzling and delicious. But most of all it was charming and sweet.All the things I loved about the book:• absolutely adorable couple• sweet and charming story• just the right amount of sizzling• wonderful supporting cast• great chemistry between the couple• well developed characters (loved the difference in personality between Roddy and Kieran)I think, most people will fall in love with Kieran and Roddy. It was a pleasure to see them come together. Also they matched so well in an opposite attract kind of way.Roddy is out of the closet, a happy guy, and loves to be around people. Being a baker is a way for him to please and charm people with his personality and the products he makes. He is outgoing and loves to talk. The very opposite to Kieran. And not surprisingly he has a lumberjack kink after meeting Kieran. Who wouldn’t?Kieran is this adorable, quiet and kind, former farm boy, now one delicious looking lumberjack Roddy can't keep his eyes off. Kieran is someone who has been thinking about his sexuality, but hasn’t had much time to explore it yet. Thanks to Roddy, he found the perfect partner.These two were charming as can be. Absolutely adorable. I swooned whenever they played house together. They meshed so well, and the chemistry and sparks were palpable.Also, get ready for some Shipley family action. They are by far my most favorite Vermont family :D

I'm not usually a fan of MM books but if I find more written the way Sarina has written this I might just become one! Roderick returns home when his relationship breaks down. His parents have never approved of him being gay and they turn him away. Having no place to stay he ends up sleeping in his car. His luck changes when he goes into a coffee shop and ends up with a job as a baker. His job brings him into contact with Kieran Shipley who is also gay but is still learning about himself and isn't ready to admit it. When Kieran discovers Roderick asleep in his car, he makes him come home and gives him the spare room. This book is one of growth, growth in learning about your true self and growth in finding your place in life. The story is not all plain sailing and before the guys find their HEA they go through some hardships that helps their journey. A great read that blew my mind away with just how perfectly imperfect the characters are!

I absolutely love Sarina and her books and Roommate was no exception.. what a fall into and not want to put down again until the very end story this is.It was so good to be back in Vermont this time getting the story of Keiran Shipley and how he is struggling with certain aspects in his life.. he wants things that nobody knows.. hes the quiet one of the family as he doesn't want to stand out... he just wants an easy time of things and that all changes with an old school acquaintance comes back to town and blows his socks off!Roderick comes heads back home after splitting with his current partner but not all is plain sailing when he realises his parents haven't changed... but what happens when he goes for a new job and sees someone from his past?Queue sparks.. fireworks.. and chemistry galore when these guys become roommates!Could read about this pair and all the Shipley clan all day long. Love them!

There’s nothing easier as a reader than falling in love with a Sarina Bowen read. The vulnerability of her characters, deep rooted sense of community and unshakeable love not only reinforce my penchant for romance books, but makes me fall deeper in love with it.Kieran joins the likes of Jude, DJ, Wes & Josh who are all tucked up safely in their corners of my heart. Yes, that’s horrendously cheesy, but each had an incredible resilience but commanded not only my empathy but respect.Reading is an escape more so now than ever and Roommate was a read that was sweet, heartwarming and a wonderful way to lose oneself for a few hours.

“𝘓𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺. 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳.” ⁣⁣Can I tell you how much I loved Roddy and Kieran? SO MUCH!! ⁣Gah!! I simply adore Sarina Bowen’s writing and as soon as I started 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐄 I just knew I never wanted it to end. The storyline was sweet, it was funny and oh boy, was it steamy; these two guys were like chalk and cheese, but together they were perfect. I definitely want to go and read the 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐇 series now because I want to find out more about those Shipleys.⁣I’m going to be adding this one to my list of favourite MM novels - next to 𝐓𝐎𝐏 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓 & 𝐇𝐈𝐌⁣⁣

This LGBTQ book details the relationship between two same sex characters who come together and find solace and love in each others company. Both Roderick Waites and Kieran Shipley have experienced family difficulties in their teenage years but now as adults they want to have more control over their lives. And be themselves.Yet, denials and long held secrets makes living difficult. Hiding your feelings and trying to please families and partners can also take it's toll. But what difference will having a real and trusting relationship make? Well read this story and find out...