When the man you have loved for years suddenly becomes your roommate…

Synopsis

Could there be room for attraction?

Hunter has secretly been in love with her best friend’s brother Dylan for years, despite barely registering as a blip on his radar. She’s not even in the friend zone—more like friend zone adjacent. But her luck is about to change: Dylan is taking over her spare room, and she’s being promoted to roommate. Could this be the moment Dylan finally notices her?

Not so fast. When Dylan moves in, he carries more than just boxes—he brings complications. Suddenly, the dream of living under the same roof turns into a daily struggle. Dylan is off-limits, for reasons Hunter couldn’t have anticipated, and the closer they get, the harder it becomes to ignore her feelings.

But Hunter’s determined to keep her heart in check—no matter how difficult the task. She just has toavoid ogling him in a towel. Definitely don’t imagine what’s under the towel. And try not to swoon when he bakes cookies.

But after he saves her from a terrible date and they’re forced to share a sofa bed at his parents’ house, her emotions reach a breaking point. She’ll have to either move on or move out. Will she tell him the truth—or lose him forever?

The Roommate Experiment is a roommates-to-lovers, forced proximity, STEMinist rom-com perfect for fans of Lynn Painter, Sarah Adams, and Abby Jimenez.

My review

Ever since Hunter laid her eyes on Dylan, her best friend’s brother, she has fallen in love with him, and that feeling never went away. But no matter how she felt or still feels about Dylan, she never showed it or tried to act upon her feelings. That is why, even years later, she is not even in the friend – zone but in the friend – zone adjacent. However, could there possibly finally be shift, now that Dylan is taking over the rooms that once were occupied by her best friends? Or are things getting more complicated for Hunter, as Dylan appears to be even more irresistible, when he appears in just a towel, or is baking delicious cookies? Because Hunter quickly realizes that Dylan is now even more off – limits than ever. So will she learn how to get over him, or will Dylan see what has been in front of him all along?

When I started reading this book, I already had a smile on my face, even before I have read one word of it. That is how much I love this author and her writing talents! I know that I will be totally swept away, even if I know absolutely nothing about the plotline at all! 😊

Now, I have to say, that the fact that Hunter has been in love with her best friend’s brother for years is something that I could relate to. Not that I am still secretly in love with one of my brother’s best friends, but when I was younger, let’s say that I easily blushed whenever one specific friend was around. Of course with growing up and realizing that that friend perhaps wasn’t as perfect as I imagined him to be, my “love” for him passed without any actual heartbreak.  😊

So I could easily imagine the agony Hunter is in, seeing the man of her dreams coming to live with her. And while perhaps it would be serendipity or Fate giving Hunter finally a shot, it is rather quickly clear that if there is going to be anything romantic going on between Hunter and Dylan, it is going to take a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time…

To go from friends to lovers is an easier step to take than the situation Hunter and Dylan are in at the start of the book. Yes, they have known each other for years, but it has been always rather platonic, just because Hunter is best friends with Nina, it doesn’t mean that Hunter and Dylan are friends. In the past, they have never had a discussion, talked about things that matter.

But Hunter bringing back old memories isn’t the only reason I truly liked her. She is an amazing person of course, and a wonderful, supportive friend too. But she is also a determined person. The job she is doing, is not an easy one, and it doesn’t help that her being a woman could possibly be something that is faced with prejudice, in these times still!

Yet she shows such a resilience, strength, she won’t allow to be backed down, or tricked into failure! Something truly admirable!

It angered me in a way, that there isn’t a place of peace for her. At home, she does her best to not be falling even deeper in love with Dylan, and tries to keep her distance. And at work it is not only a stressful moment, with a new task at hand, but like I said, she also has to fight against those who should have her back.

But on the other hand, it was funny to see her struggling to keep her calm, her cool around Dylan. And let me tell you, a man that can bake, is for sure scoring cookie point on my list! 😊

However… Dylan… Where do I start with him?

He is truly a nice guy, when you are in his circle you are *in* it. And it saddened me to see how in a way he is at loss when his best friend and his sister are moving in together. He sees the love between them, and genuinely wishes them all the best. But with relationships shifting, it is clear that he doesn’t know where he is standing in his own circle…

He may seem like the kind of guy that isn’t truly looking for a steady relationship. And the way he acts and feels around his new girlfriend, well, he wasn’t scoring points in that aspect. I am not only saying that because I was rooting for him and Hunter get together, but if you are not feeling it, it is fair on just keeping the pretence going.

Although, I must say that Olivia is for sure something… I am a very patient and understanding person, but even if she is just fictional, Olivia, especially towards the end, is able to push my very patient buttons… And that final revelation… I can understand it until a certain level, but that was just too much! Even if that made laugh out loud, just like it did make Dylan and Hunter laugh out loud too!😊

It was lovely reading how Hunter and Dylan are getting to know each other for real in this book. They are going from ‘acquaintances’ to roommates to close friends. Where they initially didn’t know a lot about each other, there is this easiness between them, a trust between them. A trust that makes them open up towards each other, telling things that only real close people know.

And that is the force of this book. Because Camilla takes her time for the main characters’ journey. Time that is needed, to show the importance of their growing bond, to show that this isn’t just a random insta – love but a slow – burning one.

There are books that I can easily devour. But what I did with this book, was the superlative of devouring. I just needed to read more about these wonderful people and their journey to a hopefully happily ever after.

Camilla Isley got to the essence of what love can is. She has done this previously, but even more so in this book!