Roomies

4⭐️/ 1-2🌶️Holland was fascinated about the mysteriously handsome guitarist she saw every couple of days when she took the subway. Over the past few months, hearing and seeing him play, Holland wondered who this man was and would she ever gain the courage to speak to him? The one day that Holland and as she later learned his name, Calvin, briefly spoke it then turned into a horrible situation where a random drunk man pushed Holland onto the subway train tracks! What was suppose to be a magical moment between her and her crush, Calvin ended on a not so great moment. That was just the beginning of the story, but later on even more things occurred from Holland getting Calvin an audition with her notable well known composer uncle on Broadway to… MARRIAGE??? A story with an unexpected marriage of convenience, sure sounds like my cup of tea! Woo!Never did it come to mind for Holland to propose a marriage of convenience with her crush, a.k.a. Calvin, but I guess when things call for drastic measures, it proved to be the only option. Holland had always seen Calvin perform on the subway platform and found him both intriguing and amazing. The fact that Calvin somehow got the opportunity to audition in front of some well known industry people in Broadway was a big deal for him, but with his visa having expired four years ago, it proved difficult for Calvin to accept the job. Until, Holland took it upon herself to ask Calvin to marry her! Umm, ok totally unexpected and yet… it seemed like Calvin was all aboard for Holland’s plan.Holland was a sweet and kind person, she was an aspiring writer, but with no idea what to write about or what to do next in life, she wasn’t sure what to do next. Holland was thankful that her uncle Robert, got her a job at the theater where he worked, and while it was essentially a job created for her, Holland made sure to give it her all because, she didn’t want to let uncle Robert down. I could relate to Holland’s need to give back to her uncles and how they supported her, she didn’t want to lose the chance to give back to them and possibly save her uncle’s career. In addition, to wanting to help her uncle, Holland was also glad to help Calvin as well, it provided the opportunity that Calvin could have only dreamt about. Plus, it wasn’t exactly a hardship for Holland to get married to her devastatingly handsome crush haha. No complaints aside from the potential fear of the truth behind their so called marriage being revealed. All in all, Holland was prepared to walk down the aisle and marry Calvin, as they say, “ I Do”.Holland and Calvin were in an unexpected situation they never could have imagined, but despite that, they not only made the best of it, they also started forming a lovely relationship… I mean, a lovely marriage. Little by little, Holland and Calvin started to become more comfortable around each other, and with the time they spent trying to learn everything and anything about one another (for the interview), it also provided them the time to dig deep into the kind of people they were. The romance was a gradual build up where it went from Holland and Calvin going from strangers, to friends to lovers. There was definitely chemistry that grew more as the story progressed and while it was made aware to us that Holland liked Calvin, even just the way Calvin spoke and acted around Holland, I got the gist that he was feeling the same way (liked her) about her too.You know once the true feelings are out in the open it officially goes from marriage of convenience to YUP WE’RE MARRIED & IN LOVE! WOO! Like all those times that Calvin called Holland, “Mo Stóirín”, which meant, “my little darling”…. THAT WAS THE CUTEST, MOST SENTIMENTAL NICKNAME EVER! (Sniff) dang I wanna be called that! The romance between Holland and Calvin was sweet, loving, and later became passionate!This was a lovely spin on a marriage of convenience with the story being set in New York, combining the world of Broadway, music, and love. Holland and Calvin got married in an attempt to help Calvin get his dream job and help Holland’s uncle. The story was more focused on seeing the challenges that Holland and Calvin were faced with once they were married and all that it entailed. I liked both Holland and Calvin, but I felt like there was something missing that would have given it the extra oomph in their story. I still loved the story regardless, but I had higher hopes. I was glad to see Holland taking the time to work on herself before fully getting back with Calvin. There were some things I liked and didn’t about this book, but it didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of this story. Holland and Calvin were sweet together and I did love seeing their story unfold. The marriage of convenience trope was lovely, the romance was great as well, would have loved to have seen an epilogue showing what else happened with Holland and Calvin, but regardless I was overall happy with the outcome of the story.

A marriage of convenience to a brilliant musician? Why not, if it’s to ensure that he stays in the US and can perform in your uncle’s Broadway play? It’s the perfect basis for a great book, with many layers of plots to entertain. I loved this book with just a couple of reservations, that I will disclose later on.Holland is fascinated with this busker guitarist in a subway stop. For months she’s been stalking him, making unnecessary trips just to pass by the station and listen to him perform. One day she gathers her courage to leave him a tip and praise his music and when he raises his face and looks at her, she’s hooked even more. With green eyes, beautiful face and virtuoso music coming from his fingers, he’s her dream crush, nicknamed Jack for lack of more information.Holland is the six child in her parent’s marriage, and as such she was sort of lost in the children shuffle. Her mother’s youngest brother Seth and his husband Robert fell in love with the baby and decided to help raise her. They had a close hand in her upbringing and they are now her favorite persons in the world. Likewise, she’s the daughter they always wanted to have. Her uncle Jeff is a financial analyst and her uncle Robert is a musical prodigy and composes musical plays. They moved to New York so Robert could fulfill his dream job, writing and directing a musical play. Holland followed them and they are helping pay for her apartment and found her a job. She works at her uncle Robert’s theatre and when the principal violinist has a tantrum and leaves the show, she knows just the person to fill that position, her busker crush guitarist. She drags her uncle to listen to him play and the cast on “Jack’s” future is cast.Jack, whose real name is Calvin, aces the audition but there is one obstacle: he’s an illegal immigrant. Then Holland has the brilliant idea to enable him to stay and work: get married. Calvin is Irish, with a lovely accent, lovely body and beautiful face. He’s such a brilliant guitarist that Holland feels the compulsion to help both her uncle and Calvin. Living with such a hottie and nice person would not be a chore. So she makes the crazy proposition to Calvin and he accepts because performing in Robert’s play is his life ambition.This marriage starts as a convenience marriage but then it turns into so much more. As their feelings deepen, and their marriage turns into a real marriage, Holland is assailed with so many feelings. She sees her uncles achieve success in life, and she sees Calvin finally doing what he was born to do, and she suddenly starts questioning her place in their life. As her uncle Jeff said once: “she sees herself as a supporting character, even in her own life story”. She has an MFA in writing and she used to write all the time, it was as necessary as breathing. But after she graduated, her creativity left her, and she felt like she was just existing, being a witness to other’s lives. Also, she has doubts about Calvin’s feelings, and several instances where the past intervenes increase that uncertainty.There’s not a lot of sex, thank you authors, but there’s lots of feelings, heartfelt and warmhearted. I loved Holland’s relation with her uncles and even more their love and devotion to their niece. Even though Robert is her uncle by marriage, he’s the one she identifies more with, because even though she’s not a musician, she lives music, understands it and loves it. She’s generous, loves to help, and is insecure about her place in life. Calvin is a bit more obscure as a character. He’s lovely with Holland, and prodigiously talented, a Juilliard graduate, and very grateful to Holland and her uncle for the opportunity. Some of his actions leave a lot to be desired, and thus one questions if he’s feeling gratitude and lust, or real love. And this is where I have one reservation. If there had been chapters with his POV, the reader could have a better understanding about his thoughts and feelings. My other reservation was that the end came suddenly and I was expecting an epilogue. I wanted to see what was done about Lulu, who was supposed to be Holland’s best friend but was sometimes her worst enemy. But these were small reservations and the whole of the book was fabulous, entertaining, riveting, at times hilarious, and all over fantastic.

After powering through "Dating You, Hating You", this book required a bit of a mental shift. We're in NYC and in solo first-person POV from Holland. She was practically raised by her Uncle Jeff and his Broadway genius husband Robert, and she's now floundering in life. Then her crush on a subway guitarist takes a sharp turn into Romance Land.Overall, I did enjoy the romantic fantasy of this story. It helped that Irish is my favorite accent, I love stringed instruments, and know that Immigration is a nightmare.I also totally empathize with Holland staying with what's easy and comfortable, accepting help from family, while being scared to try her dream. Writing is HARD. Creativity of any kind is hard and it was interesting to see those struggles play out in her relationship with Calvin.Okay, I didn't love the name Calvin but naming him Sean or Patrick would be too stereotypical so I got over it. He is incredibly sexy and sweet so I swooned along with Holland. A bit of a slow burn but they get SPICY in that apartment.Some of the conflicts, Lulu's role in everything, and the pacing made me keep off one star. Not my favorite or least favorite CL book, but still very entertaining!

“Will anything ever be permanent? What the hell am I doing with my life? I only get one shot at this, and right now, I’m finding my value only in being valuable to others. How do I find value for me? “Roomies had me swooning, laughing and completely falling in love. It was totally unputdownable, I spent an entire day getting lost in it. It was a well needed reminder that it’s okay to not have everything figured out and that sometimes you outgrow friends and that’s okay too. Always love yourself first.The vibrant description of the music made this book even better, I will never listen to music the same way again. Robert and Jeff’s characters were absolutely fantastic!! I need those kind of uncles in my life.💫Read if you like•NYC setting•Subway artists•Broadway•Marriage of convenience•Irish Accents•Witty banter•A slow burn“I catch a sight of bare ass and find religion.”

De momento me ha gustado todos los libros que he leído de ellas ❤️

Roomies é uma excelente leitura, que diverte e conquista o leitor desde os primeiros capitulos! Uma lovestory moderna, cheia de reviravoltas, com personagens interessantes e envolventes, em uma cidade icônica, sonho de consumo de todo jovem determinado e destemido. Calvin é talentoso e batalhador. Holland é sonhadora e romantica. A estória dos dois é comovente porque eles vão se descobrindo aos poucos e o sentimento que os unirá vai se forjar com a conivência e com o amor que ambos nutrem pela música. Recomendo o livro por seu enredo, seus personagens e seu retrato da cena cultural e teatral de Nova Iorque, uma das cidades mais fascinantes do planeta!

A cute...sweet and fun rom-com. A story that never let the romance overshadow the plot... Holland's journey to find her passion while helping her crush land his dream job.

Fue un libro divertido, lindo y directo.Me gusto bastante y siempre me tenía sonriendo con respecto a algo. Vale la pena para pasar el rato.