The Roommate Pact by Allison Ashley

All of the fun, none of the heartache…as long as they stick to the agreement.

The proposition is simple: if ER nurse Claire Harper and her roommate, firefighter Graham Scott, are still single by the time they’re forty, they’ll take the proverbial plunge together…as friends with benefits. Maybe it’s the wine, but in the moment, Claire figures the pact is a safe-enough deal, considering she hasn’t had much luck in love and he’s in no rush to settle down. Like, at all. Besides, there’s no way she could ever really fall for Graham and his thrill-seeking ways. Not after what happened to her father…

Just as things begin to heat up way before the proposed deadline, Graham’s injured in a serious rock-climbing accident—and he needs Claire’s help to heal. She’ll do whatever it takes to nurse him back to health…even if it means moving into Graham’s bed and putting up with his little dog who hates her. But with this no-strings arrangement taking a complicated turn, keeping “for now” from turning into “forever” isn’t as easy as they’d planned.

The Reason

I really, really needed something fun and lighthearted and came across this book. I also really love several romance tropes, and the “we’ll get married if we’re single at a certain age” trope is a favorite. I mean, there are several tropes in the book, but this was the one I knew about before going in.

The Characters

The two main MCs are Claire and Graham, and I love them both so much! Neither of them had any “quirks” that annoyed me, and they were both so sweet with each other; as friends, as roommates, as pact-mates, and more. They were just so great together and the chemistry was sizzling off the page!

My Thoughts

I loved that it was fun, but also mindful of difficult things that happen in life. I love that literally no one was toxic in this story; they both had wonderfully supportive friends, family, co-workers. There was no unnecessary drama (except for one very satisfying scene that wasn’t over-the-top drama). I loved their chemistry, the way they were there for each other in the ways they could be. I love the communication; the MCs with each other, and with their friends and family.

My Feels

What I loved most about this book was how demonstrative it was for loving the person who brings out the best in you, who loves you for who you are, who makes you love who you are when you’re with them. I think a lot of people put a lot of store into loving the other person in the relationship, but forget about loving themselves in the process. I think having a partner who makes you love the person you are when you’re with them is the most wonderful feeling, because I’ve been with partners who made me hate the person I was with them, and it’s not love if you’re miserable and hateful. I also love the lessons they both learn. Taking risks, both physically and emotionally, is necessarily if you truly want to live your life to the fullest.

My Rating

4/5 stars. I really enjoyed it and I loved all the characters. I believe there’s another book that features Claire and Graham’s friends, Mia and Noah, so I’m gonna get on that too.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?