Roommates With Benefits

by Cassie Cole

For my senior year of college, I’m renting a bedroom in a house with three other girls.
So it’s a huge shock when I move in and discover…
That my roommates are three swoony guys.
As if that wasn’t bad enough: I almost hooked up with two of them last night.

Riley, the tall, blond, viking of a man who plays for the Coastal California College baseball team.
Avery, the not-quite-a-stoner economics student whose chiseled body and discipline makes me rethink all the stereotypes.
Harper, the spectacled redhead who keeps his distance at first… but soon can’t help but flirt while helping me study for my astronomy class.

We’re trying to make the best of a crazy situation.
But as the semester goes on, they’re too much of a distraction for me.
Especially when we stop being just roommates and become… something different.
Can the four of us focus during exam week and finish college on a high note?
Or will our sizzling mutual attraction be our downfall?

ROOMMATES WITH BENEFITS is a sizzling Reverse Harem Romance full of flirty college fun and sizzling romance. HEA guaranteed!

Genres: Romance, Why Choose, College, Sports, Contemporary, Forced Proximity, Friends To Lovers

355 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 4, 2023

About the author

Cassie Cole is a romance author living in Norfolk, Virginia. A polygamist/polyamorist at heart, she thinks Romance is best when served in threes, fours, and fives!

Reviews

[Ꮗ€♫◗☿ ❤️ ilikebooksbest.com ❤️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

More sex than story!



The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💙🖤💚❤️
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌍
Character development: 😔😃😤🥰

The heroine: Leslie - though she is a senior at Coastal California College, she was supposed to live in the dorm this year. However, a week before school is supposed to start, she is notified that they don’t have a place for her. So, she goes to craig’s list and finds an apartment to share with three other girls. The night before moving into the house, she goes to a frat party and ends up hooking up with a guy, but before it gets anywhere, the cops break up the party.

The Heroes: Harper, Riley and Avery - they are sharing a house near campus and have one more room for rent.
Harper - He is quiet and kind of nerdy, but a very nice guy who is majoring in Astronomy. When their girlfriend Jess broke up with them and moved away, he was hurt the most.
Riley - he is going to school for environmental sciences and was a pitcher on the baseball team. He was hit in the head with a line drive last season and is wary of getting back into the game.
Avery - he recently broke up with the girl he’d been dating for a while, though the relationship had been on the rocks all summer. He is studying to be an accountant because he’s good with numbers.

The Story: When Leslie finds out that her three girl roommates are actually guys and one was the guy she was crushing on the night before, she is not too happy about her situation. However, the guys promise not to flirt with her, and they agree to be roommates, nothing else. Though the attraction between Leslie and Riley is still there and it isn’t long before they become more than just roommates.

Cassie Cole has a thing about nearly always having a ginger being one of the three guys in her reverse harem romances. I have a pet peeve about how many redheads are in romance novels. Though they never do call them redheads unless it is the heroine. They say the Hero has deep auburn hair or strawberry blonde hair. Though we all know they really mean he is a ginger. Luckily there are plenty of good-looking guys that fit the bill.

The guys already had a relationship in the past where they shared a girl. But they thought it was a once in a lifetime situation until all of them become enamored with Leslie. Each of the guys has their own distinct interests and personalities, which I really liked, and the character building was terrific. They were all fully fleshed out characters with strengths and problems. Leslie was a fun girl, though she was definitely focused on studying hard to make it through her senior year. I liked that she was so free and open about her body and sexuality.

This was quite a steamy one. Most of the Cassie Cole reverse harem romances I have read so far have had as much, if not more story than intimate scenes. However, this one definitely has more sex than story. Though, like I said earlier, each of the characters has their own issues they are dealing with. It was still a very good book, just not as good as some of Cassie Cole’s other stories.

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[Eve · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

This was decent!! I enjoyed it for the most part but did find it a tad lacking in charm. I liked our characters most of the time, but I never loved them. Not to mention some of the weird shit that was said. In the beginning there was so odd stuff said about Gay people and later on I felt like we saw a lot of internalised misogyny which I would have preferred to not see. Plus, Leslie handled things really badly and in a way that made absolutely no sense during the main conflict of the book. Other than that, this was an easy read to pass the time.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.7 ⭐️

thought it would be funny to read this

i disliked it 😂

[kymagirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leslie (h) is surprised to find that her new roommates are three men, one of whom she nearly hooked-up with the night before she moved in. The three college friends, Riley, Avery, and Harper are all very different from one another, but as Leslie gets to know them all, she finds herself attracted to each of them. Prior to Leslie moving in, Harper had gotten Avery and Riley to agree to keep things platonic with their new roommate given how a previous polyamorous relationship ended badly for them, but rules are made to be broken and things heat up quickly between Leslie and each of the men. She soon finds it difficult to balance her studies and her three secret relationships until things reach a breaking point. Ultra-hot and steamy RH romance with plenty of relationship angst and drama. Riley, Avery, and Harper were really strong in their own ways and were really caring in their treatment of Leslie, though I was a little disappointed in her somewhat immature way of handling stressful situations in her life and was glad when she finally git her head screwed on straight.

[Claire Letnic · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐️ - NGL… the beginning of the book was enjoyable but for whatever reason, the plot felt like it fell off after all parties were informed, for lack of a better vague-ish description.

It felt very superficial. It also felt rushed. There were parts that were just odd and from out of left field (not an intentional pun given one of the MMC’s is a baseball player).

I really liked the beginning where we got a look into how the FMC operates and a significantly more vague look into her men. But then the last 1/4 or so of the book felt like her relatability, which drew me in to begin with, was replaced with an insecure air head.

[Opinionated · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written 'Why Choose' romance

A lot of steam in this college reverse harem story.
A mix up with student housing sees Leslie renting a room off Craigslist. What could possibly go wrong?

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to give this book 5 stars, but I found Leslie incredibly annoying and her obsession with Jess drove me crazy. The guys were amazing and each very different and likable, and they saved this book for me. Otherwise I’d have given it 3 stars.

[Kate McDougall Sackler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have come up with an alternate title for this 📖book: “How I Became A Sports Psychologist: Getting my brain filled with education while getting all my holes filled with dicks”. Oops, spoiler alert.
Recreational Anger reading challenge -Halls of Anger:a 📖book set in school

[Mulan Book Princess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was such a steamy and fun book. Leslie mistakenly moves in with three guys - Harper, Riley and Avery. She doesn’t have a choice as school is starting but figures it might be okay. Leslie is attracted to these guys and they to her, but try to resist. As their chemistry implodes, secrets start to pile up until they blow up. I found this novel entertaining and loved how supportive their friends and family were.

I received a free advance reader copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving my fair and honest review.

[Aly M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

not the best

I’ve read a couple of books by this author and they are pretty good, light reads. This one however, really fell short. I will say my least favorite trope is lack of communication and this was huge in this book. If you enjoy that trope, then you might enjoy this book more than I did. I think this story had a lot of potential but it was filled with way too many communication and continuity issues.
***Spoilers:
First was how much Jess was talked about. It really felt like they were way too hung up on her. The fact they wanted another female roommate didn’t make sense. Also, knowing how much they were hurt by her, made Leslie’s actions really lame.
Also, how did she not know she was bombing all of her classes?? Then blames the guys and takes off? Strange. She then switches her story and says she left and blew them off because she thought they would be mad? They had already for over her for keeping secrets right before she got her grades and yelled at them for it being their fault. Why would they ever keep pining for her after a month of being blown off?
For being someone who was studying to be a psychologist, she wasn’t very reflective. There was also the fact that she was sleeping with each of them but didn’t want to tell them because she felt they should tell each other? Also a bizarre choice.

[Isabel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars!
I liked most of this book. I loved her natural chemistry with Riley, I loved their scene at the party and how he helped her escape. I loved when they finally gave into their attraction. I loved Avery, and his jokes and his pot. I loved their interactions when he was making his smoothies after his run. I loved them high together. And their whole "it's not actually sex" scenes. I loved Harper so much, he was probably my favorite. I loved how he helped her study and I loved his dry sense of humor. My favorite scene was when he accidentally ate the pot brownies. I loved that scene at the restaurant, and their tacobell date after, and their cuddling.
Now I had to take off a star because I hated that most of the hooking up was done behind everyone's back. It kind of felt to me like she was not exactly playing them, but it just seemed sketchy that she was fucking all three of them and they didn't know. To me a RH romance means that they all know about it and want it. And then she went and ghosted them like an asshole running away from what she did. They weren't even mad at her, and she just left and moved out without them knowing.
The .5 I took off was purely for there only being like 3 group scenes! I wanted more lol

[Camilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

La verità è che attendevo di leggere questo libro fin da quando vidi il suggerimento su Kindle Unlimited, poi con il fatto che non era stato ancora tradotto in italiano, ho dovuto attendere finora. E devo dirlo, probabilmente mi aspettavo di più.
Leslie è la protagonista di questo menage, studentessa all'ultimo anno di college e pronta a diventare una psicologa di grido, ma per un'incomprensione con la segreteria dell'istituto scolastico si ritrova a cercare un appartamento nel più breve tempo possibile. Trova tre giovani ragazze pronte ad ospitarla ma quando trova tre ragazzi di fronte a sé, il dubbio che sia uno scherzo è il meglio che può pensare... ed invece! Da una piccola incomprensione, prende vita questa storia che si sviluppa principalmente a livello individuale, tra Leslie e i vari personaggi maschili, le dinamiche sono fin da subito ben chiare, tuttavia il fatto che Leslie tenga nascosto inizialmente il rapporto con i vari ragazzi mi fa storcere appena il naso.
Mi spiace che le dinamiche di gruppo si limitino a non più di una o due scene, ma nonostante questo la scrittura della Cole è sempre una certezza nei reverse harem.
Intrigante, leggero, ma sempre con quel brio e quell'essere frizzante che intrattiene il lettore!
Cinque stelline!

[ChristiLovesBooks_smut · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good!

Roommates With Benefits by Cassie Cole & @cassiecoleromance is one of my go-to authors when I want smut with a good plot book. Lauren (fake ID) aka Leslie meets Riley (fake ID) & Avery at a college party & the cops get called. Leslie gets away. They had made plans to meet at the convenience store but Riley gets busted by the cops so he doesn't make it. Leslie is moving into her new house with 3 female roommates... Except they aren't women but Riley, Avery & Harper are three men! Riley & Leslie start to secretly have sex. Then Avery & Leslien sneak around having sex. Harper is helping Leslie with astronomy since that is his major & Leslie needs help. Leslie & Harper have sex after getting to know one another. Grades are posted & Leslie fails 2 of her psychology (major) classes. She is upset with herself & the guys. The guys for “distracting” her. She moves out so she can concentrate on school. But she doesn't discuss it with the guys, just leaves. 😔 They make up about a month later, and Leslie moves back in & they start to openly see each other. They fall in love with each other. 🥰 This was good!

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just okay. Not bad, not great, but good. I have a love/hate relationship with Cassie's RH books, but I keep reading them because each one of them has at least something intriguing about them.

This book had big "New Girl but in college" vibes. Leslie thinks she's moving in with three girls, but it's actually three guys with ambiguous names. They've shared a girlfriend before and it didn't work out, so they make a pact not to hit on their new roommate. That didn't work out.

Things I liked - the relationship between the guys, the chemistry in each relationship, the pot brownie at a restaurant scene, and the way Leslie has trouble handling 3 different relationships (I feel like most why choose skip over how much time you need to commit to having multiple lovers)

Things I didn't like - Leslie secretly sleeping with all of them and not telling them, the lack of group scenes, the weird reason Avery hangs out with the sorority, and Leslie blaming all of her problems on the guys.

I think this quadrouple has the chops to go the distance, but if Cassie wrote a sequel, I wouldn't want to read it.

Song - Rocketman

[Miriam · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the worst why choose I've ever read. This book was already done for me when the FMC turned out to be mysogynistic af but it def was done when one of the boys said Max Verstappen is punchable. Also, she only called her friend when it was convenient for her and also objectified her and every other woman in this book (She literally decided she didn't like one girl bc of her "giant melons" tf?). Her personality was the size of a pea and as bad as the choices (and jokes) she made in this damn book. Another thing, this book fucking romanticised getting high. She ate brownies like some snack. And wdym he got out a telescope and showed the Jupiter and Uranus and stuff?? Also the writing style of this book, don't get me started. Like what in the wattpad was that, I just wanted to read a cute romace, instead I got her boning everyone separate, not knowing of each other, until the last like 30 pages. And the spice was not even good 💀 I could go on and on abt this book, honestly

[Lux · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely ate this book up, and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a college based reverse harem.

This book follows a psychology major, Leslie, and her 3 roommates. They all differ massively and has every type of person you would want in a harem!

I absolutely loved this book! It contains lots of smut, and at the beginning, until near the end, it's mostly individual. In addition, it was quite a slow burn for the harem to come together and had a lot of them being high the entire time, which was interesting. I won't say much, but Harpers scene made me laugh.

Although, this book had me with a lot of second hand embarrassment and I couldn't help but cringing away at some parts. However, overall it was a good book.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Krysana Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

God was this book bad. I literally cannot think on one single thing about it that was good, I kept reading hoping something would happen.

The FMC is the absolute worst, her pov chapters were so bad. All she thinks about constantly is sex, is incredibly misogynistic against other women and treat the MMC SO BAD. She kept constantly bringing their ex up when she knew they were uncomfortable talking about her and then the constant attempts to pressure one of the MMC into sleeping with her when he was dealing with some things was gross. And then when her grades got bad because SHE decided to slack off to constantly have sex she took it out on them like it was their fault???

There was zero chemistry between the characters which was confusing because the first little bit before she moved into the house and met two of them they had great chemistry!!

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cassie is my favorite RH author but this one didn't draw me in like the rest. I really liked Leslie, she was a great heroine. The only reason I didn't like this book as much was because of the connection she had with Riley. The connection that Leslie and Riley have as soon as they met was so wonderful and strong. I think this would have been better written as a "K.T. Quinn" book with just them in it. The wit and sense of humor they shared really drew me in as a couple. After reading her interactions with the other two roommates I ending up skimming until her and Riley were together again. I didn't feel like she really had a connection with the other two. I would suggest this book just for the relationship between Riley and Leslie alone.

[JLH · Rating 3 out of 5]

A college theme storyline of female character losing her housing and needing a place for her senior year. I get how Leslie, Riley, Avery, and Harper are thought to be females since they are unisex names. Storyline decent. The reverse harem is the good read stories with this author. I like the adult ones like the Navy Seals and the Nanny ones she's created. This one seemed slightly off with the female learning how to handle the men who had experiences this kind of arrangement before. Love the personalities of the guys and their separate yet united front to entice the female. It's college life. 3.5 stars.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Micheala Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Cassie Cole’s books. This one I gave a 3 star instead of higher because it wasn’t as intense for me as some of her other books like The Inheritance or Nanny for the Mercenaries. It was still really good though. One thing I love about her characters are the relationships between them and the real feelings that are there that people experience in real life.
I kind of wish there were more, not necessarily drama, but extended intense scenes. Like when Harper takes Leslie to look at the stars and planets. I would have like to read more in that scene. Cassie did a great job adding to the college experience as well and you can tell she did her research.
Overall it was great though and can’t wait to finish the rest of Cassie Cole’s books.

[Libri_e_recensioni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sinceramente non so se questo romanzo mi sia piaciuto o meno perché tutto sommato è stata una lettura carina ma l'ho trovata molto piatta e senza una storia forte di base. Sicuramente qualcuno di voi penserà " eh ma che ti vuoi aspettare da libri con menagè", ma vi assicuro che ne ho letti tanti e alcuni hanno una trama davvero avvincente. Qui abbiamo 4 ragazzi che vanno al collage quindi vediamo feste, momenti di studio e poi tanti approcci ma singolarmente ed anche questo è stato un problema. Io adoro i menage ma ogni protagonista deve esserne a conoscenza a priori mentre qui Leslie sta con ognuno di loro a insaputa degli altri e per me questo diventa tradimento e non condivisione.
Detto ciò è stata una lettura carina ma non indimenticabile.
Il mio voto è 🌟🌟🌟

[Vicci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but repetitive

** Some potential spoilers **


The story was good, great spice, and well written humor that had me giggling. However, there were definitely a lot of repeating points. Example: In 1 chapter, Leslie talks about being able to balance her studies and having 3 boyfriends. But then 3 chapters later, says the exact same point as before.

Sometimes, the repeating didn't take away from the story, but other times, it was distracting. Example: there would be talk of trying something new in the bedroom, and they would do it. But then a couple of chapters later, the same people are talking about not having done the same thing before and want to try something new when they literally just did it.

Overall good, but just repetitive.

[Judy Gittleson Hendrickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bryce, Liam and Pax need to find a nanny for Bryces son Oliver. Veronica needs a job and just as they are interviewing, COVID hits and everything on the east coast stops. They are at the cabin on the lake and become fairly isolated. Overprotective of Oliver, they sterilize everything and what they do to the groceries is fun. Entertaining how she gets to know each one individually and sparks fly all over the place. Loved the different personalities and strengths each one has, which brings a lot to the book. Definitely found their family in each other. Terrific ending.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Raecharmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Leslie needs a place to live while she finishes college, she signs up to be a roommate to three other people. However, she thought they would be women and they are all very sexy men. Riley, Avery and Harper make a rule not to flirt with her. However, its not long before things get complicated between them all. Will it be a temporary thing between them all?

This is a steamy story that will hook you in the first chapter. This is a well written and very entertaining story. Its a book that any book lover would enjoy.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Kecha Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

All she wanted to do was go out and have a good time. But then she ran into someone who she could hook up with and vibe. However, she didn't realize when she was signing up for a place off campus but so near, that she was going to be roommates with three guys. Even thought they fought hard not to be with each other, she got to know each of them on a personal level and in so many more ways. Once things hit the fan she does what normal people in her situation would do. Run home to not have to deal with everything. But in the end she knows what she wants and so do they and they work it out and have a HEA.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great! It had a smart female main character and 3 funny, witty male main characters that were charming and endearing. I love "why choose" books and this one was no exception. The book was a slow enough burn to keep you interested and spicy enough to be worth the wait. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and thought the author did a wonderful job developing the characters and making their relationship(s) work together perfectly! This was my first Cassie Cole book, but it certainly won't be my last!

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I volunteered to read this ARC for an honest review. I enjoyed this story about Leslie, Riley, Avery, and Harper. The guys are roommates and Leslie will be their new roommate this semester. She thinks she's living with three other girls but gets a little surprise when she meets the guys. The have serious chemistry but try to fight it for the sake of being roommates. But when they break the rules, everything changes.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Tesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book!
Leslie badly needed a place to live in her 3rd year of college and mistakenly moved in to share a house with three hot guys, Harper, Riley and Avery. Definitely not girls.
The guys were fun and all so different. Their personalities shine through making this story a good one to read. Have to admit I wasn't all that enthused to start it but was involve pretty quickly.
Great mix of characters and enough action to propel the story along too. Great story!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC from the author and am voluntarily leaving my review. This rh is about Leslie, Riley, Avery, and Harper. College can be a rough time for some, not so much for others. These four end up becoming roommates and so much more. Their story begins with misconceptions, but Leslie follows thru because she didn't have a lot of choices. It was a good story, maybe not one of my favorites of Cassie's, but still a good one. The characters were fun, had their struggles but still build a working relationship together

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leslie loses her housing in the dorms and finds a room with three new roommates. Riley, Avery and Harper have lived together for years and decide to get a female roommate after their last was a slob. Sparks fly and things heat up but each guy gets her to promise to keep their relationship a secret. Secrets get exposed and feelings get hurt. Super steamy RH romance with good character development and decent plot.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.