The Roommate Risk

The Midnight Heat Collection #2

by Talia Hibbert

From New York Times bestselling author Talia Hibbert comes an electric, domestic, roommates-to-lovers romance between a whirlwind party girl and her uptight best friend…

Jasmine Allen believes in bad luck, great wine, and the seductive power of a stiletto heel. What she doesn’t believe in is love. Her life is perfect without all that romance rubbish—until a plumbing disaster screws everything up and leaves Jas homeless. Luckily, she has someone to turn to: her best friend Rahul.

For seven years, Rahul Khan has followed three simple rules.
* Don’t touch Jasmine if you can help it.
* Don’t look at her arse in that skirt.
* And don’t ever—ever—tell her you love her.

He should’ve added another rule: Do not, under any circumstances, let Jas move into your house.

Now Rahul is living with the friend he can’t have, and it’s decimating his control. He knows their shared dinners aren’t dates, their late-night kisses are a mistake, and the tenderness in Jasmine’s gaze is only temporary. One wrong word could send his skittish best friend running.

So why is he tempted to risk it all?

This book was previously published as Wanna Bet?. The Roommate Risk is a steamy, standalone, diverse romance. This book is 75,000 words of fluff, angst, and extreme pleasure, with NO cliffhangers, NO cheating, and a guaranteed HEA. Please be aware: this story contains themes of parental neglect and abandonment, parental death, and alcohol dependence that could trigger certain audiences.

Genres: Romance, Friends To Lovers, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Audiobook, Adult, Fiction

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 21, 2018

About the author

Talia Hibbert is a New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author whose books are available in 15 languages.

Best known for her Brown Sisters series, Talia writes spicy, inclusive romance novels starring complicated characters who make readers feel seen. Talia's debut romantasy will hit shelves in Summer 2026.

A typically cantankerous Brit, Talia's hobbies include chugging cups of tea, eating too many biscuits, and complaining bitterly about the weather.

Reviews

[mina reads™️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was impeccable just fucking perfect
💖opposites attract
💖friends to lovers / mutual pining
💖rahul’s soft dom energy
💖the smut
💖 jasmine the messy queen 🥰
💖jasmine’s character development

[Mrinmayi]

Talia:In this book, I chose an Indian man as the love interest.
Mrin:


Talia: His name is Rahul tho...
Mrin:


There is nothing against any Rahul. BUT, I've said it before, and I'll say it again:
APART FROM RAJ/RAHUL/RAVI/RISHI, OTHER INDIAN NAMES FOR A MAN ARE AVAILABLE!!!!!!!!
I recall making a long list of names:
Aarav
Ansh
Vikrant
Fariq
Laksh
Kabir
(If you have any other names, please let me know!!) I'll include them in this list!!)
EDIT: My friend suested some names!!
Karan
Aditya
Abhishek
Ravi
Abhay
Sameer
Aakash
Suraj


(One of the reasons I despise the name Rahul*huffs*TEAM AMAN FOREVER!!!*)


YOU, ANJALI, are technically a cheater. (For those of you who are curious...THIS is the movie that triggered my cheating trigger SMH)

(Last thing: It depends on the Rahul...
I HATE the Rahul in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai BUT LOVE the one in K3G


(ID:Same energy..guy leaves inheritance and family for his love.We all deserve K3G Rahul!!)


*In the background, there are voices saying, "THIS IS A BOOK REVIEW." NOT THE PLACE TO RANT ABOUT THE MOVIES THAT HAVE TRAUMATIZED YOU*

But, in any case, I'm still going to read this book!!
WHY?!?! Because she's Talia, and I adore her!!! I know she can take a trope I despise and make me love it.

[chan ☆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

hard to rate this one because the audiobook experience was very much not it.

but i didn’t love this regardless. hero was great, heroine was the type of flighty/noncommittal that bugs me. and the friendship aspect seemed to be in name only idk. this was fine but not my favorite.

[emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

turns out there are reading slumps (and depressive episodes) even talia hibbert can't solve.

this is news to me!

this was not a bad book, but it felt so different from the brown sisters books as to be by a different author. i love that series and would die at its hand and this didn't have the same charm for me.

but really what does.

bottom line: i was a soulless demon before reading this book, and i stayed that way during and after!

[Warda · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ✨.

Can’t even begin to describe how full my heart feels. I’m in love with this story, these characters, their journey and Talia Hibbert.

[Najaé · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not going to lie to you I skimmed through majority of this book. Skimmed through the sex scenes and all. Was practically wanting to DNF 4% in because nonsense was happening off the bat. I just can’t for the life of me believe there’s chemistry between Jasmine and Rahul. Off the bat she takes advantage of him and continues to do so, to the point he comments on it several time. I.e. her loving to take control, “we do whatever you want, brat. Just like always” , “you command attention” well at least you’re self aware. This boy was a virgin who just adores Jasmine and within only being around him for whatever knows how long she pushes him onto the couch, takes off her panties and FINGERS HERSELF. They have sex with a condom, which is like “Did she plan to get him this damn day??” (If he had one I didn’t even read cause I was skimming). To then say either we friends or benefits (so he had no choice but to choose friends) which 10+ years later she’s GOING AGAINST HER OWN RULES!!

Sitting here reading flashbacks is giving me nothing. There’s like no genuine bond between them because every-time they talk it’s some sexual undertone. Rahul sees her for like 1 min and comparing her to Marilyn Monroe. They talk about their problems, and then it gets sidetracked with them talking about how hot the other is. Can y’all be serious for ONCE. JASMINE IS 28 AND STILL LACKS COMMUNICATION!! She giving her friend a whole prep talk about not being afraid and finally becoming official with her gf. While she’s playing the OPPOSITE tune for her own darn self. The constant flirting and names like “cupcake, brat, love” and then is confused when Rahul don’t know where they stand….. let’s be fr. Or her dumping Paul and then drunk trying to make moves on Rahul RIGHT AFTER and saying let’s be friends with benefits?? Can y’all TALK WITHOUT SEX.

Rahul was boring, easily gets walked on, waiting in the shadows for her to pick and choose him. There’s just nothing that sparks my attention from him or Jasmine. If it’s not Jasmine being distant it’s her making sex jokes — while he always tries to think of other things. How fast she realized she loved him was so anti climactic, because what even happened just now 😭. Asmita and the dad knowing how he feels about Jasmine but ain’t talk no sense into this girl is mind blogging to me. All it took was him finally asking her the million dollar question of “does that mean we’re dating” and she’s suddenly realizing she’s been in love or lemme rephrase it “been in love with him for years but probably didn’t even know” I probably wouldn’t even know y’all were best friends until you told me it because it just seemed like y’all were flirting friends for almost a decade.

[Shawnaci Schroeder · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

- This book was spicy and so full of tension!! The way he swooned over her had me swooning!! If you want to read a book where he falls first and harder you’ll love this one. Also love how he wasn’t experienced, but still rocked her world.
- The struggles she mentally worked through to open herself up to him were so realistic and relatable. If you’re someone that struggles opening up to those you love, you’ll really love this story.
- Truly loved this book and it’s definitely my favorite book that Talia Hibbert has written! So glad I picked it up!

[gloria .☆ﾟ. · Rating 5 out of 5]

➥ 4.5 Stars *:･ﾟ✧

Rahul slid his palm up the bare skin of her thigh, traversed the soft ripples of her flesh until he reached heaven. Grabbing one cheek, sinking his fingers into the ripe curve of her arse, actually made him moan against her lips. Fuck. He could feel the fabric of her knickers, cotton and unexpectedly plain and in his fucking way. He pushed as much aside as he could, and she laughed against his mouth.

"Just take them off," she whispered.

He shook his head, though he burned to do just that. "If there's something you want me to do," he murmured, "ask for it. Nicely."

He expected her to laugh or tell him to fuck off, and he knew exactly how he'd respond if she did. But Jas never did what he expected.

"Rahul," she said softly. "Take them off. Make me come. Kiss me until we fall asleep."

━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━

Ladies and gentlemen, Talia Hibbert has done it again. This book is severely underrated. I personally liked this book more than the first two books in the brown sisters trilogy. I've been dying for a good best friends to lovers romance after having read People We Meet on Vacation and let me tell you, this served. But with an extra sprinkle of friends with benefits too.

➥ Jasmine (h), not going to lie, I had a little of a love/hate relationship with her. She's snarky and funny just like all of Talia Hibbert's fmcs, but I felt she was a bit blind at times and honestly a little mean 😭. I mean, she had no shame in telling the guy that she was not interested in having a relationship with him after fucking him because she "doesn't fuck her friends". But, I was very pleased by the ending and her character development, she grovels (and I actually really enjoyed that) and did many things that needed to be done. She had a difficult past too: mommy issues.

For a moment, Rahul was quiet. Then he said, his amusement clear, "So you hunted me down using you A+ spying techniques to...what, seduce me in the library?"

A reluctant smile tilted her lips. "I suppose. I mean, I wanted to make sure you weren't an arsehole, so I could...you know. Shag you senseless."



➥ Rahul (H) is such a fucking cupcake. He's so sweet I could literally cry. Talia Hibbert always writes such lovely mmcs. Not an ounce of misogyny in him. He's so pure and kind and my little pumpkin, but also real hot too gah. There are a few moments where he was a little too masculine for my taste. Idk if that even makes sense, but sometimes he has his moments where he 'growls' or something and I'm like "who took away my sweetie pie. WHO!!". Regardless, he was such a delight. I loved how terribly weak in the knees he is for Jasmine.

"You think I'm too good to share a room?"

"Not exactly what I meant." But he couldn't stop the humour creeping into his voice. "You are kind of a princess though."

I really loved the setup for this book: Jasmine's room that she's renting gets flooded because of some pipe so she trots to Rahul's house to complain and he offers her to stay at his. While they're there, they can't resist each other so they jump each other's bones but also do some very lovey dovey shit that made me grin like an idiot.

Man, I have so much to say and a shit ton of commentary in my notes app but i'm too burnt out to write any more. Pretend what i said was fab. Maybe I'll finish this tomorrow 😭.

Heyy...it's way past tomorrow now 😻. Okay, so let's begin. I really enjoyed the side character sapphic representation and how it was treated like it was completely normal. Asmita is a pretty great side character in general too!

The romance in this was beautifully done. The second chance aspect was very believable as we see them interact with each other with such comfort and familiarity. I loved the friends-with-benefits situation too and how they couldn't keep there hands to themselves. Sometimes, with fwb romances, they can be quite icky because the mmcs is sometimes disrespectful or purely sexualises the fmc but that isn't the case here. As mentioned, Rahul is such a gentleman, always kind and caring while doing everything. Of course, he's hot too. Talia Hibbert executes wonderful but also sexy mmcs, flawlessly.

Her thighs were soft and rippled with stretch marks, like waves across an ocean’s surface. He was more than ready to drown.

I nearly cried when I read that. Another thing that the world has probably heard me rave about is the way that TH writes from the male perspective like no other. Some authors, in attempt to write in a masculine voice, write the mmc as these uncaring, tough, sex-driven brutes that swear in every sentence. Not TH. She injects her male perspective with admiration and tenderness and love, something that I struggle to find in straight books. I think this is truly revolutionary.

Another thing that I really appreciated, was how realistically Rahul was written. Sometimes I read books about men who have childhood trauma and just handle their emotions immaturely by lashing out, taking it out on the fmc, and dealing with it by being violent. But here, TH presents the mmcs so humanely, it's like a breath of fresh air. He cries, he struggles, he has emotions. And Jasmine validates him and cares for him in the same way he does for her.

I don't mean to sound like I pity men for not showing emotions, I don't. Most are misogynistic and only complain when the patriarchy bothers them and allows them to victimise themselves. But here, Rahul is always kind to Jasmine, he never sees her as a sexual object, he's never misogynistic and he's always so tender. Seriously, I think TH's books are such a great representation of what a healthy relationship dynamic is like. A dynamic that's like best friends and more, with mutual respect and adoration. Talia Hibbert excels like no other.

He raked his gaze over her, hunger in his eyes. “Look at you,” he whispered.

Rail me 🙏. The definition of hot and respectful. There was a sex scene at 50% that was like 25 pages long; one of the best I've ever read. It was so so good. Just because I like to complain, I maybe would have liked a few more explicit sex scenes during their friends-with-benefits situation; a couple of the scenes were fade-to-black :( *pout*.

However, it's important to note that they don't only have sex and fall in love. They also go out as friends. Jealousy is usually something I don't like because it reminds me of men being territorial over their objects and that's not something I find cute. But...the way that jealousy was done here was just delicious, and again, so tender and perfect. It seemed that, rather than him feeling a want for her to be his, he felt a want to be hers.

He reached the bar and tried not to glare at the guy. Instead, he put an arm around Jasmine’s waist and bent to kiss her cheek. It was barely a kiss at all, he told himself, just a brush of the lips. When he pulled away, he studied her face for signs that she didn’t agree. That she was freaking out or pissed. But all he saw was a little smile and a glowing gaze that seemed almost…pleased. He kissed her cheek, just because it was there. It occurred to him that he was probably kissing her too much, but she hadn’t complained yet.

There are so many perfect moments in this book. I could go on about them for ages. When he takes her shoes off for her when she's drunk? Countless moments, countless!!! When he takes her out to the carnival and...

Thankfully, she ended up choosing a pair of huge stuffed animals. They were each the size of an average ten-year-old. Rahul wondered how he was supposed to get them in the car—until Jas turned to him with a huge smile, her arms wrapped around each chipmunk’s neck. Then he decided he’d call the things a bloody taxi if necessary.

True fucking love. They literally fit together like puzzle pieces, perfect for each other. He loves her so much I could cry, the way he aches and itches to take care of her and make her smile makes me smile so fucking hard help.

There was a conflict at the end but...it was so well done? I never thought I'd say that about a third act conflict, but the redemption and groveling were perfect. There was an actual reason behind it and the apology was so good. I don't want to spoil it too much but I just love how mature our characters are; not in a serious way, but in a way that they're responsible when necessary. Something that I usually hate about conflicts is that we don't get any smut once they're back together - but once again, Talia Hibbert exceeds my expectations. I'll leave you with this:

“Behave.” He pressed a kiss to her head. “We should sleep.”

“I’m not tired.” Even though she’d been out half the night, and even though she had work tomorrow, she couldn’t just… go to sleep.

He trailed a hand over the length of her body, his palm following the curve of her hip, her thigh. “I’ll have to wear you out then.”

She snorted.

Rahul grinned. “You don’t think I can?”

Another small aspect I didn't love was the children in the epilogue. I think this is just a me thing because everyone seems to love the classic marriage and babies but well. There was a moment where he talks about wanting Jasmine to give birth to at least 10 and I just personally hate those jokes lolz, it's an ick to me. Also, the epilogue smut was fade-t0-black... unacceptable. Still!! This book is so incredibly underrated and definitely a new favourite of mine. Please try it out, and if you do, message me with your opinions as always <3

━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━

[K.J. Charles]

A thing of beauty. Absolutely lovely contemporary friends to lovers romance, with a fair bit of angst around Jasmine's intimacy issues, balanced by a ton of humour, love, friendship and adorable silliness.

Rahul has been in love with Jasmine forever but she's got serious unresolved abandonment problems and doesn't talk about stuff. (Does this sound like the man in many a romance?) Jasmine is sexually aggressive, unapologetic, determined, privately vulnerable, a bit of a mess but a fierce fighter for the people she loves and for people who need help. It takes her a while to get to the point of believing Rahul really cares for her, and she still screws it up, but this doesn't feel like artificial conflict, it absolutely arises from her character. Rahul is serious, focused, and just a bit too much in love for his own good. Watching these two sort themselves out for each other is a joy.

The thing that keeps bringing me back to romance and/or sends me running for the hills when it doesn't happen is, this is the genre in which fundamentally we can see how people can be and do better. (Which is why I don't tend to read dukes and billionaires, they're playing on easy.) Talia Hibbert's writing really has this. Her characters are far from perfect; they're flawed real people getting on, being snarky, scrabbling through life, and now and then finding depths of kindness and caring and openness and joy and magic in themselves and with others. /big satisfied sigh/

Also: completely diverse cast, casual bi rep, heroine with no boobs to speak of and big thighs and stretch marks, who also puts the booze away. Loved it.

[Carol, She's so Novel ꧁꧂ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've had a stressful few days, including not being able to get my internet hooked up (that always makes me twitchy!) so I thought I would turn to a light romance for some escapism.

Sigh. I'm a slow learner. I just don't enjoy contemporary romances any more, especially one that is twisting itself like a pretzel to make improbable motivations believable.

DNF at 26%

https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...

[Sonja · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best friends-to-lovers romance books I’ve ever read.

I loved this so much!! I think this might be my favourite Talia Hibbert book… Take a Hint, Dani Brown is objectively a better book though. If you love Dani’s book, I am 99% certain that you will love this one, too.

Reading this book made me really happy and just warmed my heart 🥺

❝She captivated him at completely inappropriate moments, for no reason he could discern—not necessarily when she was prettiest. Just when she was completely herself.❞

The Roommate Risk is everything a romance book should be. I’ve read so many traditionally-published books that are mediocre, I almost can’t believe that this book is self-published… It deserves to be exposed and promoted to a larger audience.

So far, I’ve read 13 books this year, and I only gave 2 of them 5 stars—both of which were written by Talia Hibbert. I think it’s safe to say that she’s become one of my all-time favourite authors. Her books are just everything to me.

❝He moved closer and took her hand. Just her hand. The contact shouldn’t flood him with this searing, soaring, flawless heat, shouldn’t feel like the path of a shooting star burning through the night sky. But it did.❞

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really cute friends to lovers romance, but it wasn't really anything special? I'm not sure how to feel about it. Rahul was so precious and just wanted to be there for Jasmine, so the final conflict that drove them apart was a bit frustrating. I did love that Rahul was the one who had always been in love with Jasmine but had settled for best friends so he could keep her in his life. This was a cute romance, and if you love Talia Hibbert, you should pick it up.

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I’ve mentioned in reviews before, I’m pretty new to the adult contemporary genre. It’s one that I never thought I would get into, but reading Talia’s A Girl Like Her a few weeks ago sold me on this author, and now I want to read everything she’s ever written (or ever will write). I can’t believe how addicting this story was, or how hard I was rooting for these characters, or how much the angst of the situation broke my heart.

She was like a river, forging its path through earth and stone; so soft, so fluid and seeming gentle, but powerful enough to mold the world to her will.

I think most of us have read books where a girl pined after her untouchable, promiscuous male best friend, but I’d never read a story that reversed the roles, and I loved it. The book starts off strong with a description of how they met in college, and how after a few weeks, Jasmine took Rahul home, slept with him, and then promptly forced him to choose: sex or friendship. Shockingly (to Jas), he chose friendship, and spent the next seven years trying desperately (and failing) to fall out of love with her.

Sometimes, she didn’t want to tease and laugh and flirt with anything that moved; sometimes she wanted to lash out. He understood that. He didn’t mind that.

It’s not always easy to read their interactions, because Jasmine can be so brutal in her attempts to block off any semblance of feelings or attachment to anyone—especially Rahul, the only person besides her father who she truly loves—but you can’t help but root for her anyways, especially knowing the trauma that has led her to this point.

He thought, Kiss me. Give me something, give me a reason, give me permission, and I’ll give you everything I have.

It’s also downright agonizing to watch Rahul pine after her, because he’s such a lovable character—truly one of the best “book boyfriends” I’ve ever seen in any contemporary novel, regardless of age range. He cares so much for her and wants nothing more than to keep her safe and happy, no matter how much it costs him. This book highlighted something that I love about Talia’s writing, too, which is that she writes the most fantastically feminist male leads, with not a hint of toxic masculinity or disrespect to be found. (Heads up, though—Rahul does get pretty bossy in the bedroom, but it’s very much in a lighthearted dom/sub way, not in an overly aggressive manner at all.)

Those were all the categories she had. He’d exhausted her options. But sometimes she thought that, if he asked, she’d build a whole new one, just for him.

This is a very angst-filled story for sure, with some heavy back stories for each character, but the sweet moments are frequent and totally precious. There’s probably more sex in this story than anything I’ve ever read, but I personally feel that Talia writes her sex scenes superbly, with the passion and emotions so tangible that sometimes I found myself tearing up during the sex scenes, and if that doesn’t tell you how sold I was on this couple, what would?

In the silence and the shadows, the brush of their lips felt like something holy. Like prayers whispered into the earth, like purifying flames.

The last thing I want to gush about is how gorgeously diverse Talia’s characters are! Jasmine is a plus-sized black woman, and she’s also queer—it’s not specified if she’s bisexual or pansexual, but there are numerous references to her taste in women and her experiences with them. Rahul comes from a Muslim father and a Hindu mother, and each character’s perspectives go to great lengths to describe how much they adore the other’s respective physical traits, whether it’s Rahul’s features and skin, or Jasmine’s weight and natural hair. I just love how much Talia’s writing celebrates characters who aren’t shoved into the boxes of “white, thin, cis-gendered, and straight” that so much of adult contemporary fixates on! On a side note, there’s also a super cute lesbian side couple.

She was everything. She was a hurricane.

Finally, on a darker note, I want to express that this book deals with some very heavy topics, such as alcohol dependency, parental neglect, death of a parent, and severe anxiety, so if any of these things trigger you, please proceed with caution! That said, if you’re looking for a fantastic, diverse adult contemporary, you really can’t go wrong with Talia Hibbert, and I strongly recommend giving Wanna Bet? a try!

[Jess Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cried. Rahul is the most amazing man. I cried.

[literarylesbian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Talia Hibbert never ceases to raise the bar when it comes to romance.

[myo ⋆｡˚ ❀ * · Rating 3 out of 5]

i read this book years ago but didn’t review it. i like talia hibbert a lot so decided to reread despite not enjoying it the first time. i wasn’t a fan of her when i first read this so i’m probably looking at this through a biased lens. i originally gave this book 2 stars, i can definitely see why because i’m not really much of a friend to lovers person. i think the angst and the pinning is so good but it’s just so boring. the angst was good so i’ll give it an extra star 🤭

[Mari · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved that this book tackled the idea of how strange it can be to invest yourself into one-sided love in a way that left the male hero an incomplete person. The central conflict here is that these two incomplete people weren't ready to be together in a healthy way and they work through that when they are forced into close quarters. It was such a fast read, entertaining and it tried to give us a good sense of both their friendship and their developing relationship.

[Syndi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Roommate Risk is just sexy. A whole lot of hot steamy sexy. I like it very much. After a very mundane reads lately, this book is like a refreshing water on my patch throat.

The chemistry between Rahul and Jas is hot. Miss Hibbert done a good job bringing a trope of roommate with benefit into the next level. Rahul is sweet. He is the sweetest hero who hopelesly in love with Jas for so many years.

Their journey to HEA is not easy one and certainly a wonderful read.

4 stars

[Bay · Rating 3 out of 5]

i’m learning one of my least favorite tropes is commitment-phobes

i felt like jasmine was infuriating for the majority of this book. i loved rahul, but jasmine’s constant urge to push him away got really tiresome. i almost wish i stopped reading before the autumn chapters, because i genuinely didn’t want them to be together.

[Sher✩･*˚⁺‧͙ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy the story like I thought I would, I didn't feel the connection with the characters like I uselessly do 😭 the tropes weren't hitting like could have. I literally skimmed the last chapters
This is my second book by Talia Hibbert and my last book I will read by her.

[alana ☁️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

if you loved The Brown Sisters series, then you'll probably enjoy this book too. it's very similar in structure, and Jasmine dan Rahul reminded me so much of Dani and Zaf.

Rahul has been in love with Jasmine for years, but she's got some serious commitment issues, so he always knew it was either the friend zone or nothing. but then a freak accident has them living together, and suddenly, things get... complicated. Rahul does his best to keep his feelings in check, while Jasmine tries to ignore her own feelings bubbling to the surface. how long will they be able to keep it up while living under the same roof?

from the very start, I was hooked, and it never let up. I fell so hard for both of them! Jasmine is kind of a hot mess but she is so loveable. and Rahul? he's an absolute dreamboat. he’s thoughtful, always so in tune with Jasmine, and instead of bombarding her with words, he shows his love through his actions. I was swooning over him the entire time. 🥺😍

their chemistry is off the charts, and I adored the tenderness and playfulness they have with each other. I’m not usually a fan of the friends to lovers trope, but this one totally won me over. highly, highly recommend.

[Ira · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

This author is quite young, she is only in her early 20s and she already wrote books with characters like these? She is definitely the one you need to watch!

So, what is this book all about?
The blurb give you lots of glimpses but I will write something simple here.

How many times did you read about friends to lovers storylines? Countless I bet!
Didn’t you just hated, when the popular guy spread his charm left and right, fucked hard and drink hard while his wonderful and intelligent best friend watching and secretly in love with him?
But of course the idiot didn’t even know about it.
Didn’t you just want to shout to the girl, stop being a doormat, move on and have a lots of date too?
And yeah, you just hated the story!!

Now, how about if the story in reverse?
How will you feel about that?

I couldn’t hate the girl, especially after reading the prologue but I couldn’t love the girl either!
This silly cow should wake up much earlier and stop being utterly clueless like this! 😠

And how about the guy? He is a bloody idiot, you think?
Well, he wasn’t a doormat, he just raise in a good and loving family.
His parents raised him to be a good man, study and work hard, be someone they can proud of, be better than his parents were and when their world fall apart, he will be the strong one.
Perhaps, that’s his flawed, he just too bloody perfect and the silly cow take it for granted!!
But it wouldn’t happen forever, will it?

Well, I let you read it, more angst here than A Girl Like Her, but you don’t need the tissues.
It just the sadness which lingers in the background 💔
But it’s a romance, you will get the HEA, and the road to get there is one delicious read.

❤️❤️❤️

[chichi · Rating 5 out of 5]

As is the case with all of Talia's books, this was excellent. Definitely the most angsty one I've read so far, more than Work for It imo. Both MCs were dealing with some real shit, and their traumas clearly showed both in Jasmine's abandonment issues and Rahul's control issues. Overall, they were both fully realized characters that came together in friends to lovers and forced proximity excellence. Rahul was down BAD, a perfect pining MMC. Should've expected this, Talia's MMCs never miss. Jasmine was definitely more of a work in progress but I couldn't help but root for her. I love a messy, emotionally guarded, competent FMC, what can I say? I loved that they both did some self-improvement after the 3rd act conflict, especially Rahul having to heal from years of one-sided love. Definitely convinced me that they were both entering the HEA in much better headspaces! Also, the sex scenes were great, but the last two had the emotional weight that made them shine. Just so good.

I went into this book bracing myself for Jasmine's commitment issues to annoy me. And while the 3rd act conflict definitely did...idk it was nothing I haven't seen a lot of male protagonists do in countless romance books? So I'm trying to sit with my annoyance lol bc it was handled pretty well all things considered. Wasn't out of character and her little confession at the end was sweet so. Idk. I will say, I'm usually an epilogue lover and the epilogue here left me feeling kinda flat.

So yeah, this was another case of Talia Hibbert cementing their place as one of my very few auto-read authors. Just consistently so good, I will read literally anything they write. Also, I love that Talia's in their romcom era but...idk this side of their writing with angst and more emotional tones is just so good😭 hope we'll get more of a mix in the future

[OnceUponAStorybook · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it but I also feel like all the flashback scenes weren't necessary.

[✩ Yaz ✩ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

“What do you want?”
“I want to call you mine.”

The Roomate Risk was an endearing and steamy romance of two best friends pining secretly for each other though my boy Rahul's entire personality and existence revolves around being in love with Jasmine.

What you can expect:

— Friends-to-Lovers
— Hero falls first
— Mutual pining
— Roommates (forced proximity)
— Opposites attract

I expected this to be at least a 4-star rating and was confident it wouldn't go below a 4, but the third act drama and Jasmine annoyed me.

I think the characters needed more layers to make them more interesting to me (that still doesn't change the fact that Rahul deserves the whole world).

Jasmine has commitment issues but I found her reactions towards her own feelings a tad unreasonable. The more I was in her head the more I disliked her.

But I have to give it to Talia, she serves immaculate spice on a golden platter.

Content warning: this book touches on grief and parental loss/neglect and includes graphic sexual scenes.

[TinaNoir · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy this author's writing and voice. She is definitely one of my favorite discoveries of the year. I liked this book ok. It has her trademark prickly heroine, all in love hero and some messed up family dynamics... all things that hit my sweet spot.

But I was not as in love with Jasmine, the heroine in this book, as I wanted to be. And while I don't need an alpha hero all the time, I felt Rahul felt a little too Beta for me.

I understand what the author was trying to do with the genesis of Jasmine's commitment issues, but I was not completely convinced by it so I spent much of book being exasperated by her and wanting Rahul, the hero, to do something other than just being in love with her.

**whispered aside** Man, I never thought I'd write that sentence in a romance novel review. Usually I am over the hero not being in love enough until the bitter end. **whispered aside**

[Melanie THEE Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has MCs who put in the work during their separation. We love to see it. I will always applaud people going to therapy in both real life and my romances!

The epilogue was also adorable. Give me more epilogues that are years into the future!

Jasmine and Rahul’s song (Jasmine’s POV) The Only Exception-Paramore

Rahul’s (POV) Unspoken-Hurts

[Fadwa]

CW: past parental abandonment, abandonment issues, on page sex

THIS BOOK MADE ME FEEL ALL THE FEELS BKFDLSQMSVMKGFDLSQ

- Best friends to benefits to lovers
- a bit of a forced roommate situation
- HE'S BEEN IN LOVE WITH HER FOR SEVEN YEARS!!!!
- flashbacks that give the relationship depth and context.

I've been sitting on reading this book for over a year now because as I was going through Talia Hibbert's backlist, I knew this one was gonna be one of my favorites of hers, and guess what? I was right!!

The way Rahul and Jas' relationship develops gives me love, how them ending up together seems inevitable, like something that they will stumble into eventually, when the timing is right. How they kept stumbling and teetering on the verge of *something* for years before it finally happened. And how even with confusing feelings at play, their friendship was just as important and never affected all those years. The chemistry between them was so obvious and effortless, the way they could just *exist* with and around each other, the little attentions, the dates, the sex, it was all SO GOOD.

I feel like the flashbacks were crucial as well, they provided context and backstory for their relationship, how things were between them through the years and how we got to present time. It added so much to the story and it was really smart addition, it made me root for them more because I knew their history and could buy into the sakes.

Jas is my pansexual queen!! I love her so much i could cry. She's so fun and funny, naturally flirty, craves intimacy but also keeps everyone at arm's length. Rahul is the only exception of course. And her father. She has MASSIVE abandonment issues, believes no one could love, anyone she loves will leave her and that she can't give people the love they deserve. And seeing her development, realizing she needs help and working through that was one of my favorite things about this book. I also loved Jas and how he had his own set of issues to work through independent of the relationship and how he put so much care into pushing Jas enough but not too far as to not freak her out. I honestly just love how deeply they care about each other outside of any romantic feelings!!

Also can we talk about how he's been in love with her for 7 years and never even hinted at it. Because wow.

[Capri’sBookIsland · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jasmine... Sister.. Seek therapy and please grow up. Lord.

This was a friends w/benefits to relationship..ish? Trope. The love interest Rahul was forgettable, timid, and basically let her stubborn ass run all over him 😬.. Not much to say on this one.

[DeannaReadsandSleeps · Rating 5 out of 5]

He got that dumb dick (that what) that dumb dick…and a really BIG HEART <3

-Hibbert, I’m obsessed with you
-Rahul, what a freakin CHAMP
-Jasmine, my sweet messy girl