“The American Roommate Experiment” is perfect for readers in need of a new book boyfriend

Emma Foster

She/Her

Staff Writer

2/27/24

“The American Roommate Experiment”, by Elena Armas, is a 2022 Goodreads Choice Award winner romance novel that recently blew up on TikTok. 

The story follows Rosie Graham, an ex-engineer turned romance author, who is struggling to complete her next bestseller. When Rosie’s NYC apartment ceiling caves in, she moves into her best friend Lina’s apartment while she is on her honeymoon. 

Little did she know that Lina invited her handsome cousin Lucas to stay there while he was on vacation from Spain and neglected to warn Rosie. Rosie has harbored an internet crush on Lucas since she was unable to meet him at Lina’s wedding. Lucas has three weeks before he returns to Spain and Rosie has five weeks to write her next romance novel, through writer’s block. 

This novel has everything a hopeless romantic could ever want. I religiously read romance novels all throughout high school and Lucas is one of the few book boyfriends that made me never want to come back to the real world. 

He is the most protective and caring gentleman, while Rosie is shy and likes to rely on only herself. After Lucas volunteers to romanticize Rosie to get her writing spark back, they go on dates and slowly fall for each other, both of them too scared to admit it and face the scary reality. Written so we can view both povs of our protagonists, this book was captivating and I found myself not wanting to put it down. Lucas is the perfect, unrealistic book boyfriend who raises my standards and makes me forever jealous of Rosie Graham. 

If you love book boyfriends who give you IRL butterflies and a romance that steams off the pages, I highly recommend diving into the romance with Rosie and Lucas in this beautiful, heart-racing, love story.