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 in to 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.

A Novel

The Roommate Pact

Christina Farkona

“They say love drives out fear. That it brings light into darkness. As long as I have a choice, I’ll choose love and light and hope the power of that choice, and the person that comes with it, does the rest.”

“Do we ever know with absolute certainty if the decisions we make are the right ones in the long run? All I know to do is look at what I’ve gone through and where I am now and decide based on that information. I’m not psychic. I don’t know what I’ll feel next week, next month, or next year.”

For what it’s worth, I understand your choice. It doesn’t make it suck any less, because I don’t see myself coming back from this. Will I date other women? Sure, but the same way I dated women before I kissed you. I’ll never come close to giving another woman my heart.

Because even if you don’t want it, I’ll never get it back. It’s just following you around like a pathetic, lost puppy. Sort of like Gertrude that first week after I moved out. I really think she got attached to you.

“Sometimes love likes to mess with us and remind us we’re not the ones in control.”

”A ship is safe in the harbor, but that’s not what ships are made for.”

“That’s the thing about feelings. They don’t always need to be expressed. Some are just meant to be felt.”

He’d avoided both for so long, it was nice to know it was okay to just sit with them sometimes. Feel, observe, soak it in. Maybe share it, maybe not.

Seconds later, Graham was groaning into her hair, wondering if this thing with Claire might be the thing that healed him, or if he’d end up broken in even more pieces than before.

Pleasantly surprised by this book. Not my type of book AT ALL (not romantasy and i kind of got over my rom com phasetbh, very little smut) but I really liked this. The characters were cute and I really liked the story.  Plus the mmc was my ideal personally type so 🤷🏻‍♀️

Manda

this was a great book. i’m coming from 

 and i was already excited to read this one and i’m so happy it didn’t disappoint me. 

it was what i hoped it would be. these two characters were likeable and fun and i just enjoyed hanging out with them. 

their story was adorable and exciting and written beautifully. what i enjoyed a lot were the emails. it was a nice way to see through Graham’s eyes and explore his feelings with him. i looked forward to reading them and they got pretty touching towards the end. 

the MCs chemistry was pretty great and their conversations and interactions felt pretty real until the break up part. because throughout the book we don’t get frustrated with the lack of communication and misunderstanding but the breakup scene was definitely a huge contrast to all of that. even in the chats with her friend, Mia, everything was well communicated. and especially when she is coming to the rescue and the whole dialogue is super enlightening (although kind of unrealistic). 

the break up in general was excessive in my opinion. i cried and i didn’t see the point of it and it hurt me. 😔 especially the fact that it’s been so many months!!! like why ?? Claire has been stupid and annoying in the last chapters. 

anyway, i’m pretty satisfied with this book and i’d rate it higher if not for the third-person writing style and the breakup part being this way!

this was a great book. i’m coming from Would you rather and i was already excited to read this one and i’m so happy it didn’t disappoint me. 

it was what i hoped it would be. these two characters were likeable and fun and i just enjoyed hanging out with them. 

their story was adorable and exciting and written beautifully. what i enjoyed a lot were the emails. it was a nice way to see through Graham’s eyes and explore his feelings with him. i looked forward to reading them and they got pretty touching towards the end. 

the MCs chemistry was pretty great and their conversations and interactions felt pretty real until the break up part. because throughout the book we don’t get frustrated with the lack of communication and misunderstanding but the breakup scene was definitely a huge contrast to all of that. even in the chats with her friend, Mia, everything was well communicated. and especially when she is coming to the rescue and the whole dialogue is super enlightening (although kind of unrealistic). 

the break up in general was excessive in my opinion. i cried and i didn’t see the point of it and it hurt me. 😔 especially the fact that it’s been so many months!!! like why ?? Claire has been stupid and annoying in the last chapters. 

anyway, i’m pretty satisfied with this book and i’d rate it higher if not for the third-person writing style and the breakup part being this way!

Roommate Pact

I ate this book up in one sitting. I thought it was so much fun. I loved the banter between Claire and Graham. Claire was so outspoken and caring, and Graham was just the right amount of cocky but a cinnamon roll on the inside. He's very guarded at the start and a little emotionally stunted, and watching him open up and become vulnerable was so sweet. I understood Claire's reasoning behind not wanting a relationship with Graham, but it did get a little frustrating especially the whole third-act drama. I also thought that some of the dialogue felt stiff, and occasionally it felt like the emotional scenes were being glossed over. Other than that, I liked this a lot, and I can't wait to check out more from this author.

The Roommate Pact A Novel

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