Book Smart Kate

Book: 🌟🌟🌟 Spice: 🌶️

by Jules Barnard

Months ago, Elise was sleepwalking in her sister’s apartment and ended up in her roommate’s bed. That’s how she ended up having a one-night stand with Jack. Something she’s not proud of but can’t seem to forget despite not having seen him for months. So, when he shows up at the door of her should-probably-be-condemed apartment, she is shocked. Upon seeing her living conditions, he insists she move into his apartment, taking the room her sister left when she moved in with her now boyfriend (see: Landlord Wars). Unwilling to take something for nothing, Elise agrees to live there for one month while she looks for a new place in exchange for cooking a few dinners a week and doing the laundry. They have nothing in common; she is scraping by on the salary of a public health administrator; he is a billionaire with multiple companies. The only thing they have in common is a lack of interest in romantic relationships. Until they begin living together.

So, this is a cute book. It has some great side characters (Jack’s dad and Elise’s mom are excellent), and it is a solid rendition of the roommates-to-lovers trope. What drops it from a 4 to a 3 for me is that this whole “he’s a billionaire” trope feels wedged into the story unnecessarily and unrealistically. Although Jack is framed as a “reluctant billionaire,” I think it would have been a much better story without it. That being said, I think the characters themselves are delightful. It is an excellent mix of a book about relatives and found families.