Roommaid

I don\’t read (contemporary) romance novels. I don\’t mind a love story in books I read, but it\’s not a genre in itself I generally choose. But this seemed to be the First Reads book the first few reviewers were enjoying the most and I DO like comedy… So I chose a genre I normally would never pick first… I was rewarded with a surprisingly fun read. The book starts with dialogue. I love when books jump right into the action with a good conversation that introduces the reader immediately to the characters. Happily, the book alternates between lively conversation and fun 1st person narrative. I very rarely like when an author chooses to tell a story in 1st person. However it works in this case because the main character, Madison, is such a fun character and it reads almost like a very natural diary entry hashing out the day\’s events and emotions. Madison\’s instant and repeatedly mentioned attraction for the hero has the potential to be annoying but the book is redeemed by her self-deprecating humor and the fact that the characters are so likable. A little less talk of her attraction would have been nice, but then again, it very naturally follows the back and forth thought-process and self-doubt and electrical frissons when we fall in love with someone. The snappy dialogue and occasional fun situations save the book and make for a good escapism read. Despite being raised by a selfish, narcissistic family, somehow Madison is human in all the good ways. I liked some of the (very small) side stories, like how she helps one of her students. That could have been developed a little more. It follows a very predictable rom-com pattern of attraction, a few bumps in the road, things heading right way, a near mutual declaration, misunderstanding that threatens to separate the couple forever, and final happy ending. What this is: Unapologetic, over-the-top, attraction-at-first-sight, feel-good romance. What this is not: \”Trashy\” romance. I really dislike when main characters jump into bed with each other a few chapters in. This is contemporary, but a relatively clean, romance. That was refreshing. And much more romantic in my opinion. Who this is not for: if you are in the mood for deeper, more meaningful reading material, or prefer action over dialogue this won\’t be your cup of tea. Who may enjoy it: if you are looking for a quick, fun, feel-good read, and are willing to overlook how light and unabashedly, well, a romance, it is.

Madison is a trust fund kid who\’s been downgraded to one of the little people & is struggling to cope with living within her new, very lean means. Tyler is a really nice guy who is willing to let her stay at his place in exchange for keeping his dog company while he\’s traveling & his place clean. Madison gives it her best effort, but she has no clue what she\’s doing. Thank goodness, Tyler\’s not there to see, and the dog can\’t talk. The story kind of reminded me a little of that old Ally Sheedy movie \”Maid to Order\”, even though the plots are only similar in that they both have reverse cinderellas who are riches-to-rags disasters at house keeping. Happily, this book is *much* more amusing. Madison\’s mother would be the wicked stepmother in this fairytale, except that she\’s the biological original. She\’s tried to control Madison her whole life & now that Madison\’s rebelled, she\’s diabolically plotting on how to manipulate her daughter instead. Madison is a snarky, sassy trip, & Tyler is a Prince Charming who seems determined not to be hers. Of course the two of them will end up together – it wouldn\’t be a romance otherwise – but it\’s a fun, highly entertaining ride with some steamy clean moments to spice things up! * Romance level: passionate kisses, nothing graphic, lots of physical attraction & innuendo, but nothing raunchy & no language issues

She can’t cook, she can’t clean, she can’t find her way even with GPS, but can she find her way to a new life working as someone’s roommate/maid? I chose Roommaid as my September First Reads novel because a light romantic comedy seemed just the ticket to escape reality for a bit during this pandemic. It turns out Madison Huntington is working really hard to escape also: her family, her boyfriend, her life of privilege… Madison Huntington has lived her entire life surrounded by luxury, money, servants… Her family has neglected and despised her because she wasn’t the boy they wanted. They have told her what to do, what to study, who to marry, and all she has to do to have everything is to do nothing at all. But that’s not the way she rolls. When Madison announced she was going to be a teacher, they threw her out. Well, that didn’t stop them from continuing to tell her who to marry, how to live, etc. But Madison has other plans, and one of them – having her own apartment so she’ll quit driving her friend crazy – leads her to Tyler Roth, who needs a live-in dog sitter and housekeeper. She may have lied a bit about her qualifications (“I was so going to spend my eternity being the devil’s permanent houseguest.”) As usual, when an inept trust fund kiddo tries to learn to do everyday chores, hijinks ensue. But that’s not what makes this book special. Sariah Wilson has a way of winding truly funny moments around snippets of the human condition, of growing characters through adversity that we care about and root for. I don’t often read something that’s meant as straight romantic comedy, but Roommaid hit a sweet spot for me. It was truly sweet without sappy, poignant without pathos, and sass without snark. A quick, fun, uplifting read that never went too far with the romance, but just far enough. I’ll definitely be picking up other books by Sariah Wilson and see if they banish the doldrums as much as Roommaid did. Just a nice amount of fun and sunlight with bits of wisdom strewn along the way. And I have to love any author who creates a character who so understands how I feel about abstract art: “I don’t want to be that guy in the art museum, but I think this is . . . not all that impressive. If I’m being honest, it looks like the colors got drunk at a party, threw up, and then started procreating with the other colors in the room, creating color-spot babies and then they also threw up and this is the end result.”

Well, this read was not what I was expecting. Having read the blurb, I thought I might get a dose of Sophie Kinsella-like writing. However, it was too sickly, too sweet and the protagonist? Well, she annoyed the hell out of me. Madison, the main character, is irritating and naive. She is in her twenties and has been spoiled within an inch of her life. I thought Wilson would provide a comedic spin on her useless housework knowledge, but instead, I found my eyes rolling and not laughing at her errors. Not being able to clean in the slightest? Are you serious?! The errors that Madison makes were predictable; for example, when she starts baking, I knew exactly what the outcome would be. Such a shame, I thought there could have been scope for doing something a little bit different. The other thing that really grated with me was Madison\’s work. As a teacher, Wilson portrays a character who has extremely little work to do. She barely seems to have planning and marking to do, never appears to have to dedicate herself to a classroom, and, when she does have a \”difficult\” child, cannot navigate herself out of the situation. Knowing she is a new teacher to the classroom was acceptable, but I thought she would have had a bit of common-sense. Furthermore, it seems the school relishes in dumping rubbish, extra-curricular jobs onto newly qualified teachers, without any support or expectation that they still need to do their daily, classroom activities. All in all, it was considerably pushing the realms of reality and made this seem more like a fantasy fiction! Madison\’s mother is a complete snake. I actually enjoyed disliking her. Wilson appears to have created a cast of exaggerated characters (and story-line) in this novel and this is reflected in the old-fashioned, arranged marriage expectations. Madison does not feel able to stand-up to her parents and is incredibly submissive to their plans. Instead, she spends most of the novel deceiving both her family and Tyler, as a way of escaping confrontation. I was left feeling frustrated that she and Tyler did not get together soon enough, particularly as the signs were so obvious. Tyler is very sweet, albeit rather naive. He is portrayed as the \”perfect man\” and the relationship he has with his dog, Pigeon, is incredibly cute. Indeed, I thought it was a shame that he wanted to be with such a stupid and self-centred character like Madison! Surely, he could do better?! Wilson creates a twist at the end that was unexpected. There is a happy-ever-after so I think this will suit many readers who are looking for a piece of escape fiction. It was an ok read, but I had too many criticisms to make this more than an average book. A sweet, easy-going love story, it was pleasant but a bit too one-dimensional for my liking.

Madison Huntington\’s wealthy family disinherit her for following her dream of becoming a teacher. Determined to live her dreams and find independence, Madison forges ahead despite the shock of her teachers salary not even covering her usual hair care bill. Desperate to stop sleeping on her best friends couch and not willing to put up with cockroaches or a potential haunting, Madison agrees to be Tyler Roth\’s Roommaid. Free room in exchange for cleaning and dog sitting. Only problem is Madison hasn\’t cleaned a thing in her life! Hilarious sweet romance that had me laughing. Definitely recommend reading this.

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