Kate’s Review: “My Roommate Is a Vampire”

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Book: “My Roommate Is a Vampire” by Jenna Levine

Publishing Info: Berkley, August 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: True love is at stake in this charming, debut romantic comedy.

Cassie Greenberg loves being an artist, but it’s a tough way to make a living. On the brink of eviction, she’s desperate when she finds a too-good-to-be-true apartment in a beautiful Chicago neighborhood. Cassie knows there has to be a catch—only someone with a secret to hide would rent out a room for that price.

Of course, her new roommate Frederick J. Fitzwilliam is far from normal. He sleeps all day, is out at night on business, and talks like he walked out of a regency romance novel. He also leaves Cassie heart-melting notes around the apartment, cares about her art, and asks about her day. And he doesn’t look half bad shirtless, on the rare occasions they’re both home and awake. But when Cassie finds bags of blood in the fridge that definitely weren’t there earlier, Frederick has to come clean…

Cassie’s sexy new roommate is a vampire. And he has a proposition for her.

Review: I have made something of a tradition on this blog in that the past few Decembers I have reviewed a book that isn’t really within my genres. Namely, I have read and reviewed a romance novel every December, sometimes attempting to make it peripheral to my genres that I usually take on on the blog (actually, three out of four have achieved that, with “The Love Hypothesis” being the exception because I basically said FUCK IT I LOVE IT TOO MUCH TO NOT REVIEW IT!). And this year I decided that it was going to be annual, because I stumbled upon “My Roommate Is a Vampire” by Jenna Levine. Like, come on! I really like vampires, and I like fluffy slow burn romance books. I am admittedly very picky about vampire fiction, especially when romance in involved, but I decided to throw caution to the wind because this one looked like it didn’t REALLY take itself super seriously. So I dove in, hoping for the best, and hoping my pickiness wouldn’t be out in full force. And right away, I realized two things. One, it was definitely going to be fun. And two, like my blogging partner and dear friend Serena before me, I had stumbled into a repurposed Reylo fanfiction.

But given that I loved “The Love Hypothesis” and Serena enjoyed “The Hurricane Wars”, it’s probably not so shocking that I did enjoy “My Roommate Is a Vampire”. What can I say, Reylo fanfic writers haven’t let me down yet!

In terms of a story overall, “My Roommate Is a Vampire” is exactly what you think it’s going to be based on the cheeky title and the adorable cover. Cassie is a struggling artist desperate for a new apartment after being served an eviction notice, and stumbles upon a Craigslist ad that offers a room in a nice place for two hundred a month. She meets her new roommate, Frederick J Fitzwilliam, and while he seems a bit… odd, he’s nice enough and just a titch awkward. Soon she finds out that he’s a vampire (a benign one, however), and their odd couple roommate situation starts to evolve into something more as they become close. It’s fluffy, it’s straightforward, and it’s a breezy read because of that, as well as the enjoyable main characters. It’s mostly from Cassie’s POV, though we do get to see some insight into Frederick through both his endearing letters to Cassie (as that is how they communicate when they first start out due to their opposing schedules), as well as snarky texts between him and his fellow vampire/friend Reggie. I really liked both of them, and thought that the plot had enough conflict to give it some suspense without diving into REALLY ridiculous territory (I mean, we do have a very dramatic plot point involving betrothed vampire customs and an overbearing family, but it was light hearted enough that it never became tiresome). The writing is fun, the story is sweet, it’s basically everything I hope for in a rom com romance novel. And the vampire angle doesn’t take itself so seriously that I find the romance off putting or troublesome, as I sometimes do find vampire romance due to the way the inherent and played up danger is portrayed more as ‘I can fix him with my love’ than ‘no, the potential for him killing you in passion isn’t sexy, guys’. In this, Frederick isn’t weighed down by his impulses, he isn’t tortured by them, and you never get the sense that Cassie could be in any danger (hell, we even get some informed consent moments about the possibility for blood play in the bedroom due to his nature, and it is solely Cassie’s choice on whether to proceed SPECIFICALLY so she feels comfortable and not in danger. Refreshing!). I found that all very satisfying.

And we have to address the more tender and salacious parts of the romance, of course. I love a slow burn story where two characters get to know each other and then it all comes to a head after a long wait, and this book definitely has that. I really liked the forced proximity trope in this, as while it wasn’t hostile by any means it still had two strangers, one of whom is hiding a pretty significant secret, learning about each other and getting closer, first through notes exchanged each morning, and then through a partnership in which Cassie agrees to teach Frederick about the modern world after he took a nearly century long sleep. First of all, I LOVED the letter writing and how it goes from kind of formality to banter to genuine affection. And I loved the chemistry between the two of them as well when they interact in person, the tentative friendship they form is very sweet. Seeing it grow and evolve and seeing their feelings grow and evolve is not only my complete jam in romance novels, but it helped lay the groundwork for a huge pay off when they finally do let their growing passions take over. I know a slow burn doesn’t work for everyone, but it REALLY works for me, and in this? BOY DID IT WORK.

I quite enjoyed “My Roommate Is a Vampire”! Hooray for a vampire romance that I found more fun than cloying, and for a cute couple that made it easy to root for them!

Rating 8: A cute as hell and sometimes really steamy read, “My Roommate Is a Vampire” is a fun rom com that charmed this very picky vampire aficionado!

Reader’s Advisory:

“My Roommate Is a Vampire” is included on the Goodreads lists “Reylo Fanfics Turned Into Published Books”, and “Hey, Vampire!”.