| Title | : | Under One Roof (The STEMinist Novellas, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 112 |
| Publication | : | First published February 8, 2022 |
Mara, Sadie, and Hannah are friends first, scientists always. Though their fields of study might take them to different corners of the world, they can all agree on this universal truth: when it comes to love and science, opposites attract and rivals make you burn….
As an environmental engineer, Mara knows all about the delicate nature of ecosystems. They require balance. And leaving the thermostat alone. And not stealing someone else’s food. And other rules Liam, her detestable big-oil lawyer of a roommate, knows nothing about. Okay, sure, technically she’s the interloper. Liam was already entrenched in his aunt’s house like some glowering grumpy giant when Mara moved in, with his big muscles and kissable mouth just sitting there on the couch tempting respectable scientists to the dark side…but Helena was her mentor and Mara’s not about to move out and give up her inheritance without a fight.
The problem is, living with someone means getting to know them. And the more Mara finds out about Liam, the harder it is to loathe him…and the easier it is to love him.
To listen to Sadie and Hannah’s stories, look for the novellas Stuck with You and Below Zero, coming soon, available first on audio!
Under One Roof (The STEMinist Novellas, #1) Reviews
-
ali hazelwood has me in a chokehold
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4.5 ⭐️ if there’s one thing i love, let it be romance + academia. this was too cute and cozy. this book had me in a headlock
-
There's something about Ali Hazelwood's writing that just makes me so happy. All I want to do is smile and laugh, and then my cheeks are sore by the time I'm a few chapters in. Good thing this was a novella.
While Under One Roof doesn't exactly break the mold in terms of the story itself, I still had so much fun with it. It's because it has all the hallmarks I've come to associate with Hazelwood: slightly outrageous premise, two main characters who are loveable if a bit clueless, and endless snarky banter that has me in stitches.
With regards to the banter, Hazelwood really is my queen. Just like there are certain people you meet and instantly click with, that's exactly how I feel about her banter. It's witty, funny, slightly zany, and utterly delightful. It's exactly to my style and I just want to soak it all up.
I love Hazelwood's focus on STEM females, and Mara was a feisty one. She's an environmental engineer, which makes it all the more funny when she finds out that her hottie roommate is a big-shot corporate lawyer for an oil company. You can see how they would butt heads, to rather hilarious results.
I don't read a lot of novellas because I'm always afraid the shorter page length will leave me wanting more. And that's definitely the case here. Even though I enjoyed the story, there's something a little unsatisfying about how short it is. What can I say? I want more of Mara and Liam! But I guess it's a good thing when a story leaves you wanting more.
Now excuse me while I go wipe that silly smile off my face and do some cheek-relaxing exercises.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
See also, my thoughts on:
The Love Hypothesis
Love on the Brain
The STEMinist Novellas
Stuck with You
~~~~~~~~~~~~ -
Half of this book basically just consisted of the main character telling us how tall and big the love interest is and the other half was the cringiest most awkward smut ever. I don't know what it is I just read, but I didn't like it.
-
this is a cry for help.
remember those life alert infomercials from 10 years ago that were, like, peak comedy to the preteen / early teenage demographic? i will admit, i laughed. i chortled at the hilarity of "help, i've fallen and i can't get up." i had a good giggle, a solid chuckle, a fair number of synonyms.
but not anymore. now i need the literary equivalent of a life alert. a button i can press that will inform the world, Help. I Thought I Found A New Auto-Buy Author But Actually I Have Found A Nemesis.
i've said it before (proudly) and i'll say it again (shamefully): i liked
the love hypothesis. did i think it was perfect? no. did i think it was objectively good? maybe not even that!
but i Felt Things.
and as anyone who's been here before knows...that is a special occasion. probably that warrants a parade, a themed holiday, an extensive costume, and a cake with two - nay, THREE tiers. but we'll settle for a four star rating.
but then i read
love on the brain. and that made me feel things too.
but more of the Rage variety.
and then, inexplicably, i read the
second novella in the nightmare trifecta this author released, the installment that i, the composite goodreads average ratings, a variety of oracles, and satan himself agree is the worst of them all.
and then i read this.
so were we set up for success? to be fair, no. but i could have heard this book was full of sunshine and rainbows and double-stuf oreos and would give me the power to turn invisible and fight crime (read: take cookies that don't belong to me) and i still wouldn't have liked it.
that's primarily because of one issue:
i'm starting to think that ali hazelwood can only write huge, boring guys with enormous d*cks falling quietly in unrequited love with short, incredibly annoying (aka quirky) girls.
but there's other stuff to complain about, too. (yay!)
in fact this book bugged me from the very first page. like, to have a prologue that's literally just the first romantic moment...why? we know it's coming. this is a romance novel. all that does is take the fun out of it!!!
AND, as if that weren't enough, this is my favorite trope (enemies to lovers) with everything that i love about it (yearning and drama) taken out (cruel and unusual). so like. what are we even doing here.
and on top of everything else, the love interest is a snooze fest. like, get me my striped nightshirt, my sleep cap, my slippers, and a candle in an old-timey holder, because i'm about to go to sleep so hard i turn into a cartoon. i'm going to be all honk-shoo, honk-shoo, mimimimi. the pom pom on my sleep cap is going to be bouncing up and down in tune to my snores.
the whole enchilada.
add to that a borderline nonconsensual sex scene and even i have to just stop talking and say: i think this book is bad!
bottom line: this book is 137 pages long and i just wrote 140 pages of complaints about it.
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pre-review
WHERE is the YEARNING???
review to come / 2 stars
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currently-reading updates
i am so fragile right now.
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tbr review
best $2.99 i've ever spent -
reread one miss girl really played fast and lose by not using a condom.
No
Nope
Na
I cant do it, I cant do it Ali Hazelwood I trusted you. I TRUSTED YOU. The Love Hypothesis is one of my favourite books of all time.
But this
This was literal trash. And no, not the good trash that is enjoyable to read because it is so bad.
I enjoyed it. No enjoyed it a strong word. I wanted to enjoy it and i was vibing with it until the smut scene.
The
Awkward
As
Fuck
Smut
Scene
Could we just not had it? Maybe we could have keep it just the slowburn and yearning. That would have been better. That would have been more enjoyable to me. (maybe thats my toxic trait?) Because that slowburn was okay. It does not at all top Mariana Zapata slow burn but it was fine. But that smut scene. I have never read something more awkward than that in my entire life. I just wanted it to end. It was just so abrupt and did not need to be there. Like he just came onto her so suddenly after everything heartfelt. It just did not need to be there because it was that bad.
and Liam was not at all on the same level as Adam Carlsen. He was fine. And we all know that when we say something is fine its not fine. He was forgettable as fuck. I just finished the book ten minutes ago and guess what I do not remember a single thing apart from that he was fine.
Marawas that her name? i've already forgotten you seewas just as bad as liam so yk it makes sense that this is a book about them. Maybe because they deserve each other.
They can be sad and awkward together and it will be great.
All i can say is that I was so excited for this but it was just such a flop.
Ali Hazelwood I love you but im starting to wonder if you will become a one hit wonder? -
this was such a fun & cute novella! it somehow felt like a full-length book w how much chemistry & development we got from it! I really liked the forced proximity / enemies to lovers vibe. and that last chapter came through w the spice… WHEN HE SAID ‘GOOD GIRL’ !!?!????? immediately yes. can’t wait for the other ones!!!!!!
-
Let me intro this by saying I ADORED the Love Hypothesis. Five stars and a chef's kiss.
But this.
THIS.
THIS GETS ONE BLOODY STAR and i have barely ever been so disappointed with a book in my life.
*screams into pillow*
The characters were cardboard, the plot was vanilla, the romantic tension was nonexistent, and let me actually start this review before i spill everything in the intro.
“As an environmental engineer, Mara knows all about the delicate nature of ecosystems. They require balance. And leaving the thermostat alone. And not stealing someone else’s food. And other rules Liam, her detestable big-oil lawyer of a roommate, knows nothing about. Okay, sure, technically she’s the interloper. Liam was already entrenched in his aunt’s house like some glowering grumpy giant when Mara moved in, with his big muscles and kissable mouth just sitting there on the couch tempting respectable scientists to the dark side…but Helena was her mentor and Mara’s not about to move out and give up her inheritance without a fight.
The problem is, living with someone means getting to know them. And the more Mara finds out about Liam, the harder it is to loathe him…and the easier it is to love him.”
SEE THE AMOUNT OF POTENTIAL THIS THING HAD?
AND WHERE DID IT ALL END UP?
THE TRASH, THAT’S WHERE.
ugh let’s begin with the plot.
So you remember how the Love Hypothesis had this whole side plot about Olive trying to obtain funding for her liver cancer research and overcoming sexism and harassment in the workplace?
Yeah, well, the research/science angle was barely in this one. For being a so-called woman in engineering, we never get even one scene of Mara at her engineering company, we never learn what projects she’s working on, and the most sciencey thing this college-certified engineer does is deconstruct a microwave. I mean, even an engineering-disliking girl such as myself can deconstruct a microwave by throwing it out the window.
Mara does mention how her sexist boss dismisses her and her ideas and then takes credit for her work, but at best, it's merely touched on. No specificity. An annoyance mentioned in passing, instead of giving Mara a fight and life outside of her relationship with Liam.
The rest of the plot is easily broken down into two recurring events: Liam and Mara being mad at/getting to know each other and Mara ranting about Liam to her friends.
also hearing those cringy science jokes on audiobook was just plain painful.
It's all very vanilla and bland and tame, BUT. RIGHT AT THE END OF THE NOVEL. THEY CONFESS THEIR FEELINGS AND THEN THE ENTIRE LAST 16% OF THIS NOVELLA WAS A *GRAPHIC* BEDROOM SCENE.
i was so annoyed i skipped over the whole thing, but i heard from GR besties it was cringier than those science jokes.
so there’s that.
ONTO THE CHARACTERSSSS
The MCs (and the maybe two side characters) are cardboard flat people made of toddler emotions and vanilla extract. Every other page for the first third of the book, Mara declares her passionate and vehement hatred for Liam Harding.
Why, might you ask?
Ha! How dare you suggest there be a reason for such passion? That’s not important. The point is, they hate each other. DESPISE each other.
Don’t question it.
Anyways, because this reason was so obscure, I obviously missed how this mortal hatred originated when I first read it. So I went back to recheck the intro. And you know what the reason was?
THEIR LIVING HABITS.
THEY HATED EACH OTHER’S LIVING HABITS.
Mara’s psycho fantasies about violently maiming Liam were because of HOW HE LIVED IN HIS OWN HOUSE??? THAT HE OWNED???
ugh.
Aside from her psychopathic tendencies (which seem to be present in all Hazelwood's heroines, I just finished Love on the Brain 🤢), Mara was so emotionally unintelligent that i wanted to knock her out the window about 500 seperate times. Like I get you might not have many friends but YOU HAVE A GRADUATE DEGREE SIS I KNOW YOU KNOW COMMON SENSE.
case in point: in this one scene, Liam approaches Mara and inhales sharply when he gets close.
Now, instead of just ignoring this like a normal person, our graduate scientist proceeds to reason her way through this strange event: “do I smell bad? i bet i smell bad. in fact, this is liam. oh, i bet i smell like trash. i must smell horrible! is my shampoo finally failing me after eight years?”
Mara, small technicality here, but why would he inhale if you smelled like trash? *rolls eyes*
Speaking of Liam, let's discuss this man.
Liam was #1 emotionally cold and #2 physically hot.
That's it. That's his personality.
Except for a sob story to give him ✨depth✨ there’s nothing else about him that is remotely entertaining. Nada.
anyways, that’s all I got. I probably won’t read the last two novellas, but because I did love the Love Hypothesis, I’ll be reading Love on the Brain when it comes out.
i have enough loyalty to Ali Hazelwood left for that lol
(update: ha Love on the Brain was awful)
Ratings:
Star Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
If This Book Was a Movie Rating: R
Recommendations That Are Better Than This Book:
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang -
eh. not terrible. didn't elicit the same dislike i felt after reading the second one in this series. but really really forgettable and bland. not going to rate it cause i genuinely don't gaf <3
-
(1.5/5)
mfs will go on and on about the environment but will still let trees be cut down to publish their shitty self insert fanfic -
DUDE!!!!!!!! I’m squealing!!!!!!!
I feel like we all had a collective spiritual experience reading the wonder that was The Love Hypothesis, and maybe some of us thought, ‘Was this a one-off? Did someone cast a spell on this book to make it perfect, and now I’ll never love anything else as much as I loved this?’.
Well, let me tell you. We’re safe. Ali Hazelwood’s magic is the real deal.
In this perfect novella, Mara is an evironmental engineer (did I get that right?) who inherits half of her dream house from her mentor, Helena, who passed away unexpectedly. Seeing as the house is very conveniently located and she is very financially unstable, Mara decides she’s going to move in for a while; except, wait! The other half-owner of the house is a hot, evil lawyer named Liam who probably coaches companies on how to make the worst possible oil spills in the ocean, and he hates her and wants to buy her out immediately. Also, he already lives there.
Mara decides to put her foot down and declares that she is moving in, annoyed lawyers with perfect faces be damned.
The novella spans over a six-month period co-habitation, full of ups and downs and petty fights and jealousy and sexual tension. All the GREAT stuff.
Mara and Liam’s opening up to one another is beautiful and heart-warming and as witty as only Ali Hazelwood can make it. This was an arrhythmia-inducing trope of enemies-to-roomates-to-lovers and I loved every second and HATE that it’s over. -
So fast and fun and to be frank? So hot lol. Ali Hazelwood has a gift
CW: death of a loved one -
I'm not usually a novella person, I find they usually bore me and just seem pointless, but Under One Roof has proven me wrong. It showed me that novellas can be so much fun.
This book is amazingly adorable and addictive! Our two main characters are very well developed for the short amount of time we get to know them, and the romance? Absolute perfection.
This book just has me even more excited for what Ali Hazelwood writes next, and the rest of her novellas! -
(This review may have potential spoilers)
It's my first time succeeding in finishing an Audiobook, and now I don't know if the story isn't as good as I expect it to be or if I should give it another try when the novella comes out. Though I did find myself engaging with Emma Wilder's narration compared to when I first started it (I fell asleep and couldn't even last 25 minutes), I hate to admit that Hazelwood may haven't had this written for me.
First off, there is nothing I haven't read as what Under One Roof had here. All the tropes are not me traversing into uncharted territory; roommates, enemies to lovers, grumpy heroes pretty much checked all of my boxes. This book reminds me of
Twice Shy and that part where the heroine invited the hero to watch a show together where he was skeptic about but ended up loving them more? Yeah, I've read all that even in the Off-Campus series (that is to say, this is really nothing new of the book). The only distinctive thing about it is that they offer us STEM women, and we love that about Hazelwood. However, this is not working out as a novella.
One of the turning points in human development was a growing ability to communicate. In fiction, one of the turning points in dramatic development is the inability or refusal to communicate — which is why it is no news that my #1 enemy in books is the miscommunication trope. It's one of the tropes that is rarely done well, so imagine my surprise when I find myself liking that in TLH.
The question is, just because it succeeds the first time, will it succeed the second time? Reading this almost feels like reading TLH again which is a total loss because what is the actual plot here? I get that this is a novella, which is why I said, Under One Roof may work as a full-length book, but not as a novella itself. Especially when this book was short enough, but was told in a time jump.
I couldn't even feel that strong emotional connection between Mara and Liam. It's just insta-love which I hate (let me quote Liam: "I am in love with you almost from the beginning") — wait what? Like, when you first saw her? Man, do we still believe in love at first sight? It's 2022. I mean sure, but shall we make it at least believable.
See, I am not nitpicking. Trust me, I've come to enjoy a trash book but this one was just too obvious, I have to make a point. Now, get back to the miscommunication trope. This part was a call to attention by other readers before in her previous book and it's not like I too, didn't notice it but I love fluffy romance, so I love TLH. But if this is going to be Hazelwood's branding of her STEM women, I need her to back out.
Let me present you the annoying and the least reliable representative of STEM women - Mara ✨ I just couldn't put it past my brain with how she was simply assuming and have no single clue of non-verbal cues. You're the one with Ph.D. Come one, you can't be so dense. You know, I might hate it more if Liam also has this disability to communicate despite being the taciturn one because no, time over time, he had things cleared and answered Mara's assumption but heh no! Let's pretend to still be a fool here. I would also understand if it rooted from her feeling insecure but me, being the assertive one really hates having to repeat myself when I've made things clear the first time.Scene 1: "He looked at me like the first time when I moved here, as my presence annoyed him and he considers me the bane of anything good" (or something like that since I don't have the text and relying on my rusty ears) when man was just having a hard time controlling his urges (like I said, failure in reading nonverbal cues). In spite of that, the thought was actually debunked by Liam himself when he said he doesn't hate her staying in the house nor he hates her. But throughout the novella, Mara keeps on convincing herself saying how "I know you want to buy me out," then pretending to be shocked when Liam wants her 😒
Scene 2: When Mara canceled her date with her colleague and went back home to see Liam "getting cozy" with another woman (by cozy, I meant just sitting on the bar, smiling and scrolling the phone together), so she apologized for interrupting their moment. And said the most cringing thing like he could've brought Emma to his bed and she wouldn't mind and that he should've not stopped on her account. Well, guess what, he said, no, "That's my childhood best friend. She doesn't want to date me as much as I don't want to date her". However, the next time Liam was home alone from a supposed game night with his friend because his friend had a date, Mara literally said "Maybe you should've joined them. Was Emma busy?" — for fuck sake, a woman with tertiary education but with the worst comprehension I've ever read.
I could go on with the list, (I just expect her to correspond herself as the one with Ph.D) like another time when she was having a conversation with Liam about how Helena likes to set them both up with other people but never tried to set them both together. But while Liam had already picked up, why the house was handed to both of them (surprise, surprise, it's Helena matchmaking them), Mara is still clueless and asked Liam what was he thinking lmao. I though she supposed to at least, able to know some complex problem solving 😂 A disclaimer tho: I don't hate Mara, I just don't like how she was written as what she is but then, does not live up to it (expectation sucks).
The smut scenes? Okay so chapter 13 is the new chapter 16 but like the last time, it isn't my favorite. Hazelwood always makes it either awkward, uncomfortable, or uneven. I feel like there was a pause when they were in the middle of their business. Not to say, Mara comes too early when Liam was only inside her (nothing was happening yet at the time) — I'm crying, punching the wall, kicking, and want this over soon. Plus who said, "I like how you smell like sunscreen". Are we using a different sunscreen? I hate how my sunscreen always makes me feel like puking. Anyways~
The epilogue was super short and unflattering. What a way to end after the unfulfilling smut. But all that aside, it's not like this book is bad and not likable. I did enjoy a few pieces of stuff; like her friendship with Sadie and Hannah, her relationship with Helena. The first time she held Liam's hand without it having to be accidental like the time when their arms were brushing while working on the stove, or fingers grazing while Liam sorts her email. I love these tiny tiny details. It's almost cute but it still couldn't make up for the loss.
I truly hope the other novellas would be better and not just another rewritten version of TLH. I would hate it not to have myself looking forward to Ali Hazelwood's works because she's one of the few that I've come to enjoy when it comes to contemporary romance. Crossing fingers to the greater good! Also, if you love this book, don't come at me. I am just opinionated and honest.
p/s: I didn't put the GR spoiler tag because I'm not sure if it is even a spoiler, the book feels like nothing was going on but with the format of my quoteblock, the spoiler tag ruins it. So, I have to write it manually. And as I've warned, you read this at your own risk! -
I just know that Ms. Hazelwood did not make me listen to a narrator m0@n “my pü$$y sp@$m$” for this book to be so mid #traumatized!🫥
-
i like it, picasso
4.5 stars -
got an ARC and!! i totally read this as a fanfic years ago, but i loved reading how hazelwood decided to expand it. it’s quite a bit longer than the original, and the characters are changed fundamentally from the star wars canon. for example, “leia” is “bens” aunt instead of mom; leia and ben/kylo obvs have a very strained relationship in sw that would be hard to explain in a modern, adapted context. changes like that were made to improve the flow and realism of the story, and i thought it was well done!
honestly my biggest problem was with the audiobook narrator, who i didn’t like.
i would rate the writing quality about a 3.5 out of 5. it wasn’t the best, but given the constraints of novella length works of course potential for detailed subplots is limited. this is one of the curses of adapting fics: there were a few subplots i could pick up on that non star wars sequel fans may not pick up on, which feel fully fleshed to me because i know the canon and fanon backstories, but will not feel developed at ALL to others given how little airtime is given to said subplots. ie: the whole Snoke Thing which is given about 4 sentences of explanation in this story, but could very well be given an entire plot in a full length novel.
the sex scene… y’all arent ready!
overall, very fun! both characters are somewhere on the ace spectrum (i would say demi) though neither are explicitly labeled. -
I enjoy a good romance novella, a great palate cleanser!
Under One Roof is a fun Enemies to lovers novella. Big oil corporate lawyer & environmental engineer Ph.D. 🛢️⚖️🌳
Liam Harding's aunt and Mara's mentor passed away and left them a house in D.C. They became roommates and while it starts off a little rocky, things quickly change in a predictable fashion.
Three stars because the smut scene left me laughing. 🥵🔥 This is my third book by Ali Hazelwood and for me, this is the most awkwarddd of them all. Likable characters though.
Great audiobook! 3h 39m -
Ali Hazelwood really like BIG men and unprotected SEX
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The STEMinist novella series of Ali Hazelwood are my new addiction! I wish they weren’t novellas because her quirky, sweet, hilarious, unique characters are so much lovable and you want to spend longer time with them. Normally I devour her books in one sitting but now I devour the novellas in quarter sitting ( as a solution I waited for last novella’s release date to binge read them! )
Mara, red headed, extra quirky, big fan of Cheez it and Bachelor series and Disney movie soundtracks, brilliant environmental scientist inherits a house from her mentor but house comes with long, broad shouldered, brooding charismatic man who sold his soul to work for big oil company as a lawyer! This charming giant’s name is Liam and he is so adamant to buy her out!
Mara wants to belong some place and she has no intention to move out! This means a Cold War between two people who are hating the guts of each other.
Dear Ali Hazelwood successful executed my three favorite tropes including sunshine meets the grump, enemies to lovers, opposites attract!
The chemistry is explosive! Mara is so easy to love! I laughed so loud at some parts!
The ending was a little abrupt. I still wish I could spend more time with the characters and see how her relationship evolved.
I’m giving my four nerdish stars and jumping up to the other book! -
1.75 stars 🪴
truly, nothing is more uncomfortable than listening to someone read to me an already awkward sex scene where the heroine cums just from penetration
why does it trigger me that they kissed for the first time AFTER the scene I mentioned above 🤧
edit: before you keep reading, this next quote may have been misunderstood by me. I swear I heard leg, but it was actually length lol
I’m not gonna change it bc the quote is funny as is but 🤷🏻♀️
I'm writing this little review as I’m listening to the final chapter of the audiobook and I ACTUALLY FUCKING TEARED UP
NO LIKE I ACTUALLY HAVE TEARS IN MY EYES BECAUSE OF THE SECOND HAND EMBARRASSMENT I WAS JUST HIT WITH–He takes my palm and drags it down his chest, past his abdomen, until his cock is hot in my hand. He is massive and almost automatically my fingers close around him. Liam grimaces, biting his lower lip.
[…]
Of it’s own free will, my hand starts moving up and down hisleg. Simple strokes that have him gasping and shutting his eyes.
ALI HAZELWOOD DID NOT JUST CALL POOR LIAM’S DICK A LEG
I SCREAMED 😭😭😭😭
before this sex scene, Liam heard Mara tell her friends that she has fantasies about Liam leaning her over furniture and fucking her. So why tf does Liam keep telling her “let me give you what you want”
I get that Liam doesn’t ‘like’ sex but why is he acting like Mara is holding a gun to his head and forcing him to fulfill her fantasies💀
this book sucked worse until Liam and Mara started getting along then completely sucked after reading the horrific sex scene. where is the ali hazelwood that wrote "knot a bad idea", a beautiful love story about anal prepping, starring kylo ren and rey
the STEMinist novellas
↠#1 under one roof — 1.75 stars
↠#2
stuck with you — 3 stars
↠#3
below zero — 1 star -
SIMPLY ADORABLE.
This is the first of 3 novellas in the Steminist series, a series about 3 best friends who work in STEM, and it is too freaking cute. The romance is so fun and feel good! There are alternating chapters between the past and present, with the past chapters about Mara and Liam meeting for the first time. Mara has inherited half the house that Liam owns and they’re forced to become unwilling roommates who slowly become friends. The present chapters are set a few weeks after their first meeting, and you can clearly tell how in love both of them are with each other. It's a super short read that I wish was longer because I loved the main characters. Liam is the perfect grump! -
4 stars
After reading Ali Hazelwood’s debut novel last year I knew I would read any and everything this woman writes! When I saw she had a novella series out I was so excited and then I saw it was on audio and YAY! This one was so much fun. It was a bit of an enemies to lovers story with some forced proximity thrown in. Mara and Liam’s living situation is not ideal and they don’t get along at all at first, but then things change. Sigh. I loved Mara and Liam was perfection. This was great but not nearly long enough! I can’t wait to read about Mara’s two best friends, Sadie and Hannah!
Audio book source: Libby
Story Rating: 4 stars
Narrators: Emma Wilder
Narration Rating: 4.5 stars
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 3h 38m -
Perfection in 112-pages!!!
Ali Hazelwood taught me something last year. A very important something. If you've read
The Love Hypothesis, you may know exactly what I am talking about.
Essentially, Hazelwood taught me that steamy STEM romances are definitely something I am into!
Luckily for me and others like me, while patiently awaiting Hazelwood's 2022-full length release
Love on the Brain, there are three all new STEM novellas to enjoy.
Under One Roof is technically the first of these novellas, but after reading this one, I would say that they can really be read in any order.
In this one we follow Mara, an environmental engineer, who moves to D.C. post-graduate school after inheriting half of a house from her academic mentor.
The other half of the house is owned by said mentor's extremely dreamy nephew Liam, who just so happens to be an attorney for big-oil.
Liam expresses from the start, with all the swagger he can muster, that he is not down for a random roommate.
Unfortunately for him, Mara is not taking no for an answer. She really doesn't have the option to say no with her new job in D.C. starting soon and she literally hasn't the money to find another place. Plus, she has just as much legal right to the premises as he does.
After they move in together, anger and annoyance eventually leads to sparks. You know the drill.
Y'all, how did Hazelwood make me feel so invested in only 112-pages?! Seriously, how?!
I did listen to the audiobook for this one and the narration was straight-up fabulous. Loved, loved, loved. I cannot wait to get to the other two novellas!! -
As an engineer, I do NOT like to be called a STEMinist.
This was so painful to read— silliest conversations, awkward bland chemistry and made me roll my eyes for the most parts. I apologise to anyone if you think I overhyped it.
-------------------------THE COVERS ARE HERE AND THEY ARE SO STUNNING 😍💖 -
Ah, Hazelwood, I see you have a type.
Yet another GIANT, MASSIVE, MONSTROUSLY HUMONGOUS man who falls for a teeny tiny quirkyTM lady in STEM.*
Yet another awkward sex scene, except this one extended to include a conversation about protection and STIs that just… never got resolved and was subsequently ignored. It also included one of the two participants admitting they don’t actually like sex, mid-fooling around, and the other one not even bothering to ask about it or maybe offering to stop before flipping them over and initiating penetration themself. I- I have no words.
I gave Ali Hazelwood another chance, but I need to be done for my own sanity.
*this trope is so frickin harmful and needs to stop. -
2.75 stars
“The weirdest part is how quickly everything changes.”
no shit, Sherlock.
i mean, tbh this book had a decent build up. in a way that the steam didnt come in until much later into the book. however, what got on my nerves the most was these characters being dense (mostly the h) and going about their day assuming things about each other instead of communicating. hence, it left me feeling dumbfounded and *livid* that they solved the miscommunication by having sex instead of having a confrontation or a shouting match. i was expecting a big fight that led to a hot sexathon, but they completely skipped the first part which to me felt rather jarring.“I don’t have sex, Mara.”
[...]
“I don’t like sex.”
[...]
“I like you very much, Mara. I like talking to you. I like watching you do yoga. I like the way you always smell like sunscreen. I like how you manage to say pretty much whatever you want while still being unbelievably kind. I like being in this house with you and everything we do in here.”
[...]
“I don’t think it’s a surprise that I really really like the idea of fucking you.”
[...]
“But I don’t need to. I’m enjoying this.”
[...]
“Maybe too much. Since I almost lost it a number of times just by being near you. So, I’ll be more than fine if you just let me take care of you and—”
theres so much to unpack here. is he saying hes asexual? does that mean hes a virgin??
this story was nothing special, but i enjoyed it more than
TLH. the romance felt less forced, and while the characterization was superficial, i liked the couple. i just think that the third act conflict was handled very poorly, like it was abandoned and felt anticlimactic. it was disappointing that we didnt get to see the H & h clear out the miscommunication about their living arrangement and their true feelings for each other before they jumped each others bones. and the audacity that they were having important conversations (like the “are u clean” talk & read quotes👆) while doing it?! like, are you sure youre PhD graduates??
(read as an audiobook) -
A novella is everything a novel already is but shorter. It doesn't necessarily mean “worse”, but there's a reason if a novel has something like 400 pages.
A good book needs an interesting well-developed story, with the right amount of information and a good pace. A novella requires the same thing, but in a different format.
Why am I trying to lecture you? Because the main flaw of this story is that from the first page, you can feel this was supposed to be a proper book, or at least I hope the author didn't give this impression on purpose.
There’s an introduction about the characters and the setting, then she jumps month from month without filling us properly about what happened, and the end is presented as something you just have to be okay with. The pace is wrong and the notions we have about Mara and Liam aren't enough to help us develop an impression of them liking each other.
By the way, even if I did root for them, I’d like to erase that last chapter from my mind, please.
Ali, sweetie, who wrote you the sex scenes in The Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain? And what about your kink with the word “huge” and its synonymous? It was bad.
And don't make me start with the epilogue. Would have killed you to write a few more sentences?
In the bigger picture, it’s not that bad; in the small picture, though, it's not that good either.
↠ 3 stars -
i would like to begin this review by saying that i made two notes whilst listening to this audiobook (the first one i have EVER finished) and they are:
'THIS MAN THANKS HER FOR LETTING HIM GO DOWN ON HER!?!?!?!?!?!?'
and
'when is it my turn to be happy'
there is a certain scene HEHEHE that made me turn all the lights off in my room, put my airpods in and just sit in the middle of my floor in silence because i have discovered that nothing, NOTHING, hits as hard as smut in audiobook form.
i did not know what to do with myself apart from live in fear that someone in my uni accommodation would connect to my bluetooth and call me a whore <3
holy fuckity fuck. it's been 10 days since i listened to this and i still cannot express how much i loved every single word of it. so here is a fun little run down.
- forced proximity - they are living together and just AAAAAAAA
- tall-man-gets-something-for-the-short-girl-off-the-top-shelf erotica
- HE FALLS FIRST
- jealously. sweet, sweet, sweet jealously
- every interaction made me sweat (for the entire 4 hours)
also. THE NARRATOR???? I'M IN LOVE WITH HER. she does such an amazing, amazing job and i'd honestly listen to anything that she narrates.
eagerly awaiting the next two to be released i'm so excited.
initial reaction:
holy. fucking. shit. happy valentine's day to me.
review to come when i can create coherent thoughts. holy fuck.
second listen: i listened to half whilst i cleaned my room and then lay down still for the other half on my bed. this audiobook is like crack.
third listen: literally my comfort book at this point. it hits so hard.
fourth listen: maybe i have a problem.
fifth listen: i cannot even justify myself anymore.
sixth listen: you know what? fuck it. i love this so damn much i will not apologise.
seventh listen: still the shit amen.
eighth listen: edged myself by not listening to this since APRIL and it stills hits as hard as it did. maybe harder.
ninth listen: this just cured my fresher’s flu
tenth read: maybe someone should intervene -
This was cute! The heroine and hero both inherit a house from someone they knew who passed away. The hero is a bit icy towards our heroine and wants to buy her part of the house. The heroine says no and the two have to live with each other while hating each other. Soon, though, they start developing feelings for one another and awkwardly dancing around their attraction. They confide in their work troubles with each other and become friends before things heats up. This was short and cute! Nothing amazing, but it was a fun story!
