Reviewed by Valerie
TITLE: Roommate Arrangement
SERIES: Divorced Men’s Club #1
AUTHOR: Saxon James
PUBLISHER: May Books
LENGTH: 288 pages
RELEASE DATE: January 12, 2022
BLURB:
Payne
In search of: room to rent. Must ignore the patheticness of a forty-year-old roommate. Preferably dirt cheap as funds are tight (nonexistent).
There’s nothing sadder than moving back to my hometown newly divorced, homeless, and lost for what my next move is. When my little brother’s best friend offers me a place to stay in exchange for menial duties, I swallow my pride and jump at the offer.
I need this. I also need Beau to wear a shirt. And ditch the gray sweatpants. And not leave his door ajar when he’s in compromising positions …
Beau
In search of: roommate. Must be non smoker and non douchebag. Room payment to be made in meal planning, repairs, and dumb jokes.
Since my career took off, I barely have time to breathe, let alone keep my life in order. I’m naturally chaotic, make terrible decisions, and scare off potential dates with my “weirdness”.
So when Payne gets back into town and needs somewhere to stay, I offer him my spare room with one condition: while he’s staying with me, I need him to help me become date-able.
And while he does that, I can focus on my other plan: ignoring that Payne is the only man I’ve ever wanted to date.
REVIEW:
Payne has nothing to offer another man: he’s forty years old, nearly divorced, homeless, and unemployed after being cheated on and betrayed for years in the worst possible way. So, after twelve years together, Payne leaves his husband in Boston and is back in his hometown, sleeping in his niece’s little bed while she bunks with her sister. One of the few high points in his new life is meeting up with friends in the Divorced Men’s Club, and the support and advice they provide him.
Wanting to reclaim his daughter’s living space, his brother, Marty, volun-tells his best friend, Beau, to offer his spare room to Payne until he gets back on his feet. Even though Beau doesn’t like having a roommate – too intrusive, too loud, too annoying – it’s not a hard sell for one big reason: he’s had a twenty-year crush on Payne. As a successful, wealthy author, Beau refuses to accept any rent, instead suggesting an unusual arrangement to help him get over his unrequited love. In exchange for a room, Beau wants Payne to teach him how to be less weird and more appealing to men.
See, Beau is an awkward, scatterbrained loner who doesn’t people well. He’s fussy, easily distracted, and a disorganized mess. His coping mechanisms while writing are unconventional, to say the least. Payne figures him out the way no one else can – Beau wants companionship without expectations and the pressure to be social, and that’s something Payne can fulfill.
Their time together is easy and simple, and they grow close. But it’s too hard for Payne to trust again after having his heart so recently – and brutally – stomped on. He’s afraid to act on his growing feelings for Beau, not sure if those feelings are real and not just “a product of proximity and timing.” He desperately hopes it’s real, but he can’t commit until he’s sure, until he’s free from his divorce, can stand on his own, and has something to offer Beau. In the meantime, jealousy springs to life when Payne has to watch Beau date another man, and his awful behavior is hysterical. It’s a high point of the book.
The only significant fault in this book is the pace, which creeps along in the first third or so. It also took me long to warm up to Beau, but I’m not sure why, as he’s an amiable character. Overall, this is an enjoyable book with a happy ending provided in the epilogue one year into the future. I look forward to the subsequent books in the Divorced Men’s Club series, which I assume will feature friends Art, Orson, and Griffin.
RATING: 
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