My Roommate From Hell by Cale Dietrich
Owen is not going to college to have fun. Nothing is going to stop him from achieving his goals: study hard, get a good job, and set himself up for the rest of his life. The last thing he needs is to have a loud, obnoxious, and infuriatingly hot roommate. Especially since said roommate just so happens to be the prince of hell.
Prince Zarmenus has come to Point University for the first-ever Earth/hell exchange program, and he's determined to make the most of it. Which may or may not include wild parties, bringing in random boys to his and Owen's room, and accidentally setting Owen's furniture on fire. Sparks fly (literally) as Owen and Zar clash, but Zar's actions threaten to not only ruin Owen's peaceful college life, but demon-human relations as well. To clean up his image, he asks Owen to be his fake boyfriend and teach him how to be a better human in exchange for an internship that will secure Owen’s future. That, and Zar will consider being a better roommate.
A deal is struck, and the two start pretending to be in a relationship where they each have agendas of their own. Only Owen has a secret―dating his mortal enemy, even if it’s fake, is the most fun he's ever had.
Charming and fun, My Roommate from Hell is a rom com with a magical twist. Think just one bed, but that bed is in hell, surrounded by fire and brimstone.
Scientists have recently discovered another dimension and created a portal to it. This dimension, the home of demons, and Earth set up an interdimensional exchange program, and Prince Zarmenus joins Point University. His new roommate will be Owen Greene, an ambitious, slightly uptight young man who just wants to go to college so he can get a good job.
Owen is excited to start college. He knows about demons and the new dimension that most refer to as Hell, but he's definitely not expecting to meet the King and Queen of Hell when he moves into his dorm. He's especially not expecting his new roomie to be Prince of Hell.
The first third of the book largely focuses on Owen and Zarmenus being roommates. Zarmenus is an incredibly annoying roommate, and Owen is very non-confrontational, but growing increasingly annoyed with it. Owen has a shot at getting a prestigious internship if he and Zarmenus can help show that humans and demons can get along, so there's a lot at stake. Then, the fake-dating trope comes in!
I thought the romance was surprisingly sweet and wholesome. Since the romance starts as a fake dating situation, it has the hallmarks common to the trope: yearning, confusion over whether real feelings are returned, and fear of heartbreak. As someone who can't get enough fake dating, I really enjoyed this addition to the story; I inhaled the final 2/3rds of the book!
I loved both main characters in this. Owen is an overthinker. Zarmenus is much more free-spirited. They balance each other out with Owen helping Zarmenus to be a little more serious and Zarmenus helping Owen be a little less serious. They are seriously adorable together, and I couldn't help but root for them.
This book's tone is light and fun. It also has quick pacing, with short chapters and enough going on to keep the story moving at all times. Besides the relationship, there's a background political plot with some humans being very strongly anti-demon, and there are small subplots involving the two boys' friends and family, too.
I really enjoyed this and recommend it to any fans of Young Adult romance, especially those who enjoy the fake dating trope and paranormal romances.
My Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 (4.5/5 stars)
Pages: 352 (Kindle Edition)
Tropes/Tags: Young Adult, Romance, Paranormal, Fake Dating, Slow Burn
Links: Storygraph | GoodReads | Pagebound | CaleDietrich.com
My Roommate From Hell will be released on November 11, 2025, and is available for pre-order!
I received an advanced copy of this book for free, thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan, and Wednesday Books. The above are my honest feelings about the book provided. I don’t have any affiliate links in this post, and I do not make any money from my reviews. I review books simply because I love to read.
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