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BOOKWORM REVIEW: Rent To Be by Sonia Hartl

 

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
SPICE: 🔥🔥.5

Isla Jane is looking for a new place. After getting evicted from her apartment, she does not have many options as her entry-level job barely pays her. Knowing her brother is on work travel, she thought spending a month at his condo would buy her some time. Alas, his best friend Cade Greenley beat her to the space while his own place is under construction. Desperate, she ends up with housesitting gigs, but when Cade discovers her temporary job, he agrees to keep her secret if she becomes his fake girlfriend at work shindigs.

As it is with close proximity, our main characters learn more about each other and find that there is more reality to their fake relationship than they thought.

This was a very enjoyable read. Struggling with the combination of adult bills and a low-paying job after business school graduation hit a bit close to home, but Sonia Hartl perfectly portrayed those difficulties -- especially under the microscope of passive-aggressive parents. The connection between Isla and Cade was great. I had hoped for them to be stuck in the brother's condo together, but the fake relationship trope did well to bring them closer together.

There are moments of immaturity, even in Cade's case, but I just had to remind myself that these were young people with little helpful guidance from their parents.

** I am voluntarily reviewing an advance copy of this book. Thank you to Sonia Hartl, Alcove Press, and NetGalley for providing an ARC. **

ABOUT THE BOOK

Isla Jane is living the millennial nightmare. She’s got a shiny new MBA and no way to pay for it, thanks to her dead-end entry-level job, and nowhere to live, thanks to her miserable salary. Going home to her parents is not possible, but for once Isla’s brother may be her saving grace. He’s out of town on business for a month, meaning the guest room in his condo is blissfully empty.

Or so Isla thinks, until she runs into Cade Greenley, her brother’s best friend—who’s crashing there while his own condo is undergoing renovations. When a desperate plan to sleep under her desk miraculously turns into a house-sitting job for one of the big bosses at her office, Isla is certain her luck has turned—with no one, Cade included, the wiser. It’s a perfect solution—until Cade catches her sunbathing at a mansion that is definitely not hers, and she admits she’s house-sitting because she can’t afford rent.

The pair strike a deal—Cade will keep Isla’s secret from her overbearing parents if she agrees to pose as his girlfriend at a few upcoming corporate events. The fun and friendly vibe of his office is a surprise compared to hers, but the biggest shock is that each “date” with Cade feels less and less fake. Suddenly she’s looking forward to every minute they spend together while the chemistry between them sizzles. As Isla’s house-sitting scheme begins to unravel, she'll have to face the fact that her biggest lie of all is the one she's telling herself: that she's not falling in love with Cade.


MEET SONIA HARTL

Sonia Hartl is the author of YA and adult romance. Her books have been featured in PopSugar, BuzzFeed, Vulture, Book Riot, and Life Savvy, among other publications, received a starred review from BookPage, and earned nominations for the Georgia Peach Book Award, YALSA’s Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers, Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children’s Books of the Year, ALA’s Rise: A Feminist Book Project List, and ALA’s Rainbow Booklist, and was named an Amazon Editors’ Pick for Best Young Adult. When she’s not writing she enjoys board games with her family, attempting to keep her garden alive, or looking up craft projects she’ll never get around to completing on Pinterest.

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