The West End Library was my favorite place in the world. It had a pyramid-shaped fountain out front, three levels with a giant iron staircase winding up the center, and a wall made entirely of multicolored glass.
Isla is a quirky and funny main character who truly grows up in this story. The story opens with her on her last time, with no place to live, and too embarrassed to seek help from her family. Through some not so smart decisions, some funny encounters and help from a long- time “off-limits” crush Isla works her way through this mess of a life she has created. At times I cringed while at others I cheered for the decisions that she made. The choice to do house sitting added a safety net for living arrangements, and the opportunity for a pretty fun backdrop. And how can a character whose favourite place to be is the library be all that bad?
Cade and Neeta are fantastic support characters for Isla. Their interactions are relatable, and they are likeable. Neeta provides a great foil for Isla, as well as a destination for her. Cade draws out the best in her, even when he’s not showing the best of himself.
At times I found Isla and her family a little immature. I was disappointed in her parents reaction when she finally opened up to them. I was hoping for a better solution with them. (It did explain her personality though).

4.5 ⭐️
This was such a great story! It was full of some of my favorite tropes. It had a sassy main character. It had a feisty love interest. It had fantastic banter! And it had so much heart and the family dynamic really hit on some personal issues for me. I just loved it!

I really enjoyed this rom com by Sonia Hartl! Isla Jane is likeable and so relatable to the young 20 something trying to navigate life, debt, career, and love after college. Cade and Isla’s banter had me laughing out loud and rooting for them the entire time. The middle was a little long, but the story tied up well. Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

This sizzling, voicey romance with brother’s best friend and forced proximity tropes had me reading past midnight!

Isla is a recent MBA-grad struggling to make ends up despite her fancy degree and gets kicked out of her apartment when she fails to pay the rent. Since her brother is away on business she decides to crash at his vacant condo, only it isn’t vacant, it’s occupied by one very handsome best friend since childhood who has always gotten her heart racing when she’s around him. In exchange for his silence about her squatting at the condo, he asks her to pose as his girlfriend for the summer events at his company’s corporate forced fun in sun events.

I personally loved how much class differences and financial struggles were addressed. It felt very timely and true to a majority of millennial experiences. I also loved the steamy scenes!

I think this book will resonate best for millennial romance readers who prefer the brother’s best friend trope.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review

A cutesy rom-com, with two friends who grew up together finally finding love for each other.
I liked how they tried to incorporate a lens of helping the less fortunate, but it fell a bit flat. I also thought the events in the ending happened far too quickly. This was an ARC from @netgalley, and there were a lot of mistakes (words missing, incorrect words used), but it was a good read for a stressful week. Oh, a touch spicy too ;) 🌶

This book was a bit of a wild ride, and not always in a great way, but certainly had some things going for it that I don’t always see in rom coms. Let’s get into it.

This book started out rough for me. Isla’s life is a bit of a disaster, which actually didn’t bother me at all, it was more that the pacing was strange and the humor didn’t land. I am all for sexual related content in my rom coms, I would actually say I prefer it because it makes the story seem more real to me. However, it felt like sex, sexual organs and sexual acts were thrown around in the beginning in a way that was just trying to build clout or humor, but we’re ultimately out of place.

The middle of the book was much, much better, and I read a huge chunk of that in one sitting. We explore more fully how Isla has ended up in the financial situation she is in, and it’s a highly relevant and accurate picture of the financial woes that millennials and gen z’ers are facing today in the way of crushing student loans, jobs that demand masters degrees but don’t pay a livable wage, and the corporate machine that expects everyone to work over time, all the time, in order to be considered for advancement to a position that probably still doesn’t pay a livable wage. I loved this aspect of the story, and it gave an inside look at it that I imagine many older generations would not get otherwise.

I also liked the romance at this point. I found Cade & Isla’s chemistry to be believable, their banter sexy and funny, and their history to add a layer of depth and love to it all. I liked Isla more and more as an individual character throughout this as well, and it was great to see her gradually changing her opinions about herself and feeling more okay with saying no to behavior that she shouldn’t have to tolerate from family.

Then the third act break up comes about and it’s all just… a mess again. I do understand why this breakup happened in the most basic way (you’re my brothers best friend! He and your family won’t understand!) but it was not fleshed out, and ultimately dragged MUCH longer than it needed to. Isla drastically changed her motivations and plans from one chapter to the next when it came to Cade, all the while she’s doing all of this healing and self-advocacy in other areas of her life incredibly consistently. Her (and Cade’s) inability to communicate like adults really undercut what could have been a very impactful journey of self-love for Isla.

This ultimately just ended up being a huge mixed bag, and I found myself speeding through the last chapters just to it would be over. I will possibly give this author a chance in the future as there was some serious potential and sometimes things are just hit or miss, but ultimately this feels like a miss for me.

Thank you to Alcove Press & NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title before publishing!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Isla is kicked out of her apartment by her two roommates and forced to be creative with her living arrangements. She agrees to fake date her brother’s best friend in exchange for him keeping her secret. If your a brother’s best friend troupe - you’ll enjoy this cute romance.

This was a quick read for me and I enjoyed it. I didn’t feel very connected to Isla, but I enjoyed Cade enough. I thought their romance was cute and enjoyed their banter. However, the epilogue fell a bit flat for me and didn’t quite give me the ending I was hoping for.

Rent to Be is a very sweet story about Isla, recent MBA grad, and Cade, her brother’s best friend. When Isla gets kicked out of her apartment for not being able to pay rent, she plans to crash at her brother’s only to discover Cade is already there.

While Isla gets into a fair amount of hijinks, they are grounded by her desperation and financial insecurity. This book handles her debt and anxiety with kindness, and overall she and Cade are wonderfully three dimensional characters.

I hate to say this but I just need to stay away from Sonia Hartl books. I felt like with this one it was a lot of miscommunication (the main character even admits that throughout the book but does nothing to rectify it) and then a tied up in a bow ending that felt more like a thesis statement on "why they have a happily ever after and how it happened so quickly" then an actual end. I do admire Ms Hartl's desire to break the romance book three-act mold - I felt the same way about "Heartbreak for Hire" having a (quite spicy) scene right out of the gate - it's fun that she's mixing up plot a little bit and not sticking to the script.

Unfortunately sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't and this time, for me, it didn't. I also didn't love the dissing on higher education throughout. As someone with a masters degree and absolutely zero leg up in any type of industry, at first this felt like a not-so-subtle knock on nepo-babies (until the end, when you find out the big boss was in the cubicle farm like everyone else once upon a time - so that argument is lost) and then it ended up being a knock on graduate degrees period, which, I just fundamentally don't agree with.

This book is an absolute masterpiece. Sonia Hartl brilliantly combines a sweet, gorgeous, sexy love story with a searing look at the financial realities of life as a millennial and I could not put this book down. It was so relatable and heartbreaking watching Isla deal with her financial issues, but it was also just so swoony watching her and Cade go from childhood friends to lovers. I swooned, I laughed, I cried. This book is perfect.

I can tell if I’m going to like a book almost right away. Those first sentences are “donor die” for me. This book instantly had me hooked.

I related to Isla’s drive to want her family to think more of her while personally struggling. If only I had a Cade. I loved the sizzling chemistry between Isla and Cade from the jump. Fake dating as a trope isn’t usually my favorite because I find it unrealistic and not in a fun way, but the author made it believable and fun.

I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to laugh out loud and fall in love.

Thank you Alcove Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a review.

4* predictable, romantic love story

I'm a sucker for romance, but I don't like it when stories get too sappy. This book was just about right, it was funny, cute and very topical. I really enjoyed reading the book and the topics it touched were very actual. It's not always a guaranteed success when you have an MBA and people do struggle to make ends meet. Especially with the current inflation rates. Even though the reason Isla ran into Cade isn't that funny, the book has numerous funny instances, which makes it a light and easy read for on a holiday or on the beach. Would definitely recommend!

3.5 stars

This book kept me mostly engaged throughout. I appreciated the commentary on the difficulties recent graduates face (which I am currently experiencing) and the big divide between how different economic classes live. I also liked how we saw how offhand comments and jokes can be harmful and seeing Isla address them.

I haven't read a single POV book in a while, and while it didn't detract anything from the story, I wish we could've had a glimpse into Cade's mind and a deeper look into how his upbringing and background affected him. I liked Isla well enough, but some of her decisions frustrated me. However, I liked watching her grow and enjoyed going on house-sitting adventures with her. I also really like her developing friendship with Neeta and would love to see more of them one day.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

5⭐️🥰

I absolutely adored this book. I would have finished this in one sitting and definitely stayed up way to late getting as far as I did lol.

It's follows Isla's perspective. I love her character she's flawed in regards to her financial/career life but her personality is so bubbly and kind. I fell in love with her character immediately. I of course love her dynamic and relationship with Cade but I love her and Nettie's friendship even more. I love that she lies in a library when she is working thru problems and how Nettie interacts with her.

Then there is Cade. His character is very charming, funny, and just over all such a nice guy. He is flawed from the trauma he went thru as a child and rightfully so. He was just so loveable.

Sonia Hartl for me did such an amazing job making believable flawed characters but their flaws didn't cause me as a reader to just absolutely dislike them. I appreciated that Isla, Cabe, and Seb all experienced growth.

Now Isla's parents this was really hard. Triggering to me some. The underhanded comments hidden in a joke. I felt pain and sadness for Isla and Cade. This is a realistic situation and it's hard to navigate. Especially when they make it sound like it's your problem you can't take a joke. I wish there was one or more chapters at the end regarding . It felt very rushed in that aspect.

My one complaint about this book was the epilogue. It just didn't feel like it fit the story. I probably would pass reading it on a reread.

I adored this book and it's one of my faves of this year so far. I will be keeping my eye out for more books from this author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for this advanced reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

I will be posting my review to my Instagram page the.Floofs.booknook and retail sites close or on publication.

- 4/5 ⭐️
- first person POV (single perspective)
- NA/A
- fake dating
- brother’s best friend
- childhood friends to lovers

This book turned out to be better than expected! I didn’t expect to love it as much as I do. Certain parts were rushed particularly the ending, but I love Isla and Cade’s characters so it didn’t really bother me.

Isla Jane… what a pretty name. Her character is so bubbly and energetic and wild— I love her. This book shows so much truth especially about a woman in her 20s, being broke and just out there trying to make a living. It doesn’t feel fictional at all because I find myself relating to many aspects of Isla (especially the broke part because same 😭). I love how raw and honest the author is when writing this story and I appreciated that.

Cade… his name is as hot as he is. He’s so kind, down-to-earth, sweet, and gentle. He’s everything you need in a man. The only thing I didn’t like is how he pushed Isla away when things started to get intense. I wished more communication were included instead of them constantly playing a game of push-and-pull every time.

Isla and Seb’s parents were meh. That aspect of the book kind of felt rushed to me. I just wished the ending could’ve been better and we could see more of what happened after the whole thing that occurred after Isla and Cade broke the news to her parents.

The writing style was great. Wasn’t cringey at all though the mention of TikTok in the epilogue was… 😅Maybe that’s just me but I just don’t like it when BookTok or TikTok or idk anything like that is mentioned in books.

Overall, a pretty good book. Bravo 👏

Rent to Be is about the messy life of Isla. This girl is honestly a mess. I did not particularly like some aspects of this story. The fake dating was fun! (Wish there was more). I felt like I was reading a lot of composing about her life without Isla doing anything to help her situation. The story just fell flat. The family dynamic was super toxic (which I understand) and also the relationship between Cade and Isla.

3/5 stars

Interestingly, there were parts of this book that felt like 5 stars to me, yet parts that I was just frustrated with. To me, a late 20's woman who STILL wonders what she's doing with her life, Isla's confusion and frustration over having her MBA yet feeling uninspired and being at the mercy of loan companies is freaking relatable. It's relatable to many readers having a family who makes jokes at your expense but its "your fault you get upset". The tough part about the book is that....sometimes Isla just feels frustrating. On plot alone, I would rate this 4.5 starts. But some personal aspects of the characters, Cade included, are tough to read and get along with. I do also think the ending and epilogue felt incredibly rushed and VERY out of place.

Yet I feel like more stories need to be told about how the world thinks that going to college and getting your MBA is this magic fix.

*I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and my reviews are completely my own*

Rent to Be is about Isla, a down-on-her-luck twenty-something who begins a housesitting business by accident, which she intends to keep a secret from her family. The only person who knows her secret is Cade, her brother's best friend. And in return, she agrees to pose as his girlfriend in work events to boost his image.

This novel features two of the tropes I typically enjoy in romance: sibling's best friend and fake dating. I really liked the chemistry between Isla and Cade especially because they grew up together and have a lot of shared history. I also loved how the friendship between Isla and Neeta developed, proving that yes, it's possible to make lasting friendships as an adult.

However, I found Isla's financial and career struggles to be so repetitive throughout the novel, where it seemed like every time she faced a challenge, there'd be a long paragraph about people her age drowning in debt or life being just generally unfair. It's great that the story dealt with these topics, but I felt like it went overboard at times. I also found the storyline about her parents lacking, since it plays a significant part in her decision-making at the start of the story.

Overall, it was an okay read for me. I really enjoyed some parts of it but struggled to connect with the main characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really connected with Isla and Cade, and I absolutely loved the inclusion of Neeta’s character. The drama with the parents, particularly with the father’s injury, felt very underdeveloped and frankly not pivotal to the story. Outside of that, I did enjoy this novel- it was a quick, effortless read that had many relatable themes. I also enjoyed that Hartl did not fixate on Cade’s decision to not drink alcohol, and that she normalized the choice and that it was due to family trauma. I was surprised, but pleased to see no conversation happen between Cade and his mother.

I read this book in one sitting and It was good. The story of Cade and Isla was interesting to follow and had some of my favorite tropes. I expected that the main focus would be on their situation when they had to live together, but it was not. They had fake dating but I needed more. I needed more time that they spent together to understand them better and see their relationships. They were very cute, but It was too fast to be realistic.

I liked the fact that they were childhood friends and shared common memories. Isla was not able to pay for her apartment and she needed to find another place. I think it is a really critical modern problem about life, money, and decisions that people have to make, and sometimes they are so difficult.  I like the author’s writing style and how the author describes the setting. And another key moment is the relationship with her parents. I felt her emotions and why she thought that way, why she did not want to ask them for help. Also, I liked some of Isla's character traits and some of them were absolutely annoying. But I liked how her character developed throughout the storyline. Overall, this book has pros and cons like life has. This book tells you that it is very significant to find the person that will love you with all your flaws.