I loved this book! Isla embodies the average 20-something these days who has crippling debt from college loans and is stuck in a job she hates that doesn't pay enough for her to live. She gets kicked out of her apartment and plans on crashing at her brother's place while he's out of town for work, but unfortunately she finds her brother's best friend, Cade, is staying there already. Pride keeps her from telling Cade the truth and she sleeps under her desk at her job where she overhears her boss needs someone to housesit. Isla helps out Cade by pretending to be his girlfriend at his company events and it makes the two grow closer, even though they were already close growing up and both kind of lied to themselves about their feelings. This book represents the debt and job crisis the people graduating from college right now are going through. Isla and Cade are so wonderful to read about. The narrator does a good job bringing the angst to life. I felt angry for Isla and the way her family would treat her.

Isla has officially hit rock bottom. Kicked out of her apartment (for not paying rent), with no where to go and bogged down by her dead end job, that thanks to her very expensive MBA, she is very over qualified for. Having no where to go, she decides to stay at her brothers apartment while he’s away for work. Till she gets there and realizes that the apartment is already occupied by her brothers best friend, Cade.

Yes, this is a very cute fake dating romance and will give you all the feels. But at its core, this is a book about learning to love yourself and put yourself first. A story about having those uncomfortable but necessary conversations and that a family does not have to be the one you were born into.

Millennials, Unite! Above the love story, this is a cry for change. As a generation, WHY are we working for less than our student loan payments? WHY are we struggling so much? So many questions asked by our MC, and I loved following along for her journey of finding herself (and a place to sleep).



I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

There was a lot that I enjoyed about this story. Isla Jane is working to find her way after amassing a mountain of student debt only to find a job that barely keeps her afloat. Like many adults, she is living paycheck to paycheck until a single unexpected car repair forces her into abject poverty. Unfortunately, that condition is too true for many people today.

I enjoyed the fact that she felt a responsibility to sort things out herself, although her determination to avoid help of any kind was a bit overboard, especially when it was help that was volunteered!

The relationship that builds between Isla and her brother's best friend Cade was sweet too, although I truly wish it hadn't started out as a physical thing. It would have been much more satisfying if her appreciation of him was based on the size of his heart rather than the size of his ****.

If you enjoy quirky characters trying to find their way in life, you'll enjoy this story too.

Thank you to Sonia Hartl, RB Media, and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

Let me preface this by saying that I personally feel like this is one of those books where if none of the aspects resonate with you at all, then you might not enjoy it as much.

Rent to Be is about a struggling millennial (Isla) who follows the “right path” (as instilled in us by our parents and society) and has tried to further her career with an MBA in a field she really had no interest in at all. Isla gives up her dream of being a Librarian for a more “practical” career all to end up in an entry level paying corporate position where she makes just the same as someone without any degrees.

I feel like I personally connected with the book because I also have an MBA and like many others from my generation, struggled to really find a job right out of college. Like Isla, I also initially had to settle for what jobs would hire me rather than focusing on what I really wanted to do with my degree/life.

Just like Isla, I feel like a lot of people set aside their actual dreams (while some just keep them as “hobbies” instead) because whether it’s our family or the rest of society, we are brought up to believe that in order to live a happy and fulfilling life, we have to obtain a higher education and pursue a high paying career. It also brings awareness that some companies don’t value their employees and sometimes salaried employees will basically work for free and “invest” unpaid hours in hopes to qualify for promotions.

With Isla refusing to work for free and getting passed by for promotions in a low paying job, she struggles with not only paying off her student loans and credit card debt, but also keeping up with paying her share of the rent. Isla gets thrown out of her apartment by her roommates, but lucky for her, she has a spare key to her brother’s unoccupied condo since he happens to be working out of the country. Unluckily for her, she finds her brother’s best friend, Cade, is currently occupying her brother’s condo due to renovations in his own condo.

Isla’s has somewhat of a complicated relationship with her family and therefore, refuses to let them know she’s struggling. I know some people feel like her problems would have been solved if she just asked for help, but unless you also know what it’s like to live in fear of disappointing those around you because of remarks/comments made at your expense growing up but they’ve been dismissed because they’re “just funny/harmless jokes”, then it can be very hard to understand.

So when Isla find Cade in her brother’s condo, rather than letting him know what’s going on, she decides to spend the night under her desk at work. This leads to her landing a new side job as a house sitter. At the first house she house sits at, Cade happens to be at a work party and catches her sunbathing. They end up striking a deal – Cade promises to keep her secret if she agrees to pose as his girlfriend. Cade is super committed to his job (because he actually loves what he does) and attends every event, but is tired of his colleagues trying to be set him up on dates, so naturally, having a fake girlfriend seems like the perfect solution. As things progress, lines start to get blurry, Isla and Cade are forced to acknowledged that there is very little faking when it comes to the feelings that are involved.

Overall, I really enjoyed this audiobook. The only thing that did bother me is that I feel like Isla didn’t take accountability at times. I feel like a lot of the times she mentioned she “wasn’t one to make good choices,” but she seemed aware of what the good and bad choices were and just chose the wrong one. I feel like if you’re self-aware of what’s right but still chose to do the opposite, you’re just being complaisant with your choices at that point. I don’t know that she actually did anything that was outrageously wrong, I just didn’t really like that she used that as an “excuse” to justify her actions/thoughts at times.

Isla Jane is just trying to get by, she was under the impression that an MBA equaled a good paying job. She was wrong. Since she isn't willing to play the corporate game of working yourself into an early grave she isn't on any track to advancement. One unexpected expense leads to a downward spiral of eviction and no friends. She is determined to not let her family find out or else they are sure to judge her and belittle her. She figures that since her brother is out of the country for work and she has a spare key she can squat at his place with no one the wiser. Wrong because her brother's best friend is already there while his own place is being remodeled. You can see where this goes.

I can see where people are complaining about this book but honestly I loved it anyway. It's cheesy and just like every other OBBF trope with the "we can't" after they almost and after they do. If you like that trope then you won't have any problem with this book. If you don't like it then why waste your time?

Kristen Leigh did a fantastic job narrating this book. I would definitely listen to more done by her in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sonia Hartl and R B Media for the opportunity to listen to and review this book.

Rent to Be in audiobook form was a really enjoyable listen. I always love a good friends-to-lovers, and as the blurb states, lots of things that can be relatable to millennials in this book, especially US ones I think. (Especially on the student debt part, I can only judge from what I read online, living in the Netherlands myself and being lucky enough to avoid those).
During the course of the book some choices Isla, our main character, makes were quite frustrating but as that was dealt with in-book, it ended up being a plus instead of an annoyance! Yay!

The narration was really wel done, and pleasant to listen to ^^

I would like to thank Netgalley and RB media for an audio ARC of this book to review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC. It was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Isla had found herself after grad school with mountains of student loan debt, a dead-end entry level job, and bills she can’t afford to pay. After being kicked out of her apartment, she flees to her brother Seb’s condo, which is empty while he’s on a business trip. Lo and behold, the condo is already housing her brother’s best friend Cade. They come to an agreement, Cade won’t tell Seb she’s been kicked out of her apartment, if Isla agrees to enter a fake relationship to further his career.

This has so many of my favorite tropes! Brother’s best friend, fake dating, friends to lovers, forced proximity. I was here for it.

Isla struggles with a job that won’t pay her bills, student loans, finding friends as an adult, and fear of disappointing her family. As a millennial who has struggled post college, I could whole-heartedly relate to Isla.

I’m a firm believer that banter makes a book and Sonia does not disappoint.

I appreciated a romance novel that tackles topics I don’t often see. I love how Isla sets healthy boundaries, one conversation in particular.

The scene with the kitchen table had me rolling!

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I devoured it in a few hours, laughed out loud, kicked my feet, and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

This book was definitely a book I needed when I was younger! I really loved the main message that you WILL make mistakes in life and it WILL be okay. As well as it’s okay to pivot from the life you had “planned”. It also incorporated some of my favorite troupes brother’s best friend and fake dating!!!


3.50⭐️


Special thanks to Netgalley and Recorded Books an imprint of RB Media for the advanced listening copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

Things get complicated when feelings are involved.

Rent To Be by Sonia Hartl was a unexpected, refreshing and real read that was the perfect mix of some of my favourite tropes: fake dating and brothers best friend

The chemistry between Isla and Cade was off the charts - every interaction was loaded and filled with humour and love. I could feel the shared history, in a real and honest way. Rainbow Bear - my heart.

Though I wanted to shake both characters a number of times, I loved their journey. They were always meant to be - they just took a little longer to get there.

Read for:
🤝 Fake dating
👬 Brother's best friend
👫 Friends to lovers
❤️ Slightly fluffy
🔥 Spicy
⭐4 stars

Thanks to NeGalley and Alcove Press for the ARC! Audiobook was narrated by Kirsten Leigh. Opinions are my own

I think that most millennials understand faking it until you make it when it comes to real life, and Isla is the embodiment of that! Granted, most people don’t go through the lengths that she does, but at the very least, we can understand. I loved how Cade was there for her and tried to help her at every step of the way! I adored how he also stood up for Isla to her parents and her brother. I really enjoyed this cute story!

Rent to Be by Sonia Hartl is a laugh out loud funny romantic comedy, perfect for fans of Tessa Bailey, Mazey Eddings, and Christina Lauren.

Isla recently graduated with her MBA, but she's struggling to make ends meet. (With an advanced degree comes even more student load debt.) After she's kicked out of her shared apartment, she stumbles into house-sitting as a way to make some money almost by accident. Once she realizes that it's an easy gig, she quickly seeks out more house-sitting opportunities. Which is awesome--except for the fact that her brother's best friend Cade knows about her little side hustle and hates keeping secrets from his friend. He offers to keep her secret if she'll pretend to be his girlfriend at all his summer work events.

Fake dating leads to the revelation of real feelings--feelings they've both harbored for longer than they're willing to admit. Can they learn to trust each other enough to make this very real connection permanent and lasting?

Hartl's keen wit and understanding of millennial angst makes Rent To Be a clever, relatable, and super swoony summer romance read. She also tackles suffocating familial expectations and how to set healthy boundaries, even with family. I listened to the audiobook, and Kirsten Leigh delivers an incredible performance. Her voice is very pleasant to listen to. I tend to listen at 2-3x speed, and her pacing easily allowed for that increase in speed.

Thank you to RB Digital and Netgalley for my advance listening copy. I loved it.

I stayed up way too late listening to this one because I didn’t want to stop. I loved the characters! Such a cute well told story.

Isla Jane has hit her rock bottom – her only two “friends” have kicked her out of their apartment for missed rent, she’s drowning in student loan debt and has a dead-end low paying job. After packing up her things, she decides she’s going to crash at her brother’s place while he’s away on business. As she unlocks the door, her brother’s best friend, Cade, comes out in a towel – startling them both. The towel slips, things are awkward, and Isla doesn’t want to tell Cade the truth about her situation as her brother would find out and her less than supportive parents too. Cade is staying at her brother Seb’s place while his gets renovated, Isla decided it would be in their best interest to stay elsewhere that night – after spending time sulking on the library floor and being asked to leave – she goes into her office and sleeps under the desk. In the morning, she overhears one of her bosses is in last minute need of a house sitter and, in a moment of desperation, Isla jumps in and volunteers herself.
While at her boss’ house, Isla, sees Cade a few houses over. The two talk and while and Cade asks Isla to be his fake girlfriend for company events in exchange to keep her secretS. The two really begin to hit it off and – as they always do – feels get brought to the surface. Isla’s brother comes home unexpectedly while the two are literally in bed together. Cade, in fear of losing his best friend, starts to pull away, but not before the two realize they are in love with each other and always have been.
Ya’ll this book was SO FREAKING GOOD. I’m tandem reading this with a reeeeaaaalllllyy dark romance and needed something to cleanse my palate. I love Isla, I love Cade, I love how real the story feels. Isla’s parents are such typical boomers - hard work overcomes everything even while making everyone around them uncomfortable. I am so proud of Isla’s character development in this story. I listed on audio and thought the narrator was perfect – I was sucked in from the beginning. I also wasn’t expecting any spice in this book so I was surprised in the best way. Definitely recommend.

***Thank you to Netgalley, Sonia Hartl, and RB Media for the ARC. Opinions are my own***

Rent to Be is a brother's best friend/childhood friend and a millennial adult coming of age story all at once. Isla was supposed to go on a tinder date and stops by her apartment at one of her roommates request only to find all of her belongings outside. Her friends or who she had thought were her friends had kicked her out for not paying rent and had not had the decency to tell her even over a text message. So begins the story of house sitting and a fairly steamy romance brought on by an accidental flashing. Rent to be is a cute, fun, and funny read. The audio narration was done very well with an excellent narrator.

Happy Wednesday y’all! There was a crazy storm over by my house yesterday and around 42% (or 47%- I can’t remember the statistic they said on the news last night) of my city lost power! And a good chunk of the surrounding cities were also out of power and this morning, power still wasn’t back for a lot of people, but thankfully, I was able to run to my parents’ house, which wasn’t impacted, yesterday and I had power this morning, so everything was back to normal for me. Right as the weather was hitting, I was finishing up an audiobook that came out yesterday- Rent to Be. I really like Sonia Hartl’s writing style so when I saw that Rent to Be was available as an audiobook, I requested it, and was so excited when my request was approved! Thank you so much to RB Media and Netgalley for letting me read this audiobook ARC!

Rent to Be 4/5 Stars

Summary from Goodreads:

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.

Rent to Be was such a cute book! And so real and honest- the biggest thing that bothered me throughout he book was that everyone seemed to have gotten an MBA right out of their undergrad degree, which is the worst time to get an MBA- like you have to have some real experience to get the benefit of an MBA, which you can’t have if you’re straight out of your undergrad. But, that’s such a nitpicky thing that doesn’t really matter unless it slightly annoys you too while you’re reading the book. In terms of the actual book, I really liked Cade and Isla as characters. they showed just how much pressure we feel these days to go to college and get a job and pay our bills and get out of debt and everyone’s journey isn’t the same and harder for some people than it is for others. Some people have so much more privilege than others that they don’t even think or care about. I loved watching Cade and Isla’s relationship grow and the spicy parts were so great. Overall, this was a fun book that also made you think and laugh and cringe and I really enjoyed it. Definitely pick up Rent to Be today!

⭐️ 4/5 | 🌶️ 2/5

This easy listen was so much fun! I related to Isla on a cellular level at times, especially at the start of this book. Many a late millennial/early Gen Z will have all the feels reading about a character who's broke, drowning in debt, and one emergency away from financial ruin. (Spoiler: it's me - I'm the many a late millennial.)

It's obvious from very early on that Cade and Isla have chemistry, and watching them (well, listening to them) figure that out through fake dating was a blasty blast.

Great audiobook for summer days!

Thanks to Sonia, Netgalley and Alcove Press for sharing this with me.

Such a relatable read for so many millennials and then some. Being made to think you need those student loans to get that big degree and then when school is all over you are in such major debt and don't really know where to turn or how to climb out of that hole.

This is exactly what happens to Isla. She then finds herself without a place to live, so crashing at her brothers place seems like the best temporary solution until she realizes his place is being occupied by her brothers best friend.

The thing I connected to the most was their back stories and Islas interactions with her parents. These characters showed their flaws and emotional baggage, but seeing their growth from that was inspiring.

There was some push and pull towards the end, but I love Isla and Cades dynamic together as a whole. She is so bubbly and sweet and Cade is so dang wholesome.

Such a great audio that I binged. Thank you @netgalley & RB Media, Recorded Books & @hartlsonia for allowing me to listen and give my honest review.

This book hit too close to home as someone with a graduate degree and loads of student debt. But the relationship between Isla and Cade was what really drew me in.

Isla has always been known as the "scammer" of her family and Cade is the welfare boy from nextdoor and her brother's best friend. The welfare reference is not to shame him because he deserves no shame - but that is how the community and Isla's parents treated him. They found a common place through being the odd one out in the family and the world.

Their story of growing up together, dealing with the same obstinate people and financial struggles, is one to really be enjoyed.

This is a brother’s best friend, childhood rivals to lovers, fake dating romance. This was my first Sonia Hartl book, but it won’t be my last. It hooked me in just the first chapter with the humor, banter, and relatable struggles on the FMC. I really loved the jokes and chemistry between Isla and Cade. I think they’re the cutest couple, and the ending gave me all the butterflies. I just loved this book!

Kirsten Leigh is such a great voice actor. She put on a great performance as Isla, and I enjoyed her perspective. She always makes me laugh. 5 stars for her part as well!!!