Sadie’s and Jack’s slow burn romance is definitely worth the wait because wow…! Lease on Love is a great story with an amazing groups of friends to support the main characters. The only thing that bothered me was the overuse of the annoying pet names, but overall it was a great read.

I received an advanced copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

To start - this book is pitched as Beach Read meets The Flat Share and I do see a lot of similarities in the characters! I think the idea of the book is clever (mixing up a dating app with a roommate app - haven’t read something like that before).

The side characters are great - I wish I had friends like Gemma, Nick, and Harley! I love the plot of the story, although I do agree with another reviewer that the ending felt a bit out of character and fell somewhat flat from my expectations.

The MC is relatable, with work struggles that I think most millennial women can relate to. Branching off on her own to follow her own passions was really cool to read.

Also this book makes me sad I don’t live in a brownstone in Brooklyn. Anyone need a roommate??

Overall I’d probably give this a 3.75 but I did like the characters and the idea of the story.

Lease On Love

3.75 ⭐
🌶

*Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.*

Lease On Love is a feel good story about a woman named Sadie who finds happiness in her life after she believes the worst has happened. She's lucky enough to meet an attractive need, live in an amazing place for dirt cheap in NYC, and start her dream business. We love a girl boss who really goes for it! While she's figuring out her next steps, she falls for her roommate Jack (whom I love). Now this book played the long game and I mean the looooooooong game. I don't mind waiting for a connection or a spark but it just became frustrating after a certain point. Halfway through the book, there was no spice and the beginning of tension between the two. Very frustrating. I understand having spice as secondary to the plot and I'm all for that, however, when we finally got it? It fell flat.

Normally I love contemporary romance, but this was just fine. Not a lot happened, not a lot of spice, quick resolution to the "major" conflict. This book is great if you're looking for fluff, but it was not for me.

Wow. Wow. Wow. This book took me by surprise and once I started, I could not stop reading! This was a super slow burn but totally worth the wait! This book was an easy fun read and the spice was just enough without being over the top. I can not wait for this to come out and everyone to enjoy! 4.8/5 ⭐️

A fun, romantic read!

Sadie loses her promotion and her job...so she heads for a crazy night out with her three best friends and in a drunken moment, has the brilliant idea she needs to find a date and thinks she's using her dating app to hook up - but accidently used the find-a-roommate app instead. Makes for a fun moment when she meets Jack.

Jack is a semi-recluse living in a wonderful brownstone - where he's lived alone since his parents were killed in a car accident. Wow does Sadie bring a whirlwind into his life! She moves in to rent the upstairs room and ends up turning the kitchen into a florist shop when she decides to follow her dream instead of finding a new job.

In the middle of all the chaos, they start to fall in love - both believing they're not good enough for each other. That part gets pretty repetitive and slightly annoying as it drags on, but it's all part of the story in the end.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

When Sadie doesn’t just not get the promotion she has devoted her life to, but also gets fired a night of drinking with friends is in order. And after a few drinks it seems like the best time to swipe on the first person that comes up on a dating app - which actually turns out to be a roommate finding app. Through this serious of hilarious events Sadie finds herself moving into a Brooklyn Brownstone with Jack, a man she met five seconds ago so she can figure out what she really wants out of life.

Sadie is the definition of girl bossing too close to the sun. She has this delightful millennial hardass New Yorker energy about her and a penchant for saying exactly what she is thinking even if it is to her own detriment sometimes. 😂

I loved Sadie and Jack! If you like friends to lovers, the grumpy sunshine trope, and slow burn romances featuring a found family group of friends - I think you’ll love them too.

Overall I thought this was pretty good! I didn’t like the unnecessary conflict towards the end because it felt so rushed and didn’t really contribute anything to the story - but I really enjoyed so much of this book that it’s still a 4 star read for me!

<i> ARC kindly provided in exchange for my honest review. </i>

Loved this! I loved the main couple and also enjoyed how this author portrayed the trauma that both went through. Very sweet story of chosen family.

'Lease on Love' is a feel-good, light read. The characters are hilarious and endearing, and I love their friendship. But the protagonist is maddening at times—Sadie's essentially an unambiguously good person who constantly calls herself a selfish jerk to anyone who will listen. I understand what the author was going for, but without showing how Sadie got to be this way (aside from a few cursory references to her past), it just felt random and over the top every time.

3. 5
I am a sucker for all New York settings and throw in a brownstone home? Yes, please. Also, I loved that the main character was a florist.

I adored the friendships in this book and how much they were a part of the each other’s lives. It wasn’t just through the easy stuff either, but the hard times too. That made it so authentic in my opinion.

I also laughed, a lot. Sadie is hilarious and I never knew what was going to come out of her mouth next.

However, she wasn’t a main character I really enjoyed. I found her super rude and selfish. She wrestles with these feelings about herself too, which I liked, but I never felt better about her. It was definitely meant to be seen as her loving herself, but I just think it was a bit too far.

The romance was slow burn, sweet, and beautiful. I love watching characters fall slowly for one another. They had the 🔥🔥

Overall, I loved reading this book, but I just couldn’t connect with the main character and the cursing got really old.
★★★/5
🔥🔥🔥🔥/5 (a few steamy scenes)

TW: TONS of language, like a lot, past death of parents (car accident), past verbal abuse from parents
Swipe for synopsis

Out February 1, 2022

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This was so cute!!!!

I will admit, the first few pages I wasn’t sure I was going to like Sadie. But it became very clear very quickly (like within a few pages) that it was the job that I didn’t like. Because she (and her friends) felt like people I know by the end of the next chapter.

When the her boss gives a job to his future son-in-law and expects Sadie to train him for the position that she both deserved and needed, it’s the final straw. After a (cathartic) outburst, she finds herself in need of a few things: a new job, a night out with her friends, and probably somewhere less expensive to live than her NYC apartment.

After mixing up a dating app with a roommate-seeking app, Sadie finds Jack Thomas: a kind and nerdy recluse who has an entire Brooklyn brownstone to himself - and needs a roommate for company far more than the money.

Deciding to take up his offer for the obscenely low rent and friendship, Sadie uses the opportunity to chase a dream she abandoned for her career, all while finding that she and Jack have a lot more in common than they thought. And that maybe this happenstance was the happiest mistake that ever could have happened.

I loved everything about Falon Ballard’s debut LEASE ON LOVE: the unique premise, the lovably flawed heroine, the incredible group of friends, and the swoony opposites attract chemistry between Sadie and Jack. This book was a blast from start to finish, while still holding space for heavier topics like grief and the lingering effects of an emotionally abusive upbringing. Sadie’s group chat with her friends threatened to steal the show, but the sizzling slow burn between her and Jack was sooo satisfying. I loved watching them find their way to their well-deserved HEA!

You ever find a book where you can’t put it down because it’s so good but then you want to put it down so it never ends?? This is that book. Sadie is a down-on-her-luck unemployed millennial who is offered the rent of her dreams at the brownstone of her dreams. She can finally pay off her student loans and focus on her passion, making floral arrangements. The only catch is Jack, the very attractive landlord/roommate who is mysterious as he is kind. Ballard does a phenomenal job developing the chemistry in this novel. She surrounds you with found family and real insecurities that sometimes hits a little too close to home. I loved every second of this novel and desperately cannot wait to own a physical copy to cherish, annotate, and lend to everyone I know. I really hope Ballard does companion novels because I don’t want to leave these characters.

I wasn't sure how much I'd like this since it was compared to Flatshare and I wasn't a big fan of that - but boy, did I enjoy this one. It is definitely a slow burn but Jack and Sadie are adorable and extremely relatable. Loved the friend group dynamic as well. This was a feel good romance that was light-hearted but also address some serious topics and I really, really liked it.

HOLY FREAKING COW! THIS BOOK WAS SO SO SO GOOD!!

Forgive me for screaming, I just can’t help myself. I LOVED this book! Every. Last. Thing. Sadie with her quick, smart mouth. Jack and all his cinnamon roll hero goodness. The flawlessly written flawed MCs. It was like a season of Younger rolled into a romcom novel.

Sadie is pissed after a promotion she more than deserves goes to the boss’s future son-in-law. She colorfully stands up for herself in a public meeting and gets herself fired. Then she does what any self respecting individual would do.. she gets drunk.

After several drinks and thinking about all that she’s sacrificed for her old job, she mistakenly swipes right on a roommate finding app instead of a dating one. Next thing she knows, she’s touring Jack’s Brooklyn brownstone and agreeing to move in with a man she just met.

This is a sloooow, torturous burn, but you enjoy it and you ask for more because the pining is mutual. That and all the swoony moments. The scene at the beach. Around the dinner table at thanksgiving. Ohhh, the hand holding. Their first kiss. Phew! Don’t mind me. I’m just over here fanning myself.

Another HUGE selling point was Sadie’s group of friends. I love how this book highlighted the importance of a “found family.” Ohhh, and the group messages - pure comic gold!

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Everything about this book is perfect, I never thought I enjoyed friends to lovers until I read this arc by Falon Ballard. Also I'm obsessed by the found family add in I wasn't expecting. I already recommended this book to friends, it was absolutely perfect, I wish I could read it again for the first time. Definitely will be checking out more of the authors writing in the future, because really, WOW!

Have you ever gotten fired from your job when you totally expected a promotion so to drown out your anger you get super wasted and decide to do some dating app swiping and WOOHOO you match someone, so you set up a coffee date for when you’re less inebriated but when you show up you discover - whoops - you actually clicked on your roommate finder app and now this man is interviewing you for what you’re realizing is not a hook up but in fact an opportunity that could potentially change your life?
*deep breath*
Because that’s exactly what happens to Sadie, leading her to Jack.
Jack, who is so not her type.
Jack, who only seems to own comic book shirts.
Jack, who lives in a gorgeous brownstone in Brooklynn? And the rent is like….basically nothing?

This book was a hit for me from the get. Two utterly damaged MC’s with trauma holding them back in their lives? Found family in Brooklyn? Mysterious past but in a “I’m too scared to open myself up” way and not a manic pixie dream person way. Text exchanges that make you feel like you’re part of the group chat?
SIGN. ME. UP.

Not to mention the TENSION. You know that weird limbo before a relationship when you both like each other but haven’t taken that next step? And the buildup is fucking intoxicating and even though you’re dying for something to happen, you also enjoy the stolen looks and brief touches because they make your head swim? Lease On Love gives you that and so much more.

So like anyways…. Five stars. Obviously.

I adored this book. It had me laughing out loud so much and I related so much to the insecurity of feeling like you should have your life figured
out by now and just not. Sadie was so relatable, deflecting with sarcasm, how loudly she loved, but struggled to accept it. Fiercely independent almost to her detriment I enjoyed her journey of falling in love with Jack. with herself. and with her business. This book is as much a love letter to the work of letting yourself be loved and the work of finding your passion.

This was one of my favorite romances that I've read in a while! Watching Sadie put herself first and chase after her dreams, both career and romantic, was so perfect. I could honestly read a million more books just about their friend group. Everything seemed so genuine between Sadie and Jack and there was always the perfect amount of tension. The pacing of the slow burn was ideal because both Sadie and Jack are recovering from past trauma. I honestly couldn't put this book down and I loved it so so much! Definitely recommend for anyone who wants to read about a group of best friends in New York, encouraging one another to chase their dreams, and find true love.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was sooo super cute!! Sassy Sadie drunkenly swipes right only to realize later that it was on a roommate app instead of a dating app. But her mistake comes at the perfect time - she just lost her job, the house on offer is stunning, and she decides to change things up. She also decides to pursue her lifelong dreams of being a florist, all while *trying* not to fall for her new roommate, Jack.

I loved the New York/Brooklyn vibes on this book. Seriously, apartment porn 😍 and I love all things flowers/plants/gardening and small businesses, so this was just so fun to read. Not a lot of angst in this, which was perfect. Sadie and Jack also have really good conversations about taking their relationship slowly which I appreciated. I knocked off a star because the ending felt a little rushed with some time jumps, and was resolved fairly quickly. But overall this was a really fast and heartwarming read!!

Lease on Love is out February 1st, 2022. Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

And they were roommates. This fresh, lighthearted romance is sure to please many with its likable characters and solid plot.

Enter Sadie, a down on her luck in desperate need of something good to happen who happens to meet mysterious and seemingly perfect Jack with a room to rent at a stupidly low price. How can you not love the characters Ballard shares with us.

While the plot is mostly light and fun there are some heavier themes of self-discovery and starting over when everything falls apart that are very well thought out.

In some parts the dialogue was a bit much for my tastes. And the nicknames started to feel cringe worthy after a while but all in all a solid romance option for those in the quarter life crisis.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for the eArc in exchange for an honest review.