I always love reading a debut novel! Lease on Love is written by Fallon Ballard and is set to publish February 1st, 2022. As always, my thoughts and opinions are my own, and I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Quick rundown: Sadie is reinventing herself after she’s passed over for a promotion at work, and finds herself living with her new hunky (who she refuses to see as hunky) landlord Jack who is a bit mysterious and a bit nerdy, slow-burn romance and some self-growth ensues!
I liked the meet-cute, the slow-burn, the beautiful NYC backdrop, and all the dreamy real estate talk. The book had good bones and I think a lot of people will enjoy it and find it relatable. There is some depth beyond the romance and some self discovery, which is great.
For me, it read much more as a new adult romance, even though the characters were supposed to be a bit older than that. There was a level of immaturity, and “drama” that felt very well, young. I found Sadie to be quite insufferable, and everything came quite easily to her. I found the idea that she just randomly decides to start a floral business in NYC and everything just falls into place just a bit too easy.
I will add a ME problem, not a BOOK problem, but our characters are drinking alcohol pretty much at every interaction. Someone is always grabbing a beer or pouring a wine or meeting for drinks. I think I’m getting old, because this type of lifestyle for me just screams college-just-turned-21-vibes and not late-twenties-finding-myself vibes.
I also felt that in the romance, the conflict that ends up coming to a head was not really anything…conflicting? But in my opinion Jack and Sadie did have issues that weren’t really addressed (money, power disparity, maturity, lifestyles).
This all may sound pretty harsh, but I actually did enjoy the book overall and found it entertaining. I would pick up Ballard’s next book when it comes out! I think a younger, “hipper” demographic would really enjoy this!