Rent To Be

Isla’s student-loan debt has her hanging by a thread. When her roommates find the receipt from an ill-advised Red Lobster extravaganza, they cut her loose, changing the locks and leaving her things on the curb. She tries to crash at her brother’s condo while he’s away for work but finds that his lifelong best friend, Cade, has already taken up residence there while his kitchen is being renovated. In desperation, Isla decides to sleep under her desk at work but ends up running into an exec in need of a house sitter. What she thought was the answer to her problems turns into yet another disaster when Cade discovers her secret; to buy his silence, she must act as his girlfriend to deter his boss’s matchmaking. Hartl (Heartbreak for Hire) presents a spicy contemporary romance with a compelling combination of fake-dating, forced-proximity, and friends-to-lovers tropes. Narrator Kirsten Leigh perfectly captures both the banter-filled conversational tone and the steamy sexual chemistry. Her expressive performance yields a lively, laugh-out-loud listening experience.