Cover

Advance Praise for
LEASE ON LOVE

“A hopeful, heartwarming debut. With a relatable disaster of a protagonist and an adorably nerdy hero, this opposites-attract, roommates-to-lovers romance is a true delight.”

—Rachel Lynn Solomon, author of The Ex Talk

“Lease on Love is a delight on every level. Ballard delivers a soft, sweet story with enough shadows to make the happily ever after feel that much more earned. Jack and Sadie together are real in the best ways, and the cast of characters shows the abiding love of friends and found family. This is a beautiful love story about finding something precious that seems out of reach. Lease on Love is one of my new favorite romance novels!”

—Denise Williams, author of How to Fail at Flirting

“Sadie is a firecracker of a protagonist who’s very aware of her flaws, and Jack is her perfect counterpart, embracing all of her rough edges with softness and understanding. Lease on Love warmly and wittily underscores that none of us are perfect, but we are all worthy, we are all enough; we all deserve to be loved, not just by others, but by ourselves too.”

—Sarah Hogle, author of Twice Shy and You Deserve Each Other

“Lease on Love is a crackling, compulsively readable debut about forging new career and romantic paths, finding strength in found family, and discovering what it truly means to be ‘home.’ I enjoyed every minute of it!”

—Suzanne Park, author of Loathe at First Sight and So We Meet Again

Dedication

To Matt, for showing me the meaning of happily ever after

One

I plug the final numbers into my Get That Promotion, Bitch spreadsheet. Even though I’ve done enough mental calculations to know the end result will be positive, I still hold my breath, crossing my fingers as I hit enter.

“This could be it. The chance to finally pay off those damn student loans and live comfortably.” There’s no one else actually in my office, but as usual, I hold a one-sided conversation with the air plant sitting on my desk, housed in a concrete planter dipped in bright pink paint. Neither the plant nor its neon home is finance-firm approved, but it’s the only spark of joy in my tiny office.

When I finally force myself to look at the computer screen, my suspicions are confirmed. There it is, beaming through thousands of harmful blue-light rays: A complete budget. A budget based on the salary increase I’m about to earn. A budget allowing me to pay rent on my Kips Bay apartment while also paying off my student loans. In other words, shining down on me in my cramped office in this towering skyscraper is the Holy Grail of millennial life: a chance to be debt-free. I just barely manage to hold back a shriek of joy.

Now all that’s left is to actually secure said promotion.