AUTHOR BIO
Falon Ballard loves to write about love! She also has an undying affection for exclamation points and isn’t ashamed to admit it! When she’s not writing fictional love stories, she’s helping real-life couples celebrate, working as a wedding planner in Southern California. She has a deep appreciation for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is a Disneyland devotee, and is a reality TV aficionado. If she’s not busy wrangling her seven-year-old, you can probably find her drinking wine and posting a picture on Instagram while simultaneously snarking on Twitter, because multitasking!
Name Pronunciation: Falon (like Jimmy Fallon) Ballard (rhymes with mallard)
lease on LOve
Sadie wasn’t looking for love until it landed on her doorstep.
After getting passed over for an overdue—and much-needed—promotion, Sadie Green is in desperate need of three things: a stiff drink, a new place to live, and a one-night stand. But when an accidental mix-up lands her on the doorstep of Jack Thomas’s gorgeous Brooklyn brownstone, it’s too bad Sadie is more attracted to the impressive real estate than she is to the man himself.
Jack, still grieving the unexpected death of his parents, has learned to find comfort in video games and movie marathons instead of friends. So while he doesn’t know just what to make of the vivaciously verbose Sadie, he’s willing to offer her his spare bedroom while she gets back on her feet. And with the rent unbeatably low, Sadie can finally pursue her floristry side hustle full-time. The two are polar opposites, but as Sadie’s presence begins to turn the brownstone into a home, they both start to realize they may have just made the deal of a lifetime.
praise
One of The Nerd Daily‘s Most Anticipated Books of 2022
“[A] quirky, heartwarming contemporary romance…Ballard’s snappy prose and unconventional couple charm, and she gets some good chuckles out of skewering the New York City real estate market. Meanwhile, stellar supporting characters (especially Sadie’s besties Gemma, Nick, and Harley) provide a solid underpinning to this enjoyable tale. This is a treat.” –Publishers Weekly
“Ballard’s debut novel, a fantastic read for fans of The Flatshare (2019), is a sharply funny roommates-to-lovers, opposites-attract rom-com….With profound sensitivity, Ballard shows how therapy and each other’s company help Jack deal with his grief and Sadie with her low self-esteem and negative self-image.” –Booklist
“The romantic beats and the slow-burning attraction between [Sadie and Jack] are things to savor….Ballard sweetly explores the ways they complement one another and also how they hope to reinvent themselves following catastrophic personal changes.” –Kirkus Reviews
“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
“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 was 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 unabiding 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
“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