The Lease on Love: A Forced Proximity Contemporary Romance

By Sandeep Rao

She's being evicted from the life she built. He's the attorney who knows exactly how landlords win-because he never loses.

Interior designer Olivia Brooks has thirty days to leave her Upper West Side studio, and the timing couldn't be worse: clients are backing out, bills are piling up, and New York isn't the kind of city that waits for you to catch your breath.

Ethan Cole offers a solution she can't afford to refuse-an empty guest apartment next door to him, strict rules, and a plan to fight back. It's temporary. Professional. Safe.

Until one photo, one rumor, and one too-convenient "boyfriend" assumption turns their arrangement into a public narrative neither of them asked for.

As anonymous messages escalate and Ethan's past resurfaces with a vendetta, Olivia must decide what's harder: letting the world rewrite her story-or trusting a man whose version of love is built on boundaries, choice, and showing up.

Tropes you'll love:

Forced proximity

Slow burn

Protective (but respectful) hero

"We have rules"

Private love, public pressure

Found safety

Closed-door / low spice vibe

A grounded, modern romance with emotional depth-and a heroine who learns to stop abandoning herself.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GFFSPH7V
• ISBN13: 9798242973503
• Release Date: January 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 146 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"