Rent: Paid in Full by Jesse H Reign: My Review
Rent: Paid in Full by Jesse H Reign is pure forced proximity gold.
Ryan and Miller are complete opposites forced to live in a small dorm room together.
This coincidental roommate assignment results in a wild system of rich, dude-bro Miller paying for things he wants perpetually stressed-out and broke Ryan to do to him.
This book has a hidden depth that could be missed by people being off-put my the nature of Ryan and Miller’s first encounters.
Let’s dive into why this book works for me, and why I think it is worth a read!
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Rent: Paid in Full – Summary
As if my life doesn’t suck enough already, my insufferable new roommate, Miller MacAvoy, seems determined to make things weird. He watches me all the time, grinning at me like a beautiful idiot, eyes boring holes into me every time I turn my back on him.
It’s the last thing I need. Things haven’t been going well. College isn’t working out at all like I’d hoped. I’m drowning in debt, waiting tables every shift I can get, and falling behind on my studies.
Something’s got to give.
I can’t go on like this much longer.
Miller, being the out-of-touch rich boy he is, keeps offering to throw cash my way. Obviously, I’d rather die than accept charity from him.
Still, he watches and waits. Insisting again and again that I have something he wants to buy. It’s insane. I have nothing of value to sell. Absolutely nothing. My phone screen is cracked and my truck could easily be mistaken for scrap.
Wait.
No!
Surely not.
He can’t possibly be thinking that.
Can he?
Rent: Paid in Full – My Review
I have to start by saying that I love Ryan Haraway.
Jesse H Reign does an amazing job of writing characters that are so real, and interesting, and familiar to me. And ridiculously sassy.
I laughed out loud so many times while reading this book. Here is an example of Ryan’s reaction to meeting Miller for the first time:
"Ah, a riveting conversationalist. Lucky me. Just what I need. Just the type I've always wanted to be cooped up with. In a small space. For prolonged periods of time. With no way of escape."
Needless to say, Ryan views Miller as a rich dude-bro, and he isn’t happy to be rooming with Miller.
Ryan actually has a history of not being happy with his roommates. Or at all really.
He is perpetually grumpy.
This perpetual bad mood and awkward personality catches Miller’s attention.
Miller is an openly bi, über popular bro on campus. He is used to people fawning all over him, so when Ryan does the exact opposite, it intrigues Miller.
He notices how socially awkward and constantly scowling Ryan is. And he likes. it.
"Jesus. He has no idea how to behave. None whatsoever. That's his thing. And fuck me, I'm into it."
Ryan is a little more than just awkward. He is anxious and chronically overthinks everything.
"I knock on Emily's door and take two steps back, which seems a little excessive, so I quickly take one step forward and then drop into a pit of self-doubt about where I'm too close. This is me. This is what I'm like. Seriously, this is the shit I deal with daily."
This is when Ryan became real to me, and I started to really care about where this story was going.
Throughout the book we hear about a fist in Ryan’s chest clenching off his blood supply and suffocating him when he starts worrying.
He is thinking about money almost constantly, or the lack thereof.
Miller sees Ryan’s struggle and decides that they can both have what they want. Miller can have Ryan, and Ryan can have money. Easy peasy!
Both nothing is easy where Ryan is involved. Ryan fights these interactions and insists he hates what he does with Miller.
Too bad his body betrays him when they are together.
I understand that this book will rub some people the wrong way. Ryan taking money for having sex with Miller when he claims to hate Miller could definitely be a trigger for some readers.
As a fan of those more morally-grey main characters, I liked the darkness and obsession that Miller occasionally lets slip.
"You can't actually buy people. You know that right?" There's a pause. "Yeah, I know." "You say that, but I'm not sure you do 'cause you act like..." "I do know that!" Miller says with more heat than I was expecting. "Of course I fucking know that! I know because if it was possible, I wouldn't have a cent to my name, and you would be mine."
Miller and Ryan are very imperfect people, but their love is perfect for them.
Read this one for the heat, the obsession, and the humor.
It’s a smash hit.
Hey, I’m Heather!
I read M/M romance books exclusively, and I help other readers find their next great M/M romance read.
