For Rent — Erin Huss

What's another word for concierge/shrink/babysitter? Apartment manager, of course

When Cambria Clyne-a single mom down on her luck-gets the job as apartment manager at an L.A. apartment complex, she believes her life is turning around. But between having to talk to the retired couple in Apartment 22 about their loud bedroom "activities" and babysitting the owner's man-child who lives in Apartment 40, Cambria realizes the job is nothing like she'd imagined.

When crime takes over the community, Cambria adds "detective" to her list of duties, determined to find the criminals terrorizing the residents and threatening her job. Joining her efforts are rivals Chase, the gorgeous not-so-handy maintenance man, and Tom, her one-time-love baby daddy. As the case unravels and tensions increase, Cambria finds that perhaps she's been a naive accomplice all along...

If you like the lovable in-over-their-heads heroines of Sophie Kinsella's stories, with a little Janet Evanovich cozy mystery thrown in, you'll love this hilarious look at the adventures of a feisty gal trying to keep her crazy job and find love.

All the apartment managers I've met agree on one thing-someone needs to write a book about this bizarre industry So I thought, why not me? As a former on-site apartment manager and longtime blogger at The Apartment Manager's Blog, I have a lot of inspiration right at my fingertips. So much so, this had to be a series.

To me, a good book has a bit of mystery, a dose of romance, a twist, and a whole lot of humor. So I applied this formula to For Rent: humor, mystery and romance... I think it could easily fit into chick lit, romantic comedy, and even a cozy mystery.

Cambria is a feisty single mom determined to do right by her daughter. She's smart, witty, awkward, humble and possibly too nosy for her own good. Even when she's thrust into strange and dangerous situations, she manages to hold her own. She's not easily defeated, even when everything (and everyone) says she should be. Cambria isn't out to find love (this isn't really a romance story, though the handyman is pretty cute), but she wouldn't be opposed to it finding her. She's really out to start a new job and establish a career for herself in an industry that is deceptively difficult. She fumbles along the way, and this is what makes her relatable.

My books are like Diet Coke and French fries-good on their own, but oh-so-good together. I would recommend the following order: