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Courtney Milan (2015), 337 pages
Description
Fiction. Romance. HTML: Tina Chen just wants a degree and a job, so her parents never have to worry about making rent again. She has no time for Blake Reynolds, the sexy billionaire who stands to inherit Cyclone Systems. But when he makes an offhand comment about what it means to be poor, she loses her cool and tells him he couldn't last a month living her life. To her shock, Blake offers her a trade: She'll get his income, his house, his car. In exchange, he'll work her hours and send money home to her family. No expectations; no future obligations. But before long, they're trading not just lives, but secrets, kisses, and heated nights together. No expectations might break Tina's heart...but Blake's secrets could ruin her life. Trade Me is the first book in the Cyclone series..… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Unreachableshelf
I know a guy who is a cooking laurel in the SCA. He likes to describe how one of his recipes made someone approach him angrily after the feast, complaining, "You made me like turnips."
I rarely read contemporary real world fiction of any kind. Only for Courtney Milan would I read contemporary, New
Blake is the heir of a tech company, under pressure from his father to leave college and return to take control of it. Tina is a poor student trying desperately to make ends meet and pay her parents' bills. Blake proposes a swap until the end of the semester. Unknown to anybody, Blake is also dealing with other spoilery problems.
This is a Courtney Milan book, which means that Blake is pretty much the opposite of an alpha jerkwad and that the whole thing is as nerdy as a D&D game on the Starship Enterprise. There is dirty talk about SEC regulations. There is an extended metaphor about what it would have been like if Darth Vader had raised Luke from birth and put him above anything else in the Empire. There are intriguing side characters, particularly Blake's good-dad-Vader father and Tina's Chinese immigrant parents, whom I hope we'll get glimpses of in future entries in the series.
The logistics of the whole swap are handled extremely well, with full acknowledgement that they can never really trade lives because they each still came from a larger context. (If there is a flaw in this book, it's that this was acknowledged explicitly maybe one too many times.) This book is as funny and as touching as anything that Milan has written, and although I'm looking forward to her next historical, I'll be looking forward to the next book in this series, too.
I rarely read contemporary real world fiction of any kind. Only for Courtney Milan would I read contemporary, New
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Adult, billionaire romance. Only Courtney Milan could make me like it.Blake is the heir of a tech company, under pressure from his father to leave college and return to take control of it. Tina is a poor student trying desperately to make ends meet and pay her parents' bills. Blake proposes a swap until the end of the semester. Unknown to anybody, Blake is also dealing with other spoilery problems.
This is a Courtney Milan book, which means that Blake is pretty much the opposite of an alpha jerkwad and that the whole thing is as nerdy as a D&D game on the Starship Enterprise. There is dirty talk about SEC regulations. There is an extended metaphor about what it would have been like if Darth Vader had raised Luke from birth and put him above anything else in the Empire. There are intriguing side characters, particularly Blake's good-dad-Vader father and Tina's Chinese immigrant parents, whom I hope we'll get glimpses of in future entries in the series.
The logistics of the whole swap are handled extremely well, with full acknowledgement that they can never really trade lives because they each still came from a larger context. (If there is a flaw in this book, it's that this was acknowledged explicitly maybe one too many times.) This book is as funny and as touching as anything that Milan has written, and although I'm looking forward to her next historical, I'll be looking forward to the next book in this series, too.
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LibraryThing member castiron
I trust Courtney Milan to give me an entertaining story with interesting characters, and she came through yet again. While I had some quibbles -- Blake adapts to Tina's straitened budget far more easily than I could quite believe, even given what's revealed later in the story, and I don't *want* to
My favorite part, though, was Adam Reynolds's editorial at the very end.
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believe that he could fix a later situation as easily as he did even though it's almost certainly realistic -- I enjoyed the story overall, and I found the characters' relationships with their challenging parents interesting.My favorite part, though, was Adam Reynolds's editorial at the very end.
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LibraryThing member cmlloyd67
Better than most of the New Adult novels that I've read to date. The hero isn't a jerk like well 98% of the genre. And the heroine appears to, ahem, actually possess a brain and not just a killer wardrobe and great, albeit on the skinny-side, physique.
Milan clearly has read quite a bit of the
Milan's strength appears to be in building interesting family dynamics, which do not fall into the over-used abuse cliche. Yes, we finally have a New Adult novel in which neither character was abused as a child by their parents or anyone else.
I think the only other author that I've read in this genre that managed somewhat convincing family dynamics may have been Casey Mansefield with Heart of a Star. Most skip over it and focus on the sexual hijinks. Like Mansfeild, Milan's novel has little sex. There's a few scenes, but not that many. So it may be a turn off for the erotica crowd.
For those who want a meatier romance, with actual character development, and a smart heroine. This may be it. Both characters have issues with fear. Big ones. The hero copes by not eating and running a lot. The heroine by shutting herself off. All is resolved by the end. It may be wrapped up a bit too neatly, but it worked overall.
Oh, a plus, we get our first transgender character, who will be the heroine in the next novel of the series.
Milan clearly has read quite a bit of the
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genre, because she pokes fun at it in Trade Me, in various subtle ways. For example? The hero ponders having sex with the heroine in his car, but realizes that it is just not physically possible. For one thing - it would involve folding down the seats, and for another - horribly uncomfortable. (Yes, someone read the car sex scene in Bared To You by Sylvia Day (Crossfire 1).) For another? The billionaire hero actually is worried about his work, and works constantly and has worked constantly since he was 14. And ...well, being poor doesn't mean having trouble buying nail polish or the right shoes to go with that pencil skirt. But rather worrying about whether your rice will feed you for the rest of the week, if you can pay rent, and your parents utility bill.Milan's strength appears to be in building interesting family dynamics, which do not fall into the over-used abuse cliche. Yes, we finally have a New Adult novel in which neither character was abused as a child by their parents or anyone else.
I think the only other author that I've read in this genre that managed somewhat convincing family dynamics may have been Casey Mansefield with Heart of a Star. Most skip over it and focus on the sexual hijinks. Like Mansfeild, Milan's novel has little sex. There's a few scenes, but not that many. So it may be a turn off for the erotica crowd.
For those who want a meatier romance, with actual character development, and a smart heroine. This may be it. Both characters have issues with fear. Big ones. The hero copes by not eating and running a lot. The heroine by shutting herself off. All is resolved by the end. It may be wrapped up a bit too neatly, but it worked overall.
Oh, a plus, we get our first transgender character, who will be the heroine in the next novel of the series.
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LibraryThing member rivkat
Unusually for me, I enjoyed this contemporary romance—thanks, recommenders! Blake is a tormented billionaire software genius, and Tina Chen is a poor student who lives on almost nothing in order to send money back home so that the lights stay on and her sister gets her medicine, while her mother
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spends her time fighting for asylum applicants. After a classroom confrontation gets personal, Blake offers Tina a chance to swap lives, as a way to get away from the pressures of his own life. Tina agrees, because the money is so good (the confrontation she has about this with Blake’s overbearing father, about how money is life for her and her family just as he values his company as more than just a pile of cash, is one of the book’s highlights), but then her attraction to Blake complicates matters considerably. Tina is smart and driven and Blake never tries to manipulate her; he is very much in the Mad Max/Raleigh Becket/Peter Bishop model of “guy who stares adoringly at woman he has correctly identified as amazing.” Their dialogue was good and I felt the attraction between them. Content warning for disordered eating/exercise. Show Less
LibraryThing member lycomayflower
Tina Chen immigrated to San Fransisco from China with her parents when she was six, and now she's working through college, determined to become a doctor so her parents will never have to think about money again. Blake Reynolds is the son of the billionaire head of a major tech company, and he is
I loved this book. Both of the main characters feel vibrant and real on the page, I wanted to know what would happen to them, and I felt pulled into their world. All that was wonderful--and pretty much a set of prerequisites for liking a romance novel-- but Trade Me surprised me at every turn. It rings so many of my "yay! diverse humans and diverse human situations" bells (poc heroine, hero with an eating disorder, transgender minor character (who will be the heroine of book two, yay!), a minor character whose domestic situation reads potentially non-heteronormative), and the treatment of the class and economic issues that arise between Tina and Blake are handled well. The realities of Tina's poverty feel accurate and scary, and her fears about becoming distracted by Blake are sharply realized. Both Tina and Blake love their parents deeply but have significant issues with them, and the resolutions to those plot threads are extremely affecting.
The book is not perfect--there's maybe a bit of hand-waving about some of the principles' concerns about being in a relationship in the end, though things feel emotionally wrapped up and the hand-waving can maybe be excused by the constraints of the genre (got to get to the HEA), especially since we're likely to see some of their relationship again in subsequent books. I also thought it was a little odd that we didn't see more of Tina in Blake's lavish apartment when they switched places. Some more details about how that felt (weird? luxurious? bizarre?) would have been great. But Trade Me was a solid, affecting, satisfying read. Recommended.
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suffocating under his father's expectations that he will give up college and take over the company. When they end up in a heated disagreement about social safety nets in a class, Tina says Blake wouldn't last two weeks in her shoes. Blake later suggests that they change places for the rest of the semester, mostly because he hopes it will serve as an escape for him. They do. Then there are feelings.I loved this book. Both of the main characters feel vibrant and real on the page, I wanted to know what would happen to them, and I felt pulled into their world. All that was wonderful--and pretty much a set of prerequisites for liking a romance novel-- but Trade Me surprised me at every turn. It rings so many of my "yay! diverse humans and diverse human situations" bells (poc heroine, hero with an eating disorder, transgender minor character (who will be the heroine of book two, yay!), a minor character whose domestic situation reads potentially non-heteronormative), and the treatment of the class and economic issues that arise between Tina and Blake are handled well. The realities of Tina's poverty feel accurate and scary, and her fears about becoming distracted by Blake are sharply realized. Both Tina and Blake love their parents deeply but have significant issues with them, and the resolutions to those plot threads are extremely affecting.
The book is not perfect--there's maybe a bit of hand-waving about some of the principles' concerns about being in a relationship in the end, though things feel emotionally wrapped up and the hand-waving can maybe be excused by the constraints of the genre (got to get to the HEA), especially since we're likely to see some of their relationship again in subsequent books. I also thought it was a little odd that we didn't see more of Tina in Blake's lavish apartment when they switched places. Some more details about how that felt (weird? luxurious? bizarre?) would have been great. But Trade Me was a solid, affecting, satisfying read. Recommended.
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LibraryThing member Bette_Hansen
WOW I really enjoyed this book!! It has so much going on it's hard to recap but it all works really well together and definitely keeps you turning the pages. I simply couldn't put this one down. This author is new to me since she has written strictly historicals up until now but she has absolutely
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done an amazing job with the NA contemporary. I highly recommend it to everyone!! Show Less
LibraryThing member samnreader
This is one Courtney Milan I wasn't late to. I read it near its release, I just didn't remember. I think there's a few reasons why. What could've been a beautiful thing was weighed down with angst and nearly free of Courtney Milan humor. While it features nearly convincing conversations on
"We will hurt each other if we are together."
And most unusual, it features a protagonist with an eating disorder. I mean, there's good stuff, but the execution wasn't particularly engaging overall. You could tell it was Milan, but it was also not her finest output by a mile.
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privilege, its ultimate conflict was"We will hurt each other if we are together."
And most unusual, it features a protagonist with an eating disorder. I mean, there's good stuff, but the execution wasn't particularly engaging overall. You could tell it was Milan, but it was also not her finest output by a mile.
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LibraryThing member sarahemmm
What a good thing I borrowed this before I tried any other books by Milan, as I porbably wouldn't have bothered. I really enjoyed reading a decently modern take on the standard Mills & Boon cliche - well written and fun.
LibraryThing member zeborah
The first contemporary romance by this author I've read; I enjoyed it as much as her historicals. The injustices just... fester a little more because they're contemporary and ongoing regardless of one couple getting together. Plus "getting together" feels a little less final than the other HEAs
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because of how many complications there are likely to be in an ongoing relationship between them, and how much easier it is to break up these days... Show Less
LibraryThing member Karla.Brandenburg
I am a fan of Courtney Milan historicals, so when she was handing out copies of a contemporary, I was skeptical. It took me this long to pick it up.
First, I thought it was a baseball themed book based on the title. It’s not. Its more a prince and the pauper story, with the pauper being a Chinese
First, I thought it was a baseball themed book based on the title. It’s not. Its more a prince and the pauper story, with the pauper being a Chinese
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American girl, and Trade Me is “let’s trade lives for a month.” Ms Milan delivers on so many levels, from Tina’s history to Blake’s personality. As a rule, I’m not a fan of billionaire heroes, but she has made him so very likeable and relatable, and Tina so fractured it hurts, right up to the point where she sees herself for who she is. I very much enjoyed the ride! Show Less
LibraryThing member laytonwoman3rd
I don't have much to say about this. It's a romance novel, and I haven't read such a thing in decades, so I can't compare it to anything except my recollection of reading Angelique as an adolescent, when it was forbidden and titillating. I suspect this one may be a bit better than average, as the
Review written in 2016
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story line actually had some substance, and wasn't just a blanket where the steamy bits take place. Tina Chen is a very broke college student, who takes a class with Blake Reynolds, the son of one of the tech world's most powerful and wealthiest men. They have a contretemps in class over social welfare programs. She thinks he's clueless. He thinks she might be the solution to his identity crisis. She tells him he couldn't live her life for 2 weeks. He turns that challenge around and offers to trade lives for the rest of the semester. I liked the characters; they are bright, competent, witty and...well....likeable. But given their life experiences up until the point where we meet them (they have both functioned as grown-ups for some time) some of their emotional thought processes seemed immature. I guess that if you like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing you will like. I think I prefer my romances to be historical.Review written in 2016
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Original publication date
2015