Book Review: TRADE ME
Title: TRADE ME (Cyclone #1)
Author: Courtney Milan
Rating: 🍵🍵🍵🍵.5
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 Technology. But when he makes an off-hand 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.
I could start this recommendation in many ways, but I want to start like this: Courtney Milan is a genius, an artist, and a hero.
I picked up TRADE ME for a single reason, and it had nothing to do with my love for Romance or how NA tickles my fancy–it was the author. Courtney Milan has become one of those romance auto-buys for me. Whether she’s writing traditional Historical Romances, Romances set around the era of suffrage, or Contemporary, I will buy it. And here’s why:
She does not disappoint.
Let’s talk about TRADE ME. It has a pretty common set up pulling from different genres: the college-age characters from NA, the billionaire fantasy from–oh–everywhere, the growth of character that so strongly exemplifies YA.
And, you know, seeing all that together might make you think that TRADE ME ends up being nothing but cliche on top of cliche. You would be wrong.
This book was an unexpected delight, full of a diverse cast (a PoC main character in NA? Who wasn’t fetishized or misrepresented? Someone hold me), funny moments, sexytimes, and real life. TRADE ME follows two main characters: Tina, a Chinese-American pre-med student struggling to get by, and Blake, a mostly-considerate-if-sometimes-misguided billionaire genius.
Blake, I liked. I mean, he was hot, open-minded, sweet as can be–what’s not to like? He was easy going and slightly dorky and, honestly, exactly the type of guy I would go for, even without the one billion.
But Tina–Tina, I loved. She was the highlight of this story for me, her strength, her resilience, her burdens. Tina was the type of character I couldn’t help but find myself in, and she had me crying one page and laughing the next and overall wishing fiction didn’t reflect real life so well.
The secondary characters were all fantastic as well: Tina’s best friend Maria had me laughing and squealing just by her existence; Adam Reynolds (Blake’s Dad) was an unexpected pleasure, sort of like a slap in the face; Tina's entire family was fantastic, especially her mom. (Let me just weep over complex-but-important familial relationships.)
What I’m saying is, characters shine in this book. And then you add the issues (which I won’t talk about for spoiler-y reasons) and you have a winner.
If you’re looking for a fun NA read? This book.
If you’re looking for a deep NA read? This book.
If you like complex characters and relationships and no easily solved problems? This book.
Even if you’re tired of NA or romance or lost your soul–THIS BOOK.
I honestly don’t know how I could make it any clearer.
TRADE ME grabbed me with the promise of difficult love and stolen kisses and left me raw. I loved it.
- Adriana
Thank you to NetGalley and Courtney Milan for proving this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review originally posted at A (Secret) Book Nook.
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