Friday 30 January 2015

Review ~ Trade Me (Cyclone #1) by Courtney Milan

Trade Me (Cyclone, #1)
eARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: January 19th 2015

Description:
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.

My Opinion

It was the premise of changing lives that hooked me into reading this book. I have read so many billionaire novels that Trade Me sounded more unique in this aspect so I was excited to pick it up. However, whilst there are obvious positives, there were also things that weren't so good and made this book slightly disappointing.

Firstly, I liked the romance in theory. It was a slow build and I liked that Tina didn't fall to her feet in front of Blake just because he was a billionaire. Although she says she'd take money from his dad to break up, in general she had her head screwed on and it didn't feel like she was using Blake, despite her family's financial situation.

Similarly, the relationship between Blake and his dad was interesting. It made me laugh out loud a few times with the banter they had going on, and I felt the insults were a good twist and it worked as a way of showing their affection. Even if Adam was an asshole, his feelings for Blake were obvious. Moreover, with regards to Adam's company, I thought all of this side of things was very believable. I was surprised by the amount of detail I got on Cyclone and it did make the book all the more authentic.

However, like I said, I did have issues with this book. The first was the relationship between Tina and Blake. For me, even though it was a slow build, there wasn't that spark between them. There were a few moments but I didn't like the way it built (or lack of building). I didn't really feel much towards them and therefore found it hard to connect.

As well as this, I expected there to be more development with the trading lives, especially from Tina. It all felt very underdone and there could have been a to more interesting things to read about. And then there was the ending ... Suddenly you're hit with a load of new information, changes in the relationship, and then it cuts off. Everything with Blake's dad felt very rushed and like an add on. I was reading it and thinking WTF?? Everything was summed up way too quickly and I was at 95% when I turned the page and got "Thank you for reading." Seriously, I wanted to shout in frustration. The ending didn't feel like it came to a natural conclusion and I would have liked an epilogue maybe a few months down the line.


Anyway, overall this was an okay read. I have read a lot better NA romances, but this book does have its good points. I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it, but I wouldn't discourage anyone either.

3

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