Review: The Year of the Crocodile by Courtney Milan

Series: Cyclone Series Book 2.5

Format:Ebook

Rating: 4 Stars

How I Got It: Purchased

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Self-Published

Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads

Tina Chen and Blake Reynolds have been together for almost a year. In that time, they’ve grown closer on just about every front. The one exception? Blake’s father has never let anything stop him. Tina’s parents have never let anyone push them around. And they’ve never met.

That’s about to change. But don’t worry—fireworks are traditional at Chinese New Years.

Review

This isn't much to say about this novella. It was cute and probably set up a lot for the rest of the series. And my theory about Adam is holding strong. Although I don't know how that will pan out.

I would've like more Blake and Tina, but it is just a novella. And it was worth it to be able to see their parents interact.

Now it's just a matter of playing the waiting game for the next books. She's a slow writer, but her books are high quality.

Thanks for reading!

Holly 

Review: Hold Me by Courtney Milan

Series: Cyclone Book #2

Format: ebook

Rating: 3 Stars

How I Got It: Borrowed from Library

Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult

Publisher: Self-Published

Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads

Jay na Thalang is a demanding, driven genius. He doesn’t know how to stop or even slow down. The instant he lays eyes on Maria Lopez, he knows that she is a sexy distraction he can’t afford. He’s done his best to keep her at arm’s length, and he’s succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.

Maria has always been cautious. Now that her once-tiny, apocalypse-centered blog is hitting the mainstream, she’s even more careful about preserving her online anonymity. She hasn’t sent so much as a picture to the commenter she’s interacted with for eighteen months—not even after emails, hour-long chats, and a friendship that is slowly turning into more. Maybe one day, they’ll meet and see what happens.

But unbeknownst to them both, Jay is Maria’s commenter. They’ve already met. They already hate each other. And two determined enemies are about to discover that they’ve been secretly falling in love…

Review

I've kind of been putting off writing this. But I do want to record my thoughts. My thoughts come down to one word: conflicted.

Since this book was announced, I've been excited about it because of Maria. She was a trans-woman who has fully transitioned. I was excited because this is a completely different character for me. And in my life0I've only ever known one transperson. I wanted this book to expose me to new things and it really didn't. That's were the conflicted comes in. Her having transitioned is such a non-issue. Now, I'm a huge fan of what I call subtle diversity. this embodies that idea which is great, but I also feel a little robbed.

Other than that, I liked the characters. The romance was a little mediocre. I do like the friendship between Maria and Tina that carried over from the first book. This is a book that may improve on a re-read now that I know what to expect.

If you have any book suggestions of books with trans or post-transition characters let me know because I'm interested.

Thanks for reading!

Holly