Review: Trade Me by Courtney Milan

Title: Trade Me
Author: Courtney Milan
Genre: Romance
Series: Cyclone #1
Pages: 279
Published: January 19, 2015
Source: Publisher via Netgalley
Rating: 5 out of 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.

Courtney Milan writes the best historical romances in the game, filled with Victorian feminists, subversions of tropes, and enthusiastically consensual sex scenes, so despite hating the blurb that conjures “FSoG knock-off” in my mind, I knew she’d earned the benefit of the doubt. This is good, because I have never read anything like Trade Me.

Tina and Blake’s story straddles the line between traditional romance and New Adult contemporary. There’s a romance through-line: meet cute, forced to spend time together, big mis, HEA, but there are large parts of the story that aren’t focused on the romance. Both characters have massive amounts of character development for a romance novel.

Tina is a Chinese immigrant whose mother spends every last dime she has fighting for other persecuted refugees. She’s no lawyer, though. She’s a grocery store cake decorator who delights in ending up on NotCakeWrecks. This has given Tina a more than healthy respect for money, as she struggles to keep their lights on, her sister medicated, and food in her own mouth. She’s pre-med on a full scholarship, but every day is a struggle as she works multiple jobs and studies into the early hours of the morning. There’s no rest or her whole family will fall.

Blake initially seems like the cocky billionaire stereotype, but we quickly learn that not only is he an insanely hard worker, he’s a complex young man dealing with a lot of stress and grief. He never throws money at a problem, (well, once,) but instead works and learns and tries to improve all the time. He didn’t earn his money sitting on his butt, he’s an inventor and designer and takes pride in his job, which requires a lot of time and attention. (Did Christian ever go to work?)

The trade is amazingly fun to read, as I think everyone likes to see the hero humbled a little bit, but it’s also made very clear that you can never really switch lives. Blake can wash dishes and eat rice and apples, but he’ll never really know desperation. Tina’s idea of an impossible luxury is buying a mango. She can’t relax even with Blake’s allowance, lest the other shoe drop.

The love interests have great chemistry. They talk a lot about their feelings and fears and never belittle the other. My only complaint is despite Blake showing over and over again that he cared, Tina kept coming back to, “this, this is the time he’ll say something awful/ be embarrassed by my life/ get bored and I’ll be able to let him go”. It just felt a little repetitive. The sex scenes are hot, but the best scene is a simple picnic with fruit and sunshine.

Like many romance novels, there aren’t a ton of side characters. Tina’s parents factor in pretty frequently and she has a sassy roommate, Maria, who will be the star of the second book. (Quick aside, Maria is trans. Not hinted at. No queer-baiting. This is canonically stated in the text. And she’s going to be the star of the second book. Can you all grasp how massive this is? Four for you, Courtney Milan. You go Courtney Milan!) On Blake’s side, the only character who matters is his dad, Adam Reynolds.

I could write a whole novel about how Adam is the most amazing side character of all time. He’s funny and crude as hell and unlike other billionaire daddys, loves his kid beyond all logic and reason. His secret was intense and not something I saw coming. Keep an eye out for his bonus article at the end of the book, which probably shouldn’t be so insightful with so many naughty words.

Read this book. Support authors with diverse characters, fully fleshed out backstories, and a plot beyond fucking. (And great fucking, too.) It’s funny and sexy and smart and features flirting over legal briefs. Someone goes to the hospital, someone else goes to jail. There’s no fake BDSM. And the white boy’s Mandarin is appalling, which I appreciate because Mandarin is hard as fuck. IT’S PERFECT, OK?

Review: The Suffragette Scandal Courtney Milan

Title: The Suffragette Scandal
Author: Courtney Milan
Genre: romance, historical fiction
Series: The Brothers Sinister #4
Pages: 281
Published: July 15, 2014
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Rating: 5 out of 5

An idealistic suffragette...

Miss Frederica "Free" Marshall has put her heart and soul into her newspaper, known for its outspoken support of women's rights. Naturally, her enemies are intent on destroying her business and silencing her for good. Free refuses to be at the end of her rope...but she needs more rope, and she needs it now.

...a jaded scoundrel...

Edward Clark's aristocratic family abandoned him to die in a war-torn land, so he survived the only way he could: by becoming a rogue and a first-class forger. When the same family that left him for dead vows to ruin Miss Marshall, he offers his help. So what if he has to lie to her? She's only a pawn to use in his revenge.

...and a scandal seven years in the making.

But the irrepressible Miss Marshall soon enchants Edward. By the time he realizes that his cynical heart is hers, it's too late. The only way to thwart her enemies is to reveal his scandalous past...and once the woman he loves realizes how much he's lied to her, he'll lose her forever.

Reviewed by Danielle. 

"A paper written by women, for women, and about women obviously NEEDS a man to speak on its behalf. If it is a joke for men to speak on behalf of women, then our country, our laws, and our customs must all be jokes, too."

I see what you’re doing with this book, Courtney, and I approve.

The Brothers Sinister series has played a lot with what a romance heroine is. She's a survivor, a prodigy, an individual, a scientist, a feminist. She's more than a love interest. She's a fully realized character. These tenets have come to a raging boil with Free, out titular suffragette. Through her character, Ms. Milan has a lot to say on women's rights in Victorian England and their parallels to modern struggles. It's not your typical bodice ripping fare, and that's why it's so special.

I adore that Free’s able to be open and sexual and throw Edward off his game. Their relationship felt wholly unique. I loved both characters individually and together. At first, their romance is overshadowed by the plot against Free, but as the book progresses and both characters soften, there’s a really interesting part where they’re separated and writing letters, (including Edward’s infamous puppy letter that melted me into goo,) that tied back into Free’s parent’s romance from the prequel novella. It’s a little thing that I didn’t connect initially, but it fleshed out the world and reminded me how much I’m going to miss these characters.

It’s not a perfect book. The villain’s motivations felt thin and I don’t think a lord can just decide he doesn’t want to pay attention to his tenants anymore. Still, this is also the book that gives us TWO beta romances featuring queer characters. That’s something I’ll forgive a lot for. It’s smart, well written, and sexy. I know there’s a coda to the series still coming, but with the epilogue, I’m happy to bid the Brothers Sinister farewell.

Review: The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan

Title: The Countess Conspiracy
Author: Courtney Milan
Genre: romance, historical fiction
Series: Brothers Sinister #3
Pages: 295
Publication: December 17, 2013
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Rating: 5/5

Sebastian Malheur is the most dangerous sort of rake: an educated one. When he’s not scandalizing ladies in the bedchamber, he’s outraging proper society with his scientific theories. He’s desired, reviled, acclaimed, and despised—and he laughs through it all.

Violet Waterfield, the widowed Countess of Cambury, on the other hand, is entirely respectable, and she’d like to stay that way. But Violet has a secret that is beyond ruinous, one that ties her irrevocably to England’s most infamous scoundrel: Sebastian’s theories aren’t his. They’re hers.

So when Sebastian threatens to dissolve their years-long conspiracy, she’ll do anything to save their partnership...even if it means opening her vulnerable heart to the rake who could destroy it for good.

Reviewed by Danielle. 

Courtney Milan has outdone herself.

I can always count on the Brothers Sinister to give me swoon worthy romances with delicious heroes and strong, unique heroines. I like Minnie and Jane. I loved Serena. Violet has blown them all out of the water.

She’s not very nice. She’s rather selfish about her arrangement with Sebastian. But she’s logical and smart and a scientist. Not a bluestocking who’s juuuuust on the wrong side of respectability. An honest to God, inspired by Rosalind Franklin, reviled for her work scientist. Now, more than any of her other books, this one plays loosey goosey with actual historical details to make Violet’s contributions bigger and more impactful, but that only makes her more awesome.

Both Violet and Sebastian are really expertly layered. They’ve both gone through a lot of emotional turmoil and it brings them together. Both are dismissed and feel rejected by their families for different reasons, but I think the theme of searching for affection and respect is one a lot of people relate to, and it softened both of their characters into something wonderfully human. Yet, their problems are never waved away. Some family members reconcile fully, some only tentatively, and some...don’t! Just like real life, you can’t instantly bridge every gap with a kind word and a revelation.

Yet, for all that emotional turmoil, there’s really no big mis. Sebastian admits early on that he’s been in love with Violet for years, and while she lets her insecurities get in the way of fully believing that, it never falls into romance cliche. There’s a disagreement on how to handle a climactic reveal, but while both characters worry about what the other will think, it’s short lived. This is a couple that talks to each other.

Now, do you read romance novels for the sex? It’s nothing to be ashamed of; I often do. I look to Ms. Milan for hot, enthusiastically consensual scenes, in fact. But while I loved everything else about it, this book didn’t turn my crank. I found Sebastian’s first, (and second,) declaration of love unbelievably romantic, but the sex? Eh. I will say, hooray for condoms! More romance novels should include them!

There’s so much good here. Violet’s mom’s revelation, (I LOVED IT,) sciencesisses, romance based on respect, fertility issues that don’t just poof with a magic dick. I can’t say enough good about Courtney Milan, the Brothers Sinister, and The Countess Conspiracy. If you like historical romances, or have ever thought about trying one, I don’t know how you could be disappointed.

Review: The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan

Title: The Governess Affair
Author: Courtney Milan
Genre: romance novelish, historical
Series: The Brothers Sinister #.5
Pages: 101 pages (Kindle edition)
Published: April 2012
Source: bought
Rating: 5/5

She will not give up…

Three months ago, governess Serena Barton was let go from her position. Unable to find new work, she’s demanding compensation from the man who got her sacked: a petty, selfish, swinish duke. But it’s not the duke she fears. It’s his merciless man of business—the man known as the Wolf of Clermont. The formidable former pugilist has a black reputation for handling all the duke’s dirty business, and when the duke turns her case over to him, she doesn’t stand a chance. But she can’t stop trying—not with her entire future at stake.

He cannot give in…

Hugo Marshall is a man of ruthless ambition—a characteristic that has served him well, elevating the coal miner’s son to the right hand man of a duke. When his employer orders him to get rid of the pestering governess by fair means or foul, it’s just another day at the office. Unfortunately, fair means don’t work on Serena, and as he comes to know her, he discovers that he can’t bear to use foul ones. But everything he has worked for depends upon seeing her gone. He’ll have to choose between the life that he needs, and the woman he is coming to love…

Reviewed by Danielle.

 
Serena Barton has been let go from her position as a governess by the childish and repugnant Duke of Clermont. Returning to her sister’s home disgraced and secretly pregnant, Serena does what any gentlewoman in her position would.

Oh no, wait, she does something completely brave and unexpected. She fights back.

True, it’s a passive fight, but in a genre of novels where you can expect the heroine to show just enough spunk to keep herself alive until the hero shows up, it’s the most refreshing plan I’ve ever heard. Serena confronts the duke about taking responsibility for the baby. When he laughs her off, she plants her pregnant butt firmly in front of his manor, preventing him from making up with his wife. The wife who left because the duke is a philandering arsehole. The wife who has all of the duke’s money.

Understandably, the duke doesn’t take Serena’s presence well and that’s when our hero comes in. Hugo Marshall, the wolf of Clermont, is the duke’s fixer. He’s fixing the duke’s financial crisis, his failing marriage, and now, Serena. An ex-pugilist who has a dark past, (don’t they all,) Hugo isn’t known for his kind, caring manner or solving problems the conventional way. Ruthless is how he’s described, and no better word exists for a man who ruined the duke’s creditors in the papers and stole a shut-in’s house, but beyond that Hugo is a complex character trying to make up for childhood abuse and poverty. He is refreshingly up front in his desire for the heroine and their first love scene is by turns tender and one of the hottest I have read.

Technically a novella, Courtney Milan packs in more character development and plot in 101 pages than many romances do in thrice the space. In fact, in my only gripe with the writing, her inclusion of the plot filled epilogue somewhat spoils the H/H’s HEA. Taking place 12 years in the future, we meet back up with the next generation, setting the stage for Milan’s The Brothers Sinister Series. While well written and surely helpful when The Duchess War comes out, we don’t see Serena or Hugo. We’re told they’re happy and living their HEA, but as longtime romance readers know, the epilogue is usually a scene where the heroine is pregnant, the hero has made up with his/her family, they’re still in love and lust, and usually ends with a feel good, fade-to-black love scene. To instead end with teenage bullying and plot revelations is different. Not bad, but also not what I expect.

Regency fans, fans of strong heroines or flawed heroes, lovers of hot sex scenes, don’t just buy The Governess Affair Buy Courtney Milan’s entire back catalogue. She is the best romance novelist in years. 

ETA: And, currently, this is free on Amazon! March like zombies, people!