Review: Trade Me by Courtney Milan

Trade Me by Courtney Milan 
Publisher: Audible
Publication Date: November 18th 2016
My rating: 4 stars

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’m one of those readers who when told to read book, never reads it, a few of my friends had recommended Trade Me to me, saying it would be my sort of read, but of course I just added it to my never ending tbr pile. Until one day finally I decided to give the sample a go on audio, and seriously the couple of seconds I heard from Sean Crisden convinced me to buy a copy straight away. I’m the fussiest person ever when it comes to listening to audio books, but Crisden’s voice was perfect for me. Also on top of that Trade Me ended up taking me completely by surprise, I assumed it was your typical boy and girl make up your typical fake relationship and then end up really falling for one another, but I couldn’t have been more wrong, with Trade Me, Milan gives us a complex story centred around family, social status and on top of that, a nice sprinkling of a swoony romance. 

I like how Blake and Tina ended up with more than they could have imagined when they went into their trade deal, both characters came from opposite ends of the spectrum, with Blake living the wealthy, lavish lifestyle and Tina barely making ends meet and on top of that having to double check that things are okay with her family too. Again although the trade between them seemed straightforward enough, there was so much more that both had to take into consideration, that we didn’t know a lot about. I really liked Tina’s character, she was a down to earth girl, who always tried to put her family first no matter what, I admired her strength and determination and her sassiness (her conversations with Blake’s dad were some of my favourites). But Blake too was also an unexpected surprise, I have to admit that I was quick to make assumptions about him, based on my first introduction to his character, but I liked how over the course of the story, he was able to convince me otherwise. 

I liked how with Trade Me, Milan didn’t give us your easy-going typical sort of relationship, but what Tina and Blake had, did come across many complications and barriers, and despite it not being smooth sailing for either of them, I liked how Milan made them fight for what they wanted and showed them both going through tough ordeals in order to make it through. 

Sorry to all of my friends who had recommended this book to me ages ago, because honestly I loved the absolute heck out of it and I’m kicking myself for not giving it a go sooner. Trade Me was a book which completely took me by surprise with its depth and complexity of characters and loveable romance that Milan wrote for us. Trade Me was my first book by Courtney Milan, but it certainly won’t be my last.