Who doesn't love a wealthy businessman who is willing to give it all up for love? In the exciting TRADE ME we meet Tina and Blake, in college like any other students. Only Tina's not well off and Blake works with his large family firm. Tina resents Blake - just his existence, and the fact that he's not paying back a high-interest education loan, and he's got a swanky car, and he splashed her jumper by mistake in the rain, and most of all, he thinks he can pontificate about how society should treat people on food stamps. Tina challenges him to see how the other half lives. Instead of laughing at her, he takes her up on the deal. They'll swap lives.

Tina Chen is used to being invisible to wealthy people, with hardworking Chinese parents and worries about medical care. Blake Reynolds has a home with an experimental computerised environmental system and a father badgering him about his place in the computer firm. Can they even talk to each other? The setup is amusing as the pair are expertly placed on opposite sides of a divide and we see life from each perspective in turn. Tina will have to pretend that she's Blake's girlfriend, because how else will they convince his father to let her handle his work? Blake turns his hand to work in a Chinese restaurant kitchen, raising him in my estimation. The story is in present tense and there's considerably strong language. Mind, these people communicate by Facebook and say PDA when they mean public displays of affection. So maybe modern students don't find strong terms offensive.

But is there a romance? How would it develop if they're not in the same room? Well, they do meet to compare notes after work, with Tina of course driving Blake's fancy car, very carefully. Tina starts to fantasise that they could get to know each other more intimately. Would this work, and how long could it last?

Courtney Milan must have enjoyed piecing this tale together and adding some serious issues, like Chinese refugees from political persecution and the perils of longterm cocaine use. She shows us that admiring and learning about another person can be a true step towards loving them, and we should never take anyone's life for granted. TRADE ME shows flipsides of today's unequal society and poses strong questions. Fans of contemporary romance will have a great time and look for more.

Book Summary

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 Systems. But when he makes an offhand 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.

Trade Me is the first book in the Cyclone series.