Trade Me, by Courtney Milan

[rachelmanija]

Tina Chen is a poor Chinese-American woman attending college with Blake Reynolds, a young white billionaire man. One day Blake opens his mouth in class once too often, to be mildly condescending about poor people. Smarting from the thousand other remarks from others that have come before, Tina lays into him and tells him that he couldn't survive

Comments

[asakiyume]

What it is a deconstruction of is American attitudes about class and wealth.

Okay, that, combined with ...

two young people with complex, likable, yet difficult families balancing their family duties with their inner struggles and a slow-burn love affair

makes it sound very appealing indeed!

[adrian_turtle]

I love how she handles family connections in the historical romances, too. The mother and sister in "Countess Conspiracy" were what made me fall in love enough to go look for all the rest of her books. (Possibly even more than the main plot, which pushed my buttons exactly.)

[wordsofastory]

This is such a weird book to try and explain. It's not at all what anyone might expect from the genre and summary.

I'm hoping the eating disorder comes up more in the sequel she's planning to write (the third one in the series, I mean, not the one that will focus on Maria), since that did feel like an abrupt resolution to me too.

Ha, I kept thinking "who would want a video phone watch? That sounds useless". But then, my dad did just spend $100 on one of those activity tracker watches, so maybe it would be popular.

[tool_of_satan]

Ha, I kept thinking "who would want a video phone watch?

Dick Tracy?

[rachelmanija]

It's a video watch with five-way conferencing! ;)

[jinian]

I just read this today! (I agree with you on basically all counts.)

[egelantier]

hmmmm okay you and wordsofastory has sold me. i'm glad she's still... milan, even outside of her usual genre.

[rachelmanija]

It is very, very much a Milan book.

[la_marquise_de_]

I've not read her: I like some romances, but I'm cautious as I find a lot of US ones too saccharine. I will try this, though.
The Phryne Fisher mystery series by Kerry Greenwood has a Chinese hero. They're set in the 1920s.

[rachelmanija]

I didn't realize that about Phrynne Fisher. Those are mysteries, not romances, though. The mystery genre has way more leeway in terms of the identities of the protagonists.