Hold Me by Courtney Milan

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…

I usually don't like Courtney Milan's writing. I invest in the voice and I find her's to be distant and pedantic. So I started this book expecting that it wouldn't hold my interest.

I was so wrong.

What a good book. And not for the reasons of sexual fluidity that infuse the book but just because the heroine was fascinating and in a strange way, easily relatable.

Carolyn mentioned the book in an earlier post and mentioned that the heroine is transgender but it's not an issue in the book at all. The hero is sexually fluid, having been in a man/man relationship previously.

The book isn't about sex. In fact, when Mollie woke up this morning, she texted me from her bed and I told her I was reading. She jokingly texted back: 'Smut' but I was about 60% into the book and they hadn't even kissed. So sex wasn't anything that it was about.

It was about learning to trust. Learning to lower boundaries. It was about taking chances that people will love and stay and be okay to trust.

I cried a couple of times while reading. It was that good.

I don't do reviews well (obviously) but I can tell you when a book has moved me and made me feel full in my heart and this one did. I highly recommend it.