BOOK REVIEW: Coffee Boy by Austin Chant

Release Date: October 31, 2016

Length: Novelette (61 pages)

Genre: Contemporary M/M Trans Romance

Cover Art: Natasha Snow

Links: Nine Star Press Amazon  Goodreads

Blurb:  After graduation, Kieran expected to go straight into a career of flipping burgers—only to be offered the internship of his dreams at a political campaign. But the pressure of being an out trans man in the workplace quickly sucks the joy out of things, as does Seth, the humorless campaign strategist who watches his every move.

Soon, the only upside to the job is that Seth has a painful crush on their painfully straight boss, and Kieran has a front row seat to the drama. But when Seth proves to be as respectful and supportive as he is prickly, Kieran develops an awkward crush of his own—one which Seth is far too prim and proper to ever reciprocate.

Review:

A fresh from college trans guy falls for his boss who’s already crushing on someone else. Cute, low-angst, and own-voices, this story is well-written and everything I’m normally looking for in a romance, but it ultimately fell short for me. On the positive, I was delighted with the representation of a character who was actually bi and not Bi-In-Name-Only which is so often the case with bi-rep. I was also happy to see that the issues between the heroes were not related to Kieran being trans.

But on the flip side, the story largely felt like an afterschool special. I get that the author was trying to educate people about what it’s like to be trans in the workplace, but it was a huge drag on the romance. Also, Kieran was so completely self-absorbed and one-dimensional it was hard to relate to him. He was trans and nothing else. No hobbies, no interests, no family or friends other than his BFF and his relationship with her is also completely one-sided. She’s there solely to support him otherwise he ignores her. Seth was a smidge more filled out, but I never understood why he was so cold and prickly or why Kieran was attracted to him. It’s a novelette and there wasn’t much room for backstory or character development, but I needed more to really connect with these characters.

The cover is as cute as the story. Natasha Snow captures the essence of Coffee Boy and all of its messy glory.