The Year of the Crocodile

Cyclone #2.5

by Courtney Milan

Tina Chen and Blake Reynolds have been together for almost a year. In that time, they’ve grown closer on just about every front. The one exception? Blake’s father has never let anything stop him. Tina’s parents have never let anyone push them around. And they’ve never met.


That’s about to change. But don’t worry—fireworks are traditional at Chinese New Years.


This is a short story (10,000 words) that follows Trade Me, happens about halfway through Hold Me and What Lies Between Me and You. It assumes that you’ve already read Trade Me.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Novella, New Adult, Short Stories, Fiction

55 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 12, 2016

About the author

Courtney Milan writes books about carriages, corsets, and smartwatches. Her books have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and Booklist. She is a New York Times and a USA Today Bestseller.

Courtney pens a weekly newsletter about tea, books, and basically anything and everything else. Sign up for it here: https://bit.ly/CourtneysTea

Before she started writing romance, Courtney got a graduate degree in theoretical physical chemistry from UC Berkeley. After that, just to shake things up, she went to law school at the University of Michigan and graduated summa cum laude. Then she did a handful of clerkships. She was a law professor for a while. She now writes full-time.

Courtney is represented by Kristin Nelson of the Nelson Literary Agency.

Reviews

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know that full body cringe when two people you love who have fundamental disagreements are forced to interact?

This story weaponizes the potential hilariousness of that.

It's also really sweet when people who have these fundamental disagreements remember that they all love the people in the middle. This story also whets the reader's appetite for Adam's story that's coming between books 3 and 4 of the Cyclone series.

[Teleseparatist · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Brief disclaimer: 2016 is awful beyond words so I'm a cranky person these days. YMMV.)

I enjoyed large chunks of this novella a lot - Courtney Milan's writing is just so effortlessly engaging and fun, and I'm happy to know there's Hold Me on my e-reader waiting for its turn. It makes me look forward to more of Tina and Blake too. And Tina's mom was awesome and lovable. Milan excels at portraying emotional vulnerability and connectedness (insert an SNL twin bed sketch gif here) as well as at making the reader root for her characters, and that's showcased here, too.

And yet... follow for spoilery personal thoughts that come from a very personal place. It feels like the narrative is a little torn between wanting to partake of the shameless guilty fantasy of wealth and needing to disclaim and criticise it at the same time. To have the penis cake and eat it too. I think I could use it being more one or more the other - more critical of Reynolds's wealth being blood money or more escapist by eliding that aspect - but as it is, I get frustrated. And worse yet, the more I read about Adam Reynolds, the less I can stand him D: Particularly once we get to read from his perspective. There's just something about his abrasive personality combined with the unmissable authorial insistence on "AND YET PEOPLE TOTALLY CAN'T HELP LOVING/LIKING HIM" that makes me deeply meh. Like the narrative is trying to sell it a little (a lot?) too hard. I mean, even his employees love him! Tina's mom can't stop herself from liking him even though he shakes hands (figuratively) with her family's killers! (I totally would refuse to meet him over that, future shared grandchildren be damned. They'll be filthy rich and get expensive therapists and deal!) Because he's so... Authentic? I guess.

(Non-brief aside: I hate our contemporary fetishisation of authenticity that actually means thinking being a jerk is cool. There's something to be said about social contract and niceness that isn't just for show but that comes from a place of respect for others. Let's not forget if Reynolds was not white, or not male, or not rich, or, well, out before he achieved all he'd achieved, he'd never get away with - succeed despite / thanks to - his behaviour. And that's without even talking about how annoying the whole Apple fangirling mode that dominates the book gets.)

(If I wanted to read RPF(S)... Well, I wouldn't, because that was never my thing, but it would probably be SNL-related, don't judge. But it wouldn't be about kind-of-but-not-really Apple CEOs.)

Perhaps that's because I've come into contact with too many awful bosses in my life? Or because my own family (including my type-A workaholic single parent) can be unbearable at times? Either way, Adam - and especially everyone loving Adam even if they butt heads with him - gives me second-hand embarrassment at times and intense feelings of annoyance at other times. And I think part of it is, well, me - and part of it is the writing overselling something that doesn't quite come together.

The swearing... gets kind of boring. The frequency ruins the point of swearing. It's the equivalent of writing "significantly" before every other sentence of your essay. (There was a scene about it in a recent episode of Better Things! With regard to Sam's daughter telling her she hates her.) It's probably worse for me because I've checked up on the progress of this and other Milan Cyclone novels a few dozen times over the years, but basically I feel like I've not only read Adam swear but read about the fact that he swears a lot about a gazillion times now ;) So... I get it. He swears. The middle initial thing in particular gives me a twitch.

And that's without even touching on the issue of his closetedness. It seems to me that I don't love in-the-closet storylines in the first place (perhaps being in the closet so very deeply and hating that I have to be doesn't help) but it's even worse when we have this fake peek-a-boo game with the reader, where things can't be spelled out and instead are supposed to be read between the lines. It's not queerbaiting as such, I suppose, but verges on it, at least for me.

The big question is: does Blake know? I sort of assumed he must, and my gf tells me she believes he doesn't. If he doesn't, I honestly don't know how I'll deal with it, and if there's any way to write that that won't feel awful and like a cop-out. So at this point I'm not sure who knows and how much and that device puts me on edge and makes reading unpleasant and uncomfortable at times, and not in a "this is important and needs attention" way, more in a "ugh, I'm getting anxious, can we stop making this the marketing equivalent of PERHAPS WE'LL FIND OUT FOR SURE AFTER THE COMMERCIAL BREAK -> IN THE NEXT BOOK" way. (Stop making gayness - or idk, bisexuality, asexuality, all of the above - a plot twist 2k16)

So those were my 20 000 cents. Congratulations, if you've read until this point, you're probably my gf.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 words: PENIS SHEET CAKE. That’s it. Also, GIMME ADAM REYNOLDS’ BOOK NOW.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny book-bridging short story.

[toxicangel · Rating 4 out of 5]

J’avais beaucoup aimé Trade me, même si j’avais été sévère sur la notation à cause d’une fin beaucoup trop « american show » à mon goût. Je ne peux pas dire que j’étais impatiente d’avoir la suite mais quand j’ai vu qu’elle était sortie, j’ai été très contente de poursuivre. Ca a été un réel plaisir de retrouver les personnages, tous bien croqués, attachants, originaux, bien loin des clichés habituels (point de mâle alpha dans la série). La confrontation entre Maman Chen et Papa Reynolds est absolument jouissive. Je ne voudrais avoir ni l’un ni l’autre pour parent mais qu’est-ce que c’est génial d’assister à leur joute oratoire.
Cherry on the cake, il y a une méga révélation que je n’avais absolument pas vu venir dans Trade me et qui me laisse impatiente de découvrir un tome particulier dans la série.
Seul reproche ? Beaucoup trop court. Vivement la sortie prochaine de Hold me pour combler un peu le manque.

[Girl · Rating 3 out of 5]

So the Blake/Tina part of this was very cute (including risky behaviours and the like). Tina's mom was great.

But let's talk Adam for a moment. I'm, for some reason or another, not terribly enamoured with Adam. This whole "coked up Steve Jobs who says 'fuck' a lot" thing is supposed to be cool, right? Yeah, about that. You can have a character say "fuck" only so many times before it starts to seem like a lazy shorthand for actual personality.

But there is this whole other thing which makes me deeply uncomfortable, which is: Blake says that his father is "deeply private", and what it means is that Adam was super gay with his dead best friend and Blake just was never told because?

Because?

I really don't know if there is any way to spin this backstory for it not to be terrible. From what the signs are pointing to (in Trade Me, here and on Courtney Milan's website), either there is a neon sign saying WE BURY HALF OF OUR COUPLED GAYS HERE or there is a neon sign saying I'VE SPENT HALF OF MY LIFE IN UNREQUITED GAY LOVE TO MY DEAD BEST FRIEND over Adam's head. And whichever it is, there is an unavoidable side dish of GAYNESS MUST BE KEPT SECRET EVEN FROM OUR CHILDREN.

This troubles me.

[Trin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The "curse words to total words" ratio in this book was way off. I have an extremely foul mouth, and I still started wincing at the number of f-bombs being tossed around by everyone's parents (!). That, and the fact that this novella couldn't really decide what it wanted to be -- was it about Tina and Blake? Was it about Adam? Did there have to be a perfunctory sex scene at the end? -- made this a bit of a let down for me, especially after how much I enjoyed Trade Me.

But I'm still looking forward to Hold Me, which will certainly be longer and, hopefully, a whole lot better.

[Christina (A Reader of Fictions) · Rating 5 out of 5]

In The Year of the Crocodile, Blake's dad, Adam Reynolds, finally meets Tina's parents. Going in, I wasn't expecting a lot, mostly because it's a novella (which tend to be low on content at the best of times) and because I've tended not to like Milan's. Though admittedly very short, I absolutely loved this one. Adam Reynolds' POV is really fun, and his meeting with Tina's mom had me snorting with laughter in public. I couldn't help laughing out loud while reading this, and that's not something that happens all that often to me. This may be the funniest I've seen Milan be, and I want MORE.

[sil ♡ the book voyagers · Rating 4 out of 5]

GIVE ME ADAM REYNOLDS STORY. This is something I never realized I needed until now.

+ Tina and Blake were perfect as always. Tina's parents also really frigging great. This whole family is one of my absolute favorites in a book. I recommend this series a lot. I JUST NEED ALL THE OTHER BOOKS NOW.

[lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

TOO SHORT

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Åh, den här var ju som en mysig julnovella men under det kinesiska nyåret istället. Och om figurer jag redan gillar. Nöjd!

[Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little bit of Adam goes a long way, so I can see why Tina was leery to have her parents meet Adam. I sort of wished that Blake wouldn't have called Adam and let him know, but it all turned out ok. Adam meeting Tina's mom at Wal-Mart of all places made me laugh, had me laughing more with the cake he ended up with.

The verbal sparring between Adam and Tina's parents were great! You get the feeling that from here on out family gatherings will be much more interesting.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great short story of the meeting between Blake’s dad Adam and Tina’s parents. There is, ofcourse, lots of swearing —given Adam’s love of f-bombs. There’s also hilariously apt vaguely obscene cake decorating, an amazing Pictionary game, discussions of politics and the ramifications of trade with China. It’s a lovely extra that will only make sense if you’ve read Trade Me.

[Katy O. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice continuation of the first book in the series, but it was much more of a short story than even a novella.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I wasn't a fan of the long recap, once I got into the swings of things, I fell in love with the family dynamics. Tina's mom and Blake's dad go head to head on everything from grandchildren to social issues. This novella is a good warm-up for Hold Me. Fingers crossed :)

[Ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a cute little novella that will hopefully hold me over until Find Me.

ALL I WANT RIGHT NOW IS ADAM REYNOLDS' STORY!

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'M SCREAMING AT TINA'S MOM AND BLAKE'S DAD ARGUING ABOUT POLITICS IN WALL-MART WHILE TINA'S MOM MAKES A PENIS CAKE FOR BLAKE'S DAD


ALSO MY SUSPICIONS ABOUT ADAM WERE RIGHT FFFFFFFFFF YEAH GIVE ME HIS BOOK NOW

[Frida · Rating 4 out of 5]

So the working title for this short story was apparently Let Them Eat Dick. Makes perfect sense.

[Ms_prue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would just like to publicly acknowledge my big sister, who is clever and wise in all the ways but especially in the field of Advanced Milan Plot Speculation. You called absolutely all of it, sis!

[Kati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and ouching at the same time, I loved this short story

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank GOD Hold Me is coming out next month.

[July C. B · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 estrellas.

Estoy muy feliz, esta historia corta me puso una sonrisa en la cara desde la primera página.

Y eso es porque me encantan los personajes. No solo Blake y Tina —su relación es tan tierna— sino también sus padres. Y este libro trata de la primera vez que se conocen el padre de Blake, Adam, y los padres de Tina. Las culturas y las formas de pensar de Adam y de la mamá de Tina chocan tanto que es una receta para el desastre, absolutamente divertido de leer.

Además, me encanta que los personajes se mantengan fieles a sí mismos. En este tipo de historias en las sagas, los autores muchas veces intentan mostrarnos lo felices que están todos después del final feliz del otro libro y protagonistas pierden su personalidad. Aquí hay cosas sin resolver que empiezan a solucionarse, y sabremos más cuando se publique la tercera parte de la saga, que tiene a Tina y Blake de nuevo como protagonistas.

Por otra parte, Adam es uno de mis personajes favoritos, a pesar de lo imbécil que es, y hace desde el principio del primer libro que creo que saber algo de él. Que es gay, o al menos que estaba enamorado de su mejor amigo. La autora ya ha confirmado lo que yo creía, y está escribiendo un libro sobre él. Muero por leerlo, y los emails que él escribe en esta historia son una probadita de todo lo que se vendrá. Estoy lista para que me rompa el corazón.

The year of the crocodile es una historia corta excelente, divertida, que me hizo pasar un muy buen rato, y que además añade algo interesante a la trama de las saga.

[Leigh Kramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great Chinese New Year romance short story and follow up to Trade Me! (You definitely need to read Trade Me first.) I enjoyed seeing how Blake and Tina are doing and watching their parents meet for the first time. The verbal sparring and repurposed Princess Bride quotes between the parents was the best! But even better: Tina's mom makes Blake's dad a penis cake when he visits her at work and it had me HOWLING. I laughed so hard.

This is a very short story and we get Adam's POV for part of it, planting seeds for his future book. I'm not sure if Courtney Milan still plans to write the rest of the series but I hope she does. I really want to see how she redeems him. It was great to see Tina's mom call Adam out for his business practices in China! More accountability for billionaires please.

Character notes: Blake and Tina are college students at UC Berkeley. Blake is a white billionaire and vice president of interfaces at Cyclone Technologies. Tina is Chinese. Adam is a white billionaire and the founder of Cyclone Technologies. This is set in southern California.

CW: Tina's parents fled China because they practiced Falun Gong which is illegal there, Tina's father was brainwashed and mistreated in a Chinese reeducation camp, gendered insults, ableist language, alcohol, past heart attack, reference to Blake's past disordered eating, references to Adam's sobriety and past substance abuse

[Natasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to quickly re-read (more like skimmed) the first book in this series to remind myself who these characters were.

But back to this short story...

I thought this was a follow-up story in which Tina and Blake would get engaged and married. I was wrong. This is pretty much a brief tale of their two families meeting each other.

This story seems to have been written as a segue for Blake’s father’s five-part book, “What Lies Between Me and You,” which hasn’t been released yet. Reading this book I learned Blake’s dad, who cusses way more than a sailor, is secretly gay, so his book should be very interesting. Tina’s mom might get her sex scandal after all.

In my opinion, the most intriguing character in this story was Tina’s mom. She’s a firecracker that I wanted to see more of. The penis cake scene was hilarious.

[Elia · Rating 3 out of 5]

i thought that this wld be another lil fun treat, and parts are fun, and definitely a treat, but i’m left wondering abt the point. bc there are so many elements introduced and left dangling in a super unsatisfying way that didn’t feel like a treat. also, the way milan is treating “spoilers” as if every single lgbt+ person reading this hasn’t read between the lines and doesn’t know exactly what’s what. and, i, personally, am bored by such things! so, yeah. also what was in blake & mabel’s envelopes????

[Marianne (Boricuan Bookworms) · Rating 4 out of 5]

*grabs mic* I LOVE ADAM REYNOLDS.

WHERE.
IS.
HIS.
BOOK?

*screeches*

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bring me the Adam behemoth, pleeaseee !!

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very short but utterly charming story about what happens when Tina Chen and Blake Reynolds' parents meet for the holidays, also contains a teaser for Blake's dad's romance.

Loved it.

[Dar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having just researched and celebrated the lunar new year with my work team, the reading of this story was timely to say the least. It was a fabulous, short, yet emotional, story that updates on our main couple, but really focuses in on family. And not the happy family, everyone gets along, but, how sometimes children see what they feel for their parents, instead of what the world actually sees. Also, how children tend to think their parents understand them, and their feelings, as much as they do

Oh yeah, and great big freakin' teasers!!!!!!!

[Claudia237 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but very fun book about Two unconventional set of parents meeting. This book got me very very intrigued by Adam's story