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Book Review
Mar. 23rd, 2026 01:14 pmHold Me
by Courtney Milan
This romance takes place largely at UC Berkeley. Maria is an older student, in her mid-20s and in her last semester of her undergraduate degree. Under a pseudonym, she runs a blog where she games out various apocalyptic scenarios using real science and data. She is single but has developed a real friendship with one of her frequent commenters, a friendship that has gotten flirty over time. Maria's brother Gabe introduces her to his close friend Jay, a driven junior chemistry professor at Berkeley. They do not hit it off, quite the opposite. Of course, Jay is Maria's online friend. Once they discover that truth, things change rapidly.
I enjoyed this book more than I expected to. The enemies-to-lovers plot had some real heft to it. I liked how Jay and Maria each owned their own baggage and did the work needed to properly deal with it. I liked how supportive they were of each other. Milan also does a great job of exploring the sexism in the STEM world. I also appreciated that Maria is trans, but the book isn't centered on that - it's an important part of Maria's background, but not the major driver of the story.
by Courtney Milan
This romance takes place largely at UC Berkeley. Maria is an older student, in her mid-20s and in her last semester of her undergraduate degree. Under a pseudonym, she runs a blog where she games out various apocalyptic scenarios using real science and data. She is single but has developed a real friendship with one of her frequent commenters, a friendship that has gotten flirty over time. Maria's brother Gabe introduces her to his close friend Jay, a driven junior chemistry professor at Berkeley. They do not hit it off, quite the opposite. Of course, Jay is Maria's online friend. Once they discover that truth, things change rapidly.
I enjoyed this book more than I expected to. The enemies-to-lovers plot had some real heft to it. I liked how Jay and Maria each owned their own baggage and did the work needed to properly deal with it. I liked how supportive they were of each other. Milan also does a great job of exploring the sexism in the STEM world. I also appreciated that Maria is trans, but the book isn't centered on that - it's an important part of Maria's background, but not the major driver of the story.
