Fine Line: An M/M College Grumpy/Sunshine Romance (Boys of BBU Book 2)

Finally! I've been searching all over for more trans representation and I'm so glad I found it! Will definitely be recommending this story to others. To start we have 2 main characters Aspen aka Cupcake and Caelyx. Aspen is our FTM trans who gives off emo vibes but like in the 2000s Emo era where you can walk into any hot topic and hear "King for the day by Pierce the Veil" booming through speakers. If I would have to describe their relationship with a song it would definitely be between "CrushCrushCrush by Paramore" and "The only exception by Paramore" I feel like those 2 songs gives the overall vibes of the story. "The only exception" represent Aspen perfectly and his fear of letting people in. The fear of receiving love and acceptance. Thinking that he's content with being alone because of past traumas,family issues, and events. Until Caelyx arrives in his life someone who isn't afraid to tear down those walls. Giving him everything he never knew he needed or wanted. Which in return gives Aspen the courage to risk everything deeming Caelyx the "Only exception". Also the melody is like a slow soft buildup which helps me correlate with Aspen slowly starting to open up. Caelyx is our golden retriever type energy guy. I feel the song "CrushCrushCrush by Paramore" represent Caelyx fairly well. It has this upbeat rock kinda fun type vibe but if you listen to the lyrics you can feel the chaoticness hidden underneath and the yearning of wanting someone so bad that being friends…

MY OPINION: This is the second book in this series, and it was pretty different than the first. Much less interaction with college life throughout, but we do get a healthy dose of the friend group, which includes Maddox and Ren from book one. There are a few tropes here, but the overall feeling is grumpy / sunshine. These MCs are unique in their own way, but Caelyx is a typical spoiled rich college kid who had been cut off by his father so he could learn to be independent. Through his roommates, he met Aspen and became obsessed. Low-key, almost stalker obsessed. After a lot of patience and the fact that they were kind of forced together through the friend group, Aspen finally let him into his orbit. Even hooked up with him. That one hookup grows to be more. Since Aspen was transgender, there is some dysmorphia and insecurity when it came to more than something casual. The story itself allows us to see the struggles, then the acceptance that you can find when someone likes you, regardless of what you see as your flaws. Aspen and Caelyx are a fun couple who have plenty of spicy moments. Caelyx has total golden retriever vibes, where Aspen always feels like he wants to stab you in the neck. Together, they are fun. We get to see a lot of interaction with the friend group. The story is charming with two great guys. We get an inside look at some of the struggles Aspen goes through as a transgender man. What a wonderful love story it turns out to be.