Striking a Chord at Randy's by K.C. Carmine M/M (Trans M/Cis M)
Idk gang...this one's bit unbalanced
Thoughts: If I was to describe this in terms of typical romance tropes it'll be; a (childhood) friends-to-FWBs-to-lovers bi awakening. I'm not someone who gets super into tropes but others are and might want to know.
A super exciting thing about this book is the series it's from; Diner Days. Diner Days is a multi-author contemporary trans romance "anthology" series that takes place in or involve a US 50s themed queer Diner called "Randy's", in some instalments the Diner is a more present location than others. All books in the series have at least one trans MC and a good chunk are t4t. It should be noted however that the series is weighted towards trans m/m & m/nb pairings, of the 11 books in the series only 2 are sapphic (f/f or f/nb) and there are no trans m/f pairings. Which is unfortunate for people looking for that type of representation.
EDIT: upon further research it turns out that there is one book; Aftercare at Randy's with a TF/NB/M, so there is technically on Transhet book although it's also F/Nb & M/NB
In theory this book should be (almost) everything I want in trans mlm, the tropes and kinks/sex acts, the relationship and personalities was coming up to be a cool 8-9/10 but the execution was just not it gang.
Simply put the writing wasn't good...When it comes to romance I have lowered standards for prose/writing, I don't expect lit-fic or even the average fantasy novel writing so I am lenient. Awkward phrasing in the narration, abuse of unrealistically verbose and introspective therapy speak in dialogue. And rather petty on my end misuse of the term "himbo"; the misogynistic/homophobic/toxic masculinity douchey gymbros at Trent's old gym will not be himbos! Himbos are nice! Also "muscle himbos" is redundant as himbo= buff anyhow, yeah it's petty but whatevs.
...We got strap sucking y'all!!! That alone saves this damn book lmao. So idc idc.
Which brings me to my next observation; the book was more explicit and had more kinks & fetishes in it than I was expecting. Like I went into this thinking it'll be some simple gay sex shit but Nope! Shit got wild as hell ☠ (positive).
Also massive props for the book acknowledging that vaginismus and HRT induced vaginal atrophy exist and will make frontal penetration painful and unpleasant.
A thing I apricated about the story is that both Trent and Charlie have goals outside of their relationship. From Charlie's music career to Trent getting the motivation to open his own inclusive gym. They do intersect with the romance and both are (obviously) supportive of the other's dreams. Another aspect I apricated was as positive and lowkey as this story was it didn't ignore the existence of homophobia. It's not "extreme" or hardcore and it fits with the vibe of the book...well vague spoilers but towards the end Charlie experiences something semi-based on anti queer bigotry. I do enjoy queer stories where bigotry doesn't exist or isn't acknowledged but sometimes I also like seeing the real shit. Although both their respective projects got achieved and wrapped up a bit too quickly. I won't necessarily fault the book for that, it's about novella length so there wasn't much space to go into detail, perhaps if the book was a bit longer, because there are books in this series double the length so it's not a case of wordcount restrictions.
Representation: white gay trans man MC, white bi/pan cis man MC, Lesbian Side characters, Trans woman side character
Terms Used: cock, t-dick/dick, packer, strap-on, ass/asshole, front hole
Sexual Content & Roles: Explicit sexual content. Strict top/bottom, trans top/cis bottom, size difference, Chastity kink/cock cage, orgasm denial, cum eating, felching, rimming, anal fingering, anal sex, nipple play, oral sex, light bondage, masturbation in front of partner, semi public sex, food play-kinda...lollipops were involved,
Potential dysphoric moments: N/A I guess
TW: mild references to/instances of homophobia, misogyny and toxic masculinity.
Rating: 5/10 🌟 Despite my less than glowing review, I do not dissuade others from picking up this book. It is a cute romance and those of us looking for trans men/masc tops can't be too picky.
