Boys Over Flowers 19 by Yoko Kamio: B+

From the back cover:
When Tsukushi is left homeless, she has no choice but to become a maid in the mansion of her on-and-off boyfriend, Tsukasa. Not only that, but she becomes his own personal maid! Her duties include the dreaded task of waking him up in the morning, a job normally left to three people. Then Tsukasa orders her to come to his room unseen at midnight, causing Tsukushi to panic. Will this pull them closer together or push them further apart?!

Review:
This volume gets off to somewhat of a slow start, with Tsukushi freaking out about being Tsukasa’s personal servant, convinced that he’s going to use the position to take advantage of her. Of course, this doesn’t happen, and they end up having a midnight stargazing date instead that culminates with a pretty straightforward conversation about the state of their feelings. The final outcome is that they begin dating on a trial basis to allow Tsukushi two months to figure out if she loves Tsukasa or not.

It was a little odd seeing Tsukasa being so patient at the beginning of the volume, and I’m not sure where that came from. The experience with breaking things off with Shigeru? Knowing that Tsukushi had defied his mother and believing that it was for his sake? I’m not sure, but when he returns to his canankerous ways later in the volume, it was almost a relief.

The last few chapters, after they’re officially a couple, really are the best. Tsukushi and Tsukasa double-date with Yuki and her new boyfriend and Tsukasa does an admirable job at keeping his temper in check even though the boyfriend is a real git. It’s great! Also, I like seeing Tsukushi talking to Yuki and Tsukasa talking to his friends about the relationship. I always like it when both members of a couple have some support from their friends.

In short, I think this two month trial dating period is going to be awesome.