DNF at 10%

As a massive fan of The Holiday, I wanted to love this book; however, I couldn't get into the storyline or the characters. I know I didn't make it very far, and I tried to plow through, but by chapter four, I was done.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a pre-release copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are entirely my own!*

Cute and fun! Not my favorite but it was definitely enjoyable and definitely a book that I would recommend to a romance lover like myself.

The blurb of this book was so interesting; however, I didn't quite like the hero in this story but overall it is a nice romance with personal growth from the heroine.
Totally love the final chapters!!

So if you've read and loved The Flatshare this is definitely right up your street. Cassie and James are two completely different people who decide to swap houses much like Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet in The Holiday to escape their lives and grow out of their comfort zone.

Both the characters are extremely likeable and have their own arcs through the story that I loved. They are two different people who come together and make a perfect whole. I should say this book is a closed door romance. so a bit disappointed about that. Secondly, it talks about really heavy topics like death, addiction, IVF and miscarriage. I think for me personally the first two thirds of the book were great, there was banter, dislike and a lot of growth. the last quarter felt rushed to tie a bow and neatly pack the end. I felt as if James was just going with whatever was happening when he was against something in the first place. That didn't really work for me, I would've liked more communication between the two.

Thank you NetGally and to the publisher for handing me an ARC for this. I would give it a 3/5 stars.

This is a very cute book. I enjoyed reading it. Started off well and kept my interest which is sometimes hard to do. I would recommend it for sure!

When company director James needs to escape his latest over-clingy relationship, he decides to get away on a sabbatical. A quick search on a house-swapping website reveals a cottage on a small island off the coast of Maine that suits him fine.
Cassie has to be in London for some book research, so she thinks James’ apartment with a doorman would be the perfect spot for her.
Despite James being rather prickly during the initial house swap, the pair soon begin to exchange messages, catching up on news about the neighbours, alpacas and their life stories.
This is a charming story about the bond that develops between two very different personalities living in each other’s homes.

Overview:
The House Swap follows the story of Cassie and James. Cassie is a writer living in a secluded island off the coast of Maine. James is a business man living in the heart of London. They meet each other through a house swapping website. Cassie is in need of moving to London for a few months to do research for her new book. And James is looking for a change of scenery after dealing with a bad break up. This is how they end up swapping each other's homes, James living in Casssie’s cute but run-down cottage, and Cassie living in Jame’s luxurious penthouse apartment. Except James didn’t know he was going to be sharing his new temporary home with 11 chickens and 3 alpacas, horrible wi-fi, and unusually friendly neighbors. While back in London Cassie has to deal with James’s crazy ex-girlfriend turning up at her door.

Overall Thoughts:
It took me a while to get invested in the story and the characters. At first, James was really cold, presumptuous, and in my opinion extremely rude. However, the more they talked on the phone the more friendly he became. I loved Cassie’s character from the very beginning, opposite to James she was very sociable, and friendly to everyone she met. I really enjoyed getting to know the side characters as well. I thought they added a lot to the story. Overall this was a nice, cute read. The premise reminded me of the movie “The Holiday”. I will say it was a little slow at the beginning, for the first half of the book you feel like nothing is really happening. I would recommend it if you’re looking for a quick light read. However, I didn’t find anything memorable about the overall story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a copy of this eARC in exchange of an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

I loved the premise of this book! I loved Cassie's character, but James wasn't my favorite...though I came around to him eventually. A super fun, lighthearted read!

DNF @30%

Just couldn't convince myself to keep reading. I found James completely annoying and arrogant and couldn't connect with Cassie.

This one was a struggle for me. I didn’t fall I love with about of the characters or like how the plot line was progressing. I wind up quoting about 60% into it

This is a light hearted, easy read and I really enjoyed it. It was a little predictable in places but there were storylines and moments that were unexpected so it wasn’t entirely predictable.
The main characters were likeable and well described in their chapters. Overall, I would recommend this for a summer read or if you want an enjoyable light hearted book.

The House Swap by Jo Lovett is a fun romantic comedy and my first book by this author. Cassie lives on an island off the coast of Maine, and she wants to go to London so she can research her next book. James lives in London in a luxurious apartment, and he needs to go to the United States for business, so they switch. James is not happy with her home with all the animals and friendly neighbors. I love the quirky people and situations in this book, they definitely had me laughing. I highly recommend this unique romance, and will reading more books by this author.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.

1.5 stars

I struggled really hard with this book. There were several times when I wanted to stop reading. The only reason I finished it was because I felt that I could only review it honestly if I did. But this book was flat and boring.

The characters in this book were not engaging at all. The plot was all over the place. Character motivations seemed to change on a whim and lacked consistency. And honestly, the prose was just super underwhelming. No one in this book was interesting. Half star for the alpacas though, especially the one that missed its owner so much, she had to sing to him over the phone. That was one of very few shining moments in the book.

Actual rating: 2.5 stars

Let's start with what I enjoyed - Cassies house on the island with her alpacas and her chickens sounds like a dream. I want to be there. I also really enjoyed a lot of the secondary characters, they were well written and believable as characters.

However, I just didnt love this book. James really annoyed me, I felt like his character arc was unbelievable. I think my dislike of him also meant that I didn't believe or buy into the romance. It felt like it went from oh there's a bit of chemistry here to i love you really quickly and without anything changing.

I definitely think the first half of the book was much better than the second.

I received a free e-ARC of this book in return for an honest review. Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and Jo Lovett.

An enjoyable read.
This book follows James and Cassie when they both need a change of scenery and they end up exchanging houses. But as they are complete opposites this leads to conflict then friendship and then attraction. Whilst I enjoyed this book, it didn’t grab me and I’m not entirely sure why. But it was an enjoyable read and made me want to go to Canada!

This was a good read, but very predictable. It is hard to root for the character of James, as he is so nasty at the start of the book. It is testament to the writers talent that she creates people like James that make you so angry one minute and than feel sorry for the next. It is a nice read that will pass away a few days in lockdown.

There's a lot of descriptions and mentions of different things that I don't think adds anything to the story. I wished there's more of a character focus and development for both the main characters because all throughout they did not feel like real people to me and I did not feel connected to any of the characters at all.

James and Cassie have opposite personalities, and live in opposite sides of the world; he, a business man with a troubled past obsessed with neatness and very closed-off from his emotions lives in the heart of London while she, a writer with a caring motherly spirit, lives in a beautiful secluded island near Boston. They swap houses for different reasons, but they both go through a journey of self discovery in their new environment, one that will turn them into what the other needs.

I loved the concept of this (reminded me of the movie The Holiday) and while there were plenty of things I adored about this book, there were a few that left me feeling slightly bereft throughout and the end of it.

What I loved:
- The character development: We get great backstories for both main characters which explains many of their current wants, so that was great! On both sides, their inner conflicts are resolved separately, and that was amazing for them to move forward together. So props for that!
- Their communication: There was really no miscommunication trope and I love how they were very open at all times about what they felt. James specially has such a great growth and becomes really in-tune with his emotions, and I loved that.
- The treatment of IVF/miscarriage: It was very well done and gave us a good intel on what Cassie experienced throughout her past.
- The friendships: I love that in both London and the island, these characters form long-lasting friendships with really unique and interesting characters. It makes their journey more believable.
- The surprise/twist in the story: Made me read the last 30% of the book in one sitting. Really loved it.
- The "I love you"'s. They flowed beautifully and truly helped the reader understand what was and wasn't the problem.


What I think could've been better:
- The pace of the book: This was my biggest issue with the book. Since the story is supposed to happen throughout the span of about 7 months-ish, we get bits and pieces of James and Cassie's conversations and special events where they interact. Sometimes it felt as though we were shown a scene, only for it to be cut off out of the blue. Things weren't really explored, only mentioned, so it didn't allow me to fully get inside their heads.
- The chemistry: It got really better in the second half of the book, but I would've liked to see more sparks flying in the first half. Even anger can be a powerful emotion for two rivals-to-lovers. Also, their first kiss and them sleeping together could've had more heat (not even smut - btw, this is a smutless book!), but just more passion. Even from fingers grazing, looks shared from moment one. Those slowly build the chemistry up!
- Dina liking James: There really was no need for Dina to like James, and it made the story all the more awkward at some points. Their clashing wants was enough of a conflict for the story to carry through.
- The dialogue: A few times, it felt stiff and robotic, but it was something that got a bit better by the end.

Overall, a cute love story with great characters that any fans of Sally Thorne or Sarah Hogle will love!

This book is the tipical cold guy and lovely girl, but this have something different for me: the "hero" is just like one of my best friends. Don't get me wrong, he's an awesome person, a lovely guy and I admire a lot our friendship, but that's not how people work in real life. The sudden chenge of the male character didn't work for me, it didn't seem true enought. I didn't like the infertility plot, I think was not well done, and I can't get the concept of an author that never write.

But the thing I disliked the most is how the female characters are portraied. Besides the main character and Laura, all the other girls were portraied as the mean girls, the girls that the hole personality resumes in being worse than the main character. How all of them were totally in love for this cold guy that is just pretty, he don't shoe much of a personality besides it. I think that was the thing that made me not enjoy the reading as I should. The romance wasn't also really engaging, I couldn't trust how much they felt in love for each other, considering that we have major gaps in the timeline.

Although this book can work for some, it wasn't the case with me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher to give me this opportunity to read this book in exchange of an honest review!

I was in the mood for a lighter read. This did do its job in that regard. An easy read just to sit and pass the time. Without having to pay too much attention or think too much.

The story itself did feel a little underwhelming. Part of me expected a cute romance I could get behind. However James was unlikeable at the beginning that I wasn’t rooting for them to end up together.

I always expect some insta love in books like this. Here it is set over multiple months. But since they pass weeks at a time I just didn’t see the chemistry between them.

The “twist” that ended up being part of the reason they end up together was predictable. But I also don’t know if I like it or not. I didn’t like how long it took her to tell him though.

James family history was sad. I can see why he was the way he was. But I still disliked him. Even at the end I still didn’t care for him.

I will say I loved the choice of animals. Bit different to a dog or cat.