This was such a fun book to read. At first glance I wasn't sure the storyline would work - seemed a bit far fetched. But it did - and it did it really well. Loved both of the main characters - they were both so charming and both had not so great family backgrounds. I will admit to having a tear in my eye at the end of the book. Please to see that I have missed this authors earlier book which I will definately be reading soon. A delight of a story.

Such a fun read about two individuals who embark on a house swap and learn a lot about themselves and one another along the way. While I did very much enjoy this book, I will say the writing style was a bit lacking for me and the ending felt rushed and was not my favorite. Otherwise, I thought this was a really smart and different romance novel and the slow-burn was done so well! Definitely would recommend to my friends!

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. This was a sweet story but I didn't connect with it. I didn't realise that IVF/kids would be a central plot, and it is just not something I gravitate towards!

This is a stereotypical romance read that you can predict from the very beginning. Sometimes we all love a predictable easy read and this hits that marker perfectly.

The story keeps you on your toes and wraps up so well that you're not left stranded in the middle of the plot. I recommend picking this one up for a relaxing evening read and you'll soon be falling in love with Cassie and James.

Wow - what a story! It was fun, and funny and I could not put it down. I fell in love with the characters and I loved their back and forth banter. A must read for sure - would definitely recommend

Two people are in need of a quick change of scenery to possible change some things in their lives, so they list their places on SwapBnB and end up swapping more than zip codes but the change really alters their trajectory. James has a flat in London and after a relationship that ends abruptly his physical safety is threatened and he needs to get out of town for safety and to see a new perspective. Cassie has been in a funk for a bit and a job opportunity in London pushes her to try to relocate for a bit to complete the job and maybe a personal goal or two.

What a sweet romance that has such a fun plot and a great cast of characters as the neighbors and friends of each character play a part in both of their stories. I adored the arrival stories as they each arrived to the other's places and how different they were in prepping for the other made me - laugh out loud!

I knew this book was a romance, so I wondered going in how the author was going to achieve the romance of the book, but the interactions were done so cleverly that it just barely avoided the instalove feeling. I may have felt as though it was a bit quick, but it was fun and sweet.

With only one book in the backlist, I want to pick that up soon and read it and am hoping for more from this author in the future.

This is just a fun and funny read.

I read this in one sitting as it had me laughing all throughout the book.

It is a quick paced story that has a cozy feeling to it aswell. The story was predictable but I still enjoyed it.

I was excited to read this book because the synopsis reminded me of the movie "The Holiday" - James, a venture capitalist in London who has just gone through a nasty breakup, swaps houses with Cassie, a Scottish writer happily living on an island in Maine who needs to research London for her next book series. During their house swap, they get to know each other mostly via email, text and phone, and the pair who started as adversaries start to change each other's lives until they wonder how they'll ever live without the other.

What I liked:
💕Enemies-to-lovers is one of my favorite romcom tropes.
🌊 The description of the Maine island where Cassie's house is makes you feel like you're there (note to self: plan trip to Maine).
👍The secondary characters are colorful and entertaining.
⌛James and Cassie are both in their 30s and have a more mature take on life.
💬There is some very fun banter.

What I struggled with:
🍼The IVF subplot - most books with this as a plot point frustrate me because they never get it quite right.
⏱️The middle of the book starts to drag as we wait to see how Cassie and James's friendship will evolve into something more.
❤️The story is told through Cassie and James's alternating POVs which leads to more expository development and plot told mostly through dialogue with big time jumps.
🇬🇧The American characters use British turns of phrase like "come through" and "at the weekend."
🤐I won't spoil it but I would have preferred it if what brought Cassie and James together in the end had been something else.

Overall, this was an enjoyable and quick read that I wish had a little more there there if you know what I mean, but I'll definitely read more from this author in the future. 3.5 stars.

Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the gifted copy.

I personally didn’t enjoy this book, I think it was because of how a subject close to my personal life was introduced so brashly at the beginning of the book meant I couldn’t carry on. I’d like to pick it up again though someday when the situation is different !

This is the first book I have read of Jo’s and I really enjoyed it. It was a light hearted read that kept me hooked. I connected with the characters pretty much instantly. I could easily build a picture in my mind of the characters and places.

I enjoyed going on the journey with Cassie that she takes on a personal level as well as the experiences she has trying to do research for her book. She was a likeable character and I really felt I wanted everything to work out for her. The friendships she has are great fun to read about especially with how they cope with the house swap and welcoming the stranger into their lives too.

It was lovely to read from a male character’s perspective written by a female author and that it was a main character not just in the background. I really liked that he had a bit of depth and we knew things about him too. I loved the relationship between Cassie and James and how it developed.

It was a sweet, uplifting story with the feel good factor and I will definitely read more of Jo’s books. I would highly recommend this book to everyone.

Genre: Adult Fiction / Romance

Publication Date: April 19th 2021

Publishers: Bookouture

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

https://brimmingshelves.wordpress.com/2021/04/21/arc-review-the-house-swap-by-jo-lovett/

The House Swap by Jo Lovett was a cross between the movie, The Holiday featuring Jude Law and Beth O’Leary’s debut novel, The Flatshare. The romance was slow burning, the plot had it’s hilarious moments and at the centre of it all were some emotionally raw scenes dealing with IVF and infertility. I enjoyed the Flatshare and The holiday so I was really excited to start this mashed up version, unfortunately the romance was too slow to move and despite all the humour that Lovett introduced and incorporated into her characters it couldn’t save the romance blooming between James and Cassie. The secondary characters were fantastic and Cassie’s island oasis fit for chickens and Aplacas were quirky additions that just made the plot adorable and wholesome. But when I’m reading a romance novel I want the romance! The enemies to lovers trope that made this love story was just too slow. That is why it’s just shy of 4 stars. I loved everything else about this book and it probably features one of the best cast of secondary characters that I’ve seen in a rom/com. I just wanted a little bit more heat and a little less slow burn!

I want to thank Netgalley and the publishers at Bookouture for an early copy of The House Swap by Jo Lovett.
____
“He turned back to Cassie. ‘This is great, he said. ‘Fantastic. Thank you. Kind of you to welcome me. Could I get the key?’

‘Frankly, that’s a poor apology.’

‘Sorry, what am I apologizing for?’

‘As I said, I moved heaven and earth to change my dates for you, and I think a lot of people would have acknowledged that.’ She had a very attractive accent. He’d noticed it on the phone and again now. Scottish. Or Irish. He could never tell the difference, which he knew was shocking, especially given that Matt was from Dublin, but in his defence he was pretty sure that there were a lot of similarities. Her voice was attractive too, warm and soft. Her attitude, however, wasn’t that soft. She’d been snippy from start to finish. She’d been reluctant to provide the extra documentation he’d asked for—very reasonably, surely, in that they were entrusting each other with their homes. She’d been awkward about the start date for their swap, with no reasonable explanation given. And now she wanted acknowledgement.”
____

Things did not get off on the right foot with this House Swap. James is a no nonsense give me the keys, leave me alone type whereas Cassie was this bubbly but hot tempered writer who loves her animals and neighbours. It was an interesting mix. But I will say that I did love his descriptions of Cassie. Even here right at the beginning despite wanting the keys and for her to leave he was still observing and taking note of her. I liked how he found her voice attractive, I don’t know why but this really stood out for me. I don’t think finding one’s voice attractive is usually mentioned in romance novels so that made this original.

I had a love/hate relationship with James. At first I felt sorry for him with the whole proposal speech pressure he was thrown into at his friend’s reception but then his attitude towards Cassie upon setting up their house swap made me kinda hate him. He was incredibly judgey of Cassie and her quirky yet polite approach to swapping homes. She had everything he could basically ever need including a fully stocked fridge and instructions on basic care that came with the house. He saw it as inconveniences and ultimately rude on her part because she was assuming things about him? I think. Oh and there was a whole debacle over crappy Wi-Fi which was blown out of proportion. How well did he think the internet would work on an ISLAND? Just a thought here.
____
“Are you kidding?’ she said. ‘It’s really hard. I can’t bake to save my life. I had your neighbours over for afternoon tea and tried to make everything myself but absolutely all of it was a disaster so I had to get Luigi to cater it. The beauty of being in Central London, of course. Here we’d have just had to break our teeth on rock-like brownies or starve.’

‘But you’re a great cook. All the meals you left in the freezer were delicious.’

‘I do cook but baking’s a whole different thing.’

‘You genuinely don’t bake?’

‘Can’t bake.’

‘Maybe it’s a one or the other thing. I have to say, my cooking hasn’t progressed a long way beyond the absolute basics. I’m excellent with toast and pasta and I can fry a steak and that’s pretty much it.”
____

He only became friendlier towards her after realizing that her property was worth something. I hated how that was the start of their friendship because it started off on a diabolical motive. He did become more genuine and that’s when I started to like him. But what made me fall for him was his secret skills at baking and how well that matched Cassie’s ability to cook. That was when the romance took a turn and that scene with Laura’s birthday cake was way hotter than it should have been haha!

“Cassie was absolutely not his type. She wrote ridiculously lengthy notes and she used emojis. She adored her bright colours, apparently clothing-wise as well as with her decor and garden. She kept animals. She was friends with everybody. She clearly had a stable family background, very different from his. She’d chosen to live on this island on the edge of the world. She read a lot.”

James falls in love with Cassie first and I love that concept of the man falling first. To me it seems more romantic, they just have a way of describing that is off the charts swoon-worthy. If that makes any sense haha. I live for descriptions like this one! If you like romantic comedies where the man falls first, you should check out Jayci Lee’s A Sweet Mess series, I recently finished her second novel, The Dating Dare and Seth is GREAT! Seriously check it out. And if you haven’t already, check out Beth O’Leary’s, The Flatshare because it does share a lot in common with this book, The House Swap!

Loved this book, would recommend it if you like this type of genre as you won't be disappointed. Was my first book by this author but would definitely read one by her again

Genre: Adult fiction, romance, Contemporary
Age range: 17+

Overall: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Plot and Themes: 4/5
Writing and Setting: 3.5/5

*Content warning: sexual themes, fertility issues, IVF, mentions of drug addiction, alcoholism, miscarriage, childhood neglect.*

Synopsis:
“Island house off coast of Maine, with private beach, sea views and the occasional farmyard animal, seeks super swanky Central London penthouse overlooking Holland Park, complete with concierge service and spurned ex-lovers…

When thirty-somethings Cassie and James find each other on a home swap website, it feels meant to be. City hotshot James needs a bolthole after a relationship goes sour and Cassie needs to leave the comfort of her little island to research her new book.

Soon, James is living in Cassie’s cute but ramshackle beachside cottage, and Cassie’s living in James’s luxurious London apartment. It’s the perfect solution.
Except James didn’t imagine he’d be sharing his home with eleven chickens and three alpacas, not to mention the unusually friendly neighbours, who seem to find any excuse to drop by. And Cassie is less than impressed when James’s ex-girlfriend turns up at his door, demanding to know where he’s gone.

The more Cassie and James talk, the more the tension between them mounts. But as the insults fly so do the sparks, and when the time finally comes to swap back, Cassie and James find they aren’t quite ready to give each other up.”

The gist of my review:
‘House Swap’ is a binge worthy standalone, enemies to lovers, rom-com, that I was pleasantly surprised to discover I absolutely adored. Initially the concept seemed a little... meh... but I was looking for a read to pass the time and very quickly became hooked.

I read this book over the course of a day and was not disappointed by the way the story panned out. It is a book with a ‘happily ever after’ ending, just as all rom-coms do, but I didn’t find Cassie and James’ ending as eye- roll inducing as some other romance novels. I think that’s largely due to the fact that the author tackles some really hard hitting and very prevalent topics as side plots within the novel, including infertility/ miscarriage, family trauma, and drug/alcohol trauma.

As to the actual romance side, for a rom-com, I thought the romantic elements of the book took a really long time to really get started. It’s definitely a slow burn novel with the romance being hinted at at approx 50% of the way through.

There is sexual connotations, conversations of and innuendos alluding towards sex, however this isn’t a ‘sex scene’ in this novel. I still would recommend this to older teens and adults audience.

I definitely recommend giving ‘House Swap’ a go if you’re looking for your next easy going and enjoyable read.

Characters: 5/5
Both the MC’s display an array of hard hitting emotion and growth that pull at the heartstrings of the reader. It’s very easy to feel a connection with both Cassie and James. Alongside this, all the characters, including the side characters, are very interesting, diverse, and well rounded

Plot and Theme: 4/5
Some very hard hitting and dark themes in this book, but they made the characters seem very real. The plot itself was pretty good, pretty predictable from the get go, but that’s just the nature of rom-coms.

Writing and Setting: 3.5/ 5
I think that some of the speech segments were a bit long winded at times, but that also was related to displaying elements of anxiety and excitement, or elements of certain character building. For whatever reason, it just really bugged me.

The descriptions of certain settings wasn’t necessarily a highlight of the book. A lot of the time the author threw around names of places and cities, so for me as a reader who has never been to the locations mentioned, I often found myself either using google, or creating my own image in my head. This isn’t necessarily a bad things, but sometimes as a reader you want a little bit more descriptives.

Thanks to NetGalley for my gifted copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The House Swap is the story of Cassie and James. They agree to do a home exchange and swap houses.
Cassie’s home is on an island filled with chickens, alpacas, and wonderfully colorful neighbors. James’ home is a flat in London where he, has not pets, no plants, and doesn’t know his neighbors.
James and Cassie couldn’t be more different and that shows in why they need to escape their respective lives, how they’ve each left the state of their homes for one another, and the odd circumstances that require them to continue to stay in communication and subsequently end up forming a friendship of sorts.

Wow, I really loved The House Swap. Told between the two main characters perspectives, and across two continents, it had me laughing out loud at times and heartbroken at others.

The House Swap, by #JoLovett was a very fun and cute read! I laughed out loud within the first pages which is always an excellent sign. Cassie and James don’t actually properly meet for a good bit of the book. Instead, they briefly meet at the beginning and then the majority of the time they communicate through text and calls. This was different than many other romances I’ve read and it did make me a bit impatient. I loved getting to know Cassie’s neighbors. I want to be friends with Laura! While the middle third of the book was a bit slow for my taste (again, maybe I’m just an impatient romance reader) the last third of the book went by very quickly! I enjoyed seeing Cassie, and particularly James, grow throughout the book. At first, I wasn’t sure if I would actually like James but by the end I was rooting for him! It reminded me a bit of The Flatshare and of The Holiday (the movie!), although that may be just because of the house swap bit! Overall, a sweet and cozy read that’ll make you simultaneous want to live in London and on an island off the coast of Maine! I also definitely want alpacas and chickens now!

Perfect story. The characters are delightful and make you root for them to figure out their feelings and act on them. Well worth my time.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The House Swap follows Cassie and James as they swap houses for a long summer. Cassie ran away from her problems and lives on a small island off coastal Maine. James works a high powered job and lives and works in bustling central London. When they swap houses, Cassie is thrown back in to fast paced city life, while James is all but forced to stop an smell the roses.

It was pretty obvious from the beginning where this book was headed and I just didn't care! This life swapping plot device is one that I love. The winding road to the end was more dragged out that I thought it would be going in. Both of the main characters are forced to confront their pasts, but I felt like James was the only character that really changed, Cassie just ended up with what she wanted all along. I think the book would have been more impactful if they both changed equally.

While I enjoyed the side characters, none of them really shined they way I thought they would. Using the life swapping can lean so much in to the supporting cast, but I just didn't feel as connected to them as I have with other books..

One thing I noticed was that the author used some britishisms that I had to look up and as an anglophile that was surprising! This is not a criticism, just a comment that I found interesting.

There were some great full circle moments at the end and I always appreciate those as a reader!

Cassie Adair, former lawyer turned children’s book author is living the dream - the island dream. From a private beach to farmyard animals, Cassie loves her peaceful island life. That is, until her shrill, but well meaning agent wants Cassie’s new series of books to be set in London. London of all places!

Cassie has to decide whether she is ready to trade her quaint island life for the bustling streets of the capital.

Savvy venture capitalist James finds himself blind sighted one evening when, at the birthday of his very casual girlfriend Emily, her family suddenly expects him to propose. ON STAGE. IN FRONT OF HER ENTIRE FAMILY.

James’s ‘no commitment’ situation suddenly turns out to be very, very committed - at least for Emily who refuses to take no for an answer. They say ‘hell has no fury like a woman scorned’ and that turns out to be more than just an expression for James.

Both looking for a new location, James and Cassie find each other on a house swapping website which turns out to be the ultimate solution for them.

Cassie has to brave the city and James has to get away from Emily before his face and reputation take more of a hit. Cassie and James are polar opposite, not just in terms of personality but everywhere else. Despite their rocky beginnings, the two develop a long distance friendship and our journey begins.

Jo’s writing style is very easy to follow, it is well thought out and carefully crafted. The story is slow and comfortable, like a nice walk on the beach. Characters are well fleshed out and come to life very easily. There is no ‘insta’ romance, no forced flirtation. The story grows very organically and feels very realistic and Jo takes her time with how the story unfolds.

It goes down like a pint of ice cream on a summer's day and can only be classified as a comfort read - something to pick up when you need a calm, easy read, perhaps something to enjoy on a beach? ;) The House Swap is a fluffy, light read. I enjoyed it with some Stan Gaetz in the background and almost felt like I was right there on the island myself.

I really enjoyed both of their characters and loved the growth in James’s arc. Thank you to Netgalley for sending me a free copy pre-release and thank you to Jo for her lovely comments and work on this book.

An utterly heart-warming love story that will make you laugh and cry, fans of The Flatshare, The Hating Game and movies like The Holiday will fall head over heels for The House Swap.

What a cute, light, and uplifting book! Though predictable (for the most part), it was deliciously compelling and I enjoyed reading it. The characters were delightful and absolute perfect for this. Everything reminded me of Hart of Dixie, especially the quirky characters with big personalities and the zany scenes. Not all of it was upbeat and happy, but even the emotional bits were done flawlessly and were fit in expertly. I was initially hooked by the cover but the summary really sucked me in and I knew I just had to read this. I am so glad that I did! This is a new author for me and I am a fan!