Interesting and well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. Just a little slow and unbelievable at some points. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Two families swap houses for a holiday. But it's not all rest and relaxation. This is a thriller so you know something sinister is going to happen. I wasn't too fond of Beth (completely spineless) and Niall (gaslight much?!) but I enjoy Ms. Boland's writing style so this was another easy and fun read!

Shalini Boland does it again! I have read several of her books and will continue to read everything she writes if they keep me engaged like The Family Holiday did.

I can’t tell you the last time I read a book in one day until this one.

The storyline was brilliant and Boland’s writing flows with an ease that makes it impossible to put her books down.

The plot twists in this book at sometimes were sh e and other in your face an all made for a perfect suspenseful thriller.

Two families swap homes for a holiday. One on the beautiful Amalfi coast, the other a cosy cottage in the English countryside. Sounds perfect, but what they thought was going to be an amazing holiday slowly turns into a nightmare.

First of all do not read the official blurb because it contains a spolier that happens at the 80% mark!

What I liked about the book
👍it was a quick read with short chapters
👍The final epilogue which had the only twist that truly surprised me
👍There are a couple of great secondary characters in this book

What I didn't like about the book
👎I didn't feel any connection with the main characters and wasn't given a reason to be invested in the outcome for them.
👎Not enough twists and one of the few that there are is spolied in the blurb
👎It took a while to build to the main plot of the book

It's a 3 star 🌟 from me despite the things I didn't like about the book I found this to be a quick read and that twist at tge end really surprised me.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC in exchange the review.

Outstandingly good read! This is the first book I have read by this author and I absolutely loved it! It had me gripped the entire way through. I could not put it down! I will definitely read more books by the same author. Thanks so much

The story line for this is actually quite clever!

Two families. One house swap. Sounds like an exciting vacation. What could possibly go wrong?

When I read the blurb for this, it really reminded me of ‘The Holiday’ movie except there isn’t anything romantic about it. Everything that could possibly go wrong, did go wrong.

Beth is dying to go on a holiday. She needs a break from mummy duties and would love to spend some time alone with her husband, Niall. Niall suggested going on a family holiday by swapping houses with another family. Beth was wary about the whole thing but seeing how excited Niall was about the idea, she agreed. They found the perfect family and home to swap with, Amber and Renzo. Everything was off to a great start but soon their nightmare began.

The story was great more than halfway through. The plot was full of suspense and a lot of secrets were revealed. Everything is not as they seemed to be and some would go through great lengths for revenge and for their secrets to be buried forever. I find Beth’s personality very bland and honestly, I wanted to smack some sense into her sometimes. Her husband is truly a piece of work. Makes me so mad even as I write this review! If I had a husband like Niall, I’d get out of that marriage so damn fast and maybe burn all his belongings. Amber is an equally unlikeable character. Saying she is a psycho doesn’t even cut it. But put these characters together and the story kept me on the edge.

I was, however, disappointed by how the story ended! The twist at the end seemed meh after such a good build-up. The wrap up felt rushed and left me unsatisfied which is such a shame as I was really enjoying the plot.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the arc.

I’m literally not even sure how to begin this and how to tell you about this without giving away anything…so here we go.

Two families decide they want to house swap for the holidays. They find each other’s homes on a website and agree to house swap, but why would this family with a fancy ass house and a pool want to swap for this small English cottage?

Something seems a little fishy, but let’s go on.

Both families seem to be enjoying their vacations away from home until bad things start happening and suspicions start rising that this home swap has gone completely wrong.

If you are ready for a hard to put down thriller with new plot twists at every turn, pick this up.

Two families. One house swap.
A vacation to die for.

Shalini Boland knows how to keep a reader hooked to the book. A house swap gone wrong? Now that’s a plot that’s unique and thrilling.

Beth and Niall swap houses with Amber and Renzo. While the former family gets the chance to live in a lavish stylish villa, the latter couple gets the cold but cozy cottage to live for two weeks. Beth is so in need of a break from managing the family while Niall is a workaholic who doesn’t help or cooperate even when they were on holiday. But things suddenly start to look weird and creepy. Beth tries to see the end of the tunnel and solve the mystery surrounding her.

I must say that I hated Niall 100%, which makes the writing and character portrayal brilliant. But the author failed to give justice to Beth’s character which was plain, bland and well, a bit stupid. Niall is a husband who was gaslighting her throughout but she still stuck with him which made me actually hate her character. But otherwise this is an interesting one. And I am going to read all other works by the author!

Thanks to Bookouture for the eARC.

What starts as an innocent home exchange between two families from England and Italy quickly turns into a drama with a burglary, murder and a hair-raising plot.
What an exciting book! The short chapters with the different points of view were nice, I didn't see the plot twist at the end!

Lovely quick holiday read on my sun lounger on my family holiday 🤣 really enjoyed this book full of twists & deceit I’d highly recommended this book.

An excellent new thriller by Shalini Boland! A young woman swapping houses discovers her husband may have a mysterious past, which leads to his murder in which she becomes an immediate suspect.

This was such a fast paced read and while I did need to suspend my belief, I could just not put it down!
Beth and her husband Niall, need a holiday with their children but an affordable one. So they opt for a home swap with another family. Beth feels they have been given the best of the two deals, going to a gorgeous Italian villa for their summer holiday, while Amber and her family go to the cottage in the English countryside, in the cold. But things don't go as planned and Beth finds a picture of her husband with a woman in the place she is staying. She storms off to cool down, only to return to find her husband dead. 

As the story goes on, we see the author unpick the web of lies on both sides and things get really twisted. So, I must say, that if this were a book, I would have wanted to throw it at the wall at times when I was reading about Niall, but that just made me cheer Beth on more. It was such a crazy adventure and this author really knows how to keep you turning the pages. Another enjoyable one.

Shalini Boland is one of my go-to authors when I need something quick and suspenseful to read. The Family Holiday is about two families that decide to do a house-swap: a villa on the Amalfi coast and a quaint little cottage in the English countryside, what could go wrong? But things are not as they seem, and by the end, things will go tragically wrong. An end-of your seat, read in one sitting kind of thriller, I would definitely recommend this book.
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Thank you to the author, Bookouture, and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It is not my first book by Boland and I like the writer so I will definitely try other titles as well. But although this book is not bad, it was not my favorite (my favorite remains "the Girl from the Sea"). So it is 3.5 stars.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I do like Boland's writing style as it is engaging and reads quickly. The story plot is interesting. But I guess I kept waiting for her husband's dead body show up as promised in the description but it doesn't happen until a 73% mark which was confusing. By then, the book is almost over, is it not?

The characters... sadly among all, I almost found Amber most likable which says it all. The heroine just seemed so naïve and easily impressable, with a weak character and poor judgement and not clear why she married a complete jerk. There is no real explanation why her husband was acting the way he was acting even when the book gets going.

I found the ending not very plausible but it had an interest twist so I would still recommend the book as it keeps you reading to the end.

Thanks to Netgalley for a free copy in exchange of an honest review.

As other reviewers have noted, it seemed to take a while to get started and while the plot was eventually engaging, it did take a while to get to that place.

I planned poorly and was not able to get to this one before it expired. I have heard great things so I will still give it a review with higher stars. Thank you for the opportunity and I apologize!

This was a psychological thriller that kept me guessing for almost the whole book. The ending was truly a surprise. I highly recommend this book to other thriller readers.

Another great read from this author. Two families, who have never met, arrange a house swap over the internet. Ben, Niall and their two sons live in Dorset in a lovely eighteenth century cottage. Beth is a stay at home mum and Niall is a writer of historical fantasy but their marriage is far from perfect. Beth longs for a holiday so is delighted when Niall arranges the house swap in a Italy. Amber, Renzo and their two children live in a luxurious villa on the Amalfi coast and are looking forward to spending time in England. But Beth’s ideal holiday doesn't get off to a great start and gets even worse when she discovers a faded photo that appears to be of Niall with Amber. She confronts Niall who denies it is him in the photo and so she storms off. On returning she finds him dead on the balcony. What has happened and why? We realise that what appeared to be an innocent house swap wasn’t so and Amber and Renzo had their reasons for getting away. This is a psychological thriller full of twists and turns, with some unlikeable characters, but a book I couldn’t put down.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is such a tough book to review because the plot didn't ramp up until halfway through. I hung in there and things started getting interesting in the middle and then moved quickly up until the end. If readers can stick with the story until the action begins, they won't be disappointed.

I found this very slow and it was so hard to keep my interest. We find the picture and then he gets murdered, but it’s so slow after that I was barely able to finish the story.

Very predictable. Not for me.