rep: Jewish lesbian mc, fat sapphic li, gay mc, gay li with depression, Black trans sc
Rating: 4.5

This is a pretty light, feel good, fluffy book. It’s set around the holidays, so has that vibe. It doesn't have much angst, but it does have some deeper scenes. Overall, it’s mostly two wholesome love stories.

Greta’s family has a very special dynamic. They’re all very close, but sometimes too close. Greta wants to move away to start living her life on her own, but feels pressured to stay with her family on the small island. Truman has had a hard time with all his relationships. His current one ends when he finds out his boyfriend has been cheating on him the whole year they’ve been together. Greta and Truman are going through it, so they decide to swap houses to get away, leaving friends and family behind.

I really liked all the characters. I felt for Greta and Truman. Greta’s family was a lot at times, Sadie being the most annoying. They didn’t really get Greta and they were too claustrophobic and not very understanding. Truman was really heartbroken and down, so this swap really did him some good. I enjoyed their self discovery journey and seeing these two explore their new cities and seeing their romantic relationships evolve.

I loved the love interests, Ash and Carys. Ash is adorable and has a flower shop. I love me some flower shop gays. Loved all the plant talk. Carys is a strong independent woman type. She’s a bit more mysterious and edgy. Loved that she was into spooky stuff.

The story takes place over 3-4 weeks, so the romances were pretty insta love. Greta and Carys especially. Truman and Ash took a bit more time. In that sense it wasn’t very realistic, but to be honest, I didn’t really care. It’s fiction. I just wanna read a cute story, and that it is.

I really enjoyed the longer epilogue. Most books end hopefully or give a brief idea of what is coming next for the characters in a chapter. This had a longer ending showing where everyone is now and what they’ve been up to.

The narrators did a good job.

Overall, this is a really cute queer holiday romcom.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC of this book

Thank you dreamscape media and net galley for the alc for honest review. I loved this lgbt+ take on the movie the holiday. I loved the representation the characters were well developed and likeable felt a bit long but will absolutely need a physical copy so so good!!

This book was giving me the movie holiday vibes but with queer couples. It was beautiful, funny, and deep all at the same time.

I liked the twist on this classic and one of my favorite Christmas movies. Greta and Truman needed to get away from their homes and their problems

Greta needs to leave her family who is overbearing and way too much - the last straw was when they signed her up for the auction knowing she would hate it

Truman just found out he was the other woman of his boyfriend Guy.

These two changed homes so they could get away from it all

This was a cute story that I loved to experience. The relationships and growth they developed were awesome to experience and fun. I must say the story went about 1 hour and 20 mins too long - there was just a little too much-unneeded wrap up a the end - could have been done in a 20min wrap-up

Loved the whole thing - the narrators were great - the voices were different and distinct.

A heartwarming and lovely story about finding out who you truly are and learning to trust yourself. But one character Carys was too much. I completely understood the idea behind her character but it came across as mean and immature a lot of the time.

This was an adorably cozy holiday romance! At times, I did find it a little tough to keep track of all the characters, and the writing felt a bit stiff throughout the novel. But overall, I enjoyed the story and the detailed interested of the characters.

A very sweet fun listen. Reminded me of the movie “The Holiday”. Lovely main characters who each want more. More out of life, to venture out of their seemingly cloistered communities, to explore and discover something different other than what they’ve always known and to evaluate what who they truly are and what they truly want their lives to be. Truman needs to get away after he discovers the duplicity of his “boyfriend”. He did no wrong, but is left wondering how didn’t know he was not what and who he believed him to be. Greta needs to chance to explore life without he family staring her down, judging every single move she makes. Its a wonderful journey they each take to figuring so much out, finding love, happiness and community. Lovely narration added to the listening experience.

Found family trope!! Found family trope!! I have been obsessed with the found family trope which plays such a huge role in this novel, similar in the way The Holiday (Kate Winslet film) creates this found family you can't help but love.

Greta and Truman both go through something so heart wrenching, that it makes sense they go off and try to find themselves again by switching homes. I definitely wanted a cutesy queer type novel and that is most definitely what I received! I do find myself leaning more towards Truman as the more livable character of the two. While I didn't mind Greta, my heart definitely settled on loving Truman through and through.

As a sucker for the winter season, it was easy for me to fall in love with this story and the characters growth to find themselves throughout the winter season.

Thank you NetGalley, Sourcebooks and Roan Parrish for letting me listen to “The Holiday Swap” in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this audiobook was cute! A feel good holiday story that gave me "The Holiday" vibes. Truman is looking for a fresh start, Greta is looking to escape her family (that truly don't understand her at all). They swap homes and are dropped into completely new worlds. If you like self-discovery stories and Casey McQuiston's books, you'll love this holiday LGBT romcom.

I don't know it's if it's because I have been just shy of finding favorites lately, but everything about this book was perfect for me. I loved the premise and the theme, the characters and their love interests, the towns and the atmospheres. Everything.

So this book is about our two main characters Greta and Truman. Greta lives in this itty bitty little island in Maine where everyone knows everyone and her family is super close but also a little bit overbearing. When her mom and sister volunteer her for an auction of sorts and totally disregard her dislike of the event not to mention her sexuality as a lesbian, Greta needs to get away.

Then we have Truman. Truman with his giant dog named Horse who lives in New Orleans and when he goes to surprise his boyfriend with a little holiday gift he finds out that his boyfriend is actually a husband and a father. Bombshell. So Truman is heartbroken and has to get out of New Orleans immediately.

Thankfully for Greta and Truman, they have a mutual friend named Ramona who suggests that they do a house swap where Greta will go down to New Orleans and watch Truman's dog Horse for the month and Truman will go up to Maine and take care of all of Greta's plants. Neither one of them was expecting to find a deep love of their new environment as well as potential love interests.

I don't really want to talk a ton about what happens when Greta and Truman get to their house swapped houses, but I loved both of their love interests so much. I especially loved the conversations about mental health and family relationships and toxic parents. I need stories like this where there are characters in their 20s and 30s confronting their parents for their shitty behavior. We have a character who confronts an overbearing parent and another character who confronts a narcissistic parent and then we have another character whose parents is sick and that's an entirely different relationship.

This book isn't necessarily anything earth shattering but everything just lined up for me. The characters, all of them, main characters, love interests, and community characters were so we'll fleshed out and detailed. The cities and their quirks were interested and fun. Out of all the books I've read so far this month I've had so many that are almost favorites but something got in the way and I'm so happy that this one didn't have anything outwardly problematic about it. It was refreshing. I'm not super surprised because I really love Roan Parrish and have been looking forward to this one and I'm super excited that I was able to get the audiobook.

Jewish lesbian MC, fat sapphic/lesbian LI, gay MC, gay LI with depression.

This audiobook was super cute and would be absolutely perfect to listen to around Christmas time! Recommend!

Roan Parrish did it again!!!
It’s queer, it’s fun, and it made me cry, which are always amazing things to have in a book.
I have to admit having two storylines so loosely connected felt odd and that’s why it’s a 4 and not a 5, but I also understand the need of have them both in the same book and not each in their own book, and when they did connect it felt a lot better.
Truman and Ash were the highlight for me, but Carys was such a mature and well rounded character that just made me love her and appreciate her so much.
This book is full of representation, of beautiful and complicated relationships, and although not one of Parrish’s hotter books, still plenty hot!

A heartwarming, funny, feel-good queer holiday romcom that sees two strangers swapping houses ala The holiday movie style and each finding new love over the holidays.

Truman is looking for a fresh start after he discovers his boyfriend has a whole other life, while Greta is looking to escape the claustrophobia and loneliness of living on a small Maine island.

When a friend suggests a house swap, both jump at the chance, which sees Greta discovering a bustling new queer community and love interest in New Orleans while Truman finds a new sense of home on the island as he befriends a local flower shop owner dealing with his mother's Alzheimer's.

I loved both these storylines equally. Both characters go on an important self-discovery journey finding meaningful and healthy romantic relationships. There are some steamy open door scenes making this more than your typical Hallmark style holiday romance. Highly recommended for fans of Alexandra Bellefleur and Casey McQuiston. Much thanks to NetGalley for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This was also good on audio too.