Another fun Holiday read to add to my collection!

Greta loves her tight-knit family and tiny Maine hometown, but they can't seem to understand what its like to be a lesbian living in such a small world. When an act of familial meddling goes way too far, she realizes just how desperately she needs space to figure out who she is.

I read the physical book while also listening to the audiobook copy and really enjoyed them both. The pacing and emotion of the story took hold, and I found myself completely immersed into the story.

*many thanks to Dreamscape Media and Sourcebooks for the gifted copy for review

This was a cute story! It’s an LGBTQ+ depiction of the Holiday, with two characters switching lives in order to remove themselves from situations that are bringing them heartbreak. Both characters showed significant growth throughout the story, and it was lovely to see how accepting people can be.

This was fine. I liked the concept of two queer romances spanning two different settings, but it ended up feeling like a 3.5-star romance and a 2-star romance that happened to be in the same book. I liked Truman and Ash as characters, Greta was fine, but I really didn’t like Caris. THE HOLIDAY TRAP was cute but not very memorable. However, I will be giving books by this author another try.

This is a book that I really wanted to get to during the holiday season. The title alone had me relating - I mean The Holiday Trap? That’s how I feel. Anyway —

This book follows a couple of strangers that do a little house swapping and fall in love - but not with each other, with their new surroundings and people in them. It’s an adorable, hilarious and pretty darn relatable story.

When I first opened this audio from NetGalley I was shocked to see it’s a 12 hour listen. I was initially expecting short and sweet but it ended up being fine. It didn’t feel long or drawn out at all and the narrators really brought the story to life and kept it moving.

I definitely enjoyed this and am grateful to both NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen to it!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a fun, holiday romance and reminds me of "The Holiday" but with LGBTQ representation.

Natalie Duke, Pete Cross, and Hillary Huber did a great job of narrating this audiobook. I will definitely look for more books narrated by these individuals in the future.

Take one of my favorite movies and make it queer.

Greta needs to break free from her tight-knot family in her small town who doesn’t want to accept the fact that’s a lesbian. Truman has found out that he is actualy “the other man” in his relationship with his boyfriend, who is actually married with a kid. Both Greta and Truman need a vacation ASAP. So Truman, a shy accountant moves to Maine and Greta, a plant mom, moves to New Orleans and the two slowly adapt to their new surroundings.

With two romances, readers got one relationship that went from 0 - 100mph realllll quick, while the other relationship is a slow burn.


Recommended if you like:
-The Holiday (duh!)
-M/M and F/F romances
-open door romance
-Jewish rep
-New Orleans
-quaint New England vibes
-plants
-ghost stories

The only downside? I wanted more. There’s only so much depth we can get in a book with two love stories.
Narration: fantastic!!

TW: homophobia, infidelity, family member with dementia




Thanks to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and the author for my ALC copy. The Holiday Trap is out now!

When I found out this book partially took place in Nola, I knew I was found to read it. WhTs better than a holiday book in new orleans? Well apparently it's a holiday book set in new orleans also mixed with a completely detached story role in alternating chapters. My biggest issue was the length. It was just way too long. The separate stories made it hard for me to really connect with the characters.

With that said, it was still incredibly cozy and I loved the mundane day to day parts of this book.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗽 𝗯𝘆 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵

Greta has a very close family and she is trying to branch out.  She swaps apartments with Truman who has just had an awful breakup.  The two try to navigate their lives in a new place and find out what they are looking for in life.
 
-LGBTQ+ representation
-Dual POV but two different romances
-Not as many holiday vibes as I was hoping for.
 
3.5 stars. Having the two separate stories made it hard for me to connect to the characters as deep as I wanted.  I also would have loved a little more holiday in The Holiday Trap.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this copy in exchange for and honest review.

First of all, why is this over 400 pages?! No romance needs to be that be long!

In all seriousness, I can't get myself to pick this back up again; and I'm so disappointed because I wanted to enjoy this. Like hello?! A queer version of The Holiday movie, sign me up.

But in the end, I didn't care for Greta's story or even her romance with Carys. Though I will excuse Greta's reasoning for wanting to leave her small town; it's perfectly vaild and justified. However, eveything else with her story didn't work for me from what I read.

On the plus side, I really liked Truman's story. I thought him and Ash were adoreable. And I loved Truman as a character, I thought I could relate to him in a lot of ways; especially him being obssessed with his favourite book series. I think all bookworms can relate to that. Though from the many reviews I've read, I'm not a huge fan of what he does in efforts to meet his favourite author. It's kinda weired not gonna lie.

So yeah... I'm putting this down and leaving it behind me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Song: Christmas Without You - Maggie Szabo

Again a real jumble of reviews on this and again I was pleasantly surprised! I flew through this audio with ease. If you like the concept of The Holiday (aka house swap over the holidays) I think you’ll enjoy this as well!

I love the lgbtq+ rep in the book with many character’s sexuality not put into a clean cut identifiable box. The secondary characters really made this book. Also, I learned a lot about carnivorous plants which I just did not expect!

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This quick and witty romcom with two people who need a change and something more out of life. The ultimate house swap where both parties found what they really needed all along.

This story was full of growth and development of characters. But it also felt quite predictable. I didn't love it, but it was still enjoyable and a good pre-Christmas read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this ARC.

Roan Parrish’s The Holiday Trap was a sweet and romantic read, which really helped 2 protagonists find their way in this mad, mad world, filled with people with the best of intentions (and some who have less than the best intentions, too. But, we do need foils and plot devices, so…).

As the title hints at, the protagonists, Greta and Truman swap homes for the holidays. Greta’s home was a tight knit community in Maine, while Truman’s place is in the vibrant and diverse New Orleans.

I loved all of the inclusivity of the characters and the settings. Having two LGBTQIA+ protagonists was exciting. Unfortunately, I was not a fan of how immature Greta was portrayed/written. The irony of her boundary expectations from her family and hometown, and how she respected no one else’s in the book made her seem petulant and arrogant/immature. But this is just my opinion. I am sure that others could explain to me where I am misunderstanding her character’s motivations and attitudes.

Overall, these romances helped to highlight what one Should fight for: Love (regardless of time or place or if that love is for oneself or one’s community).

I wanted to love this one so much but unfortunately, something about it just fell flat for me. although the relationships were cute enough and the premise was fun, the story didn't really catch my attention.

I loved this one so much I already bought a physical copy of the book. It is two stories intertwined, giving "The Holiday" vibes. It was a really good holiday romance novel! It has a M-M and F-F coupling so something for everyone!

If you are a fan of the holiday classic movie "The Holiday" with Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz than this is the LGBT+ book for you! They basically decide to do the same thing. One has to get away from her controlling family in a small Maine town and the other is trying to outrun his grief of finding out that his boyfriend had a whole other family. Of course they both find adventures, romance and who they truly want to be in their new locations. This book was so much fun and holiday adjacent though it could have taken place at any time of the year since Christmas/Hanukkah doesn't really place too big of a role in the story.

The Holiday Trap by Roan Parrish

Greta and Truman are both recovering from relationships that didn't work out. The two don't know each other but they decide to swap houses for a getaway they both need. After the swap this is where the story begins. Greta goes to New Orleans where Truman's house is and Truman comes to Maine where Greta's house is.

Well in a new area for both Truman and Greta both meet someone new in there perspective city. This is a M/M and F/F story. It is happening during the holidays. I liked the LGBTQ parts of the story. What I felt was lacking is that the story would have worked better for me if there stories where told in separate books. I wanted more of each story. When you write stories with two different couples in two different states you end up getting a snippet into both instead of a full swoon falling in love story.

For this reason I am rating this 3 Stars I enjoyed it but wanted more from each couple's story. I still recommend this book to people who like M/M or F/F LGBTQ romance stories. This will be for you. It was entertaining enough even though I wanted more of their story. It was Natalie Duke, Pete Cross, and Hillary Huber who did a wonderful job giving voices to the characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for a free audio copy of this book for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This was a book I’d pre-ordered long before being given access to an ARC. While I think this was a successful homage to The Holiday because it is very easy to see where the author took inspiration, it’s not one I’d recommend to people. At least half of it is not something I’d recommend.

The author created a dichotomous reading experience with this book. For me, there was an unenjoyable story and an enjoyable one. A story with immature characters vs one with mature characters. Performative actions and dialogue vs something with subtlety. Terrible communication (trying to be sold as good communication) vs actually decent communication. A relationship built on sex vs a slow burn. The author seemed to being trying so hard to distinguish Greta and Truman’s stories that it feels as if two different people wrote this book.

Overall I would rate this book at 3 stars. Specifically, I’d give maybe 2 stars to Greta’s story and about 4 to Truman’s. Average it out and it’s around a 3.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the audiobook.

Charming! This was just so charming! It was a fantastic holiday read and it has me ready for Christmas. Now i just need a warm cup of cider and a big fluffy blanket!

While I would personally never run away from my life, it does have its appeal as evidenced in Roan Parrish’s new novel The Holiday Trap, a LGBTQIA+ book about two scorned souls who swap homes for the holidays.

Greta Rusakoff is ready to get out of her small Maine town and away from her close-knit Jewish family after they completely humiliate her by auctioning her off for a date at a local community event. To a man. But she’s a lesbian. Then there’s Truman Belvedere, a gay guy living in New Orleans who just discovered his boyfriend has a whole other secret family and that Truman is in indeed the side piece.

What both Greta and Truman need is to get away for the holidays, and they are in luck because they have a mutual friend who is more than willing to arrange the swap. So Greta heads south to New Orleans, and Truman files north to Maine, where they become immersed in the culture and the community of their new temp homes, learning the laws of the land, and of course, finding love. But what will happen when their month in their new places is up? Will they be ready to return to their old lives and leave love behind?

Much like a Christmas stocking, The Holiday Trap is a mixed bag with some fun, playful aspects, but also plenty pieces of coal. The biggest disappoint is that for being a holiday novel, there’s not a whole lot holiday in this book. Aside from numerous mentions of Greta missing Hanukkah back home, this really could pass as a book that just takes place in December. I specifically selected this novel because I WANTED to read a holiday story, but was disappointed that The Holiday Trap was lacking. Being from the New Orleans area, I know that Parrish had a special opportunity to describe how the city comes alive during the Christmas season with caroling in Jackson Square, the lighting of the lobby at the Roosevelt, and Celebration in the Oaks in City Park. This book had none of that.

Speaking of which, Parrish is not from New Orleans and it shows. She says that Truman is from Metairie, LA, but makes it seem as if Metairie is some distant land, far from the reaches of New Orleans … it is literally the town right next door! Some Louisianans who aren’t specifically from the greater New Orleans area even consider Metairie to be New Orleans, so Parrish just lost a lot of cred with me for attempting to write about a setting with which she wasn’t more intimately familiar. She gives a lot of facts about New Orleans, which can be found in any tour book, but failed to capture the unique, eclectic vibe of the city. She also attempted to write in a colorful cast of characters that covers everyone on the spectrum, but they felt more like caricatures than real people. New Orleans is charming and a place of its own, and this book is seriously lacking in anything truly resembling the city.

Another issue I had was the amount of explicit content in this novel. It is marketed as a holiday book with a cutesy cover, so I certainly didn’t expect the content to border on pornographic. I learned more about the trappings of queer sex than I ever cared to know (in detail), and would not feel comfortable recommending this book except to a select group of people. I just personally expect a novel that is supposed to be about the holidays to be more charming than crude, but that is certainly not the case with The Holiday Trap.

Issues aside, the story in this novel is decent, but not particularly memorable. Focused more on coming into one’s own away from the expectations of other people, The Holiday Trap follows the personal journeys of Greta and Truman over the course of the holiday season. They meet new people, try new things, and find a new place to call their own. The writing is solid and the main characters are developed, making the story easy to follow and engage with.

I listened to an audiobook production of The Holiday Trap, which utilized multiple narrators to tell the story. I found Truman’s narration to be much more believable than Greta’s, so I was into his story more than hers. Nonetheless, the book moves along at a pretty solid, steady clip, and the narrators were easy to listen to.

One of the most charming and interesting holiday reads I've come across! I was utterly charmed by the characters and storylines in this book.

I will absolutely be recommending this for readers looking for cozy and heartwarming reads this holiday season!

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.