I think this was cute! I absolutely love The Holiday, so I was very excited to see a queer book with a similar premise. It was very fun to follow along with Greta and Truman as they healed and found love, and a holiday subplot is always a joy. I do think the book was a bit long and drawn out, but I would still recommend it to others.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a sweet, steamy holiday read.

I went into the book thinking it would be mostly holiday romance with a sprinkle of plot but there was actually a good amount of meaningful plot. Themes of finding who you are and what makes you happy were present in almost every character.

There are some great discussions of boundaries and unhealthy habits within families and individuals. This book was about growing up, working on yourself and finding people you love along the way.

I loved the fact that the two main pairings in the book moved at their own pace and each had some things to teach their love interests about themselves.

I’m very torn on how to rate/review this book because there was a lot going on and parts of it were more enjoyable for me than others.

First, it was set at holiday time and there were a few holiday events, but it was as in your face holiday as I thought it was going to be.

There were two storylines. Greta and Truman house swap for a month to escape their lives. This is facilitated by a mutual friend. Initially I was very upset that Truman left his dog in the care of someone he has never even met, but this may just be me.

I love Truman’s story line. At one point I was ready to put the book down, but I just had to know if he found the author he was looking for. I didn’t like Greta or many of the characters in her story line. She was trying to escape her toxic family, but she was extremely immature and was probably the toxic person in her family herself. He relationships were all very dramatic.

There were many queer characters in this book and I loved the inclusion of they/them pronouns.

Imagine the movie 'The Holiday" now imagine two queer characters in the story and instead of them being strangers from different countries there is a mutual friend and just a different state. That is this book! And I don't say that in a bad way. I love "The Holiday' anyone who is around me during Christmas time know that it is a classic watch. And this gave me the same type of feelings.

Overall, I liked this story. I was not obsessed with the story but I did really enjoy it. Honestly I thought the locals that our main characters met were fun and exciting but our main characters could get a little frustrating. Any because of that I found myself being able to set the book down which most romances have the opposite effect. That being said I really did root for them and enjoyed seeing where the story went. I felt there was a good mix of romance and character development throughout the book.

Anyone looking for a fun holiday read with sweet characters I recommend this book. Especially if you liked 'The Holiday'! Thank you NetGalley for an opportunity to read this story.

4.5⭐
R for some queer steamy love!

If you want a cozy book to get you in the mood for holidays featuring beautiful queer characters, look no further! Billed as a queer version of the movie The Holiday, this book hit all the rom com notes for me as Greta and Truman swapped houses between Maine and New Orleans. And as a former New Orleans resident, I loved the representation of some of my favorite areas in the city too!

This book gave me all the feels. Truman's adorable optimism and Greta's found family after living in a very heterosexual town were just beautiful representations of people finding their place after different internal struggles. I just wanted to hug Truman so many times in this book as he realized he was worthy of love and I was so happy as Greta learned to stand up for herself to her family.

While at times the romances were a little underdeveloped and instalovey because it had to balance between the two characters, I fully enjoyed this book. I wanted a happy pick me up that made me feel good and it completely delivered. Plus I got the Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations too. If you want a fun queer holiday read this fall/winter, I would definitely pick this book up!

I absolutely loved the premise for this book! It’s like the movie The Holiday but with a queer group of characters. All of the characters were likable and I enjoyed the fact that this was a very low angst romance. I also enjoyed the journeys of discovery that both main characters went on throughout the course of the novel.

I did however get a little bored in the middle of the book and felt like the chapters at the end could have been much shorter or even eliminated completely. Had this book not been so long I definitely think I would have rated it higher.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a sweet romance, but I will say I preferred Truman’s POV chapters. He was such a sweet character and I connected with him. Overall the book was sweet and well done.

Thank you for this book in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the book. For some reason, I couldn’t get into the story. The plot not the characters enthralled me.

This was a cute holiday romance! I really liked Greta and Truman but did find each of them too whiney at certain points. The cast of characters was diverse and interesting! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for my audio copy of THE HOLIDAY TRAP by Roan Parrish to read and review! This book published September 6, so you can grab a copy now!

My first holiday book of the season, despite it being "too early" to read holiday/christmas books (in my opinion). I enjoyed this one! The narrator was also pleasing to listen to, which is very important to the overall enjoyment of listening to audiobooks!

This book is ver reminiscent of the classic movie, The Holiday, but with LGBTQIA+ rep, and muslim rep! If you are a fan of that movie, but with a different kind of twist, then I recommend this book!

I enjoyed each MC's journey to figuring out who they are and what they want in their life, and learning that even tho change is scary, it can be good! This book will make you laugh, maybe get a little teary-eyed, and has some newer pop culture moments!

I really liked this one. I don’t usually like multiple POV books but this one was tied together really well. I liked how both main characters were kind of going through the same thing in life and them swapping home was just what they both needed to find their way in life. I wouldn’t say it’s overly festive, I’m not sure I’d market it as a holiday book, but I did enjoy it regardless. It was definitely the holiday themed cover that got me in but I stayed for the good story!

I was provided a copy of this audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

I typically don't enjoy audiobooks with multiple narrators, but The Holiday Trap does an excellent job of blending 2 narrators that have a lot of energy and making the story flow. The story of 2 people doing a house swap for a month and finding the loves of their lives and true joy in their lives is one I will enjoy going back to in the future.

If you are looking for a heart-warming story of self-discovery, this is a great one from 2 people's views.

Total “The Holiday”vibes! So much that I rewatched the movie! *Trigger warning for: Antisemitism in this story* I ADORED Karis’s connection towards Greta. HOONEYY- Truman was a HOT MESS, and Iwad here for it! Would have def loved to read about more of him in the story. Alot of the scenes felt very real to me, in the aspect of couples overcoming so many things in life to stay together. TEAMWORK! I will be telling my friends/family bookies to get this book. Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read/review. Great job, Roan!

The Holiday Trap
⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Genre: Romance
Format: Audiobook
Date Published: 9/6/22
Author: Roan Parrish
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Narrators: Natalie Duke; Pete Cross; Hillary Huber
GR: 3.75

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Dreamscape Media and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Greta Russakoff loves her family, even if they don't always understand what it's like to be a lesbian living in such a small world. Truman Belvedere has just had his heart crushed into a million pieces when he learned that his boyfriend has a secret life that includes a husband and a daughter. Enter Greta and Truman's mutual friend, Ramona, who facilitates a month-long house swap. Over the winter holidays, each of them will have a chance to try on a new life...and maybe fall in love with the perfect partner of their dreams. Is love worth fighting for?

My Thoughts: The one thing that was distracting is two romances going on at the same time. It would have come across better doing a series with one romance per book, even if they were releases simultaneously. The two stories, as told, were sweet, romantic, and just makes you feel good about the world. The only thing I would like to have seen is less side character exploration in Greta’s story, it muddled the romance a bit. The narrator does an amazing job with the characters, with each main character being represented amazingly, you could feel like you were there on their journeys with them. The characters were flushed out (Greta was lacking a little), had depth, witty banter, and chemistry. The author’s writing was complex, swoon-worthy, steamy, and intriguing. This story was just a good heartwarming, let’s get ready for the holidays love story. This is out now and I would recommend picking up, especially the audiobook!

I went into this book hopeful, but I was left feeling a bit incomplete. I feel like so much was left out of the development of both relationships in this book, and too much focus was put on unnecessary details.

3.5/5 - Audiobook via NetGalley

This was a fun double romance - You get two main characters swapping lives and thus finding love in their new areas. I loved the character growth they both went through in their stories, but I just wasn't like die hard invested. I love all of the different representations with LGBTQ+, and def loved that this book gave the spicy scenes (I was delightfully surprised).

Spice: 2/5 - A handful of detailed scenes, a dash of kinky dirty talk, but nothing wild.

Brief Plot: Greta isn't happy in her Maine island home, where she feels constantly manipulated by her family. Truman is devastated after finding out his boyfriend in New Orleans has whole ass family. When the two swap their homes for a month, Greta enjoys the New Orleans environment and plants that grow there, as well as a quirky woman that owns her own pony, and Truman falls for trying to find his all-time favorite writer, while caring for Greta's plans, and meeting a cute male florist. Both find themselves falling for their new homes and people, and battling on whether to return home, or make their swaps more permanent.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an eARC copy of the Audiobook of The Holiday Trap, by Roan Parrish, narrated by Natalie Duke, Pete Cross & Hillary Huber. This is my honest review!

The Holiday Trap was a quick and fun holiday romance (though not super heavy on the holiday part) with a sapphic and an achillean couple in the middle, which was wonderful to see. We got some The Holiday (movie) shenanigans with the MCs, Greta and Truman, exchanging houses to escape their suffocating lives, two beautiful love stories blossoming, and these characters finding their peace and lowkey purpose by changing their surroundings.

I would've been absolutely on board with this one if not for one tiny detail that sadly came into play way too often - the LI's, Carys's mum being constantly labelled as "narcissistic". Now I know that our languages are often-times stigmatising and that is a problem in and of itself. So, I don't know if the character was just supposed to be selfish and the descriptor "narcissist" was simply pasted on or if the character actually had the narcissistic personality disorder (and considering how deeply misunderstood and villainized condition that is, how it was handled didn't sit well with me). Either way, this was something that absolutely threw me out of the story every time it was mentioned and I believe it should've been handled with a lot more care in both examples - if the character had NPD or not.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC of this book.

Although the title is deceptive, this was a great read!

The premise of this book is that two characters (Greta and Truman) need an escape their lives so they decide to switch houses for a month. This happens to lie in December and there are slight holiday reference but I would consider the setting to be more wintery (rather than holiday). There is no “trap” in this arrangement so the title is confounding.

The dual perspectives, dual settings, and contrasting personalities complimented the story well. I enjoyed all the characters (except for Guy and some of Greta’s family members). The love stories were both believable and had real conversations about life. Greta especially had a very believable growth and discovery journey.

A word of warning to more modest readers, certain scenes do not cut to black and can be spicy. Personally, I could have done without those scenes

If you can get past the weird premise (because I would never leave my dog alone with a stranger for a month), it is worth a read.

The best way to describe this book is an LGBTQIA+ retelling of The Holiday. Greta and Truman each have their reasons for wanting to get away, so their mutual friend, Ramona, arranges for them to swap homes for a month over the winter holidays.

A major highlight of this book is the representation. Not only do we have a wide spectrum of LGBTQIA+ characters, but we have both Christmas and Hanukkah represented in this holiday story. I personally enjoyed Truman’s storyline more than Greta’s, but that being said both storylines were sweet and steamy! This was a fun retelling of one of my favorite holiday movies.

I switched between the audio and ebook and really appreciated the dual narration of the audio. It really helped differentiate between the characters and the storylines!

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Dreamscape Media for the advance copies.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen to this book.

I really enjoyed it! It was not what I expected, but two beautiful queer stories of self-acceptance and self-discovery. As a fellow queer Jewish plant lover I really connected with Greta and enjoyed her journey to independence away from her family. Truman, however, really had my heart. He was so sweet and I loved watching the relationship between him and Ash unfold.

In the end, I'm rating it a three because it felt a bit slow. It struggled to keep my attention and at times I had no interest in listening. I also didn't really feel the connection between Greta and Cerys (sp?). I did finish it and was glad I did, but I'm not sure it's a story I'll remember in the long run. I will recommend it to those who I think will enjoy it though!

I'll be posting a more thorough review on Goodreads this week.