Greta and Truman both need a break from their own lives for a bit, so when a mutual friend suggests they house swap for a month over the holidays, they jump at the chance. Greta moves to New Orleans, meeting friends, a new live and feeling like she belongs, unlike the small New Hampshire island she lives on. Truman is recovering from heart break, but meets Ash and suddenly realizes maybe he was never truly in love before now. Are these new lives worth hanging onto or was it just a nice break from reality?

The Holiday Trap was a fabulous, fun holiday read with enough spice to melt the pages and plenty of laugh out loud moments. Greta and Truman are such well developed characters you can’t help cheering for them. The story kept my interest and was easy to follow. I enjoyed both love stories and would love to know what happens after the end of the book.

The Holiday is a holiday staple in my household. It's one of my mother's favorite movies and I never say no to watching it. So the movie I love, but queer? I was here for it.

I just wish I loved the characters more. Truman was a cinnamon roll and I want to squish him in a hug so bad. But Greta... I couldn't really get myself to be interested in her story. I just found myself waiting impatiently for Truman's POV to come back.

If you like cute, queer holiday romance, this book is perfect for you.

A lgbtq+ version on the holiday? Yes please. So let me start by saying this book is super cute. The characters are dealing with real life issues and it was awesome Greta was a little less likeable especially her love interest but the supporting characters in her story kept me interested. The story of Truman or “Capote” was incredibly interesting and kept me engaged.

I wanted to love this book. I really did but it was a flop for me. I will say I may not be the target audience. I am bi but the book seemed to be written for a younger audience like new adult or ya.

3.85⭐ rounded up for the audiobook.

Featuring: LGBT characters, multiple 3rd person POV, multiple narrators.

Greta's family is trying to set her up...with a man. She's fed up with them not understanding her lesbian life.
Truman is heartbroken when he finds out his boyfriend has been living a double life.
They have never met, but both need to get away from their life for a little while, so they swap homes for a one month vacation. Will they end up finding everything they've ever wanted roughly 1600 miles from the only home they've ever known?

Greta and Carys were fine together, but I didn't love them. Her mother and sister, Sadie, were the worst.
Truman and Ash were totally adorable. I liked their story line more than the other. I really liked Truman's little mystery he uncovered and how he was so excited investigating it.

Narrated by Natalie Duke, Pete Cross and Hillary Huber for 12 hours and 22 minutes, easy to follow at 2x. All narrators were lovely. As an added bonus there was dual narration within the some chapters, that doesn't happen too often.

Overall, since it's two romance stories in one, it was on the longer side and the pacing a bit slow. I did enjoy it for the most part though and would read this author's work again.

The Holiday Trap is a cozy house-swapping romance full of friends and found family.

Greta needs to get away from her large family on a tiny Maine island. Truman is running from his married ex. They decide to swap houses. Truman experiences the cold of an off-season small-town while taking care of Greta's plants, and Greta explores New Orleans while pet-setting Truman's dog.

I really liked this book. It was a little slow at the beginning when we meet Greta and Truman in their miserable states, but as soon as they swap, it's a lot of fun as they both experience new places and new people.

I love everything Roan Parris writes, and The Holiday Trap is another winner!

The audiobook is read by the magnificent Natalie Duke and Pete Cross, with Hillary Huber voicing the messages from their mutual friend.

Thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for early access to this audiobook.

Through a mutual friend, Greta and Truman swap houses over the holidays as neither of their lives are in particularly good places. A little time gaining new perspectives may be all they need. From a small island off the coast of Maine to New Orleans, we learn that Greta's family has volunteered her to auction her off to a guy for a fundraiser, even though they know she's a lesbian. Truman finds out his boyfriend is already married with a child. With plenty of family dynamics, romance and a giant dog, The Holiday Trap is pure fun!

Thanks Netgalley and Dreamscape for the eARC audio book, these opinions are my own. I enjoy the holidays so I was excited to read this! At the similarities to the movie The Holiday and I couldn’t wait to read it! Greta trying to get away from her overbearing family swaps places with Truman who just found out that his boyfriend had a husband and child. Can they heal in these new places? I enjoyed this but some of the details made it more difficult to read. I’m not a plant person so a lot of those details slowed it down for me! Otherwise I found this book to be a cute read! I liked both Greta and Truman! Natalie Duke, Pete Cross, and Hillary Huber all did an excellent job narrating this story! I recommend if you like holiday romances!

Greta Russakoff and Truman Belvedere are strangers in search of a change. Thanks to their friend Ramona, Greta leaves her tight-knit family in a tiny Maine town and Truman escapes a recent heartbreak in New Orleans for a good, old-fashioned house swap reminiscent of The Holiday. The two plan on spending a month away from home, but once they uproot their lives, it proves difficult to return home. This heartfelt romance is a perfect holiday read.

A new, more inclusive version of The Holiday. Absolutely loved this book and I really hope it is turned into a movie more me to watch every year instead of the movie that seemed to inspire this book
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I heard that this is inspired by the movie The Holiday, which I haven't seen, but now I'm going to have to find and watch it! I thought this was a cute story, and I enjoyed the romance in it. I really, really hated how toxic and awful the family is. It really made this a much heavier read than I wanted it to be. However, it was a good book, I just was expecting something lighter.

When I heard this book being compared to The Holiday (one of my favorite movies for the holiday season). So take that story, make it Queer and Kapow - the Holiday Trap! I enjoyed this book and to think its a great holiday read. Toxic families, communication needs, also realizing there's people who celebrate holidays other than Christmas too! Oh…and deliciously steamy scenes!

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for allowing to me to listen and review this audio arc

🌟Audio Book Review🌟

🎧📚 The Holiday Trap by Roan Parrish

A queer laugh-out-loud holiday rom-com that will forever live in my head rent-free.

After suffering a public humiliation at the hands of her callous sister and people-pleasing mother, Greta Russakoff has had enough. Desperate to get out of small-town New England, she decides to swap houses with Truman Belvedere (a friend of a friend whose boyfriend was just discovered to be a cheating cheater) in New Orleans. Much to their surprise, both Greta and Truman find love and a sense of fulfilment during their holiday swap. But, can they figure out a way to make this trade a permanent thing?

The Holiday Trap was absolutely hilarious, had an AMAZING cast of characters that felt so real and begged the reader to question the things that hold them back in life. The audiobook is beautifully performed and I've already done a deep dive to listen to other books narrated by Natalie Duke, Pete Cross, and Hillary Huber.

Publish date is September 6th! Go read this book! I know that I can't wait to listen to it again!

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this ALC.

What a great surprise read Roan Parrish’s The Holiday Trap was for me . I went in not really knowing what to expect and just knew that it involved a life swap and that Roan Parrish is a author that intrigued me that I had yet to read. But I am so glad I got this book and audiobook arcs from Netgalley. I loved the two LGBTQA+ romance involved in this lovely book. This story has so much in it from representing on of the Jewish holiday Hanukkah, to saving a small business as well as plenty reference to plants and flowers. It also takes a look at serious issues of homophobia, to look at dementia/early onset Alzheimer to the big issue of care taking a parent with those conditions. You also get both the small town feels and big city vibes in this lovely story that gives you two romances.

The main characters in this one are just both characters I related to and enjoyed oh so much. Truman has to leave New Orleans after finding out his relationship was a giant lie. I fell in love with Truman instantly. I probably enjoyed his and Ash’s romance a bit more than Greta’s. Greta took me a little while to warm up to but by the end you couldn’t help but cheering for the conclusions she came to and the things she did. Greta story of growth really ended with such a high note. Her romance w/Cary’s was hot hot hot. But the commutation at the end of the was my favorite things about this. Greta’s Jewish rep was something I enjoyed reading as well. With Truman and Ash’s story. I just related to it some much. I loved the beginning of their relationship especially. Ash’s mother storyline also I pulled at my heart being that I took care of my grandmother with dementia. Also loved the conclusion of that storyline as well. Also the friendships that Greta made and the small town/community that Truman found himself loving where great additional pieces to a great whole.

Overall I loved this book and was so glad to have read it. It help with with a massive book reading slump I’m currently in. This story is just a heartfelt, funny and awesome read that people should read. I can’t wait to read more Roan Parrish books after this.. I gave The Holiday Trap by Roan Parrish 4.5 stars (marked 4 on this scale).

Receiving the audiobook for this I must add the narrators did a terrific job with this one. I especially loved Peter Cross telling Truman and Ash’s story. He was funny and he made me feel so much when it came to the emotional parts.

Thank you NetGalley, Source Books and Dreamscape Audio for these arcs.

I am horrified by Greta’s family and want to ruin everything for Guy because he sucks so much.

Major manic pixie dream girl energy for Greta’s partner. A mini horse is such a strange pet for a person to have, let alone a person inside a major city. New Orleans is odd but I don’t know that it’s that odd.

Ash and Truman deserve all the heart eyes. They both seem so starved for affection and kindness that they were constantly awed by the other.

Truman and Ash though, once a game-plan went together for how to care for Ash’s mom without emptying his emotional tank daily fit into each other’s lives easily and I enjoyed it very much.

As the story went on, I was more interested in Ash and Truman’s story than Greta and Carys’. Greta needs therapy and to figure out what she thinks for herself. She had this glorious mindset transformation thing and was very reactive to everyone’s opinions but I didn’t feel like she was working through things and doing what was best for her.

Up to and including the last scene of the book, Greta felt like she was crashing Carys’ friend group and whatnot instead of feeling like she was a part of it and I found it kind of disappointing for her. But hey, she’s happy. I did like that Sadie never had a big apology scene because sometimes family just sucks. Letting that one go is a good decision.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

I requested to try The Holiday Trap once I read that is inspired by the 2007 movie The Holiday. I loved the concept of two people needing a change, so they swap houses for a short time and looked forward to reading this take on the premise. Parrish’s take on the story follows two characters, Greta Russakoff, a Jewish lesbian from a small town in Maine, and Truman Belvedere, a gay accountant from New Orleans, Louisiana. Truman just found out that his boyfriend of one year has a secret family while Greta is feeling suffocated by her family. Both end up switching houses for the holiday to experience a nice change thanks to their mutual friend, Ramona.

The story alternates between Greta’s journey in the bigger diverse city and Truman’s journey in the quieter small town. While walking down Bourbon Street with Truman’s dog, Horse, Greta runs into Carys and her miniature horse, Teacup. The two end up hanging out as Carys shows Greta around the main places. When Truman thinks he killed one of Greta’s plants, he ventures to the local flower shop and ends up meeting Ash, who is also Greta’s best friend. These two meetings were cute as both Greta and Truman are at different emotional places in their lives and each meeting nicely reflects them.

The two love stories may begin with the two characters meeting their love interests early on in their swap, but they are approached in different ways. Greta and Carys begin more with an insta-lust and then they begin to get to know each other whereas Truman and Ash take the slow-burn type approach. Both Truman and Greta learn to navigate boundaries with their respective partners. While both needed to learn a little more about it, I feel that Truman’s portion was given more care than Greta’s. This made me, at first, enjoy Truman more than Greta, even though both are similar. For me, this was a writing element and I can see more readers siding with Truman’s story compared to Greta’s.

Overall, it was an interesting take to have one romance progress slower than the other when the two love interests were introduced at the same time. This worked in one way as readers can experience the two, especially on the off chance they prefer one over the other before reading. Between the two, the relationship between Truman and Ash is written with a little more emotion compared to Carys and Greta yet they both have an emotional component to the journey. While I loved Truman and Ash’s relationship, I was not a fan of Truman’s search for his favorite author. I can see how some readers could enjoy this side-story, but it was not for me. As I listened to the audiobook, I liked the narrators as they did a great job with the characters. The novel itself was both hit and miss as there were elements I enjoyed and others I did not as much. I do think readers should give this a try and I will read more from the author in the future.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to read this novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

Christmas and holdiay double romance. This is a The Holdiay movie retelling with a MM and FF romance in a small town in Maine and New Orleans. There is a lot of character growth and healing that happens in this book, it is pro therapy and communication which is awesome to see. I think this is doing a lot of fantastic things and is very positive while also dealing with some hard family dynamics (check TW). I didn't love either of the romances, I think because we were dealing with two different relationships I never got enough time with either couple.

I really enjoyed this book. It was such a cute comfort read!
If you love the movie The Holiday, this book will be for you. It is basically like it but queer, which really it makes it ten times better.
I loved both POV's and loved both romances. They both felt natural and the more steamy scenes were very enjoyable as well.
This book made me want to go to New Orleans as well! It sounds like such an interesting city.
I sure will read this book again around the Holidays!

This was pretty cute! It's tough to write a dual romance, and while this has a relatively short page count, it did read long at points - I wouldn't say that one couple lagged more than the others, because I was equally bored at different parts in each, but I think things could have moved a little faster. There was also some real weird mom stuff (like, mad at mom stuff, not MILF stuff).

The narration was great, though: Greta and Thurman each get their own narrator, and their mutual friend also has her own narrator for their text etc. interludes.

One of my all time favorite movies is The Holiday with Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz. Even though it's technically a Chrismas movie, I watch it all year long, I don't even care! And Roan Parrish has managed to capture so much of what I adore in that film, modernize it by giving it a wonderful queer spin, and adds in her unique Roan Parish touches along the way.

A hurt/comfort romance The Holiday Trap focuses on finding one's place in the world. The characters are working through finding a balance of work/life/family/friends with what will truly make THEM happy and fulfilled.

Fans of Roan Parrish already know she writes such gorgeous steamy physical romance scenes. While Greta and Carys' chemistry is off the charts from the moment they meet, Truman and Ash's slow burn is romantic and very sweet... till they get going, and then they are scorching-hot together.

I really enjoyed The Holiday Trap, and hopefully we'll continue to see more blending of different types of queer couples in future Parrish romances.

The audio version is beautifully performed by Natalie Duke; Pete Cross; Hillary Huber.

I'd recommend this book for anyone looking for a fairly light, easy-reading romance with a focus on found family and personal growth for the MCs. 

<i>The Holiday Trap</i> uses a unique two-story parallel structure, one which I suspect is tricker to write and less forgiving than it appears on the surface. The first story belongs to Greta, who lives on tiny Owl Island in Maine. Her mother and older sister have just surprise-volunteered her for an auction where she'll be set up with a random man on a date, for charity. Their actions go against Greta's horror at the idea of date-auctioning, her stated desire not to participate in this particular auction, and her identity as a lesbian. That her family ignores all three of these things, and Greta's reaction is to go away for a month rather than going on a murder spree, was slightly confusing to me. But go away for a month she does. With the help of a mutual friend, she swaps homes with Truman, an accountant from New Orleans who has just discovered that his "enigmatic" boyfriend Guy in fact has a husband and an entire kid. So, clearly he wants to get away as well. 

The two stories unfold in parallel, at first alternating every chapter between Greta's story in New Orleans and Truman's in Maine, and then switching every 3 chapters or so for the rest of the book. While I've read romance novels with romantic B-plots, I don't think I've ever read one that tries to give full space to two separate, largely un-connected love stories. I found it fascinating as an intellectual exercise in better understanding romance tropes and plotting and character development. But, perhaps in part because of the alternating structure, and in part because it felt like such a structural thought-experiment, I never quite sunk into it emotionally. 

There were parts of reading the parallel structure that I really appreciated. Truman and Ash's story was a slow-burn, feelings-forward romance with the love story foregrounded, while the background was colored in with musings on community, intergenerational solidarity, and learning to ask for what you want. Greta and Carys, in the same narrative span, have an insta-chemisty romance, where the love story blended into explorations of queer found family, learning to set boundaries, and self-actualization. I think it takes a really impressive authorial range to pull both of those off, especially when some of the tropes and pacing decisions are so polarly opposite that most readers are likely to come in already strongly preferring one over the other. That Parrish held my attention through both stories is, I think, not nearly as easy as it may look. And I really loved the moments where some of the thematic threads from both stories wove together - especially the idea of how you can learn to change and shape the way you fit into the life of your community, whether that means changing yourself, changing your community, or both. 

(As a sidebar, I also appreciated that through the location swap, the book leaned into the small-town charm of an island community in Maine, while also underlining that the diversity of a big city like New Orleans provides a vital kind of comfort that often goes unrecognized, especially for queer people and people of color) 

That being said, the parallel structure was also rather unforgiving, particularly of similarity in characterization. Both Greta and Truman leave home at the same moment, embark on journeys about learning emotional expressiveness at the same moment, both meet a swoony love interest at the same moment (immediately on arrival in a new town). And while that's just... romance plot structuring, watching it happen twice simultaneously sometimes pushed that structure from the comfortingly-familiar to the inorganically-forced. The book also felt, to me, a little unclear in how it wanted to employ "rom-com" tropes. One of the primary ways it evoked a rom-com atmosphere was by having a charmingly awkward MC who just can't control their verbal efflux every time they open their mouth, trips over things, and generally is bumblingly incompetent around their LI... in <i>both</i> Greta and Truman. And that is... just too much to take in two separate narrators, for me. 

I also struggled, somewhat, with differences in the central romantic conflict between the two stories. Specifically, the fact that Ash and Truman's 11th-hour conflict came for my feelings in an emotionally accessible, almost primal way, while Greta and Carys's low-moment conflict is rather minor, and buried under what felt like layers and layers of therapy-speak.

Overall, most of what I didn't click with here was really the ultimate expression of "YMMV." Because sometimes I loved the way this book used similarities or differences between stories, and sometimes aspects of those same similarities or differences fell flat for me. Which is... just the most subjective thing ever. As all reviewing is. On the whole, I did enjoy my time listening to this story, and I think it will please a lot of readers, whether they're looking for a highly readable exercise in romance trope deployment, or a chance to think more deeply and directly about what does and doesn't work for them within the genre.