If possible read the Christmas Swap first as this is the second book in this series. It can be read as a standalone but it will make this easier to understand if read in order. Loved the setting and it was lovely to see the girls back in this book. I enjoyed this and give it 4 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC

I did not know that this was part of a series, but I do plan to go back and try to read the first. We start with a back story of the three May Ladies and how they met when they were kids. Even though they live on different continents, they have remained the best of friends. They are all connected through who they date but their jobs are so different. Jules works at a non-profit and dates Matt, who would love nothing more than to live together. Lucy dates Will who is one of her best friends brother, and Chloe dates Archer who is a famous movie star. Their Christmas plans all end up different that they originally planned when they all end up in Hawaii for a tropical vacation.

I loved the different stories that were all intertwined. It was kinda difficult to follow at first, but once I got the hang of who was dating who but also related to who, I was good. I liked how even though Archer is a movie star that he did not treat the others differently and went out of his way to bond with the other guys.

I look forward to more from Barker and plan to go read the Christmas Swap over the holidays!

🌊🌴An eventful group holiday on Kauai🌅

This travel romance is fun, full of heavy lashings of food and drink, with good times between family and friends converging in Hawaii from far-flung homes around the world. The main characters return from Barker's 2021 The Christmas Swap; they've had a year with the partners they met at Christmas in the previous book.

No longer in the heady first days of romance, some issues have crept in to the three couples' relationships and they all surface here. Friends share good times and troubles, all on a luxury private compound owned by a tech billionaire friend. They've actually been assembled for a big event on New Year's Eve, but the two week lead up to the big day has its share of drama.

Some of the excitement attached to movie star Archer seemed a bit of tempest in a teapot. Or maybe I just don't understand the full effect of media attention to rumors about your private life. 🙄 Of the three female BFFs, my main sympathy went to Christmas loving Lucy who's unhappy about her long-distance relationship with Will and initially down in the dumps about unexpectedly experiencing Christmas with neither family nor snow.

I enjoyed the book but, be warned, this story keeps a lot of characters together in one place so it can be confusing at times. And I really am glad I read The Christmas Swap to understand the background and dynamics of the three central relationships. The mini escapes from group activities each couple manages for some romancin' are closed door. Apart from their private time with partners, this vacation in paradise is not a time for relaxing!

Thanks to Harper Collins UK/One More Chapter and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

The Christmas Trip is the sequel to The Christmas Swap. I did not know this when I chose to read this book. At times I felt like I was missing something due to not knowing there was a book before this one.

Besties Chloe, Lucy and Jules met as children in Hawaii and have been long distance friends ever since. This year, Chloe's famous boyfriend Archer is planning a big surprise. He's invited the girls and their boyfriends along for the ride.

The descriptions of the scenery in Hawaii were wonderful. I have always wanted to go there and want to even more now.

I did have some trouble keeping the characters straight at first, but soon got settled into the story.

A story of love and friendship and so much more. I'm sure I would have liked it even more if I'd read the first book.

Thanks to netgalley and One More Chapter for the arc

The Christmas Trip is a sequel, having not read the previous book it started suddenly. There’s a couple of chapters briefing about how the girl’s met up on holiday when they were younger. The 3 met back up in New Mexico after a break up.

Now, Chloe lives in LA and is in love with her celebrity boyfriend Archer. They have arranged to go to Paris for Christmas, but the volcano on Iceland had other ideas. Archer plans a surprise in Hawaii instead.

Jules lives in Oz and her boyfriend Matt jumped at the chance to have a reunion with her best friends.

Lucy who is going out with Jules brother Will and is on her way to spend her Christmas in Colorado with him.

It’s a fun Christmas read, full of fun and romance.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy for an honest review.

When I first read the first novel, The Christmas Swap, I felt it read amazing as a standalone, so I was surprised when I saw that a follow-up novel, The Christmas Trip, was being released. While this could be read as a standalone, I think readers would be missing out on a lot of background information that I believe aids readers to connect to the characters and their relationships. Since I read both stories, I had this foundation, so I cannot confirm this theory.

This story follows three friends, Jules from the USA, Lucy from England, and Chloe from Australia. The three of them met when they were eleven and all on vacation in Hawaii where they formed the May Ladies Club. Now twenty-three years later, and one year after the previous story, the three of them are finding their way back to the island. This time each has their significant other, who they all met in the previous novel, with them. Each couple is going through their own growing pains as Chloe wants some quality time with her British film star boyfriend, Archer. Lucy is having difficulty being stuck with the long distance between her and her boyfriend Will, who lives in Colorado. Finally, Jules is feeling crowded in her flatshare in Melbourne as the tries to continue to get to know her Australian boyfriend, Matt.

All three relationships are all going through very relatable issues that many other couples go through, so I liked that their lives were not automatically perfect once they got together. Unlike the other novel where the three friends were all around the globe, this one brings them all to one central location. With everything going on at the same time and in the same place, it did feel a little crowded at times. This became even more the case when there are other secondary characters involved in their own way.

There was some magic lost as the friends are all familiar with Hawaii. While you can live there forever and still discover something new, it still read differently than the first where each relocated to a brand-new place for Christmas. I loved these characters their respective relationships, both friendship and romantic, but I am still not sure how necessary this story was as it was a great HFN with an implied HEA in the last story. The writing itself still had the same enjoyment and I loved the setting descriptions, but it was very difficult to not have a slight bias about why I was reading about it. Overall, the characters continued to be amazing, and it was nice to see them all together, but it did have the tendency to read a little overwhelming at times. Even though this one was not quite up to my high expectations of the author, I still would easily read more from her in the future!

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, One More Chapter, for the opportunity to read this entertaining novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

Following on from The Christmas Swap Lucy, Chloe and Jules, with their respective partners, end up in Hawaii for Christmas courtesy of Archer, Chloe's famous actor boyfriend.
I must admit that I didn't enjoy this book quite as much as the previous one, which had the advantage of several locations for the different character's Christmases. I could, however, be convinced to spend some time in a billionaire's house on Hawaii during our cold, wet winter here in the UK. It was good to see how the girl's relationships developed in these wonderful surroundings, despite some upsets from a surprise guest. Each did have some issues with their partners, putting their relationships under strain, and I was keeping my fingers crossed that things did work out in the end. A book to give you some sunshine to keep you going until Spring next year.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book and I have already pre-ordered it to have my own "real" copy on release.

I was so excited to get to catch up with Chloe, Jules, & Lucy from The Christmas Swap. This was another fun adventure for the trio, this time together & with their significant others that they found in the previous book. The introductions of the additional characters really added to the story. I love that the setting was Kauai, which is a magical island. Highly recommend reading this book for a great holiday time!

Thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

Having enjoyed The Christmas Swap, book one in the Christmas Romance series, I was eagerly anticipating being reunited with the May Ladies and spending twelve luxurious days in Hawaii with them as they shared their first Christmas together.

This book was made all the more special because I read it on a beach in Hawaii. I was aware of the fragrant frangipani, the salty sea spray, the sound of the surf, and the thirst quenching mai tais in real time! I’ve never had the experience of a warm Christmas with beach and sunshine, so I was invested in the setting and premise.

I will admit to being frustrated with the shallow behaviour, the public PDAs, and the overuse of the cutesy millennial tendency of shortening names. The drama had me shaking my head, thankful that I was ‘past THAT age.’ Regardless, it was a light romcom and one that I’m glad I had on my Kindle while we were in Hawaii. Fans of Barker’s books will love this one.

I was gifted this copy by Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

So so lovely to have a return to the May Girls adventures, especially as it’s another Christmas trip! 🎄
An amazing location, I so want to visit now and experience a hot Christmas! ☀️🏝🏄🏻‍♀️🏄‍♂️
Loads going on with all three of the group, it was lovely catching up with them all and seeing how they were all settling into their new lives since the first book.
Such a fun filled Christmas story that had me entertained and engrossed throughout!

Oh I would love to be whisked away to one of the gorgeous settings in this book. Such a lovely, joyful, happy read perfect for the Christmas season.

Wonderful holiday story! Perfect addition to a holiday TBR. I requested the book without realizing it was part of a series, but the novel was just as good as a standalone! Now I am eager to read the first book!

It was great to catch up with the ladies in this book, especially on a trip to Hawaii. Loved the way all the stories interlinked and became apart of each others. The surroundings sounded beautiful! A cute easy read.

This book is sequel to "The Christmas Swap". I already loved the first book as it was a telling of 3 stories of 3 best friends who like the title says swapped their places for Christmas but I have to say, "The Christmas trip" was simply a master piece. I couldn't love it more than I had. It was pleasure to read it as I got all the welcoming feelings of the upcoming season.
Although it can be read as a standalone I would recommend to read "The Christmas Swap" first to gain the background information and it's never mistake to read another amazing book, right? So that's a plus.

This sequel was again funny and totaly heartwarming I simply couldn't put it down. All 3 friends meet again this time to spend unforgettable Christmas together. And let me tell you, you surely will remember this book for a very long time.

The Christmas Trip by Sandy Barker reunites us with the May Ladies, best friends Lucy, Chloe and Jules, who will be familiar to readers of The Christmas Swap.

This time, the women and their beaus are brought together for a magical Christmas in Hawaii. While I did enjoy the women coming together once again, I found things a bit muddled with too many characters bringing with them their geographically complex baggage, and I felt lost in the shuffle for much of the narrative. Unlike The Christmas Swap, I didn't feel any cohesiveness between the trio of friends, and felt that too much was devoted to their individual romantic relationships. Overall, though not one of my particular favourites, this is a festive read about the warmth of love and friendship, and it is sure to satisfy Ms Barker's legions of fans.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for an ARC.

I had a really hard time getting into this book. I didn't realize that it was the second book in a series. I have read books in a series without reading the first book, and I haven''t had difficulty following the story until this book. I felt like I was missing so much background knowledge about these characters. Also, I had trouble keeping track of all of the characters. There was way too much drama, and I felt lost in the reading.

I might feel differently about the book, if I had read the first one, but I was hoping to enjoy this book more. The descriptions of Christmas in Hawaii made it seem like such a fun place to celebrate the holidays. I'm used to stories with more of a white Christmas, so I liked a holiday story with a beach setting.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper360 for an ARC of this book.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a nice hallmark type read but I think there was a bit too much unrealistic drama to follow. Would help to read the previous book too.

The Christmas Trip by Sandy Barker is the second in a series. I really liked book one - The Christmas Swap and I was excited to return to the ‘May Ladies’ to see what they had been up to. This time they celebrate Christmas together. There is always drama in real life and perhaps more on the written page. In this story it felt like the drama was too much. I definitely felt that the story lost it’s focus and threw the story off. At times, it got to be too much and I wasn’t enjoying the story. After having said that - its still a festive read with more than one happy ever after.

I would like to thank the author, HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A very cute, Hallmark feel, Christmas book.
Friends together for a holiday, some drama thrown in, and lots of Christmas fun. 3.5-4 stars for me

A great book to read at the end of summer / early winter - sunshine and Christmas combined!

The three main characters, The May Ladies all had good storylines and the cutest of relationships, I want to read book one now so
I can meet them properly!


As this is a sequel, which I didn’t know at first, I was confused at times, as I felt like introductions where missing, they’d my fault though!