I enjoyed this cozy Christmas rom-com with the fake dating trope - with a twist! I am normally not a fan of closed door romance, but I thought the tension build was strong in this one.

Such a stunner!!! The premise of this book was incredibly similar to Kiss Her Once For Me but the execution was so different and lovely. I loved the friendships and the romance so much. And also I was deeply shocked that there was no smut. It took me a week to notice which tells me these two were horny enough to infuse the book with enough tension to make it palpable. Love.

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: LGBTQIA+ romance📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
A sweet and cozy Christmas romance.

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Holiday romance
Closed door
Fake dating
Lightheated and cheesy reads
Forced proximity
Insta love
Hallmark vibes

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
The pregnant dog
Quick and easy read

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
I felt bad for Ben
Characters are immature at times

Unfortunately this was not a hit for me. The plot was ridiculous. The details were tedious and the third act conflict was absolutely absurd. I wanted to love the but ugh

This book had me laughing and feeling all the feels. It's a fake dating rom-com with a twist- and I'm not talking about the holiday twist. It's cozy and cute without being over done and speaks to some interesting family topics. I do think it got a bit drawn out in the middle, but nothing worth skipping entirely.

holiday romcom set in an english country manor in the days leading up to christmas, in which margot fake dates her client ben to appease his family & distract herself from her recent breakup. what she doesn't expect is to fall for ben's sister, ellie. this book has some sweet moments, especially as ellie & margot were getting to know each other. i enjoyed the setting and how it dealt with margot realizing her previous relationship had been emotionally abusive, but this book had some pacing issues, especially in the middle (which was very slow), and then it all wrapped up very quickly.

Queer holiday romance book?! Yes please!
Similar premise to Kiss Her Once For Me? Yessss.

*raspberry noise*
This one completely fell flat for me.
The characters were bland and very dramatic. The amount of conclusion jumping most of the characters did constantly was just ridiculous. They never learned to chill even a tiny bit just continued to think the worst in everyone.
Exhausting.

Thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for an eARC.

This was a DNF for me around 25%. I can tolerate the fake relationship trope if there’s a good reason for it. But Ben could easily have introduced Margot as his friend, rather than his girlfriend, and left it up to his family to come to their own conclusions. Beyond that, I didn’t find the plot compelling. I often have that problem with quiet British books, so this one wasn’t a good fit for me.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

This is a fun Christmas romance set at a manor estate in England. I had a difficult time connecting with the main characters at times, but I'm glad I stuck with it, as the ending was 100% a rom-com movie. Thanks to Netgalley and Alcove Press for the advance digital copy.

I loved The Christmas Swap. I'm a sucker for the holiday themed romances and this one did not disappoint. It had a classic fake dating trope that was well written. I really enjoyed reading it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc!

I enjoyed this book a lot! It was a very fast read for me.

I loved the twist on fake dating, it was very different from most books with that trope because they didn’t end up together (no, that is not a spoiler lol)

It was weird for me to read a Christmas book when it just turned fall, but it was still definitely cute! The book takes place during the week leading up to Christmas, with a few chapters each day.

This is a dual pov from Margot (Ben’s fake gf) and Ellie (Ben’s sister). Margot joins Ben and his family for the holidays as his *fake* date, but ends up falling in love with Ellie. This twist is given in the synopsis, so it didn’t surprise me, but I still liked it a lot.

I liked having a large cast of characters! Ben’s entire family is featured in this, as well as some of Margot’s friends and family. I didn’t get confused by any of them because they had such distinct personalities. Usually I get confused when there are many characters all introduced at the same time.

This book also went a lot deeper into Margot’s previous toxic relationship than I would assume a normal Christmas romcom would, but I’m glad this one did. The author managed to make some parts very tense while still maintaining the overall happiness of the book.

Overall, I had a great time reading this book and I look forward to what the author releases next!

I enjoyed this book a lot, both for the love story AND the friendship that grew in the story. it was well done

Margot is recently single, and Ben is tired of his family asking him when he will settle down with a girl. Ben invites Margot to join his family in the countryside for Christmas. Getting to know each other to help their fake relationship helps Margot and Ben to develop a fast friendship. However, Margot finds it difficult to relax around Ben’s sister Ellie after their awkward meet-cute when Margot and Ben first arrived.

I enjoyed many parts of this book, including the characters of Ben, Margot, and Gramps. I particularly liked the parts of Margot dealing with her past relationship trauma. Unfortunately, I didn’t love the character of Ellie. She jumped to conclusions too quickly and was just a little too impulsive for my liking. I would consider this book the equivalent of a sapphic Hallmark Christmas movie. It is a great surface-level character meet-cute romance. For this reason, I give the book 3/5 stars.

The entire plot gave me the ick. I can't imagine pretending to be a client's girlfriend. Where are the professional boundaries? This is a sexual harassment case, neatly wrapped and tied in a bow. Then add in the sister situation. She couldn't have waited a few days to fool around with her under her "boyfriend's" nose and in his family home? That's so disrespectful. I finished it, but the HEA wasn't satisfying.

This book was not very original. I did not care for it. I did like the queer representation, but other than that this book was just really not worth my time. I wouldn’t suggest.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for providing me with a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review

• ARC Review •

𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: The Christmas Swap
𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿: Talia Samuels
𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: ☆☆☆☆☆ 5/5

Looking for a holiday sapphic romcom? Look no further, The Christmas Swap was just the perfect romcom to me. It felt like a story out of a Hallmark movie, BUT BETTER. I love a good fake dating trope. I was honestly hooked from chapter one and it got me out of a long reading slump.

Margot’s character growth was very impressive and I just loved how she realized she deserved to be treated well. Margot and Ben’s friendship was something I really loved. The book has some tough topics. The author handled it lovely. Ellie and Margot are so cute. I just absolutely loved this whole family.

I would love to read more from the author in the future. I’d recommend this to anyone.

Fav Quote:
"Surprise, also I'm a raging lesbian'
'nice. Me too

Comes out : 10/23/2023

Talia Samuels’ debut sapphic romcom is about one woman who fake dates her friend…only to fall for his sister.

Margot Murray is a newly single, successful businesswoman with no interest in a cutesy seasonal romance after her breakup with her long-term girlfriend. Ben Gibson is an unlucky-in-love sweetheart in need of a woman to bring home for the holidays. Together, they make a pact: Margot gets two blissful weeks away from London in a picture-perfect manor, and Ben gets a fake girlfriend for his holiday at home with his family.

Upon arriving to the manor, Margot meets Ben’s sister, Ellie, who is suspicious of the supposed relationship right from the start. Ellie intends to get to the bottom of their relationship, not being able to see how the two of them work as a couple. As Ellie and Margot grow closer, will Ben and Margot be able to keep the charade up, or will Margot and Ellie risk the chance at something real?

Fluffy Christmas romance with a fake dating set up. Margot Murray runs her own website design business in London. Her client Ben is thrilled with her work and invites her to his family manor house for a two week Christmas holiday. The manor is run as a hotel for most of the year. He never brings anyone with him and wants her to pose as a girlfriend so he doesn’t get comments from his parents. She is return gets to be in the countryside with spa and amenities. It turns out the parents are thrilled with her. But his sister Ellie Gibson has concerns. Especially when she misinterprets things she over hears.

This is a low angst, easy going and predictable. There is nothing really riding on the pulling off a fake relationship other than embarrassment if they are found out. Ellie and Margot are attracted to each other and enjoy some sweet, kissing only, time together. The three act younger than the young thirties they are. A few serious topics are touched on, abuse in a relationship, death of family member, grand parent facing dementia. There are sweet moments and a few laughs. The characters and story are likable but nothing in the story surprised me or made me swoon.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ARC and I am leaving an honest review.

Thanks so much to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC copy of this book! I will get to writing and doing a full review of this on my primary reviewing platforms once my thoughts are finalized.

I chose this because I love fake dating, and it looked like a cute, cozy sapphic take on one of my favorite romance tropes with a holiday setting.

Margot just ended a relationship, and decides to join her friend Ben at his parent’s country manor for Christmas, as his fake girlfriend. Ben is tired of being questioned about when he’s going to bring a girl home. However, Margot finds herself crushing on Ben’s sister Ellie.

All the makings of a cute holiday romance. I really loved Margot and Ben’s friendship. I liked how the book covered some difficult topics in a lighthearted way— Margot’s realization that her ex was emotionally abusive, and the difficulty of seeing Ben + Ellie’s grandfather struggle with dementia.

Where I struggled, is that I didn’t enjoy Ellie as a character. She seemed immature to me, and I think I could have understand her more if her background was more developed. The story also dragged a bit for me. I found the pacing to be a bit slow, and I didn’t look forward to always picking it back up.

Overall, a good debut!

Thanks to netgalley and Penguin for the ARC!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the Advanced Readers Copy of The Christmas Swap by Talia Samuels!