Member Reviews

Thank you to Entangled Publishing, Amara and NetGalley for my complimentary eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Enjoyable take on the movies Trading Places, Grease, and Pretty Woman. I binged this one in a day.
Spoiled rich girl vs hardworking blue collar man switch lives for the summer after a bet.
You know I was there for all the drama and predictability. It was nice to see Evan and North grow over the course of the summer. Life is not always greener on the other side of the fence.

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Lexi — a spoiled brat who spends her fathers money ends up being screwed over by the man named Hudson who she was pining over and hoped they’d be back together after his return after 3 years, only to meet his new girlfriend in return. She ends up making a complete fool of herself by making it rain money, and ends up in an accident after leaving her party.

This is where we meet Evan, a local mechanic and extra fine if you know what I mean. She ends up leaving her car after not quite asking him to have it towed because she had to go and offered him $3,000 in cash only to not have it. Except something extra special from her grandmother had fallen off in it. The scene that follows the next day had me laughing as CeCe was introduced as Evan’s niece.

Then the bet made up by CeCe — to trade places with Evan for two months. Surviving on his job as a mechanic, and his income, while they work her job and live her lifestyle. If Lexi quits, she owes them $100,000 and her bracelet. If she wins, she gets her bracelet back. How we her father also had an extra term of his own — complete it on her own, or she forfeits her inheritance and is cut off for good.

This is where we really see Lexi shine over time as she learns the hard lessons of things she’s never had to do with the lap of luxury she had. While Evan does help where he can throughout the novel, she really does learn quickly how to rely on herself and I love how she grows from the spoiled trust fund kid to one that finds that money isn’t everything.

I absolutely loved the heck out of Lexi when it came to Hudson when his love life fell apart and he tried crawling back. Loved it.

The plot is well written and absolutely loved how Evan tried to impress her over time with his own growing pains himself. The ending was amazing, well written and had me bawling like a baby. They made a great couple at the end and the twists that happened throughout were unexpected.

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A selfish, spoiled heiress and a mechanic make a bet to swap lives for two months and fall in love along the way. Sounds like the plot of a good Disney movie (except a bit steamier), which is exactly what I wanted.

It was a pretty fun and quick read. There were cute scenes and moments that made me crack a smile. But, it also felt a bit over the top at times. Lexi and Evan living each others lives changes them in the ways you would expect. Once Evan stepped into the rich douchebag role, he never recovered from that in my eyes. I was really rooting for Lexi to have better by the end.

Also, nothing to do with the plot or anything but WHERE IS EVANS PONYTAIL ON THE COVER???

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2.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐

Lexie is a spoiled heiress, while Evan is a down-on-his-luck mechanic. When a series of events leads them to make a viral bet about switching lifestyles, the two find themselves thrust together.
It was meh. I hate to say it because I had such high hopes for it.

The synopsis really seemed like something I would enjoy, given my past enjoyment of similar stories. However, perhaps that was the issue; the story felt familiar yet somehow different, and not as good as I had hoped. This hindered the overall experience. One of the more significant issues was the lack of chemistry between Lexie and Evan, and I didn't particularly like either of them. What really ruined it for me was their behavior during 'the conflict'. Evan's response after Lexie confessed her feelings was so frustrating. I already didn't care much about them, but this truly diminished him as a hero-type character in my eyes.

This book felt like a knock-off of other, superior stories, such as "It Happened One Summer." I couldn't help picturing and missing Piper Bellinger. While it had the life swap element, even by romcom standards, it felt overly sensationalized in a way that didn't work for me.

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The light-hearted tone to this book had me gripped. I loved the banter between the two Main Characters and the way the pair of them lead such different lives but threw each other in the deep end. While it did have a slower beginning, it picked up as the story progressed.

I struggled to find myself connecting to the pairs chemistry in the earlier chapters, which sucked because its one of the most important things when it comes to romance books, but it did pick up over time thankfully. I did however enjoy the banter the two shared.

The premise of the book and how it was executed was overall done rather well and I did enjoy the majority of this book. I'll definitely give some more Emily Duvall work a shot.

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I liked the meet cute and how the characters interacted with each other and also giving hints of having the story of another couple.
It was interesting how the reason why Lexi does the things she does but I felt like at the end does issues are not fully resolved or are not given closure.
The characters where good but at times they were over the top annoying but given the context of the story was understandable, also the romance felt a little bit like it came out of nowhere.
Overall a really good book with an interesting concept

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The beginning of this felt exactly like It Happened One Summer, but with a more stuck up and clueless fmc. For about 80% of this I could not stand Lexi. I found her character off-putting and far too out of touch. Her only personality trait was being rich and Evan's (the mmc) was taking care of his family (and hating rich people). By the end of this Lexi actually did change, I'll give her that, but Evan became a completely lifeless character. His want to help his brothers shop and his niece fall to the wayside. I felt zero connection to the characters, which in turn left me feeling detached from the story. I honestly ended up caring more about a background characters romance.

I went from not loving, or hating Evan, to being totally annoyed and put off by him. I would've loved more tension and build up to the relationship changing between the main characters. Another thing I didn't love about this is how stereotypical the characters came across. Lexi is so rich she doesn't even understand how money works and Evan lives in a neighborhood where tires get stolen (because he's poor). I gave this two stars purely for the character growth Lexi goes through. I wanted to like this so badly, but because of the flat characters that often got on my nerves and a writing style I just didn't love, I couldn't fully get into the story.

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Thank you to Entangled and NetGalley for an ARC.

The concept seemed so good, but I got to 10% and the writing style was so all over the place and clunky/awkward I couldn't keep reading it. So I ended up DNFing this book, which is unfortunate, because it seemed like it had so much promise.

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Book Review

Trading Places

By: Emily Duvall

Thanks to @entangledpublishing and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Lexi North, the heiress and Evan Bailey, an auto mechanic meet in the worst way…by getting into a car accident! Lexi is used to throwing her credit card at everything but when the card doesn’t go through, they come up with a challenge that goes live on Instagram. Lexi is to trade places with Evan. So, she will work at the auto body shop and Evan will assume the role of a man of leisure who brunches, lunches, enjoys spa days, and makes time for charity event planning, and spending money. One thing neither of them thought would happen is totally falling for each other. How can a relationship survive when they come from two very different worlds?

At first Lexi’s character is annoying mostly because she doesn’t know how to do anything for herself (and she has a lot of attitude). As the character goes through the experience of working for a living, and learning how to care for herself, she becomes more likable. She also realizes she doesn’t need or want all the extravagant things she is used to. The fact that she also finds Evan irresistible is also very unlike her. He doesn’t have the family money or status that she is used to, but he does have her heart. Evan is hardworking, helps his brother run his auto body shop and has custody of his niece. That is pretty much his life. The last thing he was expecting was to fall for Lexi. Things don’t go smoothly, turning these enemies into lovers and this second chance romance will leave you wanting more. This rom com, opposites attract is a quick fun read.

Read if you enjoy:

Slow burn

Opposites attract

Second chance at romance

Found family

Personal growth

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Lexi and Evan are the ultimate enemies to lovers. After a bet to switch places the two learn to live in each others shoes & figure out what they really want in life.

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A debut enemies to lovers RomCom. A heiress, a mechanic and a bet. This book was such a fun and easy read! Super likeable characters with a fun story line. The chemistry and witty banter, with a little spice. This was the perfect summer read.

Thank you to NetGallery and Entangled Publishing for this DRC in exchange for an honest review.

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This book was cute and entirely as expected. Lexi is a rich socialite who has no concept of money. Evan is a hardworking mechanic, sole guardian for his niece, and doesn’t have enough money. Though a cute and creative twist, the decide to swap places for two months with more at stake individually than the other realizes. The characters are cute and well written. Cece happens to be a favorite. The author gets some depth from the characters, even though I wanted a bit more. I thought some of the transitions were a bit rough and I had to reread a bit to make sure I didn’t miss anything. The book has more complexities as it goes, and while some feel unfulfilled, such is the nature of life. Overall, this is a nice lighthearted read and I really enjoyed the twist on the classic prince and the pauper tale. 3.75⭐️, 2🌶

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I pictured Lexi as Alexis Rose and she kind of ruined the book. I get she was meant to be spoiled but she was a bit annoying. It would've made more sense if the other character was a doppleganger and they swithced places like the Vanessa Hudgens movie and Evan is another character. It didn't work with the opposite genders because it took away from the swapping places trope.

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I enjoyed it, loved the characters and Evan really made me proud of him. Lexi will annoy some readers however, she does grow but I say give it a read and judge for yourselves. Thank you enchanted publishing and the author for sending me this arc to read and review.

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This book was so cute. It had a smutty hallmark feel to it. Evan was easy to fall in love with right away. The handsome mechanic who was a hard worker and also happened to give up his 20’s to raise his niece (whom he loves dearly). It was harder to connect with Lexi, but about 1/4 of the way in, I really started to like her character and see the development that was coming. My only gripe was that it seemed like the author couldn’t decide on what the big conflict should be between Lexi and Evan so she picked a few and threw them all in the mix and then had to quickly resolve them at the end. I still loved it though, and it had all my favorite romance components!

Thank you Entangled Publishing for the ARC.

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"Trading Places" by Emily Duvall is a charming twist on the classic 'switched lives' story. I appreciated the intriguing premise of a socialite and a mechanic trading places and the exploration of their contrasting worlds. The character development is well-done, and the chemistry between the main characters adds a spark to the narrative. However, the plot does follow a somewhat predictable romantic comedy formula. Overall, it's an enjoyable and light-hearted read for those who love feel-good romances.

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Such a fun read! It’s snarky and the banter is hilarious and overall just a good read. Who doesn’t love an heiress who’s never done a thing for herself getting caught up in a situation with a hunky man? Evan is the perfect grump in this grumpy/sunshine. A man who is tasked with guardianship of his niece while trying to help his twin brother keep the family business afloat when heiress Lexi comes along and rocks his world. The two trade places for a couple of months and learn more about each other than the fact they’re attracted to each other. Absolute must read!

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This book turned out to be a great book. I had a hard time at the beginning. I did not like the heroine. I almost quit reading because of it. A rich material girl trading places with a blue collar mechanic due to a bet made by the niece of the mechanic. You see the struggles this girl has to go thru some of which are funny. She finds an ally in Evan in learning how to live like a normal person. It ends in HEA.....

I was provided this book by the publisher and netgalley for and open and honest opinon.

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I give this book a 4 1/2⭐️ it was so cute ,it’s romcomy just a very enjoyable read I laughed I wanted to shake a one of the male characters

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A fun, lighthearted romantic comedy - what could possibly go wrong with a spoilt heiress and a mechanic swapping lives for two months?

'The summer is going to end and I want more of Evan when we're done. I only need to change everything about who I am'.

𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀
Lexi is a socialite, spoilt and very rich heiress. Evan is a mechanic, providing for himself and his niece - both living in completely different worlds.

When Lexi crashes into the back of Evan's car after leaving an event, this sets off the 'trading places' event. Lexi and Evan swap their lives, homes and money for two months - but both of them are starting to develop feelings for each other, and they think that they need to drastically change themselves for the other to like them.

𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀
Fun, lighthearted and I enjoyed the concept of trading your life for someone else's.. walk in their shoes and see how they live - especially with Lexi living a highly privileged lifestyle.

It was great to see the character development of Lexi, realising that she actually enjoyed making her own money, the little things in life - like even mowing the lawn! There was also substantial character development for Evan, he went slightly downhill, then back uphill - all the characters definitely have flaws, imperfections, but Evan and Lexi eventually accept each other for who they are.

'To be loved for who I am'. 'To be seen for who I am'.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for this copy. This review is voluntary.

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