This was a perfectly lovely, “feel-good” comfort read. I loved the contrast of Hawaiian tropics and Upstate New York in the winter. It adds another dreamy element to the story. The characters were all completely loveable (except for Matt & Abby, of course). Reading this book felt like being immersed in a Hallmark movie with just a pinch more spice (not explicit)…so maybe more of a Netflix version. :) The epilogue was everything!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Starting my holiday season off with this fun romcom. What I loved about this book was the two main characters. The friendship between the two girls is what starts the story and keeps it flowing throughout.

Even though this is a holiday book, it could really be read at any time. There isn't a ton of references to the holiday and half the story is set in Hawaii.

As much as I enjoyed both Holly and Ivy, I was way more invested in Holly's storyline. I felt like hers was more fleshed out and we got to know her more.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and would definitely read more by this author.

I am recently back from a fall beach vacation, and Julia McKay (AKA Marissa Stapley) helped me segue into the holiday season while also taking me back to the sea with her novel The Holiday Honeymoon Switch! Considering I have a cabin vacation coming up while also still suffering from beach-lust, there couldn't have been a better time for me to read this book which features the best of both worlds! But that's not all that it has going for it ...

Best friends Holly and Ivy always have each other's backs. Not only are their names a well-honored pair (The Holly and the Ivy, anyone?), this duo has been inseparable since they met and bonded at a frat rager back in college. The cherry on top is that while also being similar-minded (a mutual distaste of Christmas and love for the New Year brought these girls together), Holly and Ivy even look alike, if it can be believed!

So when Holly's fiancé dumps her the night before their Christmas-themed wedding (Holly's parents' idea, not hers), Holly hatches a brilliant plan to help her heal. She will send Ivy off on her nonrefundable honeymoon to Hawaii so that Ivy, an artist, can take in the lush tropical landscape and create some amazing art, and Holly will head off to the isolated cabin in Hudson Valley that Ivy had booked for herself for an artist's retreat. Ivy will get to find inspiration in the beaches and greenery of Hawaii, and Holly will get some much-needed time alone to clear her head.

Of course, the best laid plans often go awry. When Ivy reaches the $4,000 a night Hawaiian hotel, she discovers that Holly's ex is unexpectedly there ... with a new woman! Not only that, they are occupying the suite where Ivy was supposed to be staying. Short on cash and without a plan, Ivy accepts the help of a very hot bartender who may just be able to help her turn this vacation around.

Meanwhile, Holly receives the surprise of her life when she discovers that her cabin host is actually her high school rival! He and Holly were neck to neck for top marks back when they were in school, and she can't believe the major glow-up he has gone through. Dare she say he is actually hot now? While being dropped like a hot potato the night before your wedding isn't ideal, Holly may be able to find a way to make her Christmas merry and bright after all.

The Holiday Honeymoon Switch is such a fun read about ride-or-die friendship! I envied Holly and Ivy their close-bonded relationship and loved how they are always there for each other through thick and thin. While their plot to switch vacations and their subsequent insta-love with the attractive men who were conveniently dropped in their laps was a bit far-fetched, this was still an amusing book to get lost in. This book is fairly Christmas-lite, especially considering that neither Holly or Ivy are fans of the holiday, and can be enjoyed in that hazy week between Christmas and New Year's if you can't squeeze this one in before the big day. Easy-to-read with compelling characters, The Holiday Honeymoon Switch is for anyone who has ever dreamt of a Christmas away from home.

This book screams Hallmark best friend romcom movie! I enjoyed this book so much. The main of this book was friendship and it delivered. For the most part, the story is pretty simple - two friends swap vacation and find love along the way. It's a supe fluffy meet-cute with a little steam, but I really enjoed the book. I recommend to people who love romance.

Whether your ideal holiday vacation takes place in the snowy wilderness or on a tropical island, The Holiday Honeymoon Switch will transport you to a Christmas getaway that’s filled with old friends and new loves. It’s a fluffy but charming double romance that’s just what you need to help you unwind at the end of another busy day.

Full review published on NightsAndWeekends.com and aired on Shelf Discovery.

If you like The Holiday movie, you're going to want to read The Holiday Honeymoon Switch! When Ivy and Holly switch holiday trips after Ivy's fiance cancels their wedding, adventures and love are on the itinerary.

An uplifting escape! I found Julia McKay’s The Holiday Honeymoon Switch to be a quick, entertaining read. While portions were not all that Christmassy, I nonetheless appreciated the ode to friendship, the dual romances, the divergent paradise-like environments, and the diverse characters.

Many thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for the complimentary ARC. Opinions are my own.

When I read the synopsis of this book, I knew I had to read it!

You have so many good tropes in here:
Enemies to lovers
Found family
Unexpected hero
Beautiful locations
A fun holiday twist

Honestly, there is so much here! Anyone would enjoy this book. Check it out!

This was such a fun romance! It’s pitched as The Holiday meets The Unhoneymooners and it definitely gives off those vibes. Highly recommend.

This was really cute and I enjoyed it. I don't have a best friend like how Holly and Ivy are best friends so at times they seemed a little close and clingy, but I liked their stories and how they intertwined. However, there's no way I'm flying from Haiwaii to New York based on one phone call, nor would I expect my boyfriend/date to do the same thing. (I mean I get that's it a grand gesture, but still.) Also, the petty person in me really wanted Ivy to call out Holly's ex more. Holly's parents were the ones that paid for the honeymoon, not his, and Ivy should have been able to use the honeymoon not him, so that really bothered me. But the stories were cute and I liked Holly and Ivy and Aiden and Oliver a lot.

In The Holiday Honeymoon Switch, two best friends named Holly and Ivy are days away from Holly's Christmas wedding when Holly's fiancé confesses that he's been having an affair with a co-worker and now wants to call off the wedding. Holly's parents spent thousands on an expensive Hawaii honeymoon that Holly absolutely cannot face. Ivy was preparing for her annual two-week-long art retreat in the mountains, and is worried about leaving her best friend alone at such an emotionally devastating time, so Holly has a suggestion: they will switch places. Ivy can do her art retreat in Hawaii, and Holly will take Ivy's place in the mountains for a long, isolated cabin retreat with ramen and all the sad movies she can handle. But of course nothing goes according to plan: when Ivy arrives in Hawaii she discovers that Holly's ex-fiancé took the honeymoon suite with his new girlfriend, and Ivy is rescued at the last minute by a handsome, travelled bartender named Oliver. Meanwhile in the mountains, Holly finds that her cabin is owned by Aiden, an old high school crush who is even more smart and handsome than she remembers.

The novel flashes back and forth between Holly and Ivy's perspectives, and the narratives almost mirror each other in pacing. I think that worked incredibly well here - I was always invested in the stories, and I loved how the changing perspectives gave me the opportunity to see the characters from different angles. The romance formula can be reassuring or overly predictable depending on how it's presented in each book, and I think that it worked well in this one. Of course I knew what would happen, but there was so much chemistry and just enough surprise in the narrative that I looked forward to seeing it all play out.

Overall, this is a fairly standard holiday romance, but it was just so sweet, with well-developed characters and interesting, contrasting backdrops that it works just the way that it is. I really appreciated the way that the romances between Holly and Aiden and Ivy and Oliver developed: of course there is an initial spark of physical attraction, but then the rest of the story develops them as likeable characters who admire one another and enjoy each others' company, showing them build a long-term relationship that feels believable rather than feeling shallow. In particular, I appreciated the history between Holly and Aiden. I was reluctant to see Holly get into any kind of relationship so soon after her marriage was called off, but by giving them a history that was already meaningful to Holly, it felt less like a rebound and more like a relationship with a pre-existing foundation.

In all, I'll give The Holiday Honeymoon Switch an 8 out of 10. This is a great romance with sweet characters and a lot of chemistry, and I think romance readers will love the journey.

The Holiday Honeymoon Witch is a festive and heartwarming friends-to-lovers and swapping-places romance that delivers all the cozy, feel-good vibes of a Christmas rom-com. Holly Beech and Ivy Casey, best friends who are as close as sisters, decide to switch up their holiday plans after Holly’s engagement implodes. With Holly reeling from heartbreak, Ivy heads to Hawaii for a solo retreat in Holly’s place, while Holly finds herself at a secluded Hudson Valley cabin for some much-needed alone time. Perfect for the holiday season

3,5 rounded to 4


Arc received from the publisher; all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Not a bad read! I enjoyed Holly’s story more than Ivys and felt that Hollys story was more fleshed out while Ivys felt a little repetitive and one dimensional. I’m a sucked for second romance stories hence why I liked Hollys more and it felt more Christmassy than the Hawai setting.
Still a fun read though and I loved the ending when it all came together!!!

Cute. Christmasy. Predictable. You’ve probably watched this and read this before… but it is still worthy of a read during the holiday season.

If you’re looking for something that takes place during the holidays but isn’t overly Christmasy, this is the book for you! Such a fun, easy read but full of all the things I look for in a romcom….good pacing, great characters with chemistry, beautiful settings, and humor. Definitely recommend!

This was such a fun quick read. The concept is super fun! Two best friends switching vacations and the love they find.

I love that we don't spend too long on the confusion of the switch and so it doesn't feel like it's all about the miscommunication.

The romance the two friends find themselves in was also so sweet and cute.

If I was going to pick a holiday book I would want to see turned into a movie, this would absolutely be at the top of the list! I saw a comment that said this was a perfect combination of #theholiday movie and #theunhoneymooners book, and I can't deny how accurate that comparison is. This story gave us a tale of two women, best friends, who trade vacations after one of them is dumped the night before her wedding. What ensues is each of them learning more about themselves, their next steps in life, and finding love in the most unexpected places. This book was full of humor, sweet friendship, a touch of spice, and so much Christmas sweetness. While it may only be October, I'm already feeling the Christmas spirit thanks to this read. The only struggle I had came during the epilogue as I felt the characters were just listing off what had happened, and it didn't feel authentic, but other than that, I was pleased from start to finish and will absolutely be recommending it for the holiday season!

I thought this was such a fun listen. Who doesn't love a little parent trap sort of Trope? Looking for a fun twist on holiday love, grab yourself a copy of #theholidayhoneymoonswitch.

I absolutely adored this book! The writing had me hooked from the beginning! This book is the perfect holiday romance without being way over the top holiday. The dual povs truly made the story! I loved that although this is a romance book, the story also spoke to friendship in such a real and raw way. This book honestly got me through a reading slump and I couldn’t stop thinking of the characters when I had to put the book down.

I wasn’t sure about this book at first but I’m so glad I continued with it. This was such a cute little book and I loved all the characters, main and side. I think I might be giving this another read as it gets closer to Christmas.