This book was such a fun romance! I loved the dual POVs from each best friend, all of the banter among the characters, and the growth seen in each best friend as they fall in love. Definitely a great read for the holidays!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an early copy.

The Holiday Honeymoon Switch was a great read. It was two romance stories in one. Holly and Ivy are besties Holly is now getting married but the groom decides they are not right for each other. Holly tells Ivy go on her honeymoon while Holly goes to Ivy's upstate vacay.. enter all kinds of I loved both Ivy and Holly. They really support each other and it was nice to read- of course there are love interests for both ladies! There was also some good secondary characters would recommend!

bookscoffeebrews Book Review: THE HOLIDAY
HONEYMOON SWITCH
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Julia McKay @marissastapley
Publisher: G.P. Putnam and Sons@putnambooks
Thank you to @netgalley for the ARC of this book

Generally I spend the month of December reading
Holiday books but this year I have had many in my
TBR pile so I started early.

It is December and Best Friends Holly and Ivy end up
switching “vacations”. Ivy ends up on Holly’s
honeymoon after she is left at the altar. Holly really
doesn’t want to go on her honeymoon so she switches
with Holly and goes on Holly’s ”artist retreat”. Ivy now
in Hawaii check into the Honeymoon Suite and finds
Holly’s now ex with a new girl. Ivy is now furious and
also now roomless. What Ivy didn’t plan on was the
yummy bartender comes to her rescue. Holly heads
out to the rugged artist retreat and her AirBNB host
ends up being her old high school academic rival and
who now happens to be really HOT. Now these two
friends may have a really nice Christmas Holiday after
all. Just as in any fictional book the romances go fast
and they get rather hot and steamy. Will Ivey and Holly
find forever happiness with these Holiday Hotties.

What was so wonderful about this book was the
relationships between these two best friends. Both
would do anything to help the other. This was fun
read and perfect to get you into the Holiday Spirit!

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Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam, and Julie McKay for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A cute holiday romance read following two parallel storylines. Paying homage to the storyline of "The Holiday", we have two main protagonists. Holly has a cheating fiancé and finds out the night before her wedding, leaving her with an already paid for honeymoon. Ivy, Holly's best friend, has a scheduled snowy retreat. The two decide to swap their Christmas plans giving us two totally different holiday experiences - a beachy Hawaiian vacation & a cozy cabin on a snowy mountain. I personally loved the cabin setting.

The purpose of the swap was escapism and healing. Neither woman is on the lookout for a new romance...oops. Enter Aiden and Oliver.

I loved the overall premise, but I think I just wanted more. Each love story itself wasn’t my favorite as I'm not a fan of insta-love (and we get that x2 here), but there wasn't anything inherently wrong or caused my distaste. Things progressed and happened so quickly without really any depth. In a Hallmarky kind of way, everything happens seamlessly and with ease.

One major flaw for me is in writing. There was a significant lack of sentence variety and I fixated on that quite a bit There's a lot of, "She did this..." "She thought that..." "She decided..."

I eventually grew to like Holly and Aiden together, while still not caring for Ivy and Oliver's budding relationship. Holly and Ivy's friendship was the best relationship!

If you're looking for a quick palette cleansing holiday book, give it a try.

This is by Marissa Stapley under the pseudonym Julia McKay.

A fun holiday novel with a great best friend relationship and sweet love matches! I thought the chemistry between all the characters was well written!

The Holiday Honeymoon Switch offers an uplifting story that follows Holly Beech, a young woman who escapes to a Hudson Valley cabin after being left at the altar, and her best friend Ivy Casey, who takes Holly's place on a honeymoon in Kauai. With a light, witty prose style, the characters are sweet and sympathetic, navigating a delightful blend of life, love, family, and introspection. The plot weaves together themes of support, new beginnings, and the power of friendship, creating an amusing and festive narrative. Overall, this charming tale by McKay is a delightful treat filled with sweet romance, picturesque settings, relationship drama, and a generous dose of holiday cheer.

I am a huge fan of this author in GENERAL and love love a holiday romance. This one was so fun and reminded me of my favorite holiday movie THE HOLIDAY. friends switch their wintery and sunny vacations after one was left at the alter. Obviously there’s so much fun but mostly the HEA is what I’m looking for and this had it! Loved!

This was an adorable holiday read. I thought the characters are fun and likeable, though Holly at the end did some things that were so selfish that she lost a lot of points but otherwise I loved the chemistry between the characters and especially the friendship between Holly and Ivy. The settings were idyllic (who doesn’t want a vacation in Kauai or a nice cabin in the woods?!!!) and the writing was easy to follow with distinct voices for each character. Overall a fun read!

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁: Loved this one. It’s the perfect Christmas romance, it gives major “The Holiday” vibes, so I promise if you like that movie - you’ll like this. How can you go wrong with dual holiday romances: 2 sets of MCs and HEAs guaranteed. Add this one to your TBR now!

Holly gets left the night before her wedding and her best friend Ivy has always been there for her. But right now Holly just needs to escape, and process what just happened. But Holly could not go on her planned honeymoon to Hawaii alone.

Ivy would do anything for her bestie even if that meant giving up her planned 2 week art vacay in the mountain at an eco cabin in the Hudson Valley. Her love for Holly, along with the fact the girls could pass for each other made Holly’s plan easy.

Holly will escape to the mountains for the next two weeks and Ivy would go on Holly’s honeymoon to Hawaii. That way Ivy could paint her water landscapes which were her speciality. It was the perfect swap.

What neither Ivy or Holly accounted for were the men they would meet and how it would change everything this holiday season.

𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅:

* Two Best Friends w/ 2 HEAs
* Nat Geo Photographer x Artist
* Lawyer x Eco Clark Kent
* Vacation Swap (Beach vs Snowy Mts)
* Fated Encounters
* Holiday Timeline
* Dual POV ( FMCs Only)
* Spice 🌶️

💙🌴❄️💙🌴❄️💙🌴❄️💙🌴❄️💙🌴❄️💙

The Holiday Honeymoon Switch Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

This one was a cute holiday romance read that would be a perfect cozy romance to binge over the holidays while cozying up in comfy clothes with hot chocolate.

This story was not only a romance but a story about true “best friendship” and friends that feel like family. Some of it was cheesy, but if you know what you are getting into it won’t bother you.

My only qualm with the story was that both characters experienced “insta-love” which is just not a trope I vibe with. However, I like the way both the love stories panned out.

Check this one out during the holidays!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy in exchange for a review.

My review will be posted on my instagram account @readitwithtay

(3.5/5) would round up to a (4/5)

This one was a lot of fun! The classic vacation-that's-out-of-your-zone to help find yourself will always get me. While I loved the love interests and the stories (need to know if this author is a 9-1-1 fan because a bartender named Oliver who is also a photographer???? I could only picture Oliver Stark in this role and it made my experience 100x better, I have to admit.

And while visualizing Oliver Stark did make me appreciate it more, I couldn't help but think, especially at the beginning, that Holly and Ivy were going to realize they were in love with each other. There was just something about the way Ivy spoke about Holly that made me believe she was harboring secret love for her best friend, and I was a little sad that wasn't the case </3

Having said that, I loved this entire ensemble (even if it wasn't entirely gay, again, I'm mourning but that's completely MY fault xo).

The perfect holiday romance I read while on a small road trip in the now crisping Idaho air.

Such a good and fun holiday romance! Perfect vibes for the holiday. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Another fun take on a holiday romcom where two best friends switch Christmas vacations when one is left at the alter. Their journeys to find new love were fun and fresh and polar opposites. I listened to this one on audio and really enjoyed it. The dual POV was very well done and it made for a quick read.

The Holiday Honeymoon Switch is another one of this year’s holiday themed romances. It features a pair of best friends - one perennially single, the other dumped by her long-time boyfriend the night before their wedding. They decide to pull a Holiday - they each take the other’s holiday vacation/honeymoon, before coming back to NYC to celebrate New Year’s Eve together. Holly takes Ivy’s Hudson Valley eco-cabin solo art retreat and Ivy goes on Holly’s Hawaiian vacation. But neither are expecting what happens next - Holly’s Airbnb host turns out to be her high school academic rival, and Ivy arrives at the Hawaiian hotel to find out that Holly’s ex-fiance already checked in with his new girlfriend! Holly finds herself not spending her solo vacation alone, instead spending all her free time getting reacquainted with Aiden. Ivy finds herself not spending all her time alone either - she meets bartender Oliver at the hotel, who not only helps her find lodging for her vacation, but also shows her around the island, opening herself up to her art in new ways. But for each of them, these are just vacation flings, right? This book is like a Hallmark Movie Channel holiday movie in book form. Nothing too serious or heavy, light and fluffy, with a saccharine sweet ending.

This light and sweet romance feels like a refreshing palate cleanser, focusing more on the deep bond between best friends than on the romance itself. Holly and Ivy's friendship is heartwarming and fun to explore, with their connection being the highlight of the story. Though the dual storylines—Holly retreating to Ivy’s art getaway and Ivy heading to Hawaii in Holly’s place—weren’t my favorite, they worked well enough to keep the plot moving.

What truly shines here is the emphasis on friendship and the lengths we go to for those we love. While the romance is there, it plays a secondary role, allowing the friendship to take center stage. The holiday spirit is present but not overwhelming, offering a nice festive touch without feeling overly themed.

If you're in the mood for a holiday read that focuses more on friendship with a light dash of romance, this is definitely worth picking up.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the copy. Julia McKay is the pen name of Marissa Stapely, who has co-authored other Christmas novels under Maggie Knox. The Holiday Honeymoon Switch follows two best friends, Holly and Ivy, as they navigate a difficult Christmas season. Holly was supposed to marry the love of her life and go on her honeymoon to Kaui, but her fiancé had a different idea. Ivy had a trip planned to upstate New York to paint. They decide to switch vacations and they may end up getting their happily ever after. The Holiday Honeymoon Switch is a feel good Christmas story. It’s a nice easy read with a happy ending.

If you are looking for a super cute, fun and fast paced holiday read- this is the perfect book To pick up!

This was my first by the author and look forward to more of her work.

Thank you to @netgalley for the eARC in return for my review

A cozy holiday read, a great supportive friendship between Ivy and Holly. Enjoyed their vacation/getaway swaps and each finding/reconnecting with a hot man. It was a fun read and entertaining.

Julia McKay wrote an epically cute winter romance. The story revolves around Holly and Ivy, best friends more like friend soulmates. They meet at a college party and become inseparable. One of their bonds is the fact they are 100% honest with each other all the time; everything but how much Ivy hates Holly’s fiancée. The night before the wedding, it is called off setting into motion a chain reaction of events. Holly obviously can’t go on her honeymoon, but doesn’t want to join Ivy on her art in the mountain getaway. So, they switch! By doing so, they not only fix what’s broken in themselves, but they also learn things about themselves they never knew.

They of course both meet two, very handsome golden retriever men. They try hard to fight their feelings, but it just doesn't work. I loved that the settings were polar opposites of each other. Ivy was beaching it up in Hawaii, while Holly was getting snowed in in New York. Even though they are thousands of miles apart, their lives are still mirroring each other. Their invisible string is just as strong as ever. I love that these two are so strong together, but there are still individual pieces they have to strengthen to be the best versions of themselves, to heal, and to grow. It is coming of age in a way, mixed with the holidays, and romance. Great read!

The Holiday Honeymoon Switch is a fun and lighthearted holiday read that I enjoyed.

The premise of best friends Holly and Ivy switching places after Holly’s fiancé leaves her at the altar is clever and sets the stage for some entertaining escapades. I liked the dynamics between the two characters and how their friendship shines through the chaos. The contrasting settings—Holly’s retreat to a Hudson Valley cabin and Ivy’s Hawaiian getaway—add a nice touch of festive charm.

Overall, The Holiday Honeymoon Switch is an entertaining holiday escape, perfect for readers looking for a light read. It’s not a standout in the genre for me, but I appreciated the fun premise and the warmth of friendship at its core. If you enjoy holiday romances with a twist, this book might just brighten your season!