such a cute and fun holiday book!!!

i loved getting to know both Holly and Ivy’s characters while watching their stories unfold. originally i was nervous about keeping up with two different stories at the same time, but the writing was super fun and easy to read!!!

read if you like:
-best friends
-dual pov
-third person
-holiday romance
-vacation romance

thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin Putnam Group for the arc!!!

Is two love stories in one book twice as cute or are both half baked? A little bit of both. I thought this book was genuinely cute and I liked both central love stories and all four of the main characters. Is this the deepest book you’ll ever read? No definitely not. Were there storylines that got completely abandoned? Yea for sure. Did everything wrap up a bit too easily for my taste? Certainly. But overall was it a cute holiday read and definitely worth picking up? Also yes!

Not going to lie, Holly AND Ivy are my absolute favorites. They're so much alike, yet different. I loved how hardcore of besties they were. I literally hate Holly's ex. I loved how both switched their trips with one another and everything that ensued following that. I loved the "happenstance" moments as well. Plus, Aiden is literally dreamy 😍 This was a cute twist on the typical holiday reads. I truly enjoyed reading this. It gave me all of the feels. The ending also didn't disappoint me. A wonderful "Christmas in July" read for me as Holly went to Hawaii! Lol so I loved the mixture of the two opposite weather in the holiday season.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and GP Putnam's Sons to read/review. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading this book.

What a sweet and fun holiday read! This book is perfect for a holiday pallet cleanser and the writing was fun and super easy to read. I would recommend to a friend looking for a cute holiday rom-com!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC! All opinions are my own.

This book was a sweet, fun holiday romance about two best friends who swap their holiday vacations after one is dumped the night before her wedding, only for each to find their respective loves on this unexpected vacation. This is the perfect cozy read for anyone who is looking to turn their brain off a little during the holidays and just bask in what is an incredibly cute friendship. Our two male love interests have their own tropes and stories - we have one friends to lovers, the other about helping our FMC discover and embrace her love for art. A good quick read, but not particularly memorable for me.

The Holiday Honeymoon Switch was a cute and quick holiday rom com that sent my mind right to Hawaii. I was nervous about keeping up with multiple storylines throughout the book, but they flowed so nicely and I enjoyed how they developed. A great quick read to put you in the holiday spirit!

This was really cute and a light/fun read! I love that it was heavily focused on friendship and it felt like a cheesy cute Hallmark movie. You can never not like a Hallmark movie!

Really liked this one! I thought I would have trouble keeping the multiple POV and multiple stories straight, but they were both satisfying!

THE HOLIDAY HONEYMOON SWITCH by Julia McKay
⭐️ rating: 6/10

read if you like:
🎄 holiday romcoms
📍hawaii
👩‍❤️‍👨 meet cute

summary:
This book is about two best friends - Holly and Ivy, living in NYC. On the eve of her wedding night, Holly’s fiancé, Matt, calls off the wedding, leaving Holly alone to grieve. Ivy, who had been planning to depart on a two week, off the grid “art honeymoon” in upstate New York following the big day, suggests the two swap plans. Ivy will head to Hawaii, where Holly and Matt were booked on their honeymoon, and Holly will head to the cabin upstate to reflect on the end of her relationship. While there, Holly connects with a long lost friend from high school who she rents the cabin from. Meanwhile, Ivy finds herself without anywhere to stay on the island, and meets a bartender, Oliver, who she shares her story with.

This story is entertainingly cute! The POV alternates between Holly and Ivy, and while we don’t go deep into either of their personalities or back stories, we do get their descriptions of their vacation getaways, both of which are well articulated and sound beautiful! I wish we got to learn more about them as individuals — who they are and what they’re looking for. We do get to learn a little about them through their romantic encounters though, and it’s fun to watch their (quick) attractions to their respective men. The dual POV’s almost make it like you get two stories in one qnd both are cute and unique in their own ways. While there isn’t any crazy, unpredictable drama in either story, they’re both feel good, and isn’t that all you really need from a romance anyways?

Thanks to Penguin Group Putnam and Net Galley for the advanced copy. For a beach read and holiday story all in one, check this book out when it releases on September 23!

Thanks Netgalley for the chance to review. I'd give this a solid 2 stars. It was just ok for me. Very friendship forward, closed door, Hallmark wannabe movie. I jumped on the arc because I love the Holiday...this is missing that magic.
I think Holly and Ivy, two best friends who swap holidays after Holly is left at the alter, are way too calm. Like theres no REAL emotion there? Being left at the alter should have so much more interiority thats just completely missing. I think the third person POV didn't help matters? I needed to connect with them a lot more and the emotionality just wasn't there.
I DID actually think the love interests were fleshed out really well, which was a bit surprising. But they weren't awful. I just didn't love the women at all, and it took away from sinking into the story.

<b>3.5 stars, rounded up because of that absolutely adorable cover ❤️</b>

As soon as I heard about this book coming out, I was super excited to read it! Between the festive names of the characters (Holly and Ivy!), the swapping lives plotline, and Christmas feels (both tropical and wintry), this sounded absolutely adorable.

This story follows Holly and Ivy, inseparable best friends, swapping lives for Christmas. When Holly’s fiancé breaks up with her just before the wedding, Ivy goes to Hawaii for Holly’s honeymoon and Holly takes Ivy’s off-the-grid art retreat. Of course, there are romances for both of them that develop.

This was really cute. I liked the Christmas traditions in both locations, particularly Ivy in Hawaii. I loved Santa and Mrs Claus arriving on a boat pulled by dolphins! All of the tropical traditions were interesting and fun to read about. I also loved Holly’s small town Christmas. That town sounded absolutely adorable!

While there are definitely romances, at its core, this book is about female friendship and I loved that so much! Holly and Ivy were great friends and had many inside jokes and such.

However, there were a couple of things that missed the mark a bit for me. First off, it’s a personal preference of mine, but I am not a fan of the third person present tense. I find that it makes it more difficult for me to connect with the story, so that detracted a bit. I also found the steamy scenes a little out of place in what had been a very cute read up until that point. In general, I prefer my Christmas reads to be on the cleaner/sweeter end, but again, that is my personal preference. Overall this is definitely one I’d recommend!

Disclaimer: I received this arc with the mindset that I would give an honest review. Thank you so much!!

I love the platonic soul mate relationship that was described between Holly and Ivy. Friends since college, meeting at a kegger no less, the two have shared their ups and downs and even a sandwich or two together. So, when Holly’s fiancé calls off the wedding and she is left with a nonrefundable honeymoon, Ivy steps in to offer up her trip to the mountains to give Holly the time that she needs to heal by herself. Wanting to be left alone could be found better in the mountains than on a tropical trip, right? You would think so but that is not always the case and we are take on a rom com journey through her healing process.

This book was written in 3rd person and it swaps between Holly and Ivy on their respective trips. This allows us to see what is happening at the same time but in different parts of the world. It also helps you connect to the two characters because they really are 2 soul mates (friendship only). This was a feel-good romance with a Christmas theme to put you in the holiday mode. Its Christmas all year round for me when it is in a book.

I definitely recommend that you read this book!

Thank you so much to Penguin Group Putnam, Julia McKay, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. It was fantastic!

An entertaining contemporary romance filled with humor, heart, and unexpected twists. The ‘switch’ premise adds delightful charm to this feel-good read. Perfect escapism for romance enthusiasts!

Fans of The Holiday will especially enjoy this romcom with nods to the fantastic film, Meet Joe Black. There’s plenty of romance, female friendship, and escapism via two dreamy settings: Kauai and the Catskills. Overall, this was a light, feel-good read that I’d re-read (esp during the winter holidays which is when this story takes place) & recommend.
Thank you #Netgalley for the ARC e-book.

First and foremost, thank you to author Julia McKay, G.P. Putnam's Sons and Netgalley for an Arc copy of "The Holiday Honeymoon Switch" in exchange for an honest review.

Short and Sweet Opinion: For lovers of "The Holiday" and Hallmark movies, this book is a great mix of sweet, heart and friendship. The book follows best friends Holly and Ivy through a parallel love story, and we see ups and downs of heartbreak, meetcutes, love stories and friendship. A quick, holiday read I could see picking up in front of a fire in a cabin.

In Depth Opinion: That being said, I did have some issue with the pacing and plot line of the book feeling... too convenient. I wanted to see more of the driving force behind why things were occuring. I feel that the FMCs occasionally felt flat, and the dialogue felt forced. If the goal was to have a slightly spicy (mostly fade to black) Hallmark meets "the Holiday" storyline, McKay hits it on the head! But I would have loved to see Holly's story line with a little more meat to it especially.

Overall: 3.25 stars rounded to 3. Cute Christmas Rom-Com for when you want a spicy Hallmark movie. Love the best friends aspect, and the multiple POV.

I enjoyed this romantic holiday read! I liked that it had two different romantic “adventures” in one. It was exactly what I was looking for….. a Hallmark holiday movie in a book!

The Holiday Honeymoon Switch by Julia McKay is such a cute, sweet, spicy, and funny rom-com; but also much like “Mmmbop” by Hanson, the fluffy, fun, and sweet lyrics have a deeper meaning regarding the nature of friendships.

Holly and Ivy met at a kegger in college, and despite the partners that they came to the party not being their soulmates, Holly and Ivy soon realized that they were platonic soulmates. They really did finish each other’s …sandwiches!

When Holly’s fiancé decided to call off their wedding the night before the wedding, Ivy tries to stay strong for her bestie. Holly convinces Ivy to swap places with her, as the Hawaiian honeymoon that her parents bought for her was nonrefundable, and Ivy had a secluded vacation planned. Holly did not feel like being around people, so being secluded in the mountains sounded divine.

And of course, all manner of shenanigans took place for both of them. But was this swap a good idea? Or will it just lead to denial and more hurt and heartbreak?

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this amazing ARC!!

4.5⭐️

The Holiday Honeymoon Switch was so cute! It followed best friends Holly and Ivy (great names) as they swapped vacations with each other. This book was so insanely cute. It’s one of those books you need to read in a cabin in the mountains wrapped in a fuzzy blanket as the snow falls outside. It had the perfect balance of romance and friendship. The story felt more like a story about finding yourself more than a true romance book, but the romance was a very present plot point within. The book is written in 3rd person (which I will admit I normally am not a fan of), and switches back and forth between Holly and Ivy each chapter. I read this in the summer but it put me right in the Christmas Holiday spirit. I loved reading Holly and Ivy each working through their own battles and truly finding themselves on their respective trips. I would recommend this book!! I will probably reread during the holiday season.

This was a cute book though fairly predictable. It's not your classic feel good Christmas book though it's set around the holidays and there are some holiday scenes. Holly and Ivy are best friends with cute Christmas names and after Holly's wedding disaster, they switch holiday vacations and have separate adventures at Christmas. This book has LGBT references and is a bit racier than what I typically read so skipped over those scenes.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

This was a cute and quick holiday from com that made me want to jet off to Hawaii. I enjoyed reading the two storylines develop.