For me, this was the perfect book. It was entertaining without being cheesy, emotional without diving into angst's deep end, and the pace was so good that only the need to sleep and work my day job was able to interrupt the experience. Even with those interruptions, I finished this one in under 24 hours. I found the two protagonists to be delightful and relatable, and it was impossible not to route for them both as individuals and as a couple. Cheyenne Blue always does a beautiful job of immersing the reader in her stories' settings, and Switcheroo is no exception. The clanging streets of New York and the Outback's vast, dusty, silent beauty come to life on the pages.

Cheyenne Blue brings us another book with a very unique plot, touched with her subtle sense of humor. Add a slow-burn romance and the result was one that tugged at my heart strings.

Hayley Reed was a twenty-nine-year-old native New Yorker, working two jobs, as a bartender in one and a short-order cook in the other, working to pay off her student loans. She participated in New York Monday’s magazine contest to be chosen to completely trade positions with someone somewhere, anywhere, switching jobs, places they lived, salaries, etc. She had fantasies of being relocated to a posh ski resort, but what she got was one-year as a jillaroo at Ghost Gum, an outback cattle station in Queensland, Australia.

Jenna Dwyer was a country girl from the Outback who worked as a station hand at Ghost Gum, and was there to teach Hayley the ropes. They were bunk mates, along with another station hand, Jools. In fact, all the characters at Ghost Gum were interesting and provided some interesting additions to the story.

It was such an eye-opener how the author so realistically made me feel the experience of living in the Outback. What Hayley found was, “dust, dust, and more dust, straggly trees, wire fences, and skinny cattle, and a so-called city that took ten minutes to cross.” There was also the Aussie bushfly, numerous snakes and deadly creatures to watch out for. We experienced Hayley’s life throughout her days, weeks and months, with the reality being similar to groundhog day over and over.

The days were long, the work was hard and the food left a lot to be desired—kangaroo tail stew, roasted goanna—but what made it all worth it was finding love. Cheyenne writes a lovely romance with yearnings and steamy love scenes. This one didn’t disappoint.

I really enjoyed my trip to the Outback with the descriptions so well written that I don’t feel the need to actually go there because I feel that I’ve already been there, done that, haha.
My thanks to NetGalley and Ylva Publishing for the arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Bustling New York City or the vast Australian Outback?
Reading the blurb I was pretty sure that Cheyenne Blue‘s newest would hit the spot. What can go wrong when a NYCity-slicker is planted into the middle of dusty, deserted, dry Australian Outback - possibly everything and fun will be had, right?
I was not entirely wrong but Switcheroo delivers more, so much more: Yes, there is quite the struggle for Hayley to fit in, she really tries but nothing had her prepared for the stark experience awaiting her and the author doesn‘t gloss over it. No instant love for the Outback. At the same time we slowly see through the eyes of Hayley the unveiling of its beauty and the book becomes at times an ode to a way of living, with quite a few poetic passages where we see the stark beauty of the red arid landscape and its beautiful skies. I really relished those passages.
The people we meet are hard-working, there is comraderie and they are honest and direct with a distinct Australian flavor — I really liked that a lot: dry humor, Aussie slang and all.
The developing romance between Kenna, the jilaroo/farmhand, and Hayley is well-done although the way to happiness takes the scenic road.
I very much enjoyed the read - Cheyenne Blue does deliver again a great read.

I received an ARC via netgalley. The review is left voluntarily.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this intriguing book

when hailey first reads about the about the contest to switch jobs with someone else for a year she thought it was a great idea to be able to live some where else and imagined all sorts of places she would want to live after all she had two jobs to keep in the lovely state of new york city and hardly anytime for anything else...

she didnt think she would be picked after all nothing ever happened to her or anyone else she knew and though she entered never really gave it a thought....

she never imagined she would be picked or that she would be in australia for a year... or that it would be in the outback where there was nothing but red dust and flies.... but she needed to stick with it for a year otherwise the money she would lose and have to pay back didnt even bare thinking about...

jenna loved the outback and the ghost gum station that had been her home now for quite a few years.... she had plans that one day she would be manager there ...what it didnt entail was looking after an american with no clues of what it meant to be working on a station but she didnt have much choice....

a fun read and who doesnt like the idea of swopping with someone else for a time just to see if the grass is greener on the other side...

Extra heat in the Outback
The premise of Switcheroo is a cool take on life swapping set away from the glamor and glitz parts of NYC and big city Australia. Cheyenne Blue once again makes Australia a character in the story - in this case the Outback - and highlights its extensive beauty and danger; the flies, the 'roos, the clear skies and heat. Main characters Hayley and Jenna are down to earth, realistic and relatable in their goals and dreams, the obstacles in the way. There is drama and a bit of angst but it's good beach (or wintertime) reading and while it may not inspire you to book a leisure trip to the Outback, if anything it'll give you a fuller picture of that part of Australia and give you a greater appreciation of the lives of ranchers who provide the food you consume, their challenges especially in a harsh climate like the Outback. There is plenty of humor as well, both American and Aussie. And animals lovers will find several critters to latch on to.
I had a fair idea of how the story would go in terms of the overall trajectory before I got too far in to the book, but it was still a page turner to see how it all unfolded and what happened along the way. There's some steamy scenes and lots of food although foodies might not appreciate the meals served in order to fill hungry bellies after a full day of hard manual labor. NYC is not put on a pedestal here as it often is in fiction; Hayley works two jobs and has a heavy load of student debt to pay off and so she and her best friend aren't out seeing the tourist sights or living the high life by any means. Lovers of Aussie slang will appreciate the abundance of it in the story; most of it is easily deciphered in the context where it's used. The ending is sweet although if a follow up story is ever done to check in on these characters in the future I'd happily read it. If you want a romance story set in an atypical place for lesfic and with characters who have jobs involving manual labor and working with their hands, rather than boardrooms and the like, give this one a read. And if you've read some of Cheyenne Blue's earlier books there's mention and possibly a cameo appearance by someone from a certain series she wrote; I hope author Blue continues to put Easter eggs like this into her books as they're a fun bonus for readers who recognize them for what they are.
I had been hoping and waiting for a comeuppance for one of the characters that never happened but that's a minor issue and personal preference in a book that otherwise keeps you entertained and turning pages to see what happens next.
I recommend this and all of the author's stories to date for armchair travelling to various places in Australia and feel good romances with interesting characters.

Cheyenne Blue is one of those authors you know you can count on to deliver a well-written, engrossing story and with Switcheroo she’s done it again. This is a deeply atmospheric book, and I enjoyed my journey to the sweltering deserts of Queensland, Australia almost as much as my journey with Hayley and Jenna.

That said, it’s not a perfect book. The initial chemistry between the two leads was a bit thin and the “New York slang” Hayley continuously spouted was a bit cringy. However, the relationship that built between the two women as well as Blue’s superb depiction of a harrowing event later in the story kept me hooked and I finished this fun little page- turner with a smile on my face!

When Hayley Reed entered a Magazine contest to trade lifestyles with someone for a year, the New Yorker expected to be sent someplace different but not TOO different.

What she got was a ranch in the Australian Outback.

Jenna, a ranch hand at Ghost Gum Station, is less than impressed, but has been asked to watch over Hayley. She does admit Hayley is kinda cute...

Worse, while Haley struggles to fit in, the Magazine WANTS her to fail for added drama....

Sort of semi-slow burn, with the heroine's taking awhile to figure out the whole love thing. Good cast of characters, and a interesting set of circumstances. The outback scenes are vividly described, and the heroine's reaction to them felt credible. Also tied in to her other books, slightly.