The perfect holiday rom com does exist! Both Bee and Clover were so relatable in their quest to escape their respective environments (and families) to embark on a journey of self discovery just in time for the winter holidays. The set up of the novel was super cute. The two protangonists essentially house swap for a couple of weeks. I love how the novel was easy to get lost in and it gave a cozy feel like a cup of warm cider. Plus the respective found families each charater discovers along the way was so perfect. Plus the romance element was the cherry on top of an already charming story.

As a Christmas romance, this is super cute! The characters are likeable, and the book is a short, fast read. It features diverse characters and a fresh voice.

But I found myself wanting to know the characters a bit more. They are all SO likeable, and, most likely due to the length of the book (a quick 275 pages), there just wasn't time to delve deeper into their motivations. I particularly feel this way about the love interests, Knox and Beth, who both had pretty interesting histories that I would have loved to hear more about.

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager for my copy! All thoughts are my own.

If we haven’t gathered from my 2024 holiday reading, it’s that I love the movie The Holiday and It’s become a very popular trope to write! I really liked this book because I thought it explored the complexities of the holidays and self discovery.

Synopsis:

“Bee Tyler needs a break. In the bustling San Francisco tech community, no one ever seems to stand still—especially her perfect sister and business partner, Beth. So when her best friend suggests a getaway on the wildly popular house-swap app, Vacate, Bee decides a countryside retreat might be exactly what she needs.

Clover Mills has had a year. Between losing her mother and making the complicated decision to leave her fiancé, sticking around the idyllic Christmas obsessed town of Salem, Ohio, just doesn’t feel right. So when she hears about Vacate, she jumps at the chance to spend the holidays in the unfamiliar city of San Francisco.

Soon enough, Bee is living in Clover’s cozy Salem cottage, and Clover is living in Bee’s sleek San Francisco apartment. As Clover can’t seem to stop running into Bee’s frustratingly gorgeous sister, Beth, and Bee finds herself spending more and more time with Clover’s ultra charming ex-fiancé, Knox, the two women realize that this Christmas they may find just what they were looking for and more…” —NetGalley

What I Liked:

The Concept—As I said, I love the idea of two women swapping homes for the holidays and what they learn about themselves along the way. I loved that this explored coming out later in life.

The Characters—I really loved these characters, especially broody Knox. Bee and Clover’s different POVs were really fun to step into.

The Pacing—I thought things moved really well and kept me interested!

What Didn’t Work:

Nothing—I thought this was sweet, real, and very enjoyable!

Character Authenticity: 4/5 Spice Rating: 1/5 Overall Rating: 4/5

Content Warnings:

death of a parent, homophobia, panic attacks/disorder

This book was a fun Christmas romance story but also a story about the importance of finding one's self and living authentically. I really enjoyed the main characters as well as their culture shock of trading homes. Fun book! Thanks #NetGalley

Starting the holiday season off with this festive, feel-good romantic comedy with a house-swap twist that brings holiday cheer and unexpected connections. Bee Tyler, a tech professional in San Francisco, craves a break from her fast-paced life, while Clover Mills, is ready for a change of scenery from her life in Ohio. The novel captures the holiday spirit with a cozy atmosphere and relatable characters working through family and relationship drama.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book so much that I bought a physical copy of it so that I could read it again!

Adorable house-swap rom-com to add to your holiday TBR. This book was funny, emotional, and sweet. I enjoyed the way the characters and their romances developed. Bee who runs a tech company in San Francisco,and Clover a farm girl from Ohio, both want to escape from their normal holiday routines. They use an app called Vacate to switch homes for the holiday season. Clover was always afraid to be her true self. In San Francisco, she finds people who accept and help her experience new things. Bee was from a family who set high expectations and whos love was determined by her achievements and success. She finds unconditional love in Ohio from Clover's friends and family. Enemies to lovers, slow burn romance, messy gays, small town vs big city.

3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I’ll Be Gone For Christmas
Author: Georgia K Boone
Christmas Romance

Thank you Netgalley and Avon for this ARC! This book was not bad. It just got a bit confusing for me. We have two sisters, Beth and Bee. Bee decides to leave to San Francisco for Christmas after finding a house swap app. Clover is whom she house swapped with, and Clover ends up in Bees life with her sister Beth. Meanwhile, Bee finds herself with Clovers ex fiance Knox, and Beth starts falling for Clover! Confused yet? Georgia is a great writer and I am sure some will be obsessed with this read. I could have used a little more Christmas stuff since the title and setting imply it will be heavily holiday based. It was a nice read I just was not obsessed with it.

The story was cute, but this book was not really for me unfortunately - I just couldn't get into it.

What's not to love about this book?! It felt like an updated version of the movie The Holiday but with more representation. I'll definitely recommend this one to friends for the holiday season.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the ARC. Another slow burn. This book read like the cutest holiday romcom. Slow burn, small town, big city. Perfect mix for this story. I liked all the characters. The author did a great job of telling both stories throughout the book. Fluffy and quick read.

This book was different from what I thought it would be. At first I thought our pair of protagonists would end up together, when in actuality this book was about both of the finding their own loves. So what I got was essentially two slow burn romances in one. The slow burn aspect of this book was very slow burn, so be prepared for that but I did feel the chemistry between each of the pairs, I absolutely love this cover.

A sweet, fluffy holiday rom-com that felt just like a queer Hallmark movie. This book was such a fun holiday read with a unique twist! I went into I'll Be Gone for Christmas expecting a straightforward holiday romance but was pleasantly surprised to find it’s a house-swap story that follows two main characters, each finding their own love and healing over the Christmas season.

Overall, I'll Be Gone for Christmas is a heartwarming, diverse holiday read that perfectly blends the romance with themes of self-discovery. Highly recommend if you’re into:

Dual romance plotlines
Queer representation
City/small town swap vibes
Black characters
Holiday coziness
This book was short, heartfelt, and perfect for cozying up during the holiday season!

If you loved The Holiday with Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz, you're in for a treat with this book! Imagine that cozy holiday home-swap story, but even better because most characters are people of color, and half are LGBTQIA+ (so much better than the straight, whitewash movie, IMO!).

Bee and Clover, our FMCs, are total opposites, yet they fit perfectly into each other’s worlds. Bee, burnt out from the San Francisco tech scene, needs a break, and Clover, a farmer from Salem, Ohio, is searching for something new after her mother’s passing and a broken engagement.

I especially loved the nod to Salem, OH, which holds a special place in my heart because I have a lot of family from there.

As the story unfolds, Bee and Clover each find just what they need: Bee gains a moment of peace while Clover experiences the thrill of big-city life. However, Bee keeps running into Clover’s ex-fiance, Knox, while Clover finds herself drawn to Bee’s twin sister, Beth. The slow-burn romance unfolds with both women exploring new parts of themselves and finally confronting old wounds and unspoken desires.

With its quick pacing and delightful surprises, I devoured this book in a day. Despite its under-300-page length, it keeps you guessing till the end. This warm, heartfelt rom-com has earned 4.5 stars from me (rounded up to 5), and I’m so grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for the gifted ARC.

With all the warm fuzzy feelings of a made for streaming Holiday Movie, I'll Be Gone for Christmas was cute and cozy queer romance that tried hard to balance the fluff of a holiday romance with the spice of emotion of fiction. There was something in this story that I could not bond with. The writing was solid, but I didn't not find myself falling for either character. This was good short holiday read that did give all the right Holiday feels, it just does not draw me into the story. As I think about what kept me at arms length foe this book, the romance was so slow burn that I think my expectations for the romance kept me looking in the wrong direction for where the narrative would take me. With that said, I loved the found aspect of the story and the sense of togetherness that was presented. After a week of pondering what to write for this review, I find myself thinking more about the secondary characters than the primary love interests.

Thank you NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for the Copy that I read. This review reflects my own thoughts and reactions.

This review has been posted to Goodreads and Storygraph on October 31st, 2024. Links provided.

Bee Tyler is feeling overwhelmed in the fast-paced San Francisco tech scene, especially with her seemingly flawless sister and business partner, Beth, constantly on the go. Seeking a much-needed escape, she takes her best friend’s advice and books a countryside retreat through the house-swap app, Vacate. Meanwhile, Clover Mills is grappling with a tough year marked by her mother’s passing and a difficult breakup, prompting her to leave her picture-perfect life in Christmas-obsessed Salem, Ohio. Excited for a change, she seizes the opportunity to spend the holidays in San Francisco. As Bee settles into Clover’s charming cottage and Clover adjusts to life in Bee’s sleek apartment, both women unexpectedly encounter new possibilities: Clover finds herself frequently bumping into the infuriatingly attractive Beth, while Bee grows closer to Clover’s captivating ex-fiancee, Knox. This Christmas, Bee and Clover might learn more about themselves than they anticipated, including the lives they didn’t realize they wanted.

I can’t quite put my finger on why but unfortunately this book was not my favorite. The writing and storyline were enjoyable enough, but I just felt like it was not a very memorable book. While I appreciated the character growth for both Clover and Bee, as well as the happy endings for everyone, I just didn’t find myself loving either of the main protagonists and therefore didn’t feel a lot of emotions in response to what happened. Also, I love the movie The Holiday and I felt like this book was too similar, but just not as enjoyable for me. Realistically, it is likely that I did not like this book as much as I thought I would because of that fact. Hopefully there are people out there that do love this book/Clover and Bee’s stories and enjoy it as much as I enjoy The Holiday.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the opportunity to read to an ARC of I’ll Be Gone for Christmas in return for my honest review.

This book is really like two stories in one, with some overlap. Clover is a young lady, from a super small town where she honestly feels like she’s suffocating after her broken engagement and losing her mom, while Bee across the country is suffocating in San Francisco under the weight of expectations from her family. They both decide to switch homes for the holidays and hunny, they both needed it! I must’ve only skimmed the little blurb because I did not know where this story was going! Both Clover and Bee experience their own slow burn romance, while living in each others residence. It’s a short and sweet love story, AND i was so impressed with the ability to not only have such different and diverse characters, but all of them were so likable and well done… overall I enjoyed this one, just wished it was a little longer ❤️

Some tropes in the book include - meet cute love story, enemies (kinda) to lovers, slow burn, small town girl in a big city, big city girl in a farm town, chosen/found family, queer love story, death of a parent, finding oneself in community.

Only thing I wanted was like a tad more spice would really set the book apart.

Thank youuuuu to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC! It was so cute.

This was just two cute. Two complex characters handling very real situations in a real way. They had their flaws but shared their thoughts behind their actions and the growth they showed was so great. The setting difference from the icy midwest to the west coast was such a fun way to experience how different areas do the same holidays, truly the best of both worlds. I enjoyed the two unique but yet similar stories!

PERFECT for the holidays/colder weather settling in :,) I absolutely love a good life-switch movie and it makes me yearn for the same thing. It just feels like it would solve all my problems (for now, at least). I also love, love a black woman to infinity xo

Also very much appreciate the found family and the connection of families at the end :') literally the sweetest ever just the best read for the holidays!

I never know how early is too early to start reading Christmas books but this was a fun read to kick off the holiday season. I'll Be Gone for Christmas has a similar plot to the movie The Holiday: Bee and Clover both sign up to swap houses at Christmas time. Clover wants to escape her small Ohio hometown and the lingering sadness of this being her first holiday without her mom, and is looking for a place to explore her sexuality that she's pushed down for years. Bee's San Francisco studio is the perfect place. By going to Ohio, Bee gets to escape the pressures of her family and enjoy a snowy winter wonderland.

The book definitely reads more of a fiction story since it's primarily about Bee and Clover's individual self discovery journeys. The romances between Bee and Knox and Clover and Beth felt knida rushed and thrown in at the end. I wish they could have been better developed earlier in the story or left out entirely.

Thank you Avon and NetGalley for an arc of this book!