This was a sweet holiday story with relatable characters. Like a Hallmark movie, but with a queer twist and a more diverse cast.

10/10 recommend reading a Christmas romance in July. This was precious ♥️. I really enjoyed this sapphic house swap romance 💘

Stop right now and put this on your Christmas reading list. Adorable, queer, and full of christmas cheer (without being over the top cheesy, she types - as someone who isn't FULL ON christmas vibes).
I enjoyed each relationship, and all of the side characters. It was also full of enough twists to keep you guessing - and enough coincidences that you know happen in queer spaces.
Also, the pet chicken, adorable.
2 relationships, lots of tropes:
- Holiday Romance
- Big town / small cities
- grumpy sunshine
- queer romance
Low/Medium spice - several almost hot, then fade out scenes. But they worked for the story being told.
Finding yourself > finding your family > finding love > and remembering that what you see on the outside may not be exactly what's happening on the inside. <3 love.

Thank you to NetGalley, Georgia K. Boone, and the publishers for allowing me access to the e-Arc.

That was such a cute Christmas rom-com. I honestly enjoyed the dynamic between twin sisters and their complicated relationship with their parents. The discussion of struggling to accept one’s sexuality especially when parents aren’t supportive was a theme throughout the book.

I would recommend it!

Did someone say Christmas in July? Even though this is definitely a pretty festive romance, I feel like it fits any time of year, and any kind of enthusiasm about Christmas. In some ways it was fast-paced with two romances in one less-than-300 page book. In others, it’s slower, with the two couples not really getting together until about 90% in the book. I have mixed feelings about how quickly the ending came about, although I enjoyed the time that I spent reading, it wasn’t as satisfying at the finish as I would have liked. It’s almost like two romance novellas were combined into one book, and while I liked the combined reading experience I do kind of wish we’d gotten more expansion of the characters and their journeys, especially Clover’s journey with accepting her sexuality and even her relationship with Knox, and I think it would’ve made the whole book and its romances feel more nuanced and fleshed out. I would definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a shorter romance with two leads, a sapphic romance and an m/f romance, or a little festivity while working through grief and mixed feelings with family!

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for sending me an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’ll be gone for christmas was such a cute read! it was short and sweet at just over 200 pages, with just the right amount of warmth and holiday cheer. it really made me feel as though it were christmas time, and i read this in the month of july!
it was filled to the brim with love and hope and self exploration. i adored the multiple queer characters and the possible second chance romances. clover and bee both found themselves trying new things and finding love in places they never would’ve expected, and i found it incredibly heartwarming and genuine. the two characters were so easy to love and I found bits and pieces of myself in both clover, and bee, (mostly clover).
i loved the dual point of view, the small town vs big city settings, and the side characters that helped intertwine the two main characters and bring the entire story together. 10/10 hallmark christmas movie vibes (with sapphic romances!!!!)❤️

This book unfortunately fell victim to me not being able to get engaged in straight romances nine times out of ten. Because I really enjoyed half of it. I found myself tearing through Clover's chapters and nearly skimming Bee's chapters. Which unfortunately took me out of it half the time. But the cast of characters in San Francisco was so lovable. The huge group of queer women Clover found herself around felt so much like finding your queer family for the first time, and Beth's flirting being taken as hating her is just peak sapphic nonsense. I would absolutely read half of this book again.

Perfect if it was the right season haha. Definitely think it would be a great winter read. I will definitely have to check out more from the author.

This one is 4 stars to me because it was so much more than a love story. This book it’s about two girls that switch places kind of running away for their lives. Clover is fighting to find her place in the world and learning to accept herself, and Bee, which I related the most, it’s trying to deal with the awful feeling of not been good enough.
This story, for me, it’s not about a romantic love, it’s more about self love, empowering, sisterhood, the power of a found family, grief and acceptance.
And last, but not least, I’m a big Christmas girlie, so I adore the Christmas vibes, more in Salem than San Francisco, just because I’m a big fan of small towns.
I do feel that the ending was very rushed, because we don’t get to much of the two relationships, I was really hoping to look more at the future of this couples in the epilogue.
Fav quote:
“She could be anyone, she realizes suddenly. Anyone at all.”
¿What will you find in this book?
- Found family
- Queer romance
- Small town romance / Big city romance
- Switching places

Thank you author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

I thought reading the two separate storylines was fun. I liked the love interests more than the mcs I think, though Knox was a little upsetting at times. The Christmas/winter elements were nice.

Clovers character was a little upsetting with her only drinks black coffee and uses a flip phone things. I thought her relationship with Beth didn't make a lot of sense and Beth, despite being (in my opinion) the best character in the book was clearly her second choice?

Overall, it was cute in some ways and frustrating in others. Might be a fun winter read.

If you like me get the Christmas in July fever, the itch to watch Hallmark movies and drink hot cocoa, while you watch the big city person fall in love with a small town this book is for you.

In this book, we don't get just one cozy Christmas romance story, but two! Two women decide to swap houses around Christmas to do a little reset with their lives. Bee works in tech in San Francisco, and Clover runs her family farm in Ohio.

It's got Christmas carolers, a tree lighting ceremony, ice skating, queer love, and found family! I couldn't put this book down!

Thank you Avon books and NetGalley for the eARC!

A very cute slow-burn holiday romance. The cast of characters was fun and engaging. I think for me personally the burn was a bit too slow, it felt like the romance didn't really start until 80% into the book. The writing was a great balance of description and dialogue and I felt like I really got to know the main characters. Overall, I'd say 3.5/5 stars.

Queermas is here!! 🌈⛄️ really loved this book and can’t wait to add it to my shelf and recommended list. It took me a bit to get settled into but I’d say that by 20_30% into the book, I was ready to go all the way through.

It’s different enough from most holiday romance books to where it doesn’t feel like I’m just reading some ABC type plot but it’s also familiar enough to where I feel I’m getting a fun, cheesy (cute), Christmas rom com.

This was a delightful read that I really enjoyed. At first, I was confused about the romances but soon realized it's about a house swap with two different love stories. Bee and Clover, swapping lives for Christmas, find unexpected friendships and romance in new places. The characters and their relationships develop well, weaving together personal challenges with budding romances. It's a charming and diverse holiday tale that's easy to recommend.

I read this is on day! This was such a cozy sweet book and I love reading black sapphic romance that feels modern yet classic. If you love The Holiday, you'll love this!

This was good and fluffy I really enjoyed it. At first, I was confused at the first 30 % because I didn't read the synopsis and thought that the romance was between the two main characters on the cover. Once I understood that this was a house swap with two different romances I was with it. This book follows the two fmc's Bee who's from an affluent part of the city and Clover who lives in a small town with her family farm. Bee feels overwhelmed because of the business she runs with her twin sister and Clover is dealing with grief and a breakup. They both decide to swap houses to take a break and get away from their lives for the Christmas season and that leads to them both finding friends, found family, and romance.

This is a short book and i feel like the characters and the romance developed well. Clover becomes friends with Bees' twin sister after not initially getting along and they get attracted to each other. Bee meets Clover's ex-fiance on her first day in the small town and as they get to know each other they also like each other and eventually get together. Both romances were slow burns and really intertwined with the personal issues the fmc's were going through. Overall this is a cute holiday read, it's diverse and short and I would recommend it.

Read for:
- Two romance plots
- Queer romance
- Small town/ City fmc's
- Black characters
- Holiday-themed

I read an eARC on NetGalley on 6/25/2024 in exchange for an honest review, because I finally have a little bit of clout! 4/5 stars. Some spoilers.

The short version (no spoilers):
Oh I love this concept of taking an average Christmas romance and turning it on its head. Bee is the more classic Hallmark protagonist in that she's from The Big City going to the Small Town to find herself where she meets Local Man and they fall in love. Clover is the opposite – she is from the Small Town and she goes to The Big City to find herself where she meets Local (City) Woman and they fall in love. I liked Clover more than Bee at the beginning but I grew to like Bee more throughout the book. It's a great concept and it's delightfully sweet, though it definitely feels rushed at times and especially at the ending. With maybe 1-2 more edits though it can easily become a favorite romance.

The long version (spoilers):
The setup and character motivations behind the setup is something this book does quite well. It is very clear why Clover would want to leave her small town and go somewhere else for the holidays: not wanting to confront the complicated feelings of her mother's passing, or navigate the awkward minefield of having dumped her (guy) fiancee/best friend after finally admitting she's a lesbian, feeling weirdly trapped by the town and concerned about her father's health after a heart attack. We also get more insight about why Bee needs the escape from her life in San Francisco: I mean yes she is feeling burnout and is sad about committing mistakes at work, but REALLY it seems to be about her concerns about not being good enough for her family and addressing concerns about self-worth and externally-imposed-perfectionism.

Let's talk characters. I'm not gonna lie, I did like Clover more than Bee at the beginning because I think it was just a bit more obvious where Clover was coming from and what the issues she needed to work out were. It's not that I couldn't see where Bee was coming from, but we actually see Clover interact with Knox (her ex-fiancee/best friend/Bee's love interest) and Jimmy (her dad) at the beginning a lot more than we see Bee interact with Bree (her twin sister/Clover's love interest) or the rest of her family. Bee also interacts with Knox and Jimmy a lot in her story, whereas Clover only interacts with Bree, and not as much in the beginning part of her story as she focuses a bit more around her own self-discovery. As soon as Bree and Clover have their first heart-to-heart we learn more about the sisters' parents and it becomes stunningly clear just what the dynamic is in that family and what the relationship between Bee and Bree is like. But that doesn't happen until after the halfway point, which is when I start to like Bee just as much as Clover.

Speaking of – the romance does feel a little rushed for both Clover + Bree and Bee + Knox. Part of that I think can't be avoided simply because the premise of this book necessitates the book utilize the space usually reserved for one romantic couple to instead develop TWO couples. However, I personally wouldn't mind the book being longer if it means we get better development, and I don't think other readers would complain about getting more space to flesh these characters out. The characters are entwined enough that it wouldn't need to double in size from what's written now, but maybe an extra 50 pages spread throughout would help.

Clover + Bree's relationship does feel especially rushed because although there is an initial attraction, Clover does get distracted by her side-quest of running into the first (and only) girl she ever kissed from her hometown, and having to confront the feelings she might still have for this girl and resolve their past and the way Clover's high school self had been so terrified of admitting her own lesbianism that she sprinted towards heterosexuality by dating her best friend Knox. Bree and Clover fall very quickly, and sure some of it can be waved away by them being lesbians (it's pride month, we can be honest about the fact that lesbians and bisexual women have the stereotype of moving quickly for a reason) but I dunno I would have loved to see them have more romantic tension in the space leading up to them dating.

Bee + Knox's relationship I think is generally well paced, but the problem there is that there's so much for them to mull over and prevent them from getting together BUT the prose doesn't actually utilize most of it until the most abrupt moment. It would be interesting to have Bee grapple with the idea of accidentally taking over Clover's life a bit more consistently, or to have her thoughts around the kind of (poor) treatment she has allowed herself to accept from prior romantic partners and whether she wants that to be replicated here. She does have those thoughts, but sporadically, which gives the romance a very strange rhythm. Also, the dialogue between Bee and Knox lends itself to monologues at some points in the latter chapters, which I'm hoping gets addressed in a final edit before the book goes to print.

The ending is also very rushed. I was wondering how the author was going to wrap up all of the plot lines in the last 30 pages but then we suddenly get Clover's dad (Jimmy) suffering some kind of medical emergency which forces Clover to fly home and then we finally have Clover, Knox, Bee, and Bree having some kind of conversation about how Clover fell in love with Bee's sister and Bee fell in love with Clover's bestie/ex-fiancee. Honestly, I wish that conversation had been a little bit more messy than it was, but maybe that's just my toxic trait.

Then there's not really a conversation about how these relationships are gonna work. Are the couples doing long distance? Is Bee and Clover's little switcharoo gonna become a permanent thing? How would that work if Bee is still in business with her sister in San Francisco? Are people gonna be flying back and forth? It was mentioned that Knox was planning to move anyways, so is everyone just gonna live in San Francisco? So many questions, and yet all we get is everyone hanging out in Clover's big house at the end, which is ambiguous. I'm hoping that this gets resolved in maybe one final edit before the book comes out in October.

Thank you Avon and NetGalley for providing me an eARC of this book! Please keep approving me for titles – I am a simple lesbian who thinks way too much about books.

Needing a break from her demanding job and her family’s high expectations in San Francsico, Bee decides to try a house swap through an app called Vacate. Clover has suffered more than one heartbreak in the past year and isn’t up to facing the upcoming holidays, so she trades her farm in rural Ohio with Bee.

Both women find themselves immersed in a unique and fulfilling experience that proves to be exactly what the each needed. While Bee basks in the cozy small town, indulging her artistic side, and getting close to Knox, the handsome farm manager who also happens to be Clover’s ex-fiancee, Bee revels in the exciting life of a big city, exploring her sexual identity in a way she hasn’t been able to before. When she meets Beth, Bee’s twin sister, sparks fly.

Now these two sets of star-crossed lovers must find a way to get past the messiness of their meet-cutes and the temporary nature of their relationships.

With a dual setting, interconnected storylines, and endearing characters, this fast paced warm holiday romance has a wide-ranging appeal.

♡𝐞𝐀𝐫𝐜 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰♡
4.5 🌟
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Hallmark Christmas movie mixed with house swapped and queer romance ! Not too long and not too short and gets straight to the point and delivery the holiday spirits you want and need in a book. That is the review. Highly recommend! Read this book. I will definitely be doing a re-read around Christmas time. This is my first book by this author and will not be my last.
𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬 :
•queer romance
•Christmas vibes
•black main leads
•swapping houses
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𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 Oct.8
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Thank you, Netgalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for the (eArc)-eBook for my honest review.

Thank you author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!!

I love a Christmas romance and this is just as hallmark as I expected. Also someone house swap with me for the holidays lol

I’d also like to add that I love the queer friend group that just materialized for Clover when she needed it.