The Switch by Beth O'Leary has Leena and her grandmother Eileen who switch lives for 2 months.  Leena's sister died just over a year ago, and she's still grieving, throwing herself into work, until she has an issue during a presentation with a client.  Eileen is 79 years old, and after being left by her husband for his yoga teacher, she is ready to look for love, but the pickings in the village are slim.

This is a great story, with Eileen working out how to live in London, and Leena in a village where everyone knows everyone else's business.  I really enjoyed Eileen's story just as much as Leena's.

 The Switch  was published on 16th April 2020, and is available on  Amazon ,  Waterstones  and  Bookshop.org .

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, and so my thanks to NetGalley and to  Quercus Books .

I've already read and loved her other book, The Flat Share, and you can find the review  here .

Beth does it again with this fun, cheeky read. Just what I needed in these long lockdown days! It does however make me want to go on a road trip and make my own vaykay mix tape!

Like lots of people here, I requested this book after reading and loving Beth's previous book The Flatshare.

The Switch is in many ways a very different book to that one, but it IS similar in its tone and the lovely, warm characters that you instantly feel connected to and root for. I really love this about Beth's writing - she seems to have a knack for making you care and become emotionally invested in her characters almost immediately, and that makes her books a pleasure to read.

The story here revolves around Lena and her grandmother Eileen, who decide to swap homes (and to some extent, lives!) when they both need a break from their day to day routine. Lena moves into her gran's quiet little house in the Yorkshire dales, whilst Eileen takes over her granddaughter's flat in London. Both women are immediately very likeable, but there's no doubt that Eileen is the real star of the show here - I found her exploits absolutely hilarious! Lena's part of the story is somewhat predictable (although enjoyable) but for me it was Eileen's half of the book that made this a really fantastic read. Would recommend.

Having loved The Flat Share I was itching to read this book but sadly for me it was disappointing.

I did not follow this book and was really struggling to engage with it.

I left it a few weeks wondering if it were more me than the book but sadly even after a break I just did not like the book. I found it slow and dull and it really did not grab my attention at all sorry. Very unlike the Flat Share not written in the same style and the characters were no where near as warm or real

The Switch was everything and more that I was expecting from Beth O’Leary as I absolutely loved The Flatshare. I adore novels that feature beautiful and loving relationships between adult grandchildren and their grandparents so I knew I would adore the bond that Leena and Eileen shared, but it was so much funnier than I was anticipating, I laughed at Eileen’s shock at discovering some newer terminology and modern methods of dating! Beth O’Leary has a knack for writing such tender, heartfelt and realistic characters, I was convinced I could pop into Eileen on my next grocery shop or spot a London Instagram post by Leena. Another gem of a novel, I can’t wait for Beth O’Leary’s next book.

Not my usual genre to be fair but I adored it. It was charming and the characters were brilliant I loved them all, very nice book that’s easy reading and you can get lost in very easily!

The characters are all loveable in their own unique way and it is great to see a vast range of characters from all generations. Although there is an element of romance, the story also deals with much more serious issues such as the death of a loved one and some emotional abuse.

Overall, it was pretty predictable, I loved this book and is another one by Beth O'Leary that I'd highly recommend.

Unfortunately this book wasn’t for me. I am not a fan of contemporary romance and this book just bored me.
I did like the characters of Eileen and Lena but I felt it was lacking a plot and structure.

Always and forever a Beth O'Leary fangirl, I think. Whilst I didn't love this quite as much as The Flatshare, it did make me so very very happy. Beth O'Leary is the kind of writer we need in these times - giving us books that can't help but make us smile and characters we can't help but fall in love with. This was a gem of s read.

I would firstly like to thank Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Witty, heartwarming and utterly charming!
Bursting with love, friendship, and happiness, this read had me laughing, smiling like a Cheshire cat, crying and giggling! It had it's emotional elements too - grief being the underlying emotion from both characters. This moved me and made me feel for the characters, but the whole story still was uplifting, warm and light-hearted.
Leena was easily likeable, but I loved Eileen. Her outlook on life and energy was refreshing, and at times, I enjoyed her chapters more than Leena's.
Overall, this is a book that I highly recommend. An easy fun read that I didn't want to end!
Can't wait for this author's next!

i was lucky to have this as an audiobook, so heard Alison steadman as the older Lena, and really enjoyed it.
Lena the younger has ajpb, flat and social life in London, Lena the elder is a pensioner who was left by her husband and lives alone in the yorkshire Dales. Their only point of contact is their shared grief for the sister/granddaughter who died of cancer- and their concern for the mother/daughter who does not cope well.
When the younger needs a break it seems sensible to slip into her gran's life for a bit of peace. When she realises her gran once had plans to live in London herself, and would benefit from a change of scene. No one expected such life changing events to result from this.
Lena the elder's exploits are far more entertaining,. I was impressed by her old-woman toilet emergency could put Sherlock Holmes to shame when used as a cover for snooping.
Lena the younger has a predictable romantic novel time, but hte other half really lifts the book to greater level.
One would expect an old lady to have stiff joints and discomfort after sleeping in a strange bed but the circumstances around this are less often written about.
It does overstress the fact that Lena the elder is still a person and reacts internally as she always has it's just the packaging that has aged, but for those like her not very clued-up granddaughter it may be necessary to point this out.

I loved this - when flatshare came out last year, I read it and absolutely loved it so when I saw that Beth O'Leary had written another book, I knew I'd have to read it! I have to agree with what I've seen others about this being more of a "chick-lit" book than a romance however I also enjoy that genre of book too. I really enjoyed seeing both Leena blending into her grandma's life and Eileen into Leena's life. It was great getting to see Eileen getting back into the dating scene in London and getting to interact with Leena's friends at the same time as building up her club. And vice versa it was great getting to see Leena interacting with Eileens friends and repairing her relationship with her mother. I think it was pretty obvious how the story was going to end but that wasn't a bad thing in my eyes!

Thank you NetGalley for this book!! I personally would not switch but...but wait would I? I really enjoyed this book. It is full of awesome characters that were well described, This book was very easy to read and once you pick this up you will not be able to put it down.

I really enjoyed this book. It is full of fantastic characters, I loved them all. Very easy to read and once you pick this up you will not be able to put it down.

Really enjoyed reading this one. I had high hopes because I loved The Flatshare. I can confirm that it has definitely met my expectations.

Leena needs some time from work and London to get her head clear so she swaps lives with her nan, Eileen who lives in Yorkshire and is heavily involved in the running of her neighbourhood.

As someone that comes from Lincolnshire and then moved to live in a big city for university, I’m definitely a countryside kinda gal! The hustle and bustle of city life is too much for me!

This book is so sweet. It’s gotten me out of my reading slump and I finished it pretty quickly. The characters are all loveable and easy to connect with and the storylines are heartwarming and also funny in place. There are actually a lot of themes in this read, without being overwhelming and in your face: love, loss, family, friendship. The idea that sometimes you need new perspective is spot on. Sometimes you just have to take yourself away and focus on what you really want, what’s really important.

Safe to say, @betholearyauthor remains on my list of ‘Authors I love and enjoy!’ Fantastic second book! Looking forward to The Road Trip due out next year!

This is a wonderful contemporary romance story, Lena lives in London and her Grandma Eileen lives in Yorkshire. They both need a change of scenery and so decide to swap homes for a few weeks, I got right into this lovely story. A wonderful story with some delightful characters, Highly recommend.

Enjoyable read, well-written. The story of a granny and granddaughter who swap lives for a while. I liked Eileen, the older character, very much but found Leena fairly insufferable. Eileen's daughter's story happened away from the pages she seemed like an interesting character as well.

I absolutely loved The Switch by Beth O'Leary. It wasn't the contemporary romance I was expecting, but maybe it was just what I needed.

Or the verge of being considered Woman's fiction, The Switch tells the story of Leena and Eileen. A granddaughter and grandmother duo.

Leena has a high profile job in London, she's very type A and used to controlling everything around her. But after her sister passed she hasn't been the same. Everything is spiraling and after she messes up a presentation at work her boss puts her on an obligatory leave so she can get her head back in the game.

Meanwhile, Eileen is trying to get her life back together in Yorkshire. After her husband of many years leaves her, she's not devastated, but also she doesn't want to be lonely. But looking for love in such a small town can prove to be very difficult.

So, Leena and Eileen decide to switch houses for a few months. And they are forced with new and unexpected challenges. Leena first thinks that life in Yorkshire will be simple, calm and even a little bit boring. But she quickly finds that her grandma deals with a lot of things she never expected and that will definitely keep her on her toes. Eileen is loving London, but she also is faced with new obstacles. But of course, all will lead into both ladies finding romance at the right place and the right time.

Beautifully written and completely heartwarming, The Switch was adorable and I definitely recommend it.

Ps: props to the audio version narrated by Daisy Edgar-Jones.

Absolutely adored this book! I related so much to the main character and the relationship between Lena and her Grandma reminded me of mine with my grandma! I love the characters and the whole story. The relationships between all of the characters were incredible and the small town dynamic was incredible!

Leena is on overload and needs to escape London. Her 80 year old grandmother Eileen is single and still keen to mingle. So the pair decide to swap lives for two months, with Leena relocating to her grandmother’s home in rural Yorkshire and Eileen moving in with her granddaughter’s flat mates.

The Switch is a sweet, charming tale of love, family and starting again. With likeable characters and fun twists. Like a warm hug of a novel!