Disclaimer: I got this book in exchange for an honest review!

The one-line review: disappointed.

This had an adorable premise! Cassie needs an adventure and James wants an escape. The way the synopsis of the book talked about Cassie and James I thought there would be more chemistry between the two.James was definitely my favorite! I liked seeing how he became softer throughout the story. I didn't like Cassie. it reminded me of that movie The Holiday, but it wasn't as good as the movie (in my opinion). I would have loved to see the enemies to lovers part of the book throughout the book rather than just ending it somewhere in the beginning of the story.

Thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for this ARC to read and review!

Cassie, a writer who lives on a small island off the coast of Maine, and James, an uptight finance guy who lives in a swanky London apartment, are both looking to swap places. James is looking for an escape, while Cassie must move for work and to confront her past. Where James is closed off and seemingly cold, Cassie is bright, friendly, and quirky. At first, the pair don't get along and frequently call each other to complain about something the other did. Over time, they continue to learn about the other person in their respective homes and what they want from life. James tough exterior softens as he falls for the people (and alpacas) of the island and faces trauma from his past, while also falling for Cassie.

I loved the vivid details of the settings and could easily picture what Jo Levett was describing. At first, the pacing of The House Swap was slow, and as a reader it was hard to gain momentum reading until about 4o% into the book. By the end, I loved James and Cassie as individuals and together, but I would have liked more details about their time actually together rather than apart. I enjoyed seeing how they helped each other face their fears and grow as individuals throughout the book, so it would have been rewarding to see how those elements impacted their relationship in-person.

TW: miscarriage and IVF, addiction, and death

This was light-hearted, fun, and reminiscent of The Holiday movie with Cameron Diaz. I've never actually heard of anyone doing a house swap in real life, but I'm sure it's a thing. It's a great vacation read where you don't want something really heavy or intense so I would recommend it for that.

Unfortunately, there were just a few things I didn't enjoy. The book suffers from that thing that some authors do where they try to tell the story through entirely dialogue. And there is no descriptions of facial expressions, hints of personality, etc. and it's just dialogue bouncing back and forth including some conversations that really didn't need to happen and seemed very extraneous. There were also a lot of time jumps. A LOT of them.

Since James and Cassie were in each other's houses, I felt like the author really needed to spend more time investing in their relationship and showing how they slowly fall in love through notes and phone conversations. I felt like this didn't happen and was surprised when time would pass by and all the book would say is "they call each other every day now"... and then bam, they're both in love and I didn't actually feel convinced of that at all. I'm sure they're very good friends, but love? Eh.

Also, trigger warning for IVF. I actually tend to stay away from books with IVF because it's quite depressing so if that was in the description, I would not have requested this arc to review... Still, I powered through, although I do feel that women who actually struggle with fertility and are sensitive about this topic are going to be pretty annoyed at what happens in the last few chapters of the book. So I really didn't appreciate the book not having a trigger warning for this.

This was a cute enemies to lovers story and although I liked it, I didn’t love it-mainly because there was a little too much cheese factor for me. And James, one of the main characters, started out as such a brash, self-centered jerk and then magically turned into this caring, super friendly guy that everyone loved. It was just too much of an abrupt change in character for my liking. But the idea behind the story is cute.
James’ ex is stalking him so his friends talk him into doing a SwapBnB to get away for a while so she could move on and he wouldn’t have to deal with her. Cassie has had a bad break up but has had some great success in her career and needs a change of scenery to write her next book series, so she decides to swap as well. They chat online and decide to swap for 6 months. Of course they are very different types of people and as such, challenges exist in adapting to each other’s houses and lives so they are in constant communication and start to grow feelings for each other.
They finally meet in person and sparks fly. Overall, there was cute banter and some of the support characters were fun. I enjoyed that they didn’t just immediately fall in love -and I loved that Cassie had alpacas and chickens and lived a simple life and James was ultra modern. It was like country mouse and city mouse lol
Cute little story and though there were a few minor hiccups for me, I liked it overall.
Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for this Arc in exchange for my review.

Slow paced but still fun. I agree with other reviewers that the first half of the book with the build up was Lovett’s finest moment. The witty, cute, banter made for a great slow burn!

but still incredibly fun.

I definitely enjoyed the beginning of this more than the end, but that's the case with most romances. The interactions and banter between James and Cassie were so funny, and I loved reading about them. I'm a fan of enemies-to-lovers, so their semi-hatred at the beginning had me hooked. The last 25% just got a bit too sweet for me, everything worked out too well.

But the real star of this book were the alpacas. Every time they showed up, i knew we were about to get an amazing scene. James slowly growing to care and worry about them was one of the best things I've ever read. Especially because he was some tough business man, and ended up crooning to an alpaca.

The concept of this was super unique, and it kept me hooked the entire time! It was a super fun read, and I'd definitely recommend it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Jo Lovett for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

Likeable characters and an interesting plot. asie and James swap house for 6 months due to work and personal commitments, but find there is more to it than just swapping a location.

IVF, miscarriage, death and addiction all play a part in the story line and could upset some readers if they are not expecting the content.

A slow paced, easy read that was enjoyable and kept me engaged until the end.

This story got me wishing that Swap BnB really existed!

This story is about James and Cassie; Cassie lives on an island in the US, whilst James lives in London. However, Cassie is an author and because she has got a deal for six more books and needs to go to London. On the other hand, James needs to escape from London and his ex. Cassie puts her house on Swap BnB and James puts his apartment on Swap BnB as well, both of them love each other's homes and agree to swap. Cassie and James are so different from each other, so they have a few bumps along the way, but whilst doing so, they start to become fond of each other!

I am absolutely in love with this story! The story is so high in emotion, I enjoyed watching the characters grow and adapt to the environment; James becoming softer and all lovey-dovey with the animals and making friends with the neighbours, and Cassie making new adventures whilst in London! What I enjoyed most though is how well they complement each other, and how they accepted their past and helped each other move on!

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

This book is just what you need for pure escapism. I absolutely loved all the characters in this story with the main ones being Cassie and James. Cassie lives on an Island in Maine USA and James lives in a 'top pad' in London.
They both decide now is the time to have a change of scenery (for different reasons)...hence the 'House Swap'
Jo writes with such clarity it is easy to visualise the scenes and captures you fully into the story.
This book will make you laugh and cry and will keep you turning the pages!
It's an absolute MUST read.

Well, this was fun! I would say that this was a very relaxing and easy read. I enjoyed the settings and the alpacas! I also liked the overall plot idea. However, I didn't like the pacing of it. It was kinda slow with not much happening for half of it and like you know that the couple is going to get together eventually because it's a romance but it's taking too long even for a slowburn and you're getting kinda impatient. The romance was nice. I felt it escalated a bit too quickly though. There were a lot of time skips and I get why they were needed since the book's a bit short but I felt like a lot more happenings could have been expanded on, like a lot of the Glasgow scenes. Also some characters felt like they were picked up and then dropped and never heard from again djdjsjshdhd. I was also kind of surprised that this wasn't steamy at all — but nothing wrong with that! I personally preferred it to be spicier but Cassie and James still had a lot of cute moments and I especially enjoyed the ending. Would recommend this as a fun, cutesy, summer read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
This was quite a slow paced book. We did get to know the characters thoroughly, and they also became intimate friends first... but there was not much happening at all for big chunks of the story.
Cassie's baby issues were insightful and felt very real. James as a character though, he just wasn't my kind of guy I think.
I can see other readers appreciating this more, apologies.
2.5 stars

Cassie lives on an island off the coast of Maine, James lives in London, England. For independent reasons they both need to spend time in each other’s areas and they connect through an online service that facilitates house swaps. Cassie is warm, thoughtful, inviting, and friends with everyone. To protect himself from his past, James is reserved, a little thoughtless, and pretty distant to those around him. What starts as a few snarky texts and phone calls turns into nearly daily conversations, and their story proceeds from there. This is a really fun, mostly lighthearted enemies to lovers story. If you liked The Switch by Beth O’Leary, this will probably be right up your alley.

*I was provided an ARC from @netgalley and the publisher @bookouture for my honest review.

She needs to spend some time in London researching her book. He needs to get far away from London for a while to distance himself from some personal problems. They meet on a house sharing website and decide to swap homes for a while. Simple, right? The characters were in their late 30's and set in their ways but there was a lot of personal growth during the swap and they each became better versions of themselves. I don't want to spoil this sweet story but look for it's publication on April 19th, 2021. Well worth the read.

I've just finished this book and I'm in love! The characters of Cassie and James drew me in as I followed their story of swapping houses on opposite sides of the Atlantic. Their relationship was frustrating at times but heartwarming as it progressed. A great story of friendship, alpacas and love!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read this book.

Overall I’d give this book 2.5 out of 5 stars. I found it very slow and lacking chemistry. The two main characters swap houses and start talking. They’re polar opposites yet we are led to believe that after 7 months of barley talking they fall in love? They barely know each other!

I kept reading thinking the story would pick up, it it doesn’t! Then James does a huge 180, it’s very unbelievable. There was hardly any romance for being called a “romance” and there was no depth. Entirely predictable and frustrating.

A lovely love story. I loved how different Cassie and James were over the house swop with food, bedding etc. The notes made me laugh and the phone calls to the alpac . I loved how James grew and how Cassie's editor kept her private and public life seperate. Had no idea how it would end. It was lovely how James and his sister reconnected. Also how James finally told his best friends what his home life had really been like. A must read

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. This was a great book, I laughed and cried in equal measure, a definite must read.

The House Swap is the first book I’ve read by Jo Lovett and I really enjoyed it.

James needs and escape and Cassie needs an adventure so why not swap homes and continents for six months via a hike swap website? Cassie needs to leave her island hideaway off the coast of Maine to research her new book in London, whilst following a break up, James just wants to escape the city. After finding each other it seems like the perfect opportunity for both of them. However it seems it’s not simply a case of just swapping homes as they both get involved in each others lives. This is a heartwarming love story that I found hard to put down as I was eager to see how their friendship progressed and whether it would lead to more.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the chance to review.

A lovely romance focusing on James and Cassie, two people who are looking to swap houses for completely different reasons. The combination of travel and romance made it a great feel-good read that made me want to get on a plane!

To begin with, I wasn't so keen on the character of James, but he definitely grew on me as his friendship with Cassie grew. It definitely gave me vibes of an up-to-date 'The Holiday'! There is some fantastic character development and a lovely ending between the two of them. The book sensitively dealt with issues of loss linked to the main characters.

Thank you to NetGalley for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A nice read. For me it was a bit slow and too much back and forth at the start. For me it was probably from about 70% in that I got truly invested and I couldn’t put it down. It was easy to read and flowed well. The descriptions of Cassies island were amazing and I enjoyed seeing the change in James as he spent more time there especially with the alpacas.

The ending was amazing and I loved seeing Cassie and James happy and together.