A perfect read for the holidays ❣️ a perfect YA sweet and clean romance. This book was cute and easy to read and the cover is so pretty.

The story takes place in the town of Holly where a Christmas movie was made and is a centre of attraction for the tourists for the very same reason. Lila works in a gift shop with her own free library there as she loves to read. She also babysits and has a blog where she posts reviews (it is a secret, not even her family knows for reasons you will find out when you read). The reviews include glimpses of her entire life and her feelings. She has to take up more shifts to save for college, she wants to be a doctor (or not?). This plan of working extra hours goes on toss when the owner hires her nephew Teddy.

Teddy is college freshman, his entry changes and is further going to disrupt Lila's path and maybe also bring some clarity. He has a secret of his own. They both have to help each other to keep it hidden from their families. Starting off on the wrong foot is what they do, let's see what happens from there. They were both opposites.

This book is a light read, filled with aspirations but also an understanding that is required between family or any relation. The writing was good and I enjoyed reading this book. A cozy, beautiful read. I loved reading Lila's blog post.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House for a chance to read this in exchange of an honest review.

This book is a sweet romance filled with secrets. Filled with diverse characters and a great Holiday themed town, this book is a feel good book for those cold winter days. Lila, who is the author of a great book blog, is trying to earn money for college by working at the town's famous Inn while keeping her social media presence a secret. Teddy comes to town to work for his Aunt but has secrets of his own. Will these two learn how to work together and trust each other before their secrets are revealed? Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4.5/5 ★
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Author: Tif Marcelo
Pub Date: 5th October 2021

My Review

– All it took was one little switch –

The Holiday Switch was such an adorable holiday romance between a Filipino-American girl working at a prestigious inn situated in her town, and the innkeeper’s nephew. This book was great because I was in a reading slump and I genuinely needed a short holiday romance to cure it!! While romance is an important aspect in this book, it talks about so much more. It talks about making life decisions, pressures exuded by Asian parents onto their children, choosing between what you want to do and what you should do and so much more. I was looking forward to reading this book because I had heard that the characters accidentally exchange phones and somehow get over the their infuriation with each other :’)

I usually don’t read holiday romances, I’ve only read one called Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares and that is one of my favourite books!! The Holiday Switch, in my opinion was so different from the holiday movies/books I have encountered. It wasn’t very different in terms of the tropes, pace, and even plot at times. It was different because it had so much representation. The main character was Asian and so is was love interest, and I really loved that this book talked about struggles (not directly) with being a person of colour living in a white dominated country, trying to make a living.

The writing was fairly simple and easy to read. The descriptions were my favourite part of the writing!! I could genuinely imagine the town of Holly, the inn and how the characters looked like! The writing was well paced and kept me interested throughout the book, it was a short read too!!

Lila Castro was the main character in this book. She was organised, she made lists, she got accepted into her first choice college. Basically? Lila had her life figured out. Well, that’s not completely true. Lila is definitely going into my “top 10 characters of all time” list because of how amazing and how similar she was to me (this feels like I’m obsessed with myself. I promise I’m not a narcissist). She loved reading AND she also blogged?? On the surface Lila seemed like she had her life set, but she had actually been keeping a secret from her parents for the past 2 years and now she was questioning career paths?? Teddy on the other hand, was quite the opposite, but being less “uptight” caused him to have much more creative and better ideas for the inn than Lila. I loved Teddy and Lila’s relationship, it was really cute and they took their time to reach the stage of liking each other. I didn’t really like Lila’s friends. I understood that they were close but I found myself noticing that they forced her to do things she was uncomfortable with and that was just not right for me.

In conclusion this book was a heartwarming holiday romance, filled with holiday spirit, perfect if you want a short, cute read which also touches upon aspects such as family and true aspirations!!

Tif Marcelo's "The Holiday Switch" is centered around Lila, a high school student who is working in a bookstore to save up money for college. Since she loves books, she thrives in this environment and her boss loves her. When her boss tasks her with training her visiting nephew, Teddy, sparks fly and tempers rise. Teddy, a college freshman, comes in with ideas to update the bookstore, much to Lila's chagrin. Along the way, they realize that they actually have a lot in common and begin to uncover the relationship growing between them.

I really enjoyed the bookstore setting in this book, and appreciated the YA-appropriate chemistry between the characters. I thought this book was well-written and it was a cute, easy read. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

This is a fun, quick read if you're in the mood for a Christmas themed rom-com. Our main character, Lila works in a gift shop in a small town known for being the setting of a beloved Christmas movie (think any of the Hallmark movies). When the owner's nephew, Teddy, comes to visit over the holidays, he is put onto the shop's schedule and clashes with Lila. Of course, we all know where this is going. Still, it was a cute, wholesome story.

I really enjoyed this. It was a quick, cute romance that will get you in the mood for the holidays. I’d recommend if you are looking for a fun YA romance that’ll get you ready for winter. I love the enemies to lovers, book themed, holiday vibes that this book has.

I love EVERYTHING Christmas: baking cookies, decorating the house, singing Christmas carols and watching alllllll the Hallmark Christmas movies! So, needless to say, this book was right up my alley! Set in the town of Holly, Lila is a typical smart, hard-working teen girl, with a little stress due to upcoming college and life decisions. She finds herself helping her boss train the new employee Teddy… who seems to be a bit of a thorn in her side ….. And similar to my beloved Hallmark movies, there are a couple of little plot twists and turns that just might turn to romance:! I love the YA “appropriateness” of this book as well as the Kind, sweet, funny and cute little Hollyisms . I loved the names of the business and places and the silly little terms that played right into the Christmas theme! ❤️
Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy and opportunity to review The Holiday Switch !

As I read this book, I had to remind myself that it is a YA book, and a good one at that. Why did I like it? It is a nice, clean, sweet romance for teenagers. The setting is Holly, a town where a Christmas movie was once made, and a town where everything is based on Christmas. There is no real bad guy in this book; no evil teen who is a bad infulence on others. It was just so sweet and nice to see a good wholesome book that shows that there are teens who are still what teens should be, (No drugs, drinking, sex,etc....Wow!)

Lila and her friends are seniors in high school as Christmas break approches. Lila loves to read and had started a free library in the gift shop/bookstore of the local (holiday themed) inn. She works there as well as babysits---anything she can do to earn money as she has been accepted at Stanford in pre-med. She knows her family had gone through some tough financial times so she feels sure she must earn as much money as possible. (Yet the reader knows she still does some fun teen activities which cost money and drives a car so...)

After asking her boss for extra hours, she is informed the boss' nephew, Teddy, will be spending the holidays there and will be given hours at the book store. College freshman hunk Teddy shows up, and he and Lila clash immediately but we all know, a holiday romance will smooth all that tension over.

Lila has discovered that not only does she love to read but she also loves to share her opinions on books on her personal book blog. Kept a secret from her family due to their distrust of the internet, she keeps this secret until an accidental mixup with cell phones and Teddy gets into her phone. From there, they both discover they are keeping secrets from their families and must work together to help each other.

As an educator, no, this is not a book I would read with a class. However, I would recommend this book to students, male and female, because of the basic respect the teens have for family, friends, and each other. Also, there is a story of a first love appearing and nothing can be much sweeter especially as this stays sweet. I also like the fact that each of the main characters is pursuing an interest even though this had been discouraged by parents, yet it was done in a manner that they showed they felt bad about keeping a secret.

Is the story realistic? I would like to think there is still some naivete in teens and that they are not all young people trying to be adults far too early.

One area of wording confused me and maybe I should have gone back to reread a brief, if late, explanation. Lila was often referred to as "Ate" by her family. Apparently it was a term from her father's side of the family and used as an affectionate term for the oldest, much like "Aunt." It just seemed odd.

Rating of 5 stars is based on a younger teen's reading and enjoyment.

I did receive this book early through NetGalley. #TheHolidaySwitch #NetGalley

The descriptions of holiday traditions combine with Filipino traditions in a fun YA romance. The romantic aspect is lightly touched on, and much of the focus remains on family and friendships, which I think will really appeal to teens. Additionally there are several LGBTQ characters who are an important part of the story and yet are not the focal point. I really liked how the author created such an inclusive and diverse cast of characters.

The novel focuses on traditions and changing course from what has always been expected. I think these themes will resonate with young adults trying to determine their future while also wanting to enjoy the traditions with which they've grown up.

This was a fun read! Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC. #NetGalley

The Holiday Switch is a cute book. It has a very Hallmark film feel to it, which I greatly enjoyed, and the book was hard to put down because things played through just like they would during Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas. Highly recommend as a fun, quick Christmas read!

This was a super cute YA holiday rom-com. Lila is a hard working senior in high school, the oldest in her family and has a secret blog, Tinsel and Tropes. Teddy has come to to town to work for his aunt for the holiday season in Holly, NY, where a famous Christmas film was set (based on a book) and all things Christmas exist all the time. This was sweet and romantic, but also dealt with some issues within the family of trust and secrets, as well as the role of the eldest in a Filipino household. Overall I really enjoyed the story and the characters (and not just because it's set in my region of NY State!) Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Charming book about teenagers growing into themselves and falling in love with each other and the holidays. A cozy winter read.

Lila is an anonymous book blogger (and no one but her best friends knows) just looking to get more hours at the Bookworm Inn so that she can help ease some of the financial burden to go to college for premed. However, her request for more hours is denied because the Bookworm Inn is getting a new temporary employee - Teddy, the nephew of the owner. And after a disastrous first shift together, Lila is ready to avoid him at all costs.

Until their phones get switched.

This book was actually much better than I expected for a young-adult holiday read. Though I guess with a book blogger for a main character, you can't go wrong. Lila's passion for her blog and books was one of the things I loved about her, along with her strong love for her family and not wanting to disappoint them. And Teddy was not nearly as much of a prick as I thought he was going to be. In fact, he was the opposite. He was sweet and funny and liked to push Lila to realize that her real passion was in writing, not becoming a doctor.

What I also enjoyed was how both Lila and Teddy had their secrets, not from each other, but from their families. They pushed each other to come clean about their secrets because they had their share of guilt over everything. The budding relationship and banter between them was adorable, and when Lila had Teddy watch the movie that their town was famous for... I was dying at his reaction! So cute! These two had a fun journey over a short course of time and I loved how it all came together in the end.

As a bonus, I loved seeing Lila's blog posts throughout the book!

Overall, a cute holiday read that I would definitely recommend!

So cute. Definitely reads more younger YA, very chaste so safe for younger teen readers.

That cover drew me in and ultimately I enjoyed it! I don't usually go for many holiday themed books so this was a nice surprise.
Can't wait to pick up more from the author.

Thanks to the publisher for the review copy!

The Holiday Switch is a cute YA romance that is plays on and is self aware of its use of typical holiday book tropes. When Lila first meets Teddy, her boss's nephew, she finds him cute but annoying. He wants to change things about how things are done in their tourist trap gift shop, and to make matters worse, he's taken some of the extra hours she was expecting to get during Christmas break. When they accidentally take each other's phones home and have to swap them back, they both end up learning secrets about the other. And as Lila gets to know Teddy better, she starts to forget what she disliked so much about him.

This was a really light, relatively drama free romance. While there's some tension due to Lila hiding her book blog from her parents, as well as her belief that she needs to earn as much as she can during her last semester of high school to make college possible, it's never terribly stressful - perfect for a holiday romance.

The book was short and sweet, which I appreciated. Everything moved quickly and I never felt that there was too much exposition or anything being drawn out. It also felt realistic for a romance between teens - there was no insistence that they would be together forever, but there was also a chance for them to continue their relationship, since Lila was already planning to attend the college that Teddy goes to (meaning there was also no “should I follow him to college” plot line - she’d made that decision before even meeting him).

Overall, nothing particularly new here, but perfect for someone looking for a fun, lighthearted holiday teen romance.

A nice, cozy, holiday read! I need to know if any of the books that were blogged about are based on actual books because oh my goodness several of them sound so good.

I would liked to have seen more resolution with Teddy's family at the end because I was very curious about them, but other than that this book was great. Lila and Teddy make a good pair! Lila's friends, KC and Carm, were great additions and I appreciated that they (along with Teddy) tried to get Lila to step outside of her comfort zone.