This book is nice. It is sweet. It is... just nice.

The premise is fun, and I enjoy many of the characters, the writing is good, and it has all the trappings of a quality Hallmark Christmas movie...

....but it is very much Hallmark Christmas movie quality rom com. Things are INCREDIBLY predictable, not a single reveal is a surprise at all. Rom coms are often very predictable, but there is fun in how we get there... the journey in The Christmas Swap is kind of bland. Characters jump to conclusions and then immediately talk themselves out of those conclusions with an elevated self awareness that seems to come out of nowhere. There are some quality relationship building moments, but for the most part things are very instantaneous which has never been my jam.

I give it 3 stars for "I liked it, but I definitely didn't love it and I wouldn't read it again.". If you want a very feel good, sweet, Christmas themed story with multiple points of conflict that all get very nicely and neatly wrapped up in record time... this might be the book for you. But if you can't make it through a B level Hallmark Christmas movie, you will not enjoy this book.

The Christmas Swap is a sweet, sometimes ridiculous, sapphic romance. Faced with a Christmas alone after her emotionally abusive girlfriend dumps her, Margot Murray agrees to pose as her marketing client Ben Gibson's girlfriend. He's perennially single, and tired of being a disappointment in the eyes of his uber wealthy parents, who own a hotel/manor in the countryside.

Their plan works well, until Ben's nosy younger sister Elle gets the wrong idea about Margot, and does some digging, ultimately uncovering the truth. She agrees to keep Ben & Margot's secret, but she also ends up falling in love with Margot herself. Hijinks ensue.

This is a nice cosy novel for anyone looking for a bit of holiday fun and romance. I found it to be a little surface-level, apart from the very heavy topic of Margot's status as an emotional abuse victim. But even then, there was no real depth given to the subject matter. For the right reader, it's the equivalent of a sapphic Hallmark movie. 2.5 stars rounded up. Thanks to NetGalley and Alcove for the ARC.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book!
I really love Christmas time, so I was so excited to read this (yes, in June). The plot of the book is adorable—wonderful yet perpetually single man convinces his lesbian contract employee to join him at his family’s estate for a Christmas week? And he has a hot hot hot sister? What could go wrong!?
Honestly it ended up being so very cute and I adored Ben, he was so unproblematic and sweet. Margot was funny and smart and so put together and I will stomp on her ex if I see her 👀 ugh. Ellie was very fun and free! Ugh and all the other characters 🥺 everyone was so lovely.
A couple things that I would like to touch on (this might not be a biggie for you which is great!) but, I found it to detract from the story with how…flippant Ellie was? She would be very determined and then at the slightest inconvenience or quite frankly a pin drop and she ran or got mad at someone and idk if it just triggered me or what 😂 also I felt like the end was finished so quickly—there was a ton of build up and then it was over. I would have loved a little more! Otherwise I think this was a really cute story!

To start, I want to say that I really enjoyed reading this book! It has some of my favorite elements; a Christmas theme and the enemies to lover trope!

Though the story starts out straightforward, it fizzes out to a bit of a slow burn romance. Margot, Ben, Grandpa Mo, and Mitsi were my absolute favorite characters. I enjoyed getting to know them through their storylines; I legit wanted to reach out and give them a hug while I was reading!!

However, there were two things that didn’t work for me. First, was Ellie’s character did not seem flushed out all the way; we’re not given much of her background story. She seemed a bit all over the place and quick to latch on to and obsessive over incomplete thoughts/ideas without exploring other possibilities. Though by end, Ellie did grow on me a bit. Secondly, i don’t think Margot was completely able to process what she went through and her past relationship. And we don’t really get to see how that affects her relationship with Ellie; assuming that it does.

If you’re looking for a cozy sapphic Christmas romance, this is definitely the book for you!

Thank you to NetGalley, Alcove Press, and the author for the eARC!

I adore Ellie & Ben's family. This is absolutely the coziest Christmas story I've read in quite awhile. Grandpa, Mitzy the pregnant dog, tacky Christmas jumpers, hotel villa manor house straight out of a Hallmark movie, all of it.

And Margot. My favorite character. The chapters from her point of view are my favorite. I love when you know from the outset that a couple is made for each other!

If you need a reminder that sometimes attraction just works, this is your story. Oh, and a bit of seasonal magic. Despite the sham and the inability to keep up appearances, Margot & Ellie are meant to be.

"I smile. I suppose there's always next year for a nice normal Christmas."

(The story does deal sensitively with a past of emotional abuse, so be aware of that. But the story is, in fact, a healing one.)

I can't wait to reread this book during Christmas! Such a sweet, classic sapphic rom com. Enjoyed the characters and the writing.

Let’s start with the good: Fake-girlfriend that falls for a friend's sister? Check. Takes place at Christmas? Check. Sweet Chemistry? Check. With that said, The Christmas Swap did let me down.

Maybe it was the poor formatting of the book, which made it really hard to read and digest, that made me lose interest, or maybe it was the fact that Ellie thought Margot was a gold-digger, which rubbed me the wrong way, but for the life of me I couldn’t connect to the story and characters. Don’t get me wrong, the concept is perfect and something I would normally eat up and I’m sure others will enjoy this book.

If you’re looking for a quick read that takes place during Christmas to cool down these hot nights, then check it out.

I received an ARC from Alcove Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Christmas Swap was a sweet and fun read. I hadn't read anything by Talia Samuels, but bases on this book, I will seek out any new books she writes.

4.25⭐️
Content warnings: Toxic relationship, gaslighting, emotions abuse (all in relationship prior to this book but it’s aftermath is very much there)

This was a really cute lesbian Christmas romance. There were some beautiful quotes and the characters were incredibly developed. It was pretty predictable, but that doesn’t bother me much when it comes to romance (I just wanna feel something).

This was first person multiple pov, which is my favorite way to read romance. However, one of the narrators assumes the worst of people, so the first half of her pov’s were kinda painful to get through.

Other things some readers might not enjoy: there was some cringey dialogue with references to modern day musicians and phrases which doesn’t always bother me, these were extra cringey tho. (A reader is referred to as an alpha. Unironically).

Overall, I recommend this if you’re looking for a queer winter romance!

Thank you to NetGalley, Alcove Press, and the author for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Margot is recently single and is frankly not interested in entering into a cliched romance. When her client, Ben, invites her to a vacation at his family’s country home in exchange for pretending to be his girlfriend she decides it might just be worth it. What Margot didn’t bargain for is Ben’s sister Ellie. Ellie senses that something is off and is determined to get to the bottom of it. However, as Ellie and Margot spend more time together will they realize how much they have in common? Will something more develop between the two, threatening Ben and Margot’s charade?

This was a super cute holiday read. Starting with the positive, I really liked the cast of characters and overarching plot. It was a setup bound to lead to mayhem, hijinks, and misunderstandings. I enjoyed seeing the friendship develop between Margot and Ben, and I think Ben was probably the most unproblematic man I’ve read in a long time. I think that their conversations related to Margot’s treatment in her previous relationship were handled very well. Moving into the negatives, I just felt like the pacing was off. This could be because I’m partial to faster paced books, whereas this was absolutely slower and more drawn out where I’m not sure it needed to be. Also, while I love Ellie and Margot together and where they ended up as the story finished, I felt like they got started very fast. There were a lot of obstacles in their way like Ellie’s recent hatred of Margot, Margot and Ben’s façade of dating, and even just Margot’s ability to enter into a healthy relationship after her recent split from her emotionally abusive ex. All this aside, if you want a cute and clean sapphic holiday romance, this book is a great pick and a fun read.

CW: discussions of dementia, death of a family member (prior to events of the book), emotional abuse

Margot Murray just got out of a relationship with her girlfriend Taylor. Taylor, while always being there for Margot, is also emotionally abusive, only Margot doesn’t realize it. She needed to get away for Christmas. Ben Gibson is a client of Margot’s who is going to his parents in the countryside. Ben is a kind person, but not lucky with love. Tired of being questioned about when he’ll have a girlfriend, he makes a pact with Margot. She pretends to be his girlfriend for the holiday, and she has somewhere to go for Christmas. Everything works out. That is, until Margot meets Ben’s younger sister, Ellie.

The book starts off right away, Margot and Ben in the car on their way to Ben’s parents house. I liked that it went into it straight away. Some stories take a bit to get going, but I was interested in this one right away.

Things I liked most about the book.. I really liked Ben. He seemed like just such a kind person and a good friend. A lot of the times with storylines like this, the guy tends to try to get with the girl and things can get uncomfortable. Margot says right away in the book that she is a lesbian and I love how Ben always respects that and respects her boundaries. He didn’t try to push her to be with him at all.

With what I disliked about the book, it’s really just certain aspects of Ellie’s character. Right away, she didn’t want to like Margot and I feel like she was a little over the top with that, calling her a gold digger and everything. I also feel that some parts of the story sort of dragged on a little. I feel the book could’ve been cut down a little and couple have been shorter.

But overall, I really liked this book. It was a cozy romance book that didn’t get too crazy, but had some nice romance. I also think all the characters in the book did seem like decent people, other than Margot’s ex, Taylor, obviously. But it was nice to see Ben and Ellie helping her a lot to realize that Taylor was in fact, emotionally abusive.

Thank you so much to Alcove Press and NetGalley for sending me a free early copy in exchange for an honest review!

this felt a lot like “kiss her once for me” just with a blonde main character and no end goal of marriage. margot is prompted by a man she’s closeish to to fake date for the holidays and ends up falling in love with his sister instead of him. i felt like margot and ellie were not the best couple. not super compatible and ellie was so rough around the edges in a not good way. she didn’t trust margot at all in the beginning but after margot explains herself ellie just completely accepts that she’s good? eh.

This was a very cute LGBTQ love story about a girl Margo, who breaks up with her girlfriend. Meets a boy who needs a fake girlfriend to bring home for the holidays but something is just not quite right. Ellie, the boys sister, questions the whole relationship from the get go and now Margo and Ellie are getting very close. Close enough to start a relationship of their own? Or will Margo stick with the plan, after all she is getting a 2 week vacay out of it….. ❤️

The author has done an amazing job of bringing two different relationships together and the characters are so well developed and flawed that you might confuse them for your best friends. This is a very nice rom com that will have you reading until the very last page all in one setting.


5 out of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley as well as the author/publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.

Margot was a great character and I really rooted for her, but Ellie was more unlikeable, especially as a romantic interest for Margot. Ellie is impulsive and reckless and seems like a bad fit for Margot, who needs stability and calm. It’s hard to root for a couple to get together when it doesn’t seem like they’re good for each other.

Despite the book feeling too long for the little amount of plot, there was a fun sense of humor in the writing that kept me engaged. Bits like ending a chapter with a declaration then immediately reversing that statement in the opening of the next chapter, it was funny and worked well. (Though there was a massive slam on Girl on Red out of nowhere.)

Overall, this was a cute, chaste romance novel.

Margot Murray's holiday plans with her girlfriend fell through when the relationship ended, and she doesn't really want to spend Christmas with her mother, so she agrees to an offbeat plan proposed by her client, Ben Gibson: if she pretends to be Ben's girlfriend for the holidays so that he doesn't have to feel like a sad singleton, she can spend a couple of weeks with him and his family at their manor house/inn in Cheshire. Getting to know each other in order to get their story straight helps them develop an easy friendship, but Margot finds it more difficult to feel at ease around Ben's gorgeous sister, Ellie, after a clumsy meet-cute when she arrives.

Ellie, the "loose cannon" of the family who normally travels the world and arrives home for Christmas with a girlfriend of the month, can't figure out why someone as gorgeous and as put-together as Margot would be with Ben, a very earnest and chatty man who hasn't been able to find a girlfriend before. And when Ellie overhears a couple of their conversations, she suspects Margot has ulterior motives for cozying up to Ben.

What worked for me:
--Margot's genuine kindness, even when playing a part.
--Margot working through the difficult realizations she has about her previous (toxic) relationship. Very realistic portrayal of the difficulties of labeling abuse and finding ways to move past it.
--Ben! He's adorable, and the way he offered Margot support was top-notch friend skills.
--Gramps. What a mischief-making sweetheart.
--A good family reconciliation at the end.

What didn't:
--Ellie. Snap judgments, eavesdropping, jumping to conclusions... then doing a 180 when Margot cleared things up? Someone really needs to work on communication skills and trust and curbing impulses.
--Pretty much all the other family members not really seeing each other clearly, especially how they ignored Ellie or how compliments were often couched with a "you could have done better" vibe.
--The almost-insta-love.
--Ellie's really reckless reaction to something towards the end of the book.

A pleasant enough read, but the more I pondered it, the more I felt like it just fell short. 2.5 stars rounded up.

CW: past death of grandparent, gaslighting, emotional abuse

Thank you, Alcove Press and NetGalley, for providing an eARC of this book. Opinions expressed here are solely my own.

<i>Thanks so much to Alcove Press and NetGalley for this eARC</i>

This was a very sweet book. There were definitely shades of [book:Kiss Her Once for Me|60321485] with the fake relationship over the holidays, but at the same time, it was done in a very original, unique way (i.e. not for money or anything, just out of embarrassment and family insecurity). I like that the author didn't try to force the lie/Ellie's investigation into Margot's gold-digger nature for longer than she did, as I could have seen that getting very tiresome to read.

This book also does a very good job looking at emotional abuse. At one point, it's a little like the signs were being copied from a info website about it, but thankfully, the emotions of it, and the chaotic nature, the uncertainty, all of that is handled beautifully.

Something unusual for me here is I need to give a shoutout to a supporting character before mentioned either of the mains: Ben is just soo sweet! I was a little concerned that at some point he might try and make his fake relation with Margot into the real thing, even though she was 'a raging lesbian' (her own self description). But no, he was just a wonderfully positive example of non-toxic masculinity, and just an incredible friend.

Our two leads Margot and Ellie were great. That said, it did get a little on the nose at times just how perfect/in-sync the two of them were (i.e. just how often one would says something they love, or think it, and then the other would talk about their love of it). I do have to agree with another commentator about how much Ellie seemed to infantilize Ben. Finally, Ellie says she never guessed Margot's sexuality...really? Really, Ellie? She lists one of her favourite musical acts as Girl in Red...that didn't clue you in at all? ;P

This is definitely the most PG friendly romance I've read in a while, at least from a spice-level standpoint. The affection among the characters is limited strictly to kissing (I don't think there's even a mention or hint of interest in anything heavier than that). This is fine, of course, but if you're looking for a romance for the sex scenes, this is a skippable book.

One other minor complaint: This book felt pretty long. For as low stakes as the drama was, it felt like a bit much to go through every single day leading up to Christmas, plus Margot & Ben's initial set up and the epilogue afterward. I might have shaved some of that down a bit.

In the end, a cute holiday rom-com. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

It's a classic setup: Ben needs a date for the holidays, and Margot needs a place to go. In public, they'll be together; behind closed doors, it's strictly platonic. But there's a twist...in the form of Ben's sister, Ellie. Who is a lesbian. As is Margot. And when sparks inevitably fly, it's not between the "happy couple".

On the whole this is cute and fluffy, poised to be a fun winter read. There's a fair amount going on—Margot is still reeling from the falling of her previous (toxic) relationship, Ellie is trying to prove to her parents that she's moved on from her partying days to string lights and picnics, and Ben is sufficiently ashamed of being chronically single that, well, Margot is there for Christmas. I'm on record many times saying that I don't love Evil Villains Who Are Evil, but I *do* appreciate that the other characters understand, often better than Margot does, why it might be hard to fully disentangle from her ex. And I love the occasional silly plays with language, e.g., "I'm feeling very strange about the strange thing with the strange stranger" (loc. 187*).

Where I get stuck, though, is with this: When Margot and Ellie get together, it's with a thoughtlessness so extreme that it borders on cruelty. They absolutely don't mean any cruelty—they're both nice women with a side of pumpkin spice. But there's never a point at which they consider that sneaking around to date each other, when Margot is there to play-act as Ben's girlfriend, might hurt anyone. Nobody suggests that they hold off on their attraction for a couple of weeks, or discusses how it's going to feel to Ben to have to either 1) come clean to his family about hiring a girlfriend for a week or 2) *not* come clean but instead pretend, a month or two down the line, that it's totally fine that his ex-girlfriend is now dating his sister. Margot is looking forward to telling Ben everything, but only so that she has someone to giggle and gossip with, because she's now viewing Ben as her best friend. (There's actually something quite intriguing in Margot's decision to view a relative stranger-come-fake-boyfriend as her best friend—it might be reflective of the shakiness of her other friendships and perhaps the damage that's been done to her sense of what a relationship should be, thanks to the toxic ex. Or it might be something else! In any case, it would have been interesting to see that explored in more detail.)

So I wanted to cheer Margot and Ellie on, but in the end I was mostly just sad for Ben. It works out, of course (not a spoiler! It's a romance novel, so of course it works out—and you can see the shape of things working out coming from quite some distance), but I spent most of the second half of the book trying to figure out what would have made the whole thing sit better with me. Again: as characters, they aren't written as bad people, but...with a lesbian romance novel, I don't want my overarching takeaway to be sympathy for the straight, cisgender, "best friend" of a man.

I was very much looking forward to this—it wasn't the book for me, but I hope I'm the outlier here and that it'll work better for other readers.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

*I read an ARC, and quotes might not be final.

This was such an entertaining and cheery read okay 😭 I usually dislike misunderstandings in books? But every single one in this book was just pure chaos followed by wholesomeness, and now I just want to read it again 🥲

💫 I loved the main romance, as well as the main friendship! This is a sapphic fake date's sister romance set during Christmas at the fake date's country manor, along with the fake date's entire unhinged family.
💫 The book also heavily deals with one of the MCs identifying that she was gaslighted and emotionally abused by her ex, and the realization + relapses + the healing was written really well.
💫 The book also has themes of family reconnection, and it was so wholesome 😭
💫 The last chapter and the epilogue were >>>> there are a few people who jump on the sofa in joy in the last chapter, and I wanted to do that too coz of the ending 😭

TWs - death of a grandparent faced by both MCs, gaslighting + emotional abuse by an ex (which happens on page)

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

<i>I received this title as an ARC on Net-galley in exchange for a honest review. Thank you publisher for the copy!</i>

<b>The Good</b>
This is entirely new version of the fake-dating trope I haven't seen before. Ben is chronically single and enlists his coworker Margot to fake date him at his family home for Christmas. The plan goes wonky when Ben's sister Ellie overhears a conversation of theirs out of context and assumes Margot is a gold-digger only interested in Ben's money. Resulting in further hijinx!
I loved Margot so much it's insane. Her story about her Nana, her witty and kindness, her journey figuring out how bad her ex truly treated her. I really liked her and loved reading her POV. Ben also was incredibly sweet and supportive. His issues with feeling like he wasn't enough was very relatable. I liked the subplot with Mitsi the dog and Grandpa with the mysterious "pony". It had a really sweet Christmas vibe.

<b>The Bad</b>
The idea of women dating men with money and not doing a humble bit of refusing said money or else they're gold diggers has always annoyed me. Ellie infantilizes Ben at every turn. Your brother, an adult man, dates a woman and treats her with his own money and therefore she is a terrible villain? Also Ellie lacks self-reflection. She projected so much onto Margot and when she's revealed to be completely wrong she's like "anyways yay! new friend!" like what? It might just be my feminist brainrot at work but it felt like a plot-line from a 90s/00s movie that wouldn't be used today.

<b>Format:</b>
Ebook — Netgalley Arc

<b>The Rating</b>
I give this book a <b>3/5🌟 rating.</b> The concept was very fun and cute and I love Christmas romance novels. However, if the 'suspected gold-digger' part was in the summary I wouldn't have read it.

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Cute story that I can recommend for a good light read.

Margot finds cheesy romcom plots awful, along with Christmas music and movies. But to avoid her mom after a bad breakup, she agrees to play the fake girlfriend for one of her clients, Ben. Never mind that she's a lesbian and stiffens when touched by a man. Or that Ben's sister Ellie is also a smoking hot lesbian, who Margot literally bumps into upon arriving at the family manor. This plan will still totally work, right?

Interestingly, my favorite characters were not the primary love interests. Ben was such a complete sweetheart that I want to be friends with him. And I'm totally adopting Grandpa Mo; he's wonderful and funny, even if age is catching up with him.

Content warnings: The book does dive into emotional abuse and dementia, in case those are hard topics for you. However, they are broached with kindness.

Thank you to Alcove Press and NetGally for the free advanced review pdf copy. Thoughts, words, and opinions are my own, however.