Okay, confession: I really don’t like the movie The Holiday. However, I am a really big sucker for sapphic updates to straight rom coms, on the grounds that the sapphic version must be better. Second however, sometimes sapphic stories fall into being overly saccharine, which was also part of my problem with The Holiday, so… this was A Lot for me.
I really really liked the first approximate third of the book! There was all this buildup not related to the romance, about their personal and professional lives and whatnot, and I was quite into that, and then as soon as the switcheroo happens those threads take several back seats to the extreme insta-love vibes. You know what I mean. Technically everyone’s saying “oh we’re just friends blah blah this is just a one night stand etc” while also feeling like their innermost soul has been uniquely seen and heard and appreciated so we all know where it’s going.
ANYWAY. My conclusion is, if you really like The Holiday, you will also probably really like this, and it comes with the bonus of not being asked to buy Kate Winslet and Jack Black as a couple. If you prefer your queer stories to have a decent amount of realistic friction and focus on things besides sex and romance, skip this one.

Thank you Netgalley, @berkleypub @berkleyromance @acebookspub for the free book! My opinions are being left voluntarily. I sooooo loved this book I loved theqeer the holiday update. I loved all the queer representation and the love and kindness that it was written. Would love to see this book turn into a series. I will absolutely need a trophy for my shelf.

Suggest giving it a try

5/5☆

#BerkleyPartner #AceBooksPartner

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4.25⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: contemporary romance📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
A fun and sweet read

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
The Holiday vibes (house swap)
Small town/ NYC
Family drama
Emotional growth
Dual love stories
Found family
Witty dialogue
Supportive queer community

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
Nonbinary/sapphic/pan rep
All the side characters

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
A little insta-lovey

𝙵𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚀𝚞𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜:
★ “I don’t know what comes next, but I know I want to keep feeling this way…”
★ “To be loved with such steadiness is to know I can fall apart here.”

I adored this book! Eleanor’s story was particularly compelling. I was weeping at the end of the book. I loved these four main characters.

I don't know how I overlooked this being inspired by The Holiday, it was the perfect summer read. I love Eleanor & Carson so much, they were instantly my favorites.
So much steamier than I was expecting, but very well received. Super excited to read more from Bridget Morrissey <3

This is one of those cases where I vibed with half of the duo more than the other. Do not get me wrong, having a swapped housing situation is fun, but the pacing of the two romances...gave me a bit of whiplash each chapter.

This sapphic retelling of "The Holiday" is very sweet, but the stakes never quite feel big enough for a big emotional payoff. Still a very enjoyable read!

Book Review: Anywhere You Go by Bridget Morrissey
Rating: ★★★½ (3.5 stars)

Anywhere You Go is a heartfelt, dual-perspective romance that explores identity, burnout, and the unexpected ways we find connection when we step outside our comfort zones. The story follows Tatum, a small-town waitress stuck in a rut, and Eleanor, a high-powered Broadway press agent whose life is unraveling. When both women need a break from their realities, they agree to swap homes—and in doing so, they each find something they didn’t know they were missing.

I really enjoyed the premise and the contrast between the two leads’ lives. Eleanor’s storyline, especially her dynamic with Carson, was a highlight for me. Their interactions felt grounded and emotionally rich, and I appreciated how Eleanor’s character was allowed to be both ambitious and vulnerable. Her arc felt satisfying and well-paced.

Tatum’s side of the story, however, was more frustrating. While I understood her emotional paralysis and fear of change, her indecision and lack of growth made it harder for me to stay invested in her journey. I found myself wanting to shake her out of her hesitation, especially in her interactions with June, who deserved more clarity and emotional honesty.

That said, the queer representation throughout the book was refreshing and sincere. Morrissey does a great job of normalizing LGBTQ+ relationships.

Starting this review by saying I'm usually extremely picky when it comes to contemporary romance.
So I'm happy to announce that THIS HIT SO GOOD. It was extremely fun and as someone who sometimes winces at insta-lust stories (one of these couples had this trope) can I just say if every insta-lust story was written like this then holy heck I would actually say it would be one of my favorite tropes?!! I enjoy when a romance story isn't so predictable and I had no idea where any of these stories were going to my delight.
Each character was so unique with their own backstory and difficulties and I actually cared about the plot going on.

I'm adding Bridget Morissey to an auto-buy author since I now have found someone who writes contemporary romance that I enjoy :)

If you're a fan of slow burn friends to lovers you'll enjoy Tatum and June. If you prefer a hookup insta-lust where the romance happens later then you'll love Eleanor and Carson :)

4.5/5

I’ve been told this is a queer retelling of The Holiday, so if that’s your vibe, you’ll enjoy this (I actually have never seen that movie so can’t confirm)

But I enjoyed this house swap, two storyline romance. My one critique is that I think this could have easily been two stand alone romances that were interconnected as a series, rather than combining the two as it got a bit hard to follow at times and I found myself caring about one storyline way more than I cared about the other. But the cast of characters made this a ton of fun (I would have loved just so much more of Carson, they were a shining star in this).

The two narrators were great performers and were varied in their tones to help differentiate characters, so I appreciated that. This was my first Bridget book but I found out there were cameos of her others couples so I’m definitely planning on checking out her backlist!

a super queer 'the holiday' retelling sounded like everything i could want and more. guess what? it lived up to those expectations in so many ways!

in ANYWHERE YOU GO a small-town waitress and a big-city broadway press agent trade homes to escape the chaos of their personal lives, only to discover fresh purpose (+ a little something more).

this book seriously has something for EVERYONE on one side, you’ve got a slow-burn romance that simmers with every chapter, and on the other, an insta-love situation that hits fast and hard. it’s the best of both romance worlds, and it totally worked for me.

beyond the romance, you get rich family dynamics, sibling banter (the good kind), and a decent helping of emotional baggage. sprinkle in some hilarious and genuinely memorable side characters (including a stern elderly character who ends up being an absolute delight) (one of my fav micro tropes) and it’s just FUN. i really enjoyed so many parts of this story: from the witty dialogue to the secondary characters who easily stole my heart in just a few scenes.

as expected, i found myself gravitating toward one pov more than the other, but honestly, both had their charm and were fun to read about. also, the cover is so gorgeous. i’ll definitely be picking up more from this author!!

4.5/5

Anywhere You Go by Bridget Morrissey is a book about discovery one's self on a journey. Our main character Nora is dealing with the loss of her sister and sets out to a small town which holds meaning to her and her family. While there she meets Caleb. They are both on a journey and learn to open up and discover so much about eachother and themselves. I went into this book not knowing what to expect and ended up really enjoying it! I look forward to reading more from this author in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

The writing in this book is what kept me turning the pages as my goodness! The writing is just plain fun and witty - the characters are hilarious but I will say there are far too many to keep track of so really? Just go into this one for the *vibes*. The vacation shenanigans had me laughing on more than one occasion and it's all just overwhelming in a fun way. There's truly just so much going on - and once I gave up trying to keep the characters straight (though I loved Eleanor and Carson the absolute most! I need a book about them!) I just truly found myself laughing and being entertained by all of the subplots.

I am more than eager to go read other work by Morrissey as I just love her prose and humor SO very much!

If you’re a fan of The Holiday and have been craving a queer romance that captures that magical house-swap charm while delivering fresh emotional depth, Anywhere You Go is the perfect pick!

Bridget Morrissey gives us two compelling heroines—Tatum, a small-town waitress with dreams she hasn’t quite faced, and Eleanor, a high-powered New York press agent whose personal life has taken a backseat to her career. When both women’s lives implode at the same time, a spontaneous house swap sets the stage for personal awakenings, complicated family dynamics, and swoon-worthy romance.

I loved how Anywhere You Go pays homage to The Holiday (a personal favorite of mine!) but still manages to feel entirely its own. The dual love stories are incredibly satisfying—Eleanor’s chemistry with Tatum’s older sibling Carson is electric, and Tatum’s slow-burn romance with June is tender, authentic, and so rewarding. Morrissey’s signature warmth and humor shine through, and I especially appreciated the little cameos from her previous novels. It made the whole story feel like a cozy visit to the beloved “Bridget-Verse.”

I had the pleasure of listening to the audiobook, thanks to an advance listening copy from @prhaudio, and the performances by Jeremy Carlisle Parker and Mia Hutchinson-Shaw were phenomenal. They brought such distinct voices and emotional nuance to Tatum and Eleanor’s journeys—I was completely hooked from the first chapter.

Heartfelt, hopeful, and charming from start to finish, Anywhere You Go is a joyful reminder that sometimes it takes stepping outside your comfort zone to find your truest self—and the love you’ve been waiting for!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Berkley for the advance copy and to @prhaudio for the ALC!

Thank you Berkley for the free review copy

Rating: 4/5 stars
When I first started Anywhere You Go, I don't know if I misunderstood the blurb or what but I thought the whole story was going to be about Tatum & June. Don't ask me why I thought that, your guess is as good as mine, but I'm going to blame it on applying for the ARC late at night....So when I got to chapter 2 and it says "Eleanor" at the top of the page, my first thought was "who the hell is Eleanor, I thought her name was June??" and my second thought was "I don't really care for this person, get me back to Tatum's pov ASAP please." Harsh? Yes. But hear me out....Eleanor easily became my favorite character and I was much more invested in her relationship with Charlie by the end.

I very much enjoyed the plot as a whole, especially reading about people in my age group going through some hard times of self-discovery. I feel like both Tatum and Eleanor grew in impressive and admirable ways, but their relationships also grew and developed with them (not without their struggles, of course). I really liked the writing by Bridget Morrissey as well; this was my first book of hers and I'll have to pick up more.

I knocked one star off the rating for a few small things and one bigger thing: I was of the opinion that June's character felt underdeveloped. As one of the 4 main characters, I feel like I barely knew anything about her other than the fact that she has anxiety and she makes perfumes...Tatum is one of our main narrators and we get her whole perspective on her dad's previous affair and secret child and how the family dynamics have affected her as the middle child. Charlie is Tatum's sibling and we get their whole perspective on the dad thing as well as a look into their personal life. And we have Eleanor, whose parents died years ago in an accident and she's recently lost her job in a dramatic fashion and she's feeling very lost and lonely. And between the 3 of them, I feel like June just got left behind a little bit...

Things you can expect from Anywhere You Go:
-queer characters & queer romance
-the serious definition of the found family trope
-friends-to-lovers
-lovable characters, including side characters (Dawn <3)

3.5 stars - There's a lot about this book that I enjoyed. I thought the writing and pacing was good, there's a lot of fun banter, and overall concept was great. That said, I found myself way more invested in Eleanor and Carson's story than Tatum and June's. I would have been happy to have the whole story revolve around Eleanor and Carson and I found myself skimming the parts of the book they weren't in. Additionally, there were way too many subplots making the story unnecessarily layered and confusing at times.

Overall, I liked that this was a quick sweet story but I didn't totally connect to the whole book. Would still recommend to anyone looking for a fun summertime romance. Thank you so much to Berkley Romance for the eARC - all opinions are my own!

I enjoyed the premise of this book, however, I felt I would have benefitted from a differentiation in voice between our two narrators. They were beautiful written but often spoke in the same tone which made it hard to tell them apart initially.

If you’re into cozy, low-drama romance with a big heart, this sapphic take on The Holiday is totally worth picking up. It follows two women—Eleanor and Tatum—who swap homes to shake up their lives and end up finding love (and themselves) along the way.

There are two romances happening, both stories bring sweet moments, emotional growth, and plenty of charm. The book has all the good stuff: found family, quirky side characters, cute cats, and small-town coziness. It’s wholesome, warm, and full of those “falling in love when you least expect it” feels.

The witty banter and heartwarming vibes carry the book. Perfect for spring reading or anytime you need a soft, feel-good escape.

**Many thanks to Berkley and Bridget Morrissey for an ARC of this book provided via NetGalley!**

Think a sapphic retelling of The Holiday...but with a bit of sunshine, NYC, an unexpected family reunion and an unlikely relationship with a former Hollywood A-Lister thrown in...JUST for starters!

Tatum Ward and Eleanor Chapman: as disparate as these two names sound, their lives? Even more so. Tatum is a waitress in a small-town diner, making ends meet as best she can while trying to drown her feelings for a regular of hers, June. She feels a bit like she's failed to launch, still living at home on her parents property...but she can't help but feel grateful to end up with these regular glimpses of a woman she just can't stop thinking about. Eleanor, on the other hand, lives in the OPPOSITE of a quiet, easy small town - she is a high-profile publicist in NYC...well, she WAS a high profile publicist. Fresh off of losing her job in a very public and humiliating way, she is desperate for escape...and a MUCH needed change of pace.

The perfect solution to this quandary? Why, it's to swap houses with Tatum, of course!

As the two jump headfirst into one another's lives, Eleanor is shocked by the arrival of Tatum's non-binary sibling, Carson, who completely sweeps Eleanor off of her feet...and the two become immediately inseparable. Meanwhile, in New York City, Tatum and June have decided to make this journey together...and let's face it, New York City is THE perfect place to fall in love...and the more time she spends with June, Tatum's feelings all but consume her. It isn't all sunshine and roses, though; both of our main characters are dealing with past traumas, the fallout of their current situations, AND trying to find themselves along the way. But when the time for house swapping comes to an end, will they return to their former selves, remain closed off from the possibility of love, and take the safer - and lonelier - path? Or will their paths converge once again as both Tatum and Eleanor find discover that what they desire truly may have just been around the river bend all along?

It's funny, because I picked up this book not realizing it was at the very least INSPIRED by the Holiday, and The Holiday is one of my TOP tier Christmas movies...if not in my top 5 favorite rom-com films of ALL time. Between the brilliant and inspired direction of Nancy Meyers and the incredible acting and sizzling chemistry between the four leads (Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, and Jack Black, if you aren't familiar), it's pretty much as close to a perfect movie as I could hope for.

But the reason that this is a problem for me now (and perhaps was a subconscious issue for me while reading) is that while this plot might be a gentle nod to this fantastic film, having such a stunning film to compare it to only makes it that more painful to realize ALL of the elements that weren't clicking and didn't quite land for me in this book.

For starters, these two narrators, despite their different jobs and hometowns didn't read all that differently to me. Not only did this make it a bit frustrating to read, since we were bopping back and forth and some characters obviously crossed the narrative a bit, it became difficult to keep track of who was who and what was what throughout. I know I was supposed to feel invested in both of the traumas experienced by our main characters in their past, but to be honest, I never felt that emotionally connected to their backstories and they didn't leap off the page for me. I wanted to see more of a push and pull and a journey experienced by both of these MCs as they found their way, but I feel that instead we were supposed to make assumptions based on facts presented rather than SEEING the feelings displayed - telling and not showing always creates a bit of a speed bump for me.

It also felt like the 'stakes' presented for both of these characters were pretty low...all Tatum needed to do was actually START DATING June. It's not like June seemed uninterested in her...and the reason for not pursuing her from the beginning was a bit flimsy. As much as it was frustrating for Eleanor to lose her job, I felt like even this adversity in the context of the book was minimal. Her relationship with the former movie star also felt like a very obvious parallel to Kate Winslet's relationship with former Hollywood writer and legend Arthur Abbott (told you I knew the movie well!) and rather than being central to the plot again felt more like a throwaway comparison added for the sake of being there. Rather than making sense and being sort of central to the plot, the house swapping in this book in general also just felt included for the sake of being 'like the Holiday' rather than being necessary...and my theory is if so much of the story feels unnecessary, that can't be a good thing.

The one highlight were some of the scenes between Carson and Eleanor....PHEW. Color this one NSFW...and be warned some of these interactions start pretty early on in the proceedings. The insta-love is also a bit frustrating in this one...especially because while the Holiday had insta ATTRACTION the characters did a fair amount of questioning, back and forth, and waffling before moving forward...and it wasn't all alcohol fueled either. As much as I know I was supposed to root for these two pairs, I felt like one had been a couple all along before making it official and the other essentially fell in love based solely on appearances and 'vibes', without knowing much about one another at all...and that sort of setup is beyond challenging for me when it comes to buy in.

And while I absolutely respect and admire this author's intentions (and particularly her queer representation, which is top notch!) this one DID leaving me wanting to go....but sadly, it was to go anywhere ELSE but here.

3 stars

Pitched as a queer take on The Holiday meets The Switch, this was a heartwarming read about family and found family. Morrissey weaves a tale of self-discovery, family dynamics, and romance. Tatum's family was a typical overbearing but fun and loving bunch. The novel shines in its portrayal of complex relationships and personal growth - it is a testament to the power of stepping out of one's comfort zone and embracing change. I found it so relatable because all the best things in life have usually happened when I stepped into discomfort. I loved following the characters in their journeys!

Thank you to Berkley Romance for my free copy!