Lucy is not having a great week. Her nerdy son, Jack, is supposed to be graduating high school in Dallas but he wrote down a list of what he calculated that some popular girls would have to be paid to hang out with him (as a joke), but it got taken out of context as assigning dollar amounts to their self-worth. So now Jack is expelled and his acceptance to MIT is called into question. His classmates and neighbors hate him and are calling for his head and causing lots of problems for his family.

At the same time in Berlin, Greta has just found out that her foot doctor husband has signed on to research in Dallas without asking her. Greta is unexpectedly moving to Dallas, at least for the summer, and needs somewhere to live. It's good timing because she just completed a big art deal for a rich family, but she doesn't know anything about Dallas and is hesitant to leave her beloved art-filled apartment in Berlin.

Greta and Luy meet online thru Greta's sister and agree to house switch for the summer. But will changing their addresses help their problems or make them worse? How will they deal with the new problems that come with rushing into an intercontinental move?

If you've read any Amy Poeppel, you know what you're in for. There will be many, many characters, richly written and all unique, lots of humor, and unexpected things to happen in this family drama/comedy. This book is no exception. It's the Christmas movie The Holiday crossed with a teen rom com crossed with an absurd family comedy (for example, Lucy's husband is absent for most of the book because he is off on a six-month training session in the New Mexico desert, testing one of his inventions as if he was on Mars.) The tone is somewhat Where'd You Go Bernadette? but very readable and fun. It is good for a laugh and very entertaining. It also absolutely convinced me that I will never house swap nor hopefully have any of these zany things happen to me.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

I loved this story about how you find your found family when you least expect it. After an overblown incident with Lucy's son, she wants the family to escape. When a German couple needs to find a place in Dallas, Lucy and family are headed to Berlin. Hilarity ensues with some very serious moments as well. This was such a fun read.

"Far and Away" by Amy Poeppel offers an intriguing exploration of culture, family, marriage, friendship, and what it truly means to call a place home.

Lucy and Greta, strangers an ocean apart, end up swapping houses and ultimately changing the course of their lives. Lucy and her three children are living in Dallas, Texas, while her husband Mason participates in a NASA biosphere project simulating life on Mars—making him essentially unavailable. When the renowned southern hospitality of Dallas turns vicious following a misunderstanding about her son's actions, Lucy desperately wants to flee with her family.

Meanwhile, Greta in Berlin is preparing to move to New York for a year with her husband Otto. When their plans fall through at the last minute, Otto secures an exchange opportunity in Dallas, Texas instead. In a late-night, last-minute decision, Greta and Lucy decide to swap houses.
Greta feels disappointed about going to Texas since she had her heart set on New York, where her daughter is interning. However, Otto thrives in Dallas with his new colleagues. Lucy is excited to return to Berlin, where she was an exchange student in college, but she's less thrilled that Greta's immaculate apartment is filled with expensive items her children might break and has only two bedrooms for the four of them.
Having just secured a major account with her job, Lucy doesn't want her employer to discover she's no longer in the country. With nowhere to work and facing time zone challenges, she ends up using her downstairs neighbor's office while he's out.

Both Lucy and Greta form assumptions about each other despite never having met. When Lucy's son and Greta's daughter both go missing, their lives collide and they realize they each have found an ally in the other.

I enjoyed how this book examined two very different marriages, with each spouse maintaining their own career while showing deep dedication to each other and their children. It was fascinating to see how they navigated life's major and minor challenges. My favorite aspect was witnessing how two separate families ultimately meshed together—for better or worse—by the book's end. The supporting characters provided welcome comic relief during the book's more serious moments.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

one thing about me is i can really get into a lit fic/ women's fiction book, esp when it's written well. this was my first experience with this author and i was impressed!

This book was absolutely nothing like I expected but I found it to be such an entertaining read. I loved how quirky the characters were. Charming, entertaining and wonderful. This book made me laugh, smile and shake my head. I loved the idea of house swapping with a complete stranger in a different country. For one woman she leaves her large home in Texas to live in Germany to escape a scandal. For the other she heads to Texas with her husband to help his career. They both leave lives, family and friends to try something new. I honestly don't want to give any part of the story away, but it was such a refreshing story. Despite some of the book not being lighthearted topics, it is written in a way that it does not feel overly dramatic or dark. I found it to be such a breath of fresh air and was sad when it ended!

This book is all-around just lovely. A light, easy, heart-warming read. Unlikely to be something I’ll re-read, but I enjoy Amy Poeppel’s writing, so definitely would pick up her other works.

There is quite a cast of characters - and multiple POVs - but everything blended well. I did have some second-hand embarrassment at times, but that’s all part of the house-swapping chaos. Plot-wise, there is nothing too surprising here, but that’s okay. The characters each have their own path to take, and I enjoyed my time with each of them.

There are German phrases throughout, and while it makes perfect sense from the storyline standpoint and there was enough context for most of them, I did find myself needing to stop reading to translate a few times to ensure I fully understood.

The young adult-speak in the book seemed a little…outdated (“BT dubs”), but as a millennial, I am no expert in that area.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria books for an ARC of this book.

A light story, perfect for summer reading! This was my first time reading a book by Amy Poeppel. She will be at an event nearby so I decided to check out her latest book. I’m glad I did. It took a bit for the story to pick up and pique my interest. There were quite a few German words and phrases in the beginning and I was able to understand some through context but the rest I had to translate on my Kindle. Unfortunately, this ruined the flow of that part a bit. Other than that I enjoyed this fun book. Many of the people in the book are at a crossroads and need to make a choice on which path to choose. A wife has to decide if her marriage is as strong as it once was. A mother, on her own for the time being, is hit with a devastating shock as her son is accused of doing something that will jeopardize his future. Each woman moves with her family to a different continent, swapping homes, as they contemplate their next steps, and the direction their lives will take. The choices they make will change their whole lives. Amy Poeppel turns it all into a compelling story!

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria books for an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this sneak peak. I read Amy Poeppel’s book The Sweet Spot and absolutely loved that book. I had high expectations for this one, and this book delivered. Ok, the start was a bit slow but once this book hit its stride, I was hooked. Similar to The Sweet Spot, this book has quirky characters, humor, and the theme of “friends who become family”. The Epilogue was a definite happily ever after after!

Lucy needs to leave Texas and Greta needs a house in Texas so they swap. Lucy taking her three kids to Germany for the summer, To stay in Greta's one bedroom apartment, and Greta and her husband head to Texas where everything is bigger. There is a lot of adjustments for everyone involved and needless to say a lot of growth. I really enjoyed this book, was entertaining and easy to read thought there could have been some editing down on some characters and storylines. Perfect beach/summer read, I want to thank NetGalley and Atria Books for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Do you ever wish you could just drop everything and run away to a different country for a while? That’s exactly was Greta, a German Art curator and Lucy, Texas mom and designer do. After a scandal gets Lucy’s son expelled and the family shunned, she decides to swap homes with the sister of an old acquaintance. As Lucy and her 3 kids jet off to Berlin, Greta and her husband Otto start their big American adventure in the heartland of Texas. While their lives seem very different on the surface, both Lucy and Greta are facing pivotal turning points of their lives. This story follows their travels to new homes, the challenges they face adjusting to different cultures and the ups and downs of motherhood.

Thank you NetGalley for this early access copy. This book was just what I needed right now. Honestly, I have wanted to just run off to another country so many times that I’m a bit envious of the characters. The story had a nice mix of heart, humor and plot twists to keep the reader engaged. I enjoyed the multiple perspectives but I don’t know that having Jack and Emi’s views was necessary. It surprised me not that there was a lot of German phrases/words throughout but that the author didn’t offer translations. I’m not spending time looking up the meanings so I think I lost some context at times. I also felt the epilogue was totally unnecessary. Others may say I’m wrong because it wraps everything up in a happy little bow but it felt forced. I don’t need stories to end so neatly to be enjoyable and I think the epilogue ultimately took away some of the realness I felt throughout the rest of the book. Overall a fun read perfect for a plane ride or the beach.

“Far and Away” is about Lucy, a wife, mother, and designer who needs to leave her home in Dallas when her son Jack gets expelled from school under confusing circumstances and a cloud of shame, and Greta, a wife, mother, and art consultant who is forced to leave her home in Berlin when her husband Otto takes an unexpected visiting research position in Dallas.

The two women decide to swap homes, so off Lucy and her three children go to Berlin while Greta and Otto move into Lucy’s super modern voice controlled home in Dallas. The events of the story end up taking place all over the world, from Albuquerque/Mars (you’ll understand when you read it!) to Copenhagen, Dallas to Berlin, with a pit stop in NYC thrown in for good measure. It’s a story of found family of course, a signature theme in author Amy Poeppel’s work, as well as a little bit of an art mystery.

As a massive Amy Poeppel fan, this was one of my most anticipated reads of the summer and it absolutely did not disappoint. It’s full of zany adventures, charming and human characters, and lots of heart to keep it all grounded. I highly recommend this book to all fans of humorous contemporary fiction!

Who among us does not like the movie, The Holiday? Poeppel distills some of its best attributes into this winning novel. There is much to like about the set up - Lucy in Dallas and Greta in Berlin swap houses on a whim to deal with some complicated family issues. Once the swap is in place, Poeppel crafts a mad cap adventure involving a large cast of likeable primary and secondary characters, including teenagers Jack and Emmi, grandparents, Rex and Irene, in addition to the likeable primary protagonists, Lucy and Greta. Almost everyone in the novel will move through some type of transition or overcome a challenge and come out the other side better for it. This was a fast, fun read, perfect for summer days and long plane rides. Highly recommend. Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for this joyful read.

A last minute house swap between families in Texas and Germany brings lots of "lost in translation" moments, as well as the chaos of living a transplanted life. I enjoyed the humor in this book, along with the culture shock descriptions. The author perfectly describes Dallas and the way that Europeans might react to the heat, air conditioning, and driving culture. This book kept me turning the electronic pages, and it would make a wonderful summertime read. I thought there were a few too many characters and plotlines, which occasionally led to some confusion. Overall, I recommend this one for a fun beach read.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Atria Publishing for the opportunity to read this book as an ARC.I have read a number of Amy Poeppel's books and eagerly look forward to her next one. Her main characters tend to be like able and quirky , in the best sense of the word. In this book, we have 2 main characters, and to call them quirky is putting it mildly. The whole story is really off the rails at times, but it all comes together at the end. I am not sure where to start, but here goes. Greta and Otto live in Berlin. Otto is supposed to be taking a year sabbatical in New York. Their daughter Emmi, has taken a summer internship in New York and will be spending the summer with them. Greta's mother ( Lillian) is American but moved to Germany when she met and married Greta's father. Greta's father is now deceased, and Lillian wants to travel, with a young man named Tobias. At the last minute, Otto has a falling out at work and loses his sabbatical. He finds a placement in Dallas Texas, that starts immediately. He tells Greta to find someone who wants to swap houses with them for the next year.Bettina, Greta's sister, tells her to put a post on Instagram , and someone will be interested.
In Dallas , Lucy is holding down the fort with 3 children, a full time job and a husband on Mars. Ok, not really, but he is in New Mexico for 6 months doing a simulation for Nasa and is not getting any of her messages. Their son, Jack, is supposed to be graduating High School and going to
MIT in the fall. Except, Jack has made a formula with names of the girls in his school, and monetary values , that he says is innocent, but no one believes him. All at once, everything falls apart. Jack is expelled, the neighborhood has turned against the family, their car is vandalized and Lucy does not know what to do. She had met Bettina ( Greta's sister) 19 years ago on a trip, and follows her on Instagram. She sees the post in the middle of the night, arranges to swap houses and takes her children to Berlin. Ok that is the basic plot. But it is so much more than that. The first few chapters , were for me, hard to get into.I had a lot of questions- why was Jack expelled with put a hearing, why not report the vandalization to the police, why not get a lawyer? However, the characters are so well written and interesting, and the fish out of water element on both sides of the ocean, were so good , that I was hooked. I laughed, I cried! Thanks again for the book!

The Holt Family lives in a large, ultra-modern home in Dallas. Lucy is the mother of teenage Jack and daughters Alice and Zoe. Her husband, Mason, is in New Mexico for six months, living in a NASA biosphere. Just before high school graduation, Jack is expelled for participating in an ill-advised activity, and his acceptance to MIT is rescinded. Once beloved members of a close-knit community, the Holts have become pariahs. They need to get out of town.

Greta and Otto Van Bosse reside in Berlin in a beautiful apartment filled with art and antiques. Greta, an art consultant, had a big career win by securing a previously undiscovered Vermeer for her client. Otto, a foot surgeon, is facing professional challenges and accepts a temporary position in Dallas. Their daughter Emmi wants to become a lawyer.

The two families decide to do a house swap. It seems like a perfect solution, but they rush into the arrangement so quickly that neither family is prepared for what lies ahead. Far and Away is a charming book by the always entertaining Amy Poeppel. Filled with drama and chaos, the story also has humor and warmth, as two very different families adjust to their new circumstances. It's an enjoyable fish-out-of-water story featuring two women searching for something they haven't quite found yet in life.

Sometimes I have long reviews and sometimes I don’t have a lot to say .. for this one, it’s the latter. It was cute, easy read. Nothing I’ll remember but I do enjoy the parts of Germany and German since it reminded me of my own time living there.

If you need a read for the beach or just a quick one (despite it being a tad too long for this genre IMHO), then you’ll enjoy it.

This book has great reviews but it did nothing for me. Maybe i am too old for this but it fell short for me.

I loved this so much.
As with all of her books, she never fails to make me actually laugh out loud. Her characters are endearing and as an American expat living in Germany, it felt extra fun!

Picking up an Amy Poeppel book is like picking up a burst of joy and all of the good things. I’ve read all of her books and she has become an autobuy author for me.

Far and Away was another fun, sweet, laugh-out-loud journey. This one took us across the globe when the Holt’s and Van Bosse family’s unforeseen circumstances force them into a house swap to beat all house swaps.

I loved learning more about Germany.

The characters as always, were so fun and unique, beautifully developed and they all served a purpose and helped moved the story along. The plot was engaging and Poeppel’s writing envelopes you without suffocating you or overcomplicating the story. What I admire most about her writing is the ability to have these plots and subplots and having them all come together beautifully. It is evident that she has great skill and takes great care to not make a mess of it and honor the story and characters.

Amy Poeppel has another winner on her hands and I recommend this for fans of Emily Henry, Courtney Walsh, and Clare Pooley. There a bits of german phrases throughout and I did have to use google translate but it did make it that much more fun for me to read.

I’d like to thank NetGalley, Emily Bestler Books/Atria for my ARC in exchanged for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It took me a little while to get into it. But once I did, I had to finish it. I loved all the characters. Such a fun ride.