The Holiday Swap was a fun romance set around the Christmas period. Although with this being said it wasn’t massively festive, especially considering that the story begins twelve days before Christmas. I do think that if the whole story was set in Starlight Peak it would have felt way more Christmassy as there’s nothing more festive than a small town.

I absolutely loved the bakery setting and it would have been nice to spend more time there with it open and serving customers. That may sound boring to other people, but I love those types of scenes as they feel so festive and that is the main reason why I like reading these types of books.

All of the sections that included baking or the making of food were really fun and if I’m being honest, made me hungry. All of ‘Charlies’ creations for Sweet & Spicy sounded incredible and were one of the most Christmassy elements of this book. The show format sounded really exciting and was something I would actually want to watch.

There were a few plot holes and inconsistencies throughout, however, these didn’t ruin the enjoyment of the book.

My main issue with the book was not understanding how these people that have known the twins for almost a decade didn’t realise they were being each other. Especially Cass’s ex-boyfriend who has known both twins since high school so surely he can tell them apart?

Also, Jake’s grandmother says to ‘Cass’ that she knows they are really good friends yet when he texts ‘Cass’ it goes to Charlie’s phone. How did she give him her number without it being strange or questioned? If they were such good friends wouldn’t he already have her number? If I’m remembering correctly you don’t actually see them meet up before the swap so maybe they did switch phones but I don’t think they did.

Both points of view sounded pretty much the same so it did get confusing at times, especially if you put the book down mid-chapter. I would often forget who’s pov I was reading until the actual setting was mentioned.

The romance was cute at times, and I did like the parings. Even though they were predictable, but hey this is a festive romance so it was expected. It gave me massive The Holiday vibes and I’m glad that it had such a happy ending.

The Holiday Swap was a fun quick read that is perfect for lovers of The Holiday. Although not overly festive this is a great transition book into the Christmas month that will leave you eagerly looking for your next festive romance fix.

In the run up to Christmas a concussion leaves TV chef Charlie without a sense of taste, she enlists her identical twin Cass to swap lives and stand in for her while her show wraps up. Inevitably the women fall in love with people in their ‘new’ lives.

A lovey light hearted read.

Who doesn't love a good-old switcharoo? Identical twins, Cass and Charlie, swap places for 12 days, due to Charlie having a concussion and not being able to be a 100% at work. Charlie is a famous chef in LA with a TV show all about baking, and Cass runs their family bakery back in their small town.

And, when they make the switch for a 12 days before Christmas scenario, of course, a lot of things happen. You read from two points of view, Cass and Charlie, and what happens on each day of the 12 days before Christmas.

What you can expect is romance, handsome firefighters who save cats from trees, a lot of baking and delicious food, troubles between sisters, complications at the workplace and everything that could go wrong when two people change lives and things get complicated.

However, this isn't so much about romance, as much as about self-discovery, and it was balanced nicely.

This was pretty fast-paced and fun, with plenty two warm your heart and keep you on your tippy-toes at the same time. Rest assured, as you'll get a healthy dose of drama and Hallmark Christmas moments. It's what comes with the Christmas package.

If you loved movies like The Parent Trap, and you love reading stories about sisters, Christmas stories that involve a lot of food, romance, family relationships... I think you would like this one.

My first festive read of the season. Who doesn’t love a twin swap.
It was a light hearted read. Quite a few laughs, easy to read and a large helping of romance.
Enjoyable read

I was sucked into this story, and I just couldn't put it down. I found myself waking early and going to bed late so I could spend a bit more time in the world of Cass and Charlie.

The town of Starlight Peak sounds wonderful, and even more so at Christmas time. This story bring everything that you could want in a Christmas book - a snowy setting, Christmas bakes, and the magic of romance, although in this case, we got the romance times two.

I loved this book and it filled me with a happy feeling and an excitement for Christmas.

Cass and Charlie are identical twins, and when Charlie has an accident at work, she ropes in Cass to pretend to be her so she can keep her job.
What neither of them expects when they swap places for a few weeks is to meet and fall for a man who thinks they are someone else. How will they deal with this when they go back to their real lives?

A great read! I liked how it is told from both of their points of view, and some great characters too.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this new novel.

This was a very sweet and christmassy novel but it was too slow. I felt like I was waiting and waiting for something 😅

Cass and Charlie were totally fine as main characters albeit not superexciting :).

This book had my favourite subject, twins swapping, but the story jus didn't hold my attention, I read 30% of the way through so had the basic story and then skipped to the end, I enjoyed the end and the story was tied up nicely.

I was so looking forward to this but I must admit I did struggle to read it and found myself skimming some parts. It’s a hallmark movie in a book and I wouldn’t be mad if it made it onto the big screen. Although it was quite predictable I did enjoy it in the end. I will look out for more from this author.

When Charlie Goodwin has an accident on the set of her reality baking show, she enlists the help of her identical twin Cass. They have done it often enough growing up, so what could go wrong this one last time…

In The Holiday Swap the chapters are counting down to Christmas and alternate between Cass’s adventures in LA on the set of ‘Sweet & Salty’, dealing with Charlie’s slick co-host Austin, and Charlie in Starlight Peak, running the family bakery 'Woodburn Breads', whilst dealing with Cass’s ex Brett-who can’t seem to accept Cass broke up with him.

Throwing in the mix two handsome men like firefighter Jake Greenman and gorgeous Physician Assistant Miguel Rodriguez, and before the girls know it, they are in over their heads.

This was such a lovely feel-good romance, and the alternating chapters allowed for a nice pace of the story. Although I could guess the ending, it was lovely to read how Charlie and Cass did in each other’s surroundings, discovering what they really wanted in life, and how they could make that happen for themselves.

Absolutely loved this one. A lovely, feel-good Christmas read!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher Hoddor & Stoughton for my eARC in return for my honest review.

3.5-3.75 stars

Before I go any further, The Holiday Swap is a clean romance 🧼. Just an FYI for those who go for that & for those who don’t. Tbh, I like my romances steamy, so I wouldn’t have minded had this had a little bit, but being a Christmas romance 🎄, it wasn’t missed too much. Idk, I sort of like Christmas-themed ones a little cleaner sometimes than my usual reads anyways.

I’m also not as opposed to a smidge of cheesy - JUST A SMIDGE - in my Christmas romances vs my usual reads. Ready for a little cheese(y) 🧀? — errr, or should I say bread 🍞? 🤔 Falling in their family’s footsteps (their father, grandfather, etc.), our heroines are identical twin chefs, Charlie & Cass, on two different career paths. Cass is working her way to officially take charge of the family business, Woodburn Bread, a beloved landmark of their small hometown. While Charlie’s path has taken her to reality tv as an expert judge for a pastry competition. It’s the Christmas season & after unexpected events off-set at the Christmas edition of her show, Charlie is desperate for her twin to come to LA to her rescue & take her place then in return, she takes over Cass’s life back in their hometown. Despite their intentions to stay on the task at hand of focusing on each other’s work needs, each twin finds romance as well as discovering/rediscovering a part of themselves. Clear Hallmark vibe, right? Except as a book, so no risk of having to deal with watching bad actors 😂. — if you’re like me — Basically it’s like the equivalent of those one or two Hallmark Christmas movies a year that are actually kinda cute & watchable out of the 837 Christmas movies(give or take 😏) the rest of the year. So here just change the watchable to readable.
Anyways, I would say for me Charlie’s story arc returning to her hometown(& a small town at that) & realizing the grass isn’t always greener held my interest more between the two sisters tbh. Cass’s story arc is ok, but small town romances are almost always more my jam. Also, the temperament of Cass & her new love were a little too alike imho. I need some contrast.

This probably won’t be a big deal to anyone else. Nonetheless — clean or not, tHS is written in the third person & I’m typically not the biggest fan of that in romance. Often I end up feeling detached from the characters &/or plot. Reading tHS, I barely thought about it, let alone was it the cause of dislike or disinterest. It may not be a 5 star read for me, but that was still a big win out of the gate. Regardless of how I feel about a plot itself, anyone, who can write romance in the third person & successfully keep it from being a sticking point(AND a debut novel no less!), has my respect.

Oh! One critic — Ok listen, I totally get this is an ARC, but formatting needs a thorough cleanup - I do not mean things spellchecking or grammatical errors btw(those were mostly already taken care of), I mean more in the context of words that looked like “th- is”(w/o quotes lol) or lack of spacing between transitions. Believe me, I wouldn’t mention it if it weren’t so frequent, it became a bit distracting(the first mostly). I’m just hoping for the author’s sake & the readers’ it is tidied up. If it is completely taken care of, my rating is 3.75. If it’s not, then my rating is 3.5.

All in all, it’s a pleasant, enjoyable debut & I’m game to give Maggie Knox’s future releases a whirl.

**This ARC was provided by NetGalley UK in exchange for an honest review **

The Holiday Swap - Maggie Knox

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton and I am leaving this review voluntarily

When chef Charlie Goodwin gets hit on the head on the L.A. set of her reality baking show, she loses a lot more than consciousness; she also loses her ability to taste and smell--both critical to her success as show judge. Meanwhile, Charlie's identical twin, Cass, is frantically trying to hold her own life together back in their quaint mountain hometown while running the family's bustling bakery and dealing with her ex, who won't get the memo that they're over.

With only days until Christmas, a desperate Charlie asks Cass to do something they haven't done since they were kids: switch places. Looking for her own escape from reality, Cass agrees. But temporarily trading lives proves more complicated than they imagined, especially when rugged firefighter Jake Greenman and gorgeous physician's assistant Miguel Rodriguez are thrown into the mix. Will the twins' identity swap be a recipe for disaster, or does it have all the right ingredients for getting their lives back on track?

There are many examples of twins swapping places - it would be easy to think that this would just be a retelling of a story that you have already seen. This is an entertaining and actually quite addictive tale of the twins swapping identities to a work related emergency and a need to escape from a doomed relationship. What could be even better than a festive romance? Two festive romances!

This is a perfect winter romance that I could easily see being adapted for television. If you enjoy a good rom-com then this is definitely the book for you to read this festive season. A light-hearted, feel-good read.

Rating 5/5

A really good book which I didn’t want to end! It gives an insight to what would happen if we did the same thing… Well done

When identical twins Charlie and Cass swap lives just before Christmas, who knows what will happen? I really enjoyed this book even though the ending was a little predictable it was the journey getting there which made me laugh, made me connect with the characters and made me enjoy the book right up to the end.
This is a little taste of Christmas cheer and recommended as we near the Christmas season.

An easy to read and enjoyable book. Cass and Charlie are identical twins who swap their lives in the run up to Christmas. Both have hearts opened up and will they find love along the way?
This book reminded me of the Holiday meeting Parent Trap and had me wanting to read more.

Feel good book about family and siblings.

I love swap books as I have mentioned before and this one is made even cuter as it is a Holiday themed swap which makes it all the better in my opinion.
From the preview it states:

When chef Charlie Goodwin gets hit on the head on the L.A. set of her reality baking show, she loses a lot more than consciousness; she also loses her ability to taste and smell - both critical to her success as show judge. Meanwhile, Charlie's identical twin, Cass, is frantically trying to hold her own life together back in their quaint mountain hometown while running the family's bustling bakery and dealing with her ex, who won't get the memo that they're over.

This was a very cute and fun read! It has the competitive aspect of a baking show of you love the food network, identical twins which if your like me and loved Sister Sister growing up will love Charlie and Cass dynamic, and of course it has some romance as well! It is the perfect ore holiday read to get you in the Christmas spirit.

A fun festive contemporary book. This is the story of twins who swap lives when one has a freak accident which means she looses her sense of smell. Not good when you are a judge on a tv baking show .
The story was funny, lighthearted and easy to read , great characters and thoroughly enjoyable
Highly Recommended!
Thank you to Netgalley, Hodder and Stoughton and Maggie Knox

What a lovely easy read.
Just what I needed as I didn’t go on holiday but I felt like I had gone while reading this book.
Fun, Christmas, cake and romance.
What more could you ask for…….?

When Charlie, the face of a tv baking show, suffers a concussion during a really important time in her career, she asks her sister Cass, who runs the family bakery, to swap lives with her.
In this  lead up to Christmas, the twins swap lives and meet people who become important to them.
Both their lives change but finding out if these changes can be permanent leads to a good story.
Good festive read

The holiday day swap was such a charming read. Perfect for Christmas time. I loved the premise of twins swapping lives and I enjoyed getting to know all the characters. I can see myself rereading this in December!