I absolutely love a good Christmas story and this one was no different! I adored the cover, the characters, the story on itself was also very cute. I might have read this one a bit too early in my personal "Christmas" season tho, but that is not something I can fault the book for ;)

I would like to that Netgalley, Penguin Random House and Maggie Knox for the e arc copy of this book.
We meet twin sisters Charlie and Cass. Charlie is a chef and works in LA as a culinary judge on a reality cooking show. All is going well with her life, so she thinks until disaster strikes – she is hit on the head, giving her concussion but also, she loses her sense of taste and smell. With the possibility of a promotion and a show of her own she does something she hasn’t done in a long time; she phones her twin sister and asks her to swap places.
Cass is having her own problems in their home town where she helps her parents run their family bakery. The run up to Christmas is always busy but this year is busier as their parents have gone on holiday. Cass is also having to deal with her ex-boyfriend who will not accept the message that they are over.
So, the twins swap and find that maybe swapping is not as fun as it used to be when they were kids. They both learn lessons and maybe they might just find love as well.
This was a lovely read and I would recommend it.

I really enjoyed this book! It’s an entertaining and well written holiday romance that I can see myself revisiting every year along with some other outstanding holiday books.

Charlie Goodwin co-hosts a reality baking show currently shooting a Christmas competition. Her co-host is an obnoxious guy who is competing with Charlie to host a network show. Unfortunately, Charlie hits her head and loses her sense of smell and taste, which will make it impossible to be on TV.

Charlie can only think of one thing to do - swap with her identical twin Cass. Charlie will run the family bakery, and Cass can take over for her and save her television job. The bakery is swamped getting ready for the holiday, but Charlie will have help and she’s known the recipes all her life.

Of course, it gets a little bit crazy as they take over each each other’s lives. They both start romances with men who don’t know the truth, and as Christmas Day approaches things get more and more serious and complicated.

I fell for the characters, both the twins and the supporting cast. They felt like friends by the end.
I highly recommend this book, 4 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you NetGalley, Maggie Knox and Hodder & Stoughton, Hodder Paperbacks for the ARC of The Holiday Swap. This is my personal review.
I love holiday book and this one was a fun easy read.
Charlie and Cass are identical twins, and they are about to embark on an adventuring when they switch places. They had not done this since they were kids but now it was necessary due to incident where Charlie loses her sense of taste and smell—she has her own reality show in L.A., and she has to be able to taste and smell to judge contestants on her show. So of course, they solution is for them to trade places for a while.
As you can imagine while reading things just do not go as smoothly as they had hoped things would go.
I highly recommend you read this one and enjoy the fun.

This book is ultimately a hallmark holiday movie in book form! Cass and Charlie are identical twins who switch lives for a week ..but will it work out? I enjoyed reading this book for its 'feel good factor' and could imagine the film of it in my head!

It's a charming read, easy to follow if a little formulaic and predictable. The characters are nice and easy to become fond of. There are a suitable amount of twists and turns and some mouthwatering sounding baking throughout.

Note: A big thanks to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and the author, Maggie Knox, for providing me with a copy of  The Holiday Swap in exchange for an honest review.

## Book In One Sentence

Maggie Knox's "The Holiday Swap" is about two twin sisters who exchange their lives to help each other survive their present struggles.

## Introduction

The story starts with Charlie Goodwin getting her dream show on TV. She is excited as it is everything she has worked hard for. However, there is a twist — she has to host it with Austin Nash, a pompous ex-classmate of Charlie's from culinary school. A sudden mishap leads Charlie to have a head injury and lose her sense of taste and smell — both of which are essential in her culinary career. She seeks the help of her twin sister, Cass, back at Starlight Peak — her hometown — by asking her to swap places with her. Cass readily agreed as she has been dealing with some personal struggles herself — namely, running her family bakery during the busy Christmas time as well as her ex-boyfriend, who could not understand the fact that they have broken up. The book deals with the ups and downs the sisters face and how they deal with them while supporting each other along the way.

## Themes

### Sisterhood & Finding Oneself

This is one of the main themes of the story. Charlie and Cass are twins and even though they are geographically separated from each other, they are still protective of each other. They are determined to face any challenge on behalf of each other — be it a big cooking show or a pesky ex. On a superficial level, Charlie and Cass seem to be different from each other — Charlie being on the extroverted side, shining through the camera and making a name for herself in Los Angeles, while Cass is a little introvert and homebody, getting ready to take over the family business (the bakery) after their parents at Starlight Peak. However, as the story progressed, we get to see the other sides of the two sisters on a much deeper level than usual. Charlie goes on to connect with her hometown and imagine a life away from the din and bustle of Los Angeles while Cass got to taste the world outside of the hometown and experience life up close.

### Romance

Swapping each other's places is complicated enough. Enter Miguel and Jake and the equation got even more complex. Both Jake and Miguel are as clueless as the rest of the people in their lives. While romance brews between Cass and Miguel, and Charlie and Jake, both the sisters struggle to keep their acts up and feel guilty for not letting the guys know the truth and the reason behind the swap.

## The Ending

Like any other feel-good romantic story, Maggie Knox's "The Holiday Swap" also has a happy ending for both the sisters. The story does a one-year time jump in the epilogue and we get some sneak peek into Cass and Charlie's lives. All the ends are tied consistently and there are no open endings, which gives the readers all the closure they need.

## Significance of the Title

The title — "The Holiday Swap" — is definitely appropriate for the story. Two twin sisters — Cass and Charlie — need breaks from their usual lives and manage to swap places during the winter holidays. By doing that, they are not only able to take breathers from their issues and find their true callings along the way but also learn to respects the daily grind of each others' lives.

## Final Take

All in all, Maggie Knox's "The Holiday Swap" is good for a light-read. The narration was consistent and there was no sign of the plots being dragged. I could not find any gaps in the story and the steadfast rhythm kept me hooked until the very end.

A real feel good story, romance, Christmas, dogs and cake! What more could you ask for!! Thank you for letting me review this book.

I really enjoyed this heartwarming comedy about identical twins forced to swap lives - Charlie finds herself back in her quiet hometown running the family bakery, and Cass finds herself on-screen presenting a baking show in LA. Add a couple of decent men and a couple of not so decent ones into the fray, and you get a perfect mix for fun and romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this story. Cass and Charlie were good characters and I loved the town of Starlight Peaks. The book kind of reminded me of made for TV films and shows like Gilmore Girls or Virgin River because of the small town setting.

4.5 STARS! My main piece of feedback for The Holiday Swap is that it needs to be turned into a Hallmark movie ASAP - I couldn't stop picturing it as a film the entire time I was reading it!

Charlie & Cass are identical twins who live very different lives: as the host of a popular baking show, Charlie's life in LA is full of glamor, while Cass lives in their hometown and helps run the family bakery. When an accident on set compromises Charlie's ability to do her job well, she and Cass switch places for the week leading up to Christmas. And with four men (2 rather annoying ones and 2 incredible dashing ones) thrown into the mix, things get....complicated.

The Holiday Swap is a delightful festive read with drama that will pull you in and keep you turning pages until you find out how it plays out.

It's slow at the start & a bit choppy, but keep going and I promise you'll enjoy this feel good, festive read!

"The Holiday Swap" is an enjoyable rom-com of a book set in the western USA. The premise of the tale is that twins can be so identical in looks that people cannot tell them apart visually. Cassie and Charlie live very different lives; Cassie runs the family bakery in a small town in the mountains where a snowy Christmas is the highlight of the year, while Charlie hosts a reality baking show in sunny California. Much of the comedy arises because of the girls different personalities and attitudes to life.

Inventive, atmospheric and readable.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

It took me a long time to finish this story (almost three weeks while I usually read books in two or three days), and I’m not exactly sure why. I couldn’t connect to the characters as much as I wanted to, although I liked Cas and Miguel more than Charlie and Jake.The holiday swap is light and engaging and a feel good Christmas story. And that could be my problem because it’s summer now and I’m a little done with coziness (also due to Covid). So, it’s definitely on me, and not on the book.

If you like cozy and sweet Christmas romances to enlighten your mood, this could really be the one for you!

Super cute! Had some trouble getting into the story at the beginning bc it takes time to get the ball rolling but eventually i really started to get into it

The Holiday meets Parent Trap meets Great British Bakeoff with a pinch of Christmas magic thrown in for extra sparkle.

Although I thought it unlikely and unrealistic that the Twin Sisters of the book would and could actually swap lives, the authors of this book did at least, in part, address the inevitable problems that ensued from such a spontaneous and ill-conceived decision.

That said, the setting of Starlight Peak had me transported to a stunning winter wonderland with the adorable Woodburn Bakery at the heart of a community that really only ever exists in fiction. It provided the warm, cosy, Christmassy hug that I was looking for, in spite of the rather tongue-in-cheek plot.

In all a fun, light hearted, feel good read.

If you liked the Princess Switch on Netflix you will definitely like this. This is a perfect Christmas read and I will definitely be re-reading The Holiday Swap this Christmas. This was such a light-hearted romance book and was such a delight to read. I read this so fast and haven't been engaged in a story like this for a while o thank you Maggie Knox for getting me out of a slump. This was a nice short read and I can now add this to my list of books to read during Christmas.

As I thought, the book was really fun. I finished it in one sitting, I blame the lockdown for able to finish a book in almost 5 hours.
If you are looking for something fun, but also emotional, go for this one.

The idea of identical twins trading places is something that has been used by various authors before, however, this rom com makes it a glorious holiday adventure with a dash of romance and sibling love for each other. Great fun and absolutely recommended.

You have no idea how excited I was to read this; the whole premise and plot sounds so fun and interesting and I love a good holiday romance book. So, believe me when I say it pains me to admit that, in my opinion, it fell extremely flat.

I really enjoyed this to begin with; the first 30% was a joy to read, I loved learning about the different lives of the twins and diving into the baking world. At some point, I started hoping for a bit more; more character depth, more chemistry, more interesting dialogue and witty banter.

Maybe that’s why I struggled so much to finish this book - the main thing that grips me (said wit and banter and feel good, flowing conversation) was sadly missing. I didn’t feel anything for any of the characters and I didn’t particularly care for either of the relationships.

I can imagine a lot of people enjoying this; it’s a feel good, cute, holiday romance with a side of drama and life swap that everyone loves, but maybe this is a case of it’s not you, it’s me?

The writing was so playful, also enjoyable to read. Both these characters were so relatable.
If you're looking for something to kick a reading slump or if you just want a fun, romantic book to sweep you off your feet this summer: look no further. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved the journey I just took with Cass and Charlie.
This book is fun, comical, warm, festive and a beautiful read. Wholeheartedly recommend.