I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

Katy and Rachel are estranged twin sisters, both of which have secrets they want to remain hidden. When 'work' requires they swap houses they are forced to confront the parts of themselves that they are hiding from one another. Can they repair their relationship as well along the way? Full of miscommunication and dramatic moments, it pushes both girls to their limits before reuniting them for a beautiful ending.
A great read.

I enjoyed this, it was a good, fast paced read and fun enough to keep me reading more when I should have been doing other things. The characters are good, the plot enjoyable and it’s an addictive story

The book follows two twin sisters, Katy who lives in London and Rachel who lives in their childhood home in Wales. They haven't seen each other in a few years following their parents' divorce and their grandmother's death.

Rachel thinks that Katy is living the high life in London working in events and living in a flat with a view of the Shard. In reality, Katy works as a PA to the manager of an events company and that mostly involves looking after her children for her. Oh and her flat? It's actually a shed at the bottom of the bosses garden. Katy thinks that Rachel lives a perfect life, that she is happily married to her childhood sweetheart and living a countryside cottage dream. In reality, Rachel's husband left and she had an affair with someone at work, got pregnant and then he also left. So now she is 8 months pregnant, which she has been keeping a secret. Following a turn of events, Katy and Rachel both end up staying for a week in each other's flats. They begin to realise that the other has been keeping secrets as well.

I really enjoyed this one. I thought it was good fun, fast paced and addictive enough to keep me wanting more at the end of every chapter. I think to enjoy this to its maximum, you would need to set aside any expectation of this being a realistic story, it's not. The characters all make a lot of dumb decisions, but that's what keeps the plot going and they are all loveable characters in the end.

Oh my goodness!

This book melted me, an absolute GEM!

I loved the characters, the settings, the twists.. oh it was perfect!

The perfect warm hug of a book that you can just lose yourself in. I loved the alternating chapters between identical twins, Rachel and Kate. Centred on family and getting back to a relationship that once was after a tragic event weaves secrets and lies and the acknowledgement of true friendship. Wonderful read!

Lovely feel good book to read. It was a joy to read. Lovely characters. Great plot. The book was charming. Very well written. I’d definitely recommend this book

House Swap tells the story of twin sisters who have drifted apart and are seemingly experts at the ‘fake it til you make it’ game - Katy tells glamours stories of breakfast in The Shard and her amazing London life, whilst Rachel has the perfect happy marriage, living in their childhood cottage in Pembrokeshire.

As one lie leads to another the girls end up swapping homes for a week and the facades begin to crumble as each discovers more about their sister’s so called amazing life.

Throw in some great supporting characters (Peggy & the baby tennis kit 😂) and you’ve got yourself a great read, if a little predictable.

This was a light hearted, enjoyable if somewhat predictable read. The characters were well developed and the storyline held my interest until the end. Perfect escapism.

House Swap follows twin sisters who have grown apart, communicating only through emails. They each believe that the other has the perfect life, while also lying about how great their own is. When they unexpectedly swap houses for a week, they begin to learn that may not be the case.

I did enjoy this book, but not at much as I wanted to. It was fast paced, easy to read, and light hearted. The two leads were charming and fun to read about and I really sympathised with how they both played up the positives in their life to, in a way, prove they had made it without the other one. They live so far apart that it’s just easier to pretend they’ve got an amazing job or are happily married. I also relate to how difficult Rachel found it to reach out to her sister about her pregnancy because they’ve been so withdrawn from another. Her running away to London when Katy is coming, while
not necessarily rational, was still realistic and believable.

While I really liked Fiona and her kids, I didn’t really understand their role in the story. They could easily have been removed with little impact on the plot, which is sad because she was probably my favourite character. It almost seemed like the author wanted to do more with her but didn’t have a chance because she felt really well developed but unnecessary.

I also wasn’t keen on the romance. I like a good second chance romance but I hate the fact that Katy’s final choice lent so heavily on the romance. It was such a missed opportunity. The whole story is about these sisters coming back together only for the main reason for Katy staying to be because of a man. It just didn’t sit right with me.

The writing was great and engaging and I flew through the story, which was generally enjoyable. I feel like the sisters spent too long apart and needed more time together before the story finished and I kind of felt like I was missold on the book because the element of sisterly love and family didn’t hit as hard as I was expecting it to.

Overall quite enjoyable but a few too many issues for me to love it.

Twins Katy and Rachel don't know much about each other's lives anymore.

Rachel thinks that Katy is a high-flying event planner in London, while Katy thinks that Rachel lives in idyllic marital bliss in the countryside.

Each sister believes the other has created a perfect life - but the truth is that neither twin has the life she pretends she does.

I really enjoyed this book about twin sisters, Olivia creates such a heart warming story with characters I wanted to get to know.....
Great book would recommend

I couldn't put this book down. It was warm, engaging and a lovely story all round. This book is a joy to escape into.

DNF at 41%.

Twin sisters Katy and Rachel live very different lives. Katy is a career girl in the city while Rachel is happily married and living in the countryside, or so they think. Each is jealous of what they think the other has and so they've been embellishing their lives/downright lying to each other. But when they unexpectedly housewap for a week the lies are revealed.

I'll be honest, I couldn't get into this at all so I jumped ahead a way to see if I could get interested in the novel once the plot had developed. Unfortunately, I heartily disliked both Rachel and Katy, their lies were stupid and pointless and I couldn't understand why I was supposed to have sympathy for either.

Sorry, just not for me.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

3.5 stars
This was a lighthearted and quick read and it definitely gave me some The Holiday and The Switch vibes.
However, it did get pretty repetitive, something that began to grate on me. And I always find it frustrating when so much could be avoided had the two characters just spoken to one another.
I did enjoy the writing style so I would be up for reading more from this author in the future.
I also liked the message that the grass isn't always greener on the other side and the fact that it was a page turner nonetheless.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thought I would love this book as it sounded similar to ‘the switch’ but I’m honestly really disappointed… There were some positives about the book, it was great to get to know the characters separately and find out who they were as children and how they lost touch and the family fell apart. I had that from both of the sisters perspectives (2 sides of the same coin). I also loved that i knew what they had lied about and then spent the book waiting for the other sister to find out. However honestly, it got boring very quickly and it started to feel repetitive. This book just wasn’t for me but I would definitely pick up the author again! I did enjoy the writing style and the humour though!

House Swap by Olivia Beirne

Twin sisters Katy and Rachel have become distanced from each other both physically and emotionally. When circumstances dictate that Rachel goes to live in Katy's London flat and Katy goes back to their childhood home in Wales where Rachel now lives, both sisters are in for a few shocks and surprises along the way.

Fantastic book, I loved it! I can see why some readers might think the plot was implausible but what is fiction if not suspending disbelief sometimes?! I loved all the characters, the settings, the story.... all of it! Very highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a light-hearted read about twin sisters (Katy and Rachel) who have become estranged over time due to issues in their lives. They only keep in contact through emails and continue to tell little white lies to make their lives seem better than they actually are.

Katy moved from Wales to London to work as a PA in event planning, unfortunately she mainly works from home and spends a lot more time looking after her boss’ children than planning events. Rachel asked Katy to house-sit whilst she goes on an overseas conference but secretly hopes to use this time to stay at home and rekindle her relationship with her sister, however, at the last minute she gets scared of how Katy will react to her secrets and decides to stay at Katy’s place for the duration instead.

This book seriously reminded me of ‘The Holiday’ with the house swap and finding relationships and happiness from their brief adventures in their stay at the house. The book highlights the importance of families and relationships through the good times and bad.

That being said, I did find the middle of the book to be repetitive and found myself frustrated with the characters as they just needed to communicate and be honest with each other. There were sweet and humorous moments as well as darker themes to add complexity to the storyline.

I’d recommend this book if you’re looking for an easy read and like the trope where the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

This story of twins Katy and Rachel, was an entertaining, delightful read, focusing on female family dynamics, lies, and insecurities. The plot had me laughing out loud one moment, and produced a lump in my throat in the next, making this an emotional rollercoaster of a read.

The writing style was easy to follow and the emails between the two sisters had me engrossed from the very beginning. Olivia Beirne has created Katy and Rachel exceptionally well, and I found their relationship incredibly relatable due to personal experiences. The concept that the siblings were lying to each other regularly about how wonderful their lives were, provided a fair amount of thought-provoking moments throughout.

Overall, this is a good all-rounder. It is perfect for a heartwarming Sunday afternoon cozy read or could be just as enjoyable if read on the beach under the hot sun. I definitely recommended this book, and am looking forward to reading more from this author.

Actual rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.

I had extremely high expectations for ‘House Swap’ as it reminded me of ‘The Switch’ by Beth O’Leary but I’m honestly so disappointed… Let’s start with the positives. I loved that we got to know the sisters separately, learning about their childhood and how their family fell apart from each of their perspectives. Also loved that we knew what they had lied about and spent the book waiting for the other to find out. But honestly, that got boring very quickly and it started to feel repetitive. Unfortunately, this one just wasn’t for me but I would definitely pick up the author again! I did enjoy the writing style and the humour!