Switcheroo is a slow-burn, low angst romance set in the Australian outback. One thing that truly sets Cheyenne Blue apart from other writers is that the setting is always a main character, no matter where her books are set. I could almost taste and feel the constant red dust that settles over everything.

The "life swap" concept is one I haven't read before, and I couldn't help thinking about the unfortunate soul who ended up serving breakfast at 6:00 AM and then pouring drinks till late at night. And then, what if Hayley couldn't ride a horse for some reason?

The cover art is gorgeous and perfectly sets up the story inside. Just a fantastic way to spend a weekend, fantasizing about another life.

Ever thought it would be fun to switch places with someone? This story has Hayley Reed (29) winning the chance to switch lives with another person for a year as part of a story for an online magazine. She doesn’t get to know where she will be going but with all expenses paid it will be a way to take a break from her two jobs and small NYC city apartment. It will also give her money to put towards her future dream of owning her own food truck. To her surprise she ends up on a remote cattle station in Australia working as a jillaroo (cowgirl). There she meets Jenna Dwyer who loves Ghost Gum Station and who hopes of being the ranch manager one day. She gets paid by the magazine to report on Hayley and also to make sure life isn’t easy.

Where this really shines is in the descriptions of the land and rustic beauty of Australia. The fish out of water scenes are to be expected. And I was glad there wasn’t sexist hazing. I love the Australian slang that is used frequently in the story. Hayley often uses NYC speech that feels dated, such as Word. I haven’t heard that term in years. I liked the characters but wish there had been more of a build up of the attraction before they jumped into a benefits situation. Even with my small criticisms I enjoyed the story overall. Hayley’s can do, never giving up nature made me want a HEA for her and Jenna.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ylva Publishing for the ARC and I am leaving a voluntary review.

I read the blurb and thought to myself, what a fun read this novel is going to be. After reading it, it did not disappoint. It was such a fun read with characters that I could relate to. The hardships that they faced, the way they resolved them, the way they interacted with everyone else was all something you and I would probably do in real life. To get a glimpse of the Australia that Cheyenne Blue lives in is an added bonus. I loved this book and the cover.

**3.75 stars, would've been 4 had it not been for the two things mentioned below**

When Hayley applies to a magazine competition advertising a life swap she takes a chance hoping to get sent to some nice small town in Colorado, however, she soon finds herself dumped in the Australian outback. Miles away from civilisation she settles into the life of a Jillaroo with the help of her newly assigned BFF Jenna.

This was such a sweet story, I've always been a little bit of a sucker for the whole farmer x city girl but they're always SO heterosexual so I was so thrilled to find this book. These genre of story is always fairly predictable but that it does what it's set out to well and is a fun ride and sapphics deserve these kinds of fluffy goodness.

However, I have two main gripes; WHY does Hayley say "Yeah nah" and "nah yeah" when she's the American?? Not to say Australians own that way of speaking but its a well known Aussie thing so it makes no sense that she's the one who says it (CONSTANTLY) but none of the Australians say it. So it's not even like she picks it up from them because she says it multipole times before ever arriving. It's a small detail but as an Aussie reading this it really broke the immersion form me and kind made it seem like the Australian way of speaking was being mocked. However, my number one criticism is the amount of times she says "FACTS", idk if this is a common thing to say in the U.S. but it's definitely not an Australian thing (outside of thirteen year old boys) but it made her sound so stupid, especially because she said it in response to serious or work related discussions - idk how many times she actually said it but it was WAY to many.

Thankyou to NetGalley and Ylva Publishing for the arc in exchange for my honest opinion

This was a wonderful, entertaining book by Blue. I haven't read all of her books, but this one is one of my favorites by her.

Haley lives in NYC and works two jobs to make ends meet. She grew up mostly in foster care after her mom passed and only has her best friend Mad. When she sees the life swap competition in magazine, she decides to apply, hoping it will give her a boost financially. Haley doesn't expect to win nor does she expect to be sent to Australia outback. She's determined to make the best of it, but doesn't expect everything that comes with living in the middle of nowhere and working as a jillaroo.

Jenna works at Ghost gum station which from US folks is a ranch. She doesn't want to be saddled with a helpless American, but Haley is more than she seems and she tries really hard despite her fears. Jenna warms up to her and their interactions develop slowly and then more warmly. It was fun and engaging to read and their relationship was a simmer but engaging. Maybe its a NYC thing, because Haley used facts and word a lot in answer to things, but I'm from Midwest and we don't say that a lot or maybe I'm just not aware.

I recommend this low angst, fun book. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When Hayley dared to respond to an ad asking for volunteers to switch her life with another person: job, home, environment, she thought it would be for something closer and known, but wow, her change practically took her to the antipodes. But Hayley never had anything easy in life so she didn't get discouraged by that little thing. Not because of its hot, dusty environment, nor because of the difference between her New York and the Australian outback, where she is going to have to spend the year of the contest. But the result will be worth it, financially she will be able to alleviate her burdens.

Hayley is a city girl, a cook by obligation, but she is good at it. When she arrives at the ranch, huge and isolated, without a phone signal, without a warm welcome, she must convince her companions there that she can fit in and be of value. The person who has to help her there is Jenna, a serious and hard-working girl, who doesn't believe much in Hayley's abilities. But isolated life there encourages unexpected personal bonds.

It's been an enjoyable journey, Hayley is an character easy to like and quickly makes us root for her. She's already had enough obstacles without deserving something good once and for all.

Would you swap lives with someone on the other side of the world? A light hearted story of adventures and unexpected discoveries in a land far away.

I received an advance copy from Netgalley for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Hailey is the ultimate New Yorker. She works two jobs as a cook and bartender and has just enough to get by. When her eye falls on an article requesting candidates for a life swap, she is convinced by the financial reward given by the newspaper that organizes the project. What Hailey didn’t expect was that she’d win. And even more of a surprise is the location for her life swap: a cattle farm in the outback of Australia. Between the endless views, red dust and countless bush flies, Hailey decides to make the best of it. Farmhand Jenna is the typical farm girl and gets assigned by the paper to act as Hailey’s best friend and mentor. Between hard physical labor and starry outback nights Hailey and Jenna form a bond of friendship. Can they be more though?

Jenna is roped into the swap project and has to help the American Hailey adjust to farm life. While Hailey sucks at the normal daily jobs, she surprises Jenna with her determination to succeed. Jenna’s respect for her grows along with her physical attraction to this weird visitor. It can’t be more. Because Jenna has sworn of love and Hailey is only there for the year. Sometimes, though, the heart wants what the heart wants.

The notion of changing lives with a stranger is intriguing. You can’t help but wonder: ‘what would I do?’. The two locations for the swap project couldn’t be more different and that makes it more interesting. Haley’s struggles in the bush are sometimes hilarious. I thought her adapting to her new circumstances went just as expected. She struggles, she knuckles down and grows to love it.

The connection Hailey forms with Jenna feels undeniable. I get that Hailey holds back at developing more feelings but I wanted to yell at her a few times to just go with it.

Life at the farm is hard but beautiful in its own way. A life that is very far removed of my own. I couldn’t help but picture scenes from the Australian tv-series McCleod’s Daughters for reference. Because the landscape of the bush is monotonous to the inexperienced, the descriptions kind of feel like that too. But I must say, I grew to like it alongside Hailey.

The colorful side characters that inhabit the farm make for an interesting mix of people. It gives a little look into the camaraderie these kind of forced communities inspire.

I wasn’t extremely gripped by the story, but it’s still a pretty good way to spend a few hours in the endless red dust of the outback.

A wonderful book with a unique story, that I have never read before.
Original and also light, but definitely with a lot of depth.
This romance has a seriousness that touches me deeply.
Both main characters have had a lonely and rather difficult life so far.
Hayley is having an extremely difficult time in Australia and is rarely given any real support, but that's not what I mean.
I mean how both MC’s approach things, deal with them and talk about them.
Even the approach to each other is slow, but full of seriousness and purpose!
It maybe starts as friends with benefits initially, but maybe it will become more. I don’t want to give too much away…
Hayley is a New York native. She was born and raised there and grew up, albeit under tragic circumstances, mainly as a orphan in foster care.
She has two jobs und a tiny Appartement to call her own.
She takes the opportunity and applies for a “Switcheroo” that “New Yorker Mondays” offers for a year in order to gain money and security for her life.
Never in her life did she think that Australia would be the chosen country.
However, Hayley definitely wants to make it, because she needs the money. There she will encounter great difficulties, harsh landscapes and somewhat different people.
And then there’s Jenna!
Her somewhat rough, rather calm and yet attractive mentor!
Jenna, who was chosen as „BFF“ for the newcomer from America, will have difficulty teaching her everything from the start.
Bringing a city girl closer to the outback and training her to do real work, becomes a challenge.
However, Hayley is also really beautiful, attractive and definitely doesn’t give up.
The description of the country is sometimes harsh, wild and dusty and then absolutely breathtaking.
It’s the same with this story!
Cheyenne Blue writes magical, sensual and profound books in magical beautiful places!

Thanks to the Author and Ylva Publishing for the ARC!

One of the things I love about this book is that it is interesting in an educating kind of way, but not lecturing! I feel I am learning about a new a totally different life. Another thing I love is the initial pacing. The mains have met and rather than love at first sight or indeed lust at first sight there is a bit of appreciation of the view but they are getting to know each other at a realistic pace. This feels like a life-like book. There were bits of the book that were incomprehensible to me but I think that was deliberate on the writers part, so I would feel the same out of my comfort zone as the characters p.o.v. I was reading.
Just when I was getting a wee bit intolerant of all the fails the main was having, circumstances meant something went a bit right, but believably so.
Pacing for me then slipped slightly, I enjoyed reading about this totally different life, but there wasn’t much going on in the romance. Then the plot picked up again and a plot twist I didn’t expect, but had been foreshadowed.
I found the book interesting and liked both mains but for some reason I didn’t love them as a couple.They were fine as people but I didn’t go ahhhh when they got together. My issue I am sure. For that reason I’m not rounding up from 3.5 to 4 although aspects of the book were there.

For me, this was the perfect book. It was entertaining without being cheesy, emotional without diving into angst's deep end, and the pace was so good that only the need to sleep and work my day job was able to interrupt the experience. Even with those interruptions, I finished this one in under 24 hours. I found the two protagonists to be delightful and relatable, and it was impossible not to route for them both as individuals and as a couple. Cheyenne Blue always does a beautiful job of immersing the reader in her stories' settings, and Switcheroo is no exception. The clanging streets of New York and the Outback's vast, dusty, silent beauty come to life on the pages.

I've been eagerly awaiting the newest Cheyenne Blue book and dove right in once I got my hands on the ARC.

You can read the blurb to find out all the details so I'm going to jump right into what I loved and a little of what didn't quite work for me.

I think the biggest thing I loved was the country. The clear love letter Cheyenne Blue writes to the outback. She made me want to pack up and move. In another life, I could have been Jenna and been completely happy. I'm from the American mid-west and absolutely live for my time in the forests and near lakes and rivers and streams. But I also lived in Arizona and loved the desert. The outdoors is where I want to spend my time - even though I now spend way too much time indoors...

Jenna and her love of the land was my number one favorite part of the book. I did connect with Hayley, too. Ms. Blue did a great job of capturing her awkwardness and insecurity and desire to work hard. The way she related to the others at the station felt genuine and I enjoyed being a fly on the wall (along with loads of other flies, apparently.)

There were a couple of things that kept Switcheroo from being a 5-star book for me. One is small but it kept pulling me out of the story. Hayley's NY slang... Word, wack, and hip are slang we used in the 90s and are among those my 19 year-old son teases me for saying. Maybe they've made a resurgence in NY though. The use of "yeah, nah" and "nah, yeah" didn't feel right in more serious conversations. And I have no idea what "dead ass" means. I couldn't figure it out from context. I totally get using slang to help cement her character as a NYC woman but in some of the scenes, it held me back from connecting and staying in the story.

The other thing that I had trouble with was feeling the chemistry between Jenna and Hayley. I loved them both and I wanted them together but I just never felt that sexual connection between them.

I still definitely recommend Switcheroo. It reminded me a lot of Susan X. Meagher's Almost Heaven. Meagher made me fall in love with the land and people of West Virginia just as much as Blue made me fall in love with Queensland outback and Ghost Gum Station. The fish-out-of-water trope was well done in both books, too, come to think of it...

Switcheroo is another win for Cheyenne Blue in my book. A big thanks to her, Ylva, and NetGalley for the ARC. I appreciate it!

Cheyenne Blue brings us another book with a very unique plot, touched with her subtle sense of humor. Add a slow-burn romance and the result was one that tugged at my heart strings.

Hayley Reed was a twenty-nine-year-old native New Yorker, working two jobs, as a bartender in one and a short-order cook in the other, working to pay off her student loans. She participated in New York Monday’s magazine contest to be chosen to completely trade positions with someone somewhere, anywhere, switching jobs, places they lived, salaries, etc. She had fantasies of being relocated to a posh ski resort, but what she got was one-year as a jillaroo at Ghost Gum, an outback cattle station in Queensland, Australia.

Jenna Dwyer was a country girl from the Outback who worked as a station hand at Ghost Gum, and was there to teach Hayley the ropes. They were bunk mates, along with another station hand, Jools. In fact, all the characters at Ghost Gum were interesting and provided some interesting additions to the story.

It was such an eye-opener how the author so realistically made me feel the experience of living in the Outback. What Hayley found was, “dust, dust, and more dust, straggly trees, wire fences, and skinny cattle, and a so-called city that took ten minutes to cross.” There was also the Aussie bushfly, numerous snakes and deadly creatures to watch out for. We experienced Hayley’s life throughout her days, weeks and months, with the reality being similar to groundhog day over and over.

The days were long, the work was hard and the food left a lot to be desired—kangaroo tail stew, roasted goanna—but what made it all worth it was finding love. Cheyenne writes a lovely romance with yearnings and steamy love scenes. This one didn’t disappoint.

I really enjoyed my trip to the Outback with the descriptions so well written that I don’t feel the need to actually go there because I feel that I’ve already been there, done that, haha.
My thanks to NetGalley and Ylva Publishing for the arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Bustling New York City or the vast Australian Outback?
Reading the blurb I was pretty sure that Cheyenne Blue‘s newest would hit the spot. What can go wrong when a NYCity-slicker is planted into the middle of dusty, deserted, dry Australian Outback - possibly everything and fun will be had, right?
I was not entirely wrong but Switcheroo delivers more, so much more: Yes, there is quite the struggle for Hayley to fit in, she really tries but nothing had her prepared for the stark experience awaiting her and the author doesn‘t gloss over it. No instant love for the Outback. At the same time we slowly see through the eyes of Hayley the unveiling of its beauty and the book becomes at times an ode to a way of living, with quite a few poetic passages where we see the stark beauty of the red arid landscape and its beautiful skies. I really relished those passages.
The people we meet are hard-working, there is comraderie and they are honest and direct with a distinct Australian flavor — I really liked that a lot: dry humor, Aussie slang and all.
The developing romance between Kenna, the jilaroo/farmhand, and Hayley is well-done although the way to happiness takes the scenic road.
I very much enjoyed the read - Cheyenne Blue does deliver again a great read.

I received an ARC via netgalley. The review is left voluntarily.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this intriguing book

when hailey first reads about the about the contest to switch jobs with someone else for a year she thought it was a great idea to be able to live some where else and imagined all sorts of places she would want to live after all she had two jobs to keep in the lovely state of new york city and hardly anytime for anything else...

she didnt think she would be picked after all nothing ever happened to her or anyone else she knew and though she entered never really gave it a thought....

she never imagined she would be picked or that she would be in australia for a year... or that it would be in the outback where there was nothing but red dust and flies.... but she needed to stick with it for a year otherwise the money she would lose and have to pay back didnt even bare thinking about...

jenna loved the outback and the ghost gum station that had been her home now for quite a few years.... she had plans that one day she would be manager there ...what it didnt entail was looking after an american with no clues of what it meant to be working on a station but she didnt have much choice....

a fun read and who doesnt like the idea of swopping with someone else for a time just to see if the grass is greener on the other side...

Extra heat in the Outback
The premise of Switcheroo is a cool take on life swapping set away from the glamor and glitz parts of NYC and big city Australia. Cheyenne Blue once again makes Australia a character in the story - in this case the Outback - and highlights its extensive beauty and danger; the flies, the 'roos, the clear skies and heat. Main characters Hayley and Jenna are down to earth, realistic and relatable in their goals and dreams, the obstacles in the way. There is drama and a bit of angst but it's good beach (or wintertime) reading and while it may not inspire you to book a leisure trip to the Outback, if anything it'll give you a fuller picture of that part of Australia and give you a greater appreciation of the lives of ranchers who provide the food you consume, their challenges especially in a harsh climate like the Outback. There is plenty of humor as well, both American and Aussie. And animals lovers will find several critters to latch on to.
I had a fair idea of how the story would go in terms of the overall trajectory before I got too far in to the book, but it was still a page turner to see how it all unfolded and what happened along the way. There's some steamy scenes and lots of food although foodies might not appreciate the meals served in order to fill hungry bellies after a full day of hard manual labor. NYC is not put on a pedestal here as it often is in fiction; Hayley works two jobs and has a heavy load of student debt to pay off and so she and her best friend aren't out seeing the tourist sights or living the high life by any means. Lovers of Aussie slang will appreciate the abundance of it in the story; most of it is easily deciphered in the context where it's used. The ending is sweet although if a follow up story is ever done to check in on these characters in the future I'd happily read it. If you want a romance story set in an atypical place for lesfic and with characters who have jobs involving manual labor and working with their hands, rather than boardrooms and the like, give this one a read. And if you've read some of Cheyenne Blue's earlier books there's mention and possibly a cameo appearance by someone from a certain series she wrote; I hope author Blue continues to put Easter eggs like this into her books as they're a fun bonus for readers who recognize them for what they are.
I had been hoping and waiting for a comeuppance for one of the characters that never happened but that's a minor issue and personal preference in a book that otherwise keeps you entertained and turning pages to see what happens next.
I recommend this and all of the author's stories to date for armchair travelling to various places in Australia and feel good romances with interesting characters.

Cheyenne Blue is one of those authors you know you can count on to deliver a well-written, engrossing story and with Switcheroo she’s done it again. This is a deeply atmospheric book, and I enjoyed my journey to the sweltering deserts of Queensland, Australia almost as much as my journey with Hayley and Jenna.

That said, it’s not a perfect book. The initial chemistry between the two leads was a bit thin and the “New York slang” Hayley continuously spouted was a bit cringy. However, the relationship that built between the two women as well as Blue’s superb depiction of a harrowing event later in the story kept me hooked and I finished this fun little page- turner with a smile on my face!

When Hayley Reed entered a Magazine contest to trade lifestyles with someone for a year, the New Yorker expected to be sent someplace different but not TOO different.

What she got was a ranch in the Australian Outback.

Jenna, a ranch hand at Ghost Gum Station, is less than impressed, but has been asked to watch over Hayley. She does admit Hayley is kinda cute...

Worse, while Haley struggles to fit in, the Magazine WANTS her to fail for added drama....

Sort of semi-slow burn, with the heroine's taking awhile to figure out the whole love thing. Good cast of characters, and a interesting set of circumstances. The outback scenes are vividly described, and the heroine's reaction to them felt credible. Also tied in to her other books, slightly.