I've read a few books by Jennifer Joyce, so I was pleased to receive an early preview copy of this book from Netgalley and the Publisher in return for an honest review.
The story is fairly predictable in places, and I felt that there could have been more of a development with the characters, and also the sanctuary.
The book is fun and a light and uncomplicated read. It is enjoyable and easygoing, perfect for times when you need to relax with a book.

3 stars
A light read which uses the mistaken identity and then has the person fall in love with another. What to do and think... is the love real or does the other person only want the person she is pretending to be.

I thought this was a fun read, the perfect book to pickup at the weekend and finish by Sunday night. Have never read Jennifer Joyce before, but will look out for her again!

This book was a cute, light, fun read. It was entertaining as it followed Rebecca as she assumed the identity of her boss Vanessa during a house renovation.

I enjoyed reading about her life in the country. I want to go visit that village and animal sanctuary (I want it to be real!) I loved Oliver and Stacey, and how the whole community came together to put on the festival in such short notice. I couldn't stand Emma from the start, though! I liked how it was centered around Rebecca's life as a whole and didn't heavily concentrate on the romantic aspect of the story.

Overall it was a bit predictable, and nothing earth shattering, but a perfect light read. It is written very "English" so if you aren't familiar with the different words they use then it might throw you off, but it didn't bother me.

Jennifer Joyce’s 'The Accidental Life Swap' is an entertaining romantic comedy about mistaken identities and miscommunication. Rebecca Riley has been stuck in a dead-end job for much too long. As Vanessa Whitely’s PA, Rebecca is more peon than peer. So when she’s mistakenly identified as her boss by the men refurbishing Vanessa’s country house, Rebecca decides to lean into her new identity. That is, until she starts falling for Oliver.

This is a light read, but does take a little bit of time to get into. It’s perfect for those who are prefer more comedy than romance, and who don’t mind a slow burn with a chaste pay off. The setting and characters are engaging, and it’s enjoyable to read about Rebecca coming into her own.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

The Accidental Life Swap by Jennifer Joyce is the story of Rebecca Riley, personal assistant to Vanessa. Her life takes a wild turn when she is sent to oversee the renovations of Vanessa’s new country home. When she is mistaken for her boss, she goes along with it, not realizing the chaos that this case of mistaken identity could cause.

I got through this book, but I can’t say it was all that enjoyable. The characters all felt one-dimensional and stereotypes. The ending was basically the fastest way to wrap up the story without grappling with any of the issues. Rebecca is supposed to be the underdog, but honestly seemed like a bad person. I didn’t feel bad for her, especially since most of her issues were of her own making. I’d give this book a pass.

ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest and thoughtful review.

I mean, it's certainly not great literature, but The Accidental Life Swap is great if you are looking for a mindless, simple read. Rebecca's (slight spoiler alert) pulling things together in the end isn't quite enough to make over for her spineless behavior in the first 75% of the book. However, I loved the board game aspect of the story (that is honestly something I have never seen in a rom-com novel before), and enjoyed reading about Stacey and her animal sanctuary.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

This was a quick and easy read. I had mixed feelings about Rebecca who at times was too much of a pushover. I struggled to understand why she wanted to be like Vanessa who just came of as a rude bully who steamrolled people into doing what she wanted. I was glad when Rebecca finally stood up for herself and stopped trying to impress her boss. The romance between Rebecca and Oliver was cute as was the bonding over board games. There were some good side characters as well like Stacey and a few cliche ones as well . Overall worth a read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. The Accidental Life Swap was a really fun summer read. This book was light but the characters were well built and had depth. The characters were likable and this was a quick read for me. I would give this 3.5 stars because certain things were too far fetched. This was my first introduction to Jennifer Joyce and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is a fun, current and fabulous read. The characters are well written, I really enjoyed the plot of the story. I didn’t want to put this book down. 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Really enjoyed this book. It’s a light read and definitely one to to choose when you’re not wanting to focus too hard on a storyline, despite this it kept me interested and I wanted to get the the end to find out what would happen. Rebecca, the main character, is likeable and you feel a lot of empathy for the situation she gets herself into. I really enjoyed the relationships that developed throughout the story and almost want to go and live in Little Heaton myself. A feel-good book.
Thank you to netgalley who gifted me this book in exchange for my honest review.

I liked this one! I wish it focused more on the love interest than herself. I tend to like more of the love in stories.
There was a lot of growth and her confidence develop through the book. I think it's a fun read if you are looking for a story about a woman who is becoming something she has always wanted to be.

I liked this one! The premise is a little bit of a stretch and it’s not so much of a “life swap” as it is low grade identity theft but it was still very entertaining. I loved seeing “Becky’s” growth and her confidence develop through the book. The liked that 75% of the book was focused on career/life rather than her love interest.

I begrudgingly got through this book. I fell asleep so many times trying to finish it. The writing was not engaging at all and the story was utterly boring. None of the characters were developed well, like Rebecca’s roommate seemed like a cartoon character. Her love interest didn’t even make sense - he was her “employee” but was talking back to her all the time...who would do that in real life? And the oddest thing was that Rebecca is so meek in her own life and then she comes to this new situation and all of a sudden she can turn on an assertive personality... like why can’t she do that in her own life then? Even the ending was not satisfactorily resolved. Without getting into spoilers, it just felt like the author thought “what’s the quickest way I can wrap up this book?” and did exactly that. Skip this book. I gave it 2 stars because I give 1 star to books I DNF.

I received an advanced copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to HQ Digital and Net Galley for sending me an advanced copy of The Accidental Life Swap in exchange for an honest review.

I saw this book on Net Galley and thought it had all the signs of a classic rom-com (you know, those ones that are on the Hallmark or Lifetime channels that you love, even if you know what's going to happen?). I was happy to give this ARC a shot and see what Jennifer Joyce had written for us!

Awkward Word Choices
I found myself a little annoyed by some of the verbose language used in this book. I get that we're supposed to understand that Rebecca is smart and super overqualified for her job, but does she really need to walk around talking as if she swallowed an encyclopedia. Sometimes it's ok to use basic language, especially when trying to ensure that the reader can connect to the characters. I found myself rolling my eyes more than once while reading this book.

Rebecca is Frustrating (but Eventually Redeemed)
I had a really hard time buying that Rebecca just did everything her boss demanded, without any real refusal. I understand being anxious about your job, but jeez, does she give "pushover" a new name. That said, it was really great to see her eventually learn to stand up for herself. Although it took a long time, she finally finds her self-worth and realizes that she deserves so much more than what she's been settling for. Yay, Rebecca!!

​A Predictably Cute Romance
There are no surprises about who Rebecca is going to end up with, but I still loved watching it happen. With the predictable twists and turns and mini dramas along the way, the book gives us a sweet love story. I'm a sucker for a cute romance, and The Accidental Life Swap does a great job setting that up for readers. I specifically loved the Epilogue and getting to see what the future looks like for Rebecca. I feel like she's on such a great path for her future and I couldn't be happier for her.

Overall, there was nothing overly surprising about this book. This story could have easily been a movie on the Hallmark channel as one of their Halloween specials, which seems fairly self-explanatory for the kind of book it is. I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves classic rom-coms, it looking for an easy seasonal read, or just something light to enjoy in between novels. The Accidental Life Swap comes out September 1st!

DNF 30%

I'm starting to get tired of this trend of 'if a girl acts like perv it's not only okay but it's funny!'
First of all: this is the type of book that demands a lot of suspension of disbelief.
That Rebecca would just do what Vanessa wants even if it is clearly not part of her job or connected to it (ie: Vanessa is not a tyrant, if Rebecca was to be unjustly fired on the basis of not wanting to agree to do an 'outside job' for her boss). Then again Rebecca can't be all that smart as she then believes that it's a good idea for people to believe that she is Vanessa and that they will understand if she reveals later on that she isn't (where is she living? the moon?!).

What really annoyed me was that Rebecca thinks it's perfectly okay to sneak a photo of a builder's bum as it is a very good looking one so that she can then send it to her friend. The narrative tries to make it so that she is aware that she was being a bit of a perv but it's okay since he then quite rightfully acts in an unfriendly manner towards her (so he deserved it?!).
Do pervy, clueless, air-heads make for sympathetic or realistic main characters? Not really.
If we were to switch their genders in that scene (so that it is a male sneaking a photo of a woman's bottom, a woman he does not even know or has even seen before)...not so funny right?

Another thing that I noticed was the lack of logic: the builder catches our protagonist red-handed and believing that she is his employer (who he knows is an unpleasant person by her reputation) tells her: "I'd thought you'd be more rottweiler than chihuahua" (which leads us to believe that he is not that threatened by her or her authority over him) before then telling off his mates for not warning him of her arrival as "I could have got myself sacked up there just now".
If he was so worried about meeting Vanessa wouldn't he have avoided comparing her to a dog?

The book is also full of lazy stereotypes (like the taxi driver who pats his stomach and talks about his 'missus') that don't really come across as funny or clever takes on real people. There is Rebecca's housemate from hell (who is an exaggerated take on the lazy, smelly, sexist housemate)...Vanessa is an amalgamation of 'devil' bosses found in The Devil Wears Prada and My Not So Perfect Life

My advice is to skip this one!

So this wasn’t terrible but I didn’t love it, I liked it, but not something I’d read again,

Pluses:
- I’m a fan of of the “city girl goes to country” trope
- liked seeing heroine gain self confidence and become stronger

Minuses
- I wish relationship with boss had been explored more. Ending seemed insufficient
- slow paced at times
- the lying/deceit gave me second hand embarrassment.

I had expected this book to be good but unfortunately it was absolutely awful
Unbelievable storyline and badly written
A huge disappointment

This story was a little gem!!

I thought that it was heart-warming story that was very easy to read as it flowed so well.

The author has a lovely writing style and she is perfectly suited to this genre.

I thought that the characters were 'well liked' by me and brought the ongoing story together very well.

It is 5 stars from me, I thought the story was excellent - very highly recommended!!

Love! I was so into this storyline. It was like reading a hallmark movie (which is a compliment in my world). Enjoyed getting to know the characters. Will love to read more from this author.