Sophie and Harriet don't know each other but they're going to become acquainted soon - as soon as their flights that were supposed to take them on the much needed holidays in Italy are cancelled because of a volcanic ash cloud. Well, they already got chatting to each other, right, so why not swap houses? Harriet will get her city break in London and Sophie her spa treatments on a small goat farm in a very rural Gloucestershire - it's a win - win, right? Because what could possibly go wrong?

It quickly became clear that both characters have some secrets and troubles. Sophie's were more plain to see for us but not so for Sophie, and Harriet's were a bit more hidden and she allowed us to unpeel layer after layer of her problems. At the beginning I had huge problems to distinguish who is who and to whom they belong, to be honest, and I'm not sure whose fault it is, probably mine, as I absolutely wasn't in the mood, so apologies book.

The friendship between Harriet and Sophie blossomed somehow suddenly and unexpectedly, at least for me, once they were only swapping their houses and then, after few phone calls, they were calling each other "friend" - did I miss something here? It happened completely out of blue to be honest. But whatever. I liked both of them, Harriet and Sophie, and I think Harriet even more, because under the shell there was a brilliant, funny and clever woman hiding. They were both so very different but this is what made them so interesting. While Harriet is a successful solicitor, Sophie is a stay - at - home mum. While Harriet is über - organized, Sophie is much more laid - back, following the rule there's luck in leisure. While Harriet is brisk and efficient, Sophie is chaotic and very accommodating. Absolutely brilliant to have such different characters. Both their husbands are very much focused on their jobs, James as a goat farmer and Dan as a solicitor, but while James was much more laid - back, the more we got to know Dan, the more we were able to see that there is something wrong, that he's treating Sophie and their two children like another thing on his to - do list, all the time expecting gratefulness. He was absolutely controlling, to the point of booking all Sophie's spa treatments, without informing her what she's going to have, and making all the other decisions in a way that his family might have thought they have made them, but it was him, in fact, pulling all the strings. The more I read about him, the more I disliked him. It was not Harriet's over - efficiency and planning that annoyed me, it was not Sophie with her whatever - attitude, it was Dan that grated on me, such irritating and annoying he was. However, they all, with all their ups and downs and unexpected announcements felt authentic and realistic. And what's more lovely is the fact that the women were slowly starting to find that their attitudes change and that they started to do something, according to those changes.

But it's not only the contrast between the characters and their life - styles, it is also the contrast between the settings that is also brilliantly captured, and the author could truly put into words why it is that Harriet struggles at the goat farm, and why Sophie feels out of her depth in London and everything that Dan work brings with it.

The author put the characters through trials and tribulations, challenges and surprises that they both had to overcome. The plot was engaging and simply the idea of the swap has worked in this book brilliantly, and I loved the contrasting settings, the hustle and bustle of London and the peace and lovely community of the countryside - I may be biased, as I myself live in such a rural place, but as much as I appreciated both places, I'd choose the goat farm. Anytime. The author's writing is fluent, seamless and chatty.

"The Staycation" is a great summery read with much, much more depth than you could expect at the beginning, light but it also dealt with some heavier topics and issues and I really liked the way how skilfully the author has interwoven and integrated them in the plot. There is fun but there is also seriousness, perfectly blended with each other. It's a story about growing - up, about finding yourself and your own luck and place, packed with laughter, family relationships, and some drama. A great summery read that I truly recommend!

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre, I’m more into crime/thriller books and even psychological thrillers too so I am extremely pleased and grateful to them for opening up my mind to something totally different.

Thanks for the early copy of The Staycation. Everything about it sounded just like the summer read I was looking for.

There was a few formatting errors with the file though with each line broken on to seperate lines so I found it difficult to follow and read. With not wanting that to ruin my experience of reading The Staycation I have just pre-ordered it instead. Looking forward to enjoying it whilst on our own staycation!

Unforeseen, Unlikely And Unexpected.....
Unforeseen circumstances lead to an unlikely course of events with unexpected consequences for Harriet and Sophie and their respective families in this enjoyable, light hearted read. With well drawn characters and an entertaining storyline this is an ideal staycation read, in fact, providing some guaranteed escapism.

This is an enjoyable, engaging & funny read! A unique idea with great writing. I loved the contrasting settings the London hustle and the idyllic countryside.⠀
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Harriet & Sophie are realistic and relatable characters that you'll soon be rooting for. ⠀
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The bit with the snake made me laugh out loud so it deserves a special mention🤭 ⠀
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It missed out on 5🌟 because I personally would have liked it to delve a bit deeper.⠀
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Overall a light-hearted, fun escape perfect for fans of the film The Holiday.⠀
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Thanks to Trazepe & Netgalley for sending me this in exchange for an honest & open review. ⠀
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I really liked this story, it was light and refreshing to read during these difficult times. It was my first time reading this author

Ooh, there are some interesting issues indeed in these pages.

Two couples, two marriages, two similar issues within the relationships but approached from different angles and with different intentions, reasons and purposes.

Sorry, I'm being cryptic, I know, but I don't want to give anything away.

I loved Harriet (I think I related to her a bit too much!) and the first chapter drew me in straight away. The rest of the story kept me there.

I wasn't totally sure which way this story would go, so hats off to the author for keeping me guessing.

Well worth reading!

A lovely happy read from an author who has her finger on the pulse of her characters!

Two women, both with families, have been looking forward - desperately - to their holiday so when the volcanic ash cloud interferes with their flights it seems like the last straw. Sitting in the airport with husbands and children, they see their precious anticipated break disappearing into the ether .. until, they realise that each has what the other dreams of at home. And so the idea of a house swap materialises and very quickly becomes reality.

I love the very idea of this book; making the best of things - it's what we all do, isn't it? Harriet gets the city break she has been so looking forward to, with culture and good restaurants on her doorstep whilst Sophie heads to an amazing home in a country village with an all important spa nearby. As different as these women are, their husbands are too and getting to know them all makes for fascinating reading. Things aren't always what they seem  . . . just like real life! Michele Gorman has created a wonderful story, both fun and entertaining but never predictable. I'm a real fan of this author - she always delivers a great read. I'm very happy to recommend this novel, and give it 4.5*.

My thanks to the publisher for both my copy and my spot on this tour; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

I really enjoyed this book, it’s a light and refreshing read, which is exactly what I had hoped for and it’s been a long time since I’ve read a contemporary novel that didn’t focus on romance. Easily read in a day or two this is the perfect summer read.

Two families meet at Heathrow Airport as a result of their flights being cancelled to their Italian getaways, due to a volcanic ash cloud. The women get chatting and in order to make the best out of an extremely bad situation decide it would be a great idea to do a house swap. Harriet gets the city break she has dreamed of and Sophie the restful countryside spa holiday. I love the idea that one family lived in the idyllic countryside an the other in the hustle and bustle of London and it worked really well.

Harriet and Sophie have completely contrasting personalities; Harriet being a compulsive organiser and Sophie is completely disorganised, two polar opposites. I really enjoyed seeing the progression of these two women and their journeys of self-discovery. It is wonderful that they form a close friendship along the way and their attitude to life begins to change. Both families have their problems and the author tackles some important issues, from a difficult relationship with a teenage daughter to an extremely controlling husband, and I felt this was addressed in an extremely sensitive manner.

Although I enjoyed this book I felt the pacing was a little slow in parts and it lacked a bit of the drama and excitement I really crave in a book. Nothing really hooked me into the story, hence the middling (liked but didn’t hate) 3 stars. However, that aside, I would definitely recommend reading this book if you want a light read with a storyline centred around the trials an tribulations of family life.

Thank you to Orion and Netgalley for the opportunity to ready this eARC.

Found this a bit slow going and uncapturing in places. Was an easy summer type read and relatable to the current situation but just felt a bit flat in places

I was so looking forward to this book as it sounded like the perfect summer read and we are all in a bit of a “staycation” situation at the minute! I got to 56% of the book and decided to not finish it.

Unfortunately it just wasn’t for me, I wasn’t really interested in the storyline, the characters were very exaggerated stereotypes and for what was supposed to be a bit of light summer reading I found Dan’s gaslighting very awkward to read at parts. I think the gaslighting was a bit no no for me and it will be a trigger for other readers. Even though I didn’t like Harriets character I thought the whole village hating on her just cause she was a bit different was slightly extreme. It did start off okay and I was enjoying the book up until the house swap happened, it just went downhill from there for me.

I really liked the premise of this book and that’s what instantly grabbed my attention, I think there was a lot of potential and also the lovely cover. I just wasn’t motivated to continue reading or interested to know the outcome of the story.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for my copy.

A staycation is something that it looks like many of us will be having this year, whether literally at our own homes or at least staying within the UK. Sophie and Harriet’s staycation is rather impromptu. An erupting volcano and the resulting ash cloud grounds flights and ruins both families’ Italian holiday plans. They meet at the airport and after some discussion, they come to the perfect arrangement – a city break in Sophie’s London house for Harriet, while Sophie enjoys a country break in Harriet’s farm in Gloucestershire.

I can’t imagine agreeing to swap houses with somebody I had only just met at an airport. My house definitely wouldn’t be in a decent enough condition for someone to just come and move in! And this is certainly how Harriet feels when she, her husband James and daughter Billie arrive at what is to be their holiday home in London. Harriet is one of life’s organisers, a little obsessive some might say, and she sets about tackling the lack of order in Sophie and Dan’s home. She is rather perturbed to find that staying in this house also involves looking after the family pet, Spot. Can’t say I would have been too happy about that either!

On the other hand, Sophie thinks she has died and gone to heaven in Harriet’s immaculate, large farmhouse. Her husband Dan as usual starts to organise lots of things to keep her and their children busy, including some rather weird and wonderful sounding spa treatments. When she is thrown into the deep end at a Scout fundraiser, she rises to the occasion and starts to wonder why she hasn’t been doing more things for herself and making her own decisions.

As the holidays progress, both women start to find their attitudes to life begin to change and this was lovely to see. There were a lot of rather funny situations throughout the book which made me laugh but there were also some rather more serious issues addressed as well. Both Sophie and Harriet began to be better versions of themselves, helped in no small part by their growing and very supportive friendship.

I enjoyed the contrasts between the city and country settings, which also reflected the differences between the women. There were lots of interesting side characters in both settings, all of whom had something about them which changed Sophie and Harriet in some way. The author showed that in many ways, initial appearances can be deceptive and that we shouldn’t be too quick to make judgements.

I found The Staycation to be a really enjoyable and engaging read. There is so much happening for both families that you will be keen to keep those pages turning and find out how it’s all going to work out for them. You’ll definitely be rooting for both Sophie and Harriet and cheering on their friendship. This would be a great choice of feel-good fiction to see you through your own staycation, and it’s sure to leave you smiling.

This is the first book I have read by this author and it certainly won’t be the last.

When Harriet, Sophie and their families are left stranded at Heathrow by an ash cloud, they decide to swap houses so they can each get a well deserved holiday. Over the course of the next two weeks not only do Harriet and Sophie become friends, they discover things about themselves that they would like to change in their lives.

A great lighthearted story. Harriet and Sophie are both likeable and interesting characters and this book is well worth a read.

I enjoyed this book, it was light, breezy and very much an easy read. I would however liked it to have delved a bit deeper. For me it was like a swan- all serene and beautiful on the surface but the real work is going on underneath and we didn’t get to see it.

I had a really hard time with this book. The writing, for me, felt very Colby and inconsistent. I had a real hard time getting through the pages and it would be until I was well in the chapter I would realize which point of view I was reading. That made it really hard for me to follow or enjoy the story because it was confusing and I would have to go back and reread pages to find out what was happening. It felt at times there was a language barrier where I didn’t understand the slang used or meaning of phrases.

The male characters are really degrading towards the female leads. They were seen as trophy wives, especially Sophie. The way her husband would put her down for every minuscule mistake she made and ridicule her for it was really disheartening to read. I had problems with Harriet's standards for acceptable living. I mean she went on “vacation” and ended up reorganizing someone else's house for fun.

I didn’t enjoy this book. I had trouble having motivation to read this book because the writing was a huge hindrance in wanting to complete it. I didn’t enjoy the characters or the story. I wished for more with every page I turned.

I was looking forward to reading this book as I was in the mood for an easy adult contemporary (and the premise reminded me of The Holiday which is one of my favourite films) and that's exactly what I got. The characters and story were fine, but nothing in this book stood out to me as being amazing

This book follows two women, Harriet and Sophie, who meet in the airport when their flight to Italy is cancelled. The two women, and their families, decide not to lose their holidays and instead to swap houses for two weeks. Sophie, her husband and two children go to stay in the countryside, and Harriet, her husband and daughter go to stay in London

I did enjoy this book, it was just the easy-reading I needed. I liked the personal progression of both Harriet and Sophie that we saw throughout the book. Sophie begins to realise that her husband, Dan, is very controlling, undermining and disrespectful to her. Harriet realises that she could do to be less uptight and controlling of her family's lives

I'm not able to give this a higher rating because it all just stayed in the surface for me. I liked the two protagonists well enough, but that's as far as it went. Their issues seemed a little trivial to me (that's not to downplay the kind of abusive relationship Sophie is in at all) and I was never invested in their lives

I think the concept of the 'staycation' is something we can all relate to right now. So many holiday plans being cancelled left right and centre and without the option that presents itself to Harriet and Sophie when they meat quite by chance at the airport. With a volcanic ash cloud cancelling their Italian getaways, they quickly hatch and surprising but ultimately fruitful plan. To swap houses. Harriet and her family get the city break she has dreamed of, albeit London and not Rome, and Sophie gets her peaceful spa break - in a small goat farm in rural Gloucestershire. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, all and nothing as it turns out. This is a story packed with poignant moments, laughter, family time and a whole heap of self discovery. And it's a whole heap of fun to read.

Now you could not two more contrasting characters than Harriet and Sophie. Harriet is a successful solicitor whose husband's life evolves around goat farming. They shouldn't work as a pair - they are absolutely chalk and cheese. He is calm, laid back and accommodating. Harrier is brisk, efficient, a little uptight and uber-organised to the point of OCD. And then there is Sophie. She is a little more chaotic, perhaps seeming a little ditzy when we first meet her, her characteristics more akin to Harriet's husband, James, than her own . She is a 'kept woman' whose husband, Dan, is more focused on work than on his family, treating them as a work list to tick off in a functional manner rather than someone he will dedicate real time to. For him the break being cancelled means an opportunity to return to work. For Sophie it means a new beginning.

What I love about Michele Gorman's writing is that she is able to take a situation, more or less everyday (although I admit I would balk at the idea of letting my house out to a complete stranger) and turn it into something that is fun, full of light humour, but also has a journey of self-discovery at the heart. This is definitely the case here with both Sophie and Harriet ending up very different women to the ones we first meet. Okay, Harrier isn't that different, but then a leopard can't be expected to completely change its spots now, can it? There we so many scenes that made me smile, especially when Harrier took to ordering a labelling machine so that she could reorganise Sophie's house and make it more 'efficient'. You wouldn't think it possible, but it really did just fit her character to a tee. In fact, worryingly, I saw more than a little of myself in the workaholic, militantly organised Harriet. Only as far as excursions and planning, obviously. I really do not do organised housework ...

There were little things about both of the women in the story that did take a time to warm up to. Harriet's over efficient nature was grating at times. Although she had good intent throughout, sometimes it was just really badly executed. However you would be a hard hearted person not to smile when she tries to embrace her daughter's announcement, accompanying her on a, how should I put it, very different day trip to Brighton. Sophie grated for another reason - she was just too accommodating. To Harriet's pushy nature and her husband's overbearing dominance. That family dynamic was obvious from the start and I'll admit, it got my hackles up. And yet, it was authentic and something that is sadly all too common, Whilst there is no hint of violence, the way in which Dan treats Sophie is unpalatable.

The author captures the contrast not only between the characters, but the settings perfectly. It is easy to see why Harriet struggles in the rural setting and why Sophie feels out of her depth in the city. You get a real feel for difference between a life where everything is just a tube ride away and the small village where everyone knows not only everyone's name, but also there business. Even down to the kind of pets they have you couldn't get anything more opposing. There is James with an entire herd of goats and Sophie who has Spot. I really liked Spot (although, a bit like Harriet, I'm not sure I'd want to live with him full time). He goes missing for a short time, and when and where he pops back up is not only hilarious but also potentially a little trauma inducing 😳

This is a fun summer interlude, an example of two families making the best of a very bad situation. And if you are looking for a light, fun and hope filled read, something that will take you away from the stresses and strains of current affairs and allow you to laugh a little, this could definitely be the book for you. Take the plunge and see what fun you could have with a 'staycation'.

Two families encounter each other at the airport while waiting for their flight to be called. However, due to circumstances, their flight and respective holidays were cancelled. The women in the family ended up talking with each other, and the novel progresses with the families swapping houses to keep the holiday both women wanted to take.

My expectations from the novel was that this was going to be one of those homey novels where there would be rekindling relationships, a new look at life, all that cozy goodness. The novel delivered on that premise, with the reader following the families and how the two-week holiday affected their lives.

The novel heavily leaned on Sophie’s chapters as she was the character whose arc was more plot driven than character driven. Harriet’s arc was mainly getting to reconnect with her husband and understanding her teenage daughter. Sophie’s arc was a bit more complicated than Harriet’s. Each woman had personalities that were opposite of each other, but they managed to become friends. I like that Harriet was sensible. I also felt that at times I was reading a domestic thriller. By the nth time Dan was calling Sophie a 'silly bean', I was ready to slap him to his senses.

Michele Gorman knows how to write an engaging story; it's hard not to finish this book in one sitting.

Special thanks to the author and Netgalley for my advanced ebook copy of this book!

I adored this book- plain and simple!

Harriet & Sophie need a holiday badly but their fight gets cancelled. Instead of failed plans they decided to swap houses for their “staycation”.

Each chapter is told by Harriett & Sophie detailing their staycation and the challenges, surprises and truths they have to learn. I truly loved both ladies.

This book is the perfect Summer read and one of my favorites by this author! Definitely put this on your TBR for June 2020.

This is a light hearted and easy read. It's a very character driven novel with Harriet and Sophie both desperately need a vacation. Their extravagant vacation plans get cancelled, so they decide to swap homes! Throughout their "staycation" their personal lives and family lives are tested. It was very heartwarming and sweet.