GAAAAAAAAH. My heart.

I LOVE the house-swapping plot. I've read other similar books before, but this one was special.

At first, Cassie and James don’t get along so well (hello, enemies-to-lovers fans!). Since the beginning, it’s clear how they have such different ideas about everything. She tries her best to be nice, preparing her house to welcome him. He isn’t so worried about pleasing her. It’s all just a deal for him.

But guess what? This experience isn’t just about the house. It’s about people, family, friends, culture, fears, feelings, routine, mental health. And so much more... They don't know at first, but they're both getting out of their comfort zones and facing past traumas. I guess that's what happens to everyone when you spend some time away from home, from your city, your people... Everything gets a new meaning.

After a few fights, they slowly realize how they're changing and becoming better people, learning with each other, seeing their own mistakes, appreciating things they never had. They had nothing in common before, but now they do.

It’s such a romantic and funny book! I was surprised with the fact that they kept in touch most of the time. I fell in love with them during those calls and texts. Until a certain point, I really thought I was going to give it 5 stars, but there were some things that I didn't like.

>> Attention: Spoilers! (maybe?)

If this book was a movie, it would be one of those who turn off the lights when things are about to get steamy. So, don't expect to find hot scenes around here. (this was something that disappointed me a little. I was expecting at least one more page about their first night together.)

At times, it may seem a little unrealistic how they overcome their traumas so suddenly. In real life, I think they would need much more time and therapy. However, I believe that the outcome is possible. That’s the goal, face your fears, chase your dreams... No matter what. Even if it’s scary. Even if it’s something you never thought you could actually do. So yeah… I was happy with how it ended.

Trigger warnings: pregnancy struggles, miscarriage, IVF, mentions of alcoholism, abusive households.
* I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

When I read the synopsis for The House Swap it kinda reminded me of that movie The Holiday, minus the actual holiday. You too? So I jumped right in.



There are many things to enjoy about this novel. If you love British characters, as we do over here at MRBoD, then this will hit that spot for you. The slang, the various places visited, even the snobbery of the main male character and the quirkiness of our main female character are all good stuff. There's also the quaint and lovely American village that seems sweet and romantic and small town--lots of good stuff there.



But really, the novel is captured in phone calls, text exchanges, and the adorable annoyance that each of these characters have for each other. It's through these exchanges and the down time between them that we get to know their histories and broken hearts. It's through these exchanges that they learn more about each other, let down their guards, and become genuine friends and companions...lovers and a couple.



While there were definitely times when I felt that the writing was a bit long and more verbose than I normally like, I did ultimately enjoy the premise and characters.

i actually read this yesterday but waited to say HAPPY RELEASE DAYY! i’m giving this 4 stars:) it was fun, it was cute, it was just what i was looking for after a hardcore fantasy. if you have just read a rough, heavy book and want something light, cute and fun. this book is for you, when i tell you i had so much fun reading this i mean it! i enjoyed the first two thirds of the book the most it was kind of predictable so that’s why it’s getting 4 stars rather than 5. it was semi enemy to lovers, the guy was kind of a dick in the beginning. at the end this was easy and such a fun read, i did enjoy it! thank you!

Great book from a new author for me. I loved the back stories of the two main characters Cassie and James. It was great to see how their relationship developed across the miles. A lovely read. Keep tissues handy.

Synopsis: He needs an escape. She needs an adventure. Cassie swaps her island house off the coast of Maine for James’ central London flat. Both didn’t realise that swapping homes also meant swapping parts of their lives. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
What I liked⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- It’s a version of an enemies to lovers story.
- The wat the house swap let’s the characters explore themselves. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- It’s a light and easy read. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- The House Swap is an absolute feel good romance! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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What I didn’t like ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- James’ complete personality switch at the end was unrealistic. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Rating⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Review on Goodreads, Instagram and Amazon. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I received a complementary eARC from the publisher via @netgalley in return for my honest review. ⠀⠀
Trigger warning: overdose, miscarriage.

First, thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an e-galley of The House Swap.

I loved this book! If you like Beth Leary's books, this is perfect for you.

Cassie and James live on opposite sides of the world, but they both find themselves in need of a change of scenery. So they decide to swap houses for a couple months, James will move to an island in Maine and Cassie to the heart of London. But upon their arrival at their respective locations, it appears each has left unexplained issues behind.

As they stay in touch regarding ex-girlfriends who barge into flats, and the utter lack of internet, James and Cassie find themselves talking more and more about non-house swap issues. Despite being an ocean apart, a relationship of sorts begins to form.

Thank you to Bookouture for my copy of this book via Netgalley and for letting me take part in this tour. I really enjoyed The First Time We Met so I was excited to read another book by this author.

I really enjoyed Jo's writing style. I like books with multiple POV so I really enjoyed switching between Cassie and James for each chapter.

The story is split between an island near Maine, USA and London. The London scenes gave me a real hankering to visit again. It's been more than a year since I last went to London and I do miss it. I love seeing the sights and catching up with friends for dinner and drinks. I really enjoyed living vicariously through these characters. Cassie's house also sounds beautiful. I would LOVE to visit somewhere like this for a lovely relaxing break.

I really liked both main characters. James did come off a bit rude, to begin with, but once his walls started to come down he really did grow on me. Underneath all the pain of his past, he's actually a really sweet guy. Cassie is such a sweetheart. She cares about everyone and always tries to help out where she can.

I really loved all the side characters in this book. Even though they weren't the main characters they were still well thought out with their individual personalities.

Jo explores different types of grief in this book. It was really lovely to see how James and Cassie could help each other through their grief and to heal.

This book was a lovely sweet story that made you really appreciate your loved ones and gives you the warm fuzzies.

This was a sweet and easy read for me. It’s a semi enemy to lovers trope...more like guy is a dick in the beginning and girl is super bubbly so they butt heads trope. I honestly didn’t know how they were going to come together believably by the end of the book, but it did work in ways. I think I would have liked it more if there wouldn’t have been huge gaps in time/personal growth, or at least made the transitions not seem as huge.

I loved that half of the setting was on an island in Maine. I love this state so much, and am always excited to see it highlighted in a novel! I also enjoyed the London half since it’s one of my top places I want to visit.

🏠🏠🏠🏠
THE HOUSE SWAP
Jo Lovett

Bookou

I chose this book because I found the idea of house swapping interesting. I could tell from the cover that it would be a Rom-Com type of book.

The house swap is between James, an uptight financial guy who lives in the centre of London, and Cassie. Cassie is an author who writes children’s books who lives on an island off the coast of Maine. Cassie is a detail-oriented and outgoing person.

As expected, as they are going through the details of the house swap, Cassie and James get off on the wrong foot. The rest of the story is quite predictable.

I don't usually mind when a story leaves the realm of reality, as long as it stays entertaining enough to keep my attention. And, interesting enough to keep my attention watching it evolve.

I could predict within the first few pages what the outcome was going to be. I did not realize that it would involve some touching moments. I would call it “substance” popping up in a light read. There were lots of touches of humour too, a perfect balance!

I always like a book where I learn something. In this book, I learned that there is such a thing as a “tuna and sweet corn sandwich”. After Googling, I see that it is a British thing. Who knew?

In conclusion, the characters were cute, the plot was cute, the ending was cute. There are times in our lives when we need something like this book.....and I read this at the right time. It turned out to be a real “feel good” book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Cassie and James meet on a house swap website. Cassie needs to live in London for 6 months to do some research for her latest book and James wants to live in the States to escape a crazy ex girlfriend.

At first they only have contact via the internet but they keep hearing all about each other from their neighbours and friends. Soon their occasional contact for house related enquiries turns into long daily telephone conversations.

I've never wanted to smack two character's heads together and yell "Get your shit together!!" more than I did with Cassie and James. Jo Levett also leads the reader into some super saucy scenes and then skips right over them which had me checking if I missed a page.

This was a really lovely story though that made me laugh in parts and while predictable in its storyline delved past the superficial love story and also explored trauma and loss.

Cassie and James swap houses for 6 months.
Cassie so she can write her next novel and maybe have IVF and James to get away from a psycho ex girlfriend.
Cassie and James start off by sharing text messages and then move on to talking every day they eventually meet in London and they soon realise that they have feelings for each other.

This was an enjoyable read. I didn’t love James at first. He was incredibly rude and a bit up himself. But as the book progressed he calmed down and was less rude.
The ending was a bit predictable but gave me the warm and fuzzies anyway.

A great read for all romance readers.

I really enjoyed this book. You sometimes can't beat a romance book.

The book is shown in Cassie and James' perspective. It was quite a fast paced book but it worked in this.

Honestly it was pretty predictable what would happen but it was still a really enjoyable read.

2 stars out of 5

I wish this book wasn't being marketed as a Romantic Comedy when its much more suited to the Women's Fiction genre. Cassie and James are from two different worlds, she lives on a small island with wifi that's spotty at best and he lives in a London penthouse for his business job. They both decide to join a house swapping website and live in each others places for a few months. Along the way, they start to fall for each other after connecting during phone calls. For a romance novel, we barely see any actual romance on the page. It seemed like there were too many time jumps and paragraphs that ended with "and they talked on the phone for hours" instead of letting us actually see them fall each other. I also had a hard time connecting with the characters. Cassie was just fine at best but James was rude and cold from the beginning. He had a little bit of growth in the story, but it was hard to forget how off putting he was at the start. The author's writing would fit the Women's Fiction genre better since it just wasn't romantic. I couldn't understand their relationship once they were together but not really together? This book just wasn't what I was looking for nor how I think it was being described.

Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture for an e-ARC of The House Swap in exchange for an honest review.

I was so worried when I started this book because I couldn’t stand James. I knew it would take a lot of background information and character development to rectify that. But Jo Lovett did it and by the end, I was fully invested in him. (It probably took about 40% of the book for me to start to warm up to him, though.)

Thankfully, I loved Cassie from the get-go.
And I enjoyed all of the side characters (including the alpacas!) as well... minus his ex, Emily. I wish we could have gotten a little more background on his relationship with her.

I also wish we got to see a little more of James’ and Cassie’s jobs. Especially James’ job because we learned about all of these problems in the beginning, but nothing ever happened with any of it.

I loved the friendship that Cassie and James developed. This was a very slow burn romance and while it did have a lot of angst, there was very little steam. That said, I loved how their relationship unfolded, even though it felt for a while like it would never happen.

I loved that I got to travel to both London and a small island off the coast of Maine through this story. The island was my favorite place to “visit.” I loved the tight knit community and small town vibes. Not to mention all of the wildlife and scenery. The island setting was also a little more developed than the London setting and easier for me to imagine being there.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. I’ve read a few reviews where people DNF before 50% and if that’s you, keep going! The second half was my favorite and so much better than the first half.

Review will soon be posted on Amazon and my bookstagram ( @bookishlee_kaci )

Trigger warnings below...



Trigger warnings: pregnancy struggles, IVF, mentions of miscarriage, mentions of alcoholism and drug addiction, loss of family members

If you love a slow burn, fall in love over phone calls, international kind of romance, you have to check out The House Swap.

I’m not a slow burn kind of person, so it took me so long to actually see when the characters would get together. They’re in different countries for most of the book-living in each other’s houses-with phone calls the only way they communicate, but when they finally end up together, they’re full head over heels in love.

James also caused me so much stress at the beginning because he’s the complete opposite of thoughtful and welcoming Cassie, but ultimately he developed so much that I felt so proud of him.

I loved Cassie’s diversity, but I would’ve liked to see more of her roots and learn more about the novels she wrote. However, she’s a soft kind of strong character. Stands up for what she likes and her lifestyle and doesn’t care or budge if it doesn’t fit in with what others think she should be doing or how she should be living. (and random side note: I would have loved for the character image on the cover to show her tanned skin and curls! That also threw me off when I read and saw that she had Jordanian roots)

The description of Cassie’s home on the island gave me such an itch to want my own wildlife oasis in Maine, alpacas and chickens included and now I want to visit London and Glasgow even more. The side characters were superb here! The island life was popping, everyone is their own person and could easily have their own entertaining and beautiful short story.

Trigger warnings: pregnancy struggles, miscarriage, IVF, mentions of alcoholism, abusive households.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me with the eARC and the opportunity to read this work of art

I enjoyed that this was a quick and light read after a series of heavier books. It was cute, funny and heavy on the romance tropes IE: enemies to lovers. The characters were well developed and I enjoyed the dialogue between James and Cassie, and found it quite funny at times. My only critique is that the story line felt a bit predictable but otherwise it brought out real emotional responses from me.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the advanced e-book in exchange for an honest review.

***THANK YOU NETGALLEY FOR AN ARC IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!!! :) ***
This rom-com novel about two very different people trading homes for a few months will bring a smile to your face as they reconcile their differences and turn inwards reflecting on their lives. Cassie and James swap houses using a website to escape from their daily lives and focus on their careers/self growth. But sometimes growth comes when you least expect it.
One thing I can say that Jo Lovett is amazing at is character development throughout her novel. I feel proud of Cassie and James and the growth they have gone through even though they are fictional characters. Not only does the reader get enchanted by the main characters and their plot, backgrounds and romance, but also by the secondary characters who are seen presently throughout the whole novel which I enjoyed. It felt as a reader I was not getting attached to just two characters but at least twenty.
One note I found myself getting caught on as I read was that there could have been smoother transitions throughout the novel not only chapter by chapter but also during scenes changes during a chapter. I felt like the plot really picked up about halfway through and I liked that pacing. There is always room to grow but I still enjoyed the novel.

The House Swap - Jo Lovett

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley.

When thirty-somethings Cassie and James find each other on a home swap website, it feels meant to be. City hotshot James needs a bolthole after a relationship goes sour and Cassie needs to leave the comfort of her little island to research her new book.

Soon, James is living in Cassie’s cute but ramshackle beachside cottage, and Cassie’s living in James’s luxurious London apartment. It’s the perfect solution.

Except James didn’t imagine he’d be sharing his home with eleven chickens and three alpacas, not to mention the unusually friendly neighbours, who seem to find any excuse to drop by. And Cassie is less than impressed when James’s ex-girlfriend turns up at his door, demanding to know where he’s gone.

This is a quick, simple and easy book to read. I was drawn into the book by the great characters, the humour and the brilliant character development. I am not going to lie, I chose this book as the plot reminded me of ‘The Holiday’ and it did not disappoint me.

Jo Lovett has managed to write a book that is not your typical romance. This is a slow-burn and honestly it was quite refreshing to read something that was different.

Rating 4/5

What a romantic read. I was rooting for James and Cassie the whole way through. I loved them both, even though James was so infuriating at first. Learning about their pasts and heartache and eventually them "slaying their demons" just made them such loveable characters. James had such growth throughout the book, it was heart warming to see his friendship with the islanders and his love of the animals develop, allowing himself open up to others after years of being a bit aloof, not even letting his close friends knowing anything about his past. A wonderful read for anybody who's a fan of chick lit.

The House Swap is a cute, lighthearted, non-steamy romance novel. I liked that Cassie and James had their own issues to work through and they both showed growth.

I did have a few issues with the book. First, the pacing seemed off. I felt like large gaps of time were skipped over and there were no transitions. I was often confused as to whether a day, a week, or a month had passed. Because these chunks were skipped over, I left like a lot of Cassie and James friendship was also left out. Like the author mentioned they were communicating regularly but you often didn’t see these conversations. This made it difficult to connect to the relationship.

My other issue is some of the plot development. Like James’ ex was a big part for the first 50 pages then that plot point just disappeared with no closure. I also didn’t like how underdeveloped Cassie and James’ jobs were. Like what was Cassie writing about and what did James actually do. I feel like the author just gave them jobs then did nothing with it.

Finally, I like my romance novels a little steamier. I don’t need a lot of steam but there weren’t even any tender moments between Cassie and James. Their interactions and dialogue were so formal at times that it was again hard to believe their relationship.

Overall a cute plot but the execution was a miss for me. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC.