A wonderful and easy read that had me glued to my kindle from the very first page. A perfect read for the summer holidays lying on the beach

I’ve had this book on my she;f for a while and decided I needed some light reading to reduce the burden of COVID, this is a lovely romantic read, I love the film The Holiday so this book is right up my street..

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

I really enjoyed the book, it has everything I love in a novel from start to finish. I can’t wait to read what the author has planned next!

I haven't read any Zara Stoneley's books before and I don't know what to make of if this one. I didn't not enjoy it, but it didn't keep me engrossed either. It was a good idea of a storyline but I think it was a little predictable as to what was going to happen. It was well written but I found myself skim reading some of the book, I think it got a little repetitive in parts with Flo thinking back to Oli etc. I think I enjoyed this book but I'm not sure I'd look out for her next book. I can't decide if I did enjoy it but I did finish it so I suppose that's saying something! Thank you for letting me read and review this book.

Firstly thank you to Harper Impulse for a review copy of this title via Netgalley. I’d never read anything by Zara before however I’d seen nothing but rave reviews on Twitter so I knew I was in for a treat.

This is a festive novel with a Spanish twist. Friends Flo and Daisy are both at turning points in their love lives and with they come up with a bit of a life swap to give each of them some space from their day to day lives. While Daisy jets off to Barcelona and decides to stick around for a while Flo returns to Daisy’s Cheshire home to look after all of her animals.

I really liked that half of this story was set in Barcelona. I’ve been fortunate enough to be there for a day at the end of a holiday and it’s somewhere I’d love to go back to. Living vicariously through Daisy was great and as Daisy was a Barcelona virgin it was easy to get swept up in that touristy feel. If you’ve been to Barcelona before you will be able to imagine yourself back there and as Daisy becomes more acquainted with it she settles right in and right into a friendship with Flo’s handsome friend Javier. Javier is the antithesis of the boyfriend Daisy left behind while she set off to find herself and the connection between them both is immediate.

Flo on the other hand heads back to Cheshire where she grew up as a young girl. Taking over for Daisy at home means mucking in and looking after Daisy’s various animals but also coming into contact with her neighbour Hugo. At first I was a bit unsure of Hugo especially from Daisy’s point of view he was very arrogant and basically up his own arse. Flo, though, gets treated to a different side of Hugo and his character completely transforms in her company.
The story is well written and although it’s only set over a short period of time it didn’t feel rushed and it didn’t feel like any element of the progression was missing. Zara painted just as vivid a picture of Barcelona as she did of Cheshire and I could easily imagine myself in either place. I will definitely be reading more from Zara in the future.

This is a good read for a long cold winter night. Two friends Florence and Daisy, have man trouble. They decide to swap homes for the weeks leading up to Christmas. Florence leads a sophisticated life in Barcelona as a digital magazine author. Daisy is a down to earth dog groomer living in Cheshire, She has a remote cottage, a horse and a very large dog. Can this holiday swap bring them the happiness they long for?