The House Swap: A funny and utterly gorgeous feel-good romance

by Jo Lovett

Island house off coast of Maine, with private beach, sea views and the occasional farmyard animal, seeks super swanky Central London penthouse overlooking Holland Park, complete with concierge service and spurned ex-lovers…

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.

The more Cassie and James talk, the more the tension between them mounts. But as the insults fly so do the sparks, and when the time finally comes to swap back, Cassie and James find they aren’t quite ready to give each other up.

But there’s more than just distance between them – and when Cassie makes a surprising discovery, the pair are forced to confront their feelings and decide what kind of life they really want.

An utterly heart-warming love story that will make you laugh and cry, fans of The Flatshare, The Hating Game and movies like The Holiday will fall head over heels for The House Swap.

• ISBN10: 1800195087
• ISBN13: 9781800195080
• Publish Date: 19 April 2021
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Bookouture
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 342
• Language: English

Reviews

[Emma (SCR)]

This review was originally posted on Star Crossed Reviews I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 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.