Review: The Holiday Swap

Title: The Holiday Swap
Author: Maggie Knox
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Viking
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: October 5, 2021
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A feel-good, holiday-themed romantic comedy about identical twins who switch lives in the days leading up to Christmas.

All they want for Christmas is a different life. 

When chef Charlie Goodwin gets hit on the head on the L.A. set of her reality baking show, she loses a lot more than consciousness; she also loses her ability to taste and smell–both critical to her success as show judge. Meanwhile, Charlie’s identical twin, Cass, is frantically trying to hold her own life together back in their quaint mountain hometown while running the family’s bustling bakery and dealing with her ex, who won’t get the memo that they’re over.

With only days until Christmas, a desperate Charlie asks Cass to do something they haven’t done since they were kids: switch places. Looking for her own escape from reality, Cass agrees. But temporarily trading lives proves more complicated than they imagined, especially when rugged firefighter Jake Greenman and gorgeous physician assistant Miguel Rodriguez are thrown into the mix. Will the twins’ identity swap be a recipe for disaster, or does it have all the right ingredients for getting their lives back on track?

Review:

Charlie Goodwin is a judge for a TV reality baking show, but when she gets hit on the head on set, she gets a concussion, along with losing her senses of taste and smell. She needs to keep this job because it could lead to another cooking show. Meanwhile, in their hometown, her twin sister Cass is struggling to run their family’s bakery while also dealing with a toxic ex-boyfriend who won’t go away. Charlie and Cass decide to trade places so that Cass can properly judge the baking show and Charlie can use her confidence to run the bakery and deal with Cass’s ex. Soon after they switch lives, Charlie falls for Jake, the new firefighter in town, and Cass likes the physicians assistant Miguel. Now they not only have to run each other’s lives, but also figure out how to start a relationship while living as their sister.

I’ve always loved stories about twins. The Mary-Kate and Ashley movies and TV shows, and The Parent Trap movies were my favourites as a kid. This situation made for the perfect switch. Cass and Charlie were both experienced bakers, but Charlie’s sense of taste and smell were so important for judging the TV show that she couldn’t keep her job if she stayed there. They were both able to make changes in each other’s lives, though not all of them were for the better.

This was a fun holiday read. There were lots of baked treats, so make sure you have some handy while reading. The Christmas scenes were brief, as it was mostly about the days leading up to Christmas. However it still had a festive feel!

The Holiday Swap is a fun holiday rom com!

Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Have you read The Holiday Swap? What did you think of it?