The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox

Wrong book, wrong time?

Themes: Adult, Contemporary, Christmas Romance

The synopsis

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’s 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?

The review

I’m beginning to be a bit disappointed by this year’s Christmas reads that have been, so far, not the greatest…

I actually liked the idea (even though not new) of the two sisters swapping their very different lives. Too bad they are, and especially Cass, very stupid. The first thing that got on my nerves? the execution. Both sisters are making a lot of silly mistakes while there’s a wonderful thing called technology. You can’t reach the other by phone? Try using your computer for God’s sake!

The romances and hardships they encounter felt very similar and repetitive, it was like I was reading the same thing with just a change in the names and the context.

Final thing: the ‘enemies’. These guys were just sexist pricks and I lost it when I saw the sisters not reacting to what they were imposing on them. Even Charlie, who is supposedly the strongest of the two, couldn’t put her sister’s ex-boyfriend in his place while Cass especially asked her to do it!

In brief: This book just wasn’t for me. It was way too slow and in a boring way, with silly characters. Despite all of that, it remained a festive read and the dog was cute, explaining why the rating isn’t lower.

My rating: 2.5/5

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