by Jo Lovett
My Rating
Summary
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.
The Review
I’ve read 6 books this week, and this is the only one that I loved enough to blog about. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy Kel Carpenter’s Queen of the Damned series or Katy Birchall’s The Secret Bridesmaid. They were pretty good reads, but they didn’t stand out as much as The House Swap.
As you can tell from the blurb, Cassie lives on an island off the coast of Maine, and James lives in a plush apartment in London. Each has their reasons for needing to get away from their city – James wants to bury his head in the sand after a breakup created a psychotic stalker ex, and Cassie needed to research London for her latest book. So, they jump on SwapBnB and trade homes for six months.
I loved that this book started with the two of them getting off on the wrong foot and, over time, becoming fast friends, and eventually more.
Throughout the book, James’ frosty exterior begins to melt. Island living will do that for you, close-knit communities even more. Surrounded by nosey but well-meaning neighbours, James is pulled into living their way and learns that being standoffish isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Meanwhile, in London, Cassie is playing tourist for her research and going through a crisis of her own. Her dream is to be a mother, partner or not. As a reader, you go through her emotions with each turn of the page of her journey.
Though their relationship didn’t start well, James and Cassie found themselves calling and chatting with each other for hours every night. A slow-burn budding romance that keeps you turning each leaf until you get to the part you want. The first kiss, and it’s perfect.
There’s only one thing stopping them from having a fulfilling future together, James doesn’t want kids.
At odds with each other’s life goals, they have to face the past to move forward.
This book doesn’t feel like many other romances; I think that the characters’ ages play a lot into it. They’re 30-somethings, they’ve experienced real problems and had to deal with a life that hasn’t always been rosy. Their relationship grew very organically; there was no rush, no ‘insta-love,’ it built over time.
I think that the only thing that stops me from giving this a 5-star review is James dropping all of his beliefs so quickly when faced with a genuine, life-altering reality. I understand that people grow and change, but this did feel a little rushed at the end. It’s still very much worth the read if you’re a fan of The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary.
Where to buy
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