The Christmas Swap

MELODY CARLSON

Stats for my copy: Hardback, Revell, 2020. 

How acquired: Revell Reads Blogger Program - received from the publisher and voluntarily reviewed.

First line: Emma Daley had always loved Christmas as a child, but...not so much as an adult. 

(For the Goodreads synopsis, scroll to the bottom of this post.)

My thoughts: Emma spends every Christmas with her best friend and her family, but this year she's looking forward to spending the holiday in her own home. Except Gillian's family have planned a house swap with someone in Colorado and, expecting Emma to be with them as she is every year, Gillian's parents have already bought her plane ticket. Emma reluctantly gives in and joins the trip to Colorado. Quite a change from Arizona! 

West isn't happy that his mother and stepfather planned a house swap with someone in Arizona, turning HIS house over to the visitors. On the way to the airport he realizes he left a briefcase with his music in it, laying out in plain sight on the dining room table. Not wanting the visitors getting into it, he goes back home to get it. When Gillian sees him, she mistakes him for the caretaker, and the shenanigans begin. West is actually a very well known song writer, and it's hard to know if a woman likes him for himself or for who he is. But to Emma and the others, he's just a caretaker, and he relishes that anonymity. 

I loved both Emma and West. Now that Emma is in Colorado she's completely enchanted by all the snow and the thought of learning to ski. When West offers to give her lessons, she agrees, though she also worries that he'll get in trouble with the homeowner for shirking his duties to go skiing with her. For his part, West is immediately enamored of Emma, and keeps putting off getting another flight to join his own family in Arizona. 

I personally do not care for snow or cold weather, but I do love reading about it, although I feel like I now know more about skiing than I ever thought I would want to know! The immediate friendship between West and Emma was delightful, and I loved their interactions. For best friends Emma and Gillian could not be any different. Gillian's family is rich, and she's spoiled and arrogant, looking down her nose at the “caretaker”. I often wondered how the two girls could be friends when Gillian was so awful to Emma. 

I like Ms. Carlson's writing, and she's good with dialogue. Despite the book not being very long (163 pages), we still get to know both Emma and West, and the supporting characters are also well written and unique enough to feel real. I don't want to say much more as I don't want to give away the plot, but I very much enjoyed this novella. 

Goodreads synopsis: All Emma Daley wants this holiday season is a white Christmas. But the young teacher and struggling musician sure can't find that in sunny Arizona. Luckily, there's someone living in a perfect mountain home in the Colorado Rockies looking to make a vacation trade this year.

Tyler Prescott is an in-demand songwriter and talented musician who put his own singing career on hold to write songs for celebrity acts to perform. When his mother convinces him to do a vacation trade for Christmas, he never imagined one of the houseguests would be so sweet--or so strikingly pretty. Naturally, he decides to stick around, and, to get better acquainted, he poses as the house's caretaker. But when Emma's friend Gillian discovers his true identity and sets her sights on him, things get...messy.