Title: The Christmas Swap

Author: Melody Carlson

Publisher: Fleming H. Revell 2020

Genre: Holiday Romance

Pages: 176

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

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.

West 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.

A very chaste romance for today’s read. I was intrigued by the plot and I really did like West. Unfortunately, all the other characters are so incredibly unlikable that it really makes you wonder about Emma’s judgement. Gillian is the worst as being manipulative toward her supposed best friend. I could not believe what Emma put up with and made excuses for. The book ended up making me pretty angry for Emma (and for West being on the receiving end of some of the manipulation). A cute idea that just really didn’t do it for me at all.

Next up on the TBR pile: