Review: The House Swap

The House Swap by Jo Lovett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Four and a half stars.

Cassie is a Glaswegian writer who relocated to a small island in Maine several years ago when her children's books became successful. Her wonderful, but pushy, agent wants her to set a new series of her books in London, a city that Cassie has rarely visited. She loves her quaint island with its patchy Wi-Fi and quirky neighbours.

James is a very successful venture capitalist. Determinedly single he is blind-sided when his half-hearted relationship with his girlfriend becomes conflated into an expected marriage proposal and then she won't take no for an answer.

The answer for James and Cassie is Swapbnb, James will swap his swanky flat in Central London for Cassie's rambling house in Maine and vice versa. Cassie and James couldn't be more different if they tried, she is desperate for a baby and intends to try IVF while she is in London, James never wants children. Cassie is sociable and friends with everyone she meets, while James doesn't even know his neighbours. Cassie left pages and pages of notes about her home, her animals, the locals and things to do in the local area, she even bought new bedding and filled the freezer with home-made food for James. James stripped his flat of towels, bedding and food ready for Cassie.

Although their interactions are prickly at first, 'why didn't you tell me there was only Wi-Fi at 3am?', 'why didn't you leave me any sheets or a pint of milk?' type of thing, they tentatively begin a long-distance friendship.

What I really liked about this novel was the maturity of the characters (both late 30s) and the way in which there was nothing forced about the romance. James comes back to the UK for his godson's christening but whereas in a rom-com he would have invited Cassie as his plus-one and the romance would have taken off like a rocket, in this book they meet briefly and chat then he returns to the US. It all feels very organic and grown-up. There's no teenage angst-fest, that's not to say that there isn't tension and 'reasons' but it all feels very real and unfolds over several months.

Just loved it!

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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