Before I being with my thoughts and tell you more about the book, I’d like to thank Claire at One More Chapter (HarperCollins UK) for inviting me to the Readalong of The Christmas Swap by Sandy Barker. I absolutely love all things Christmas and am always up for reading a Christmas themed story.
Goodreads Synopsis
Chloe, Jules, and Lucy meet at a Maui resort kids’ club, aged 11, forging a lifelong friendship spanning two decades and three continents.
Twenty-two years later, they decide to swap Christmases, none of them expecting the hilarity and romantic escapades that will ensue.
Chloe from Melbourne spends her Christmas with Lucy’s mum and dad in a sleepy village in Oxfordshire, England, stunned to the core when she discovers who grew up across the road from Lucy.
Lucy, who has jetted off to snowy Colorado for her dream-come-true white Christmas, is taken into the fold of Jules’s loud and brash family, discovering more about herself in a few short days than she has in years.
And Jules leaves the cold climes of Colorado to spend a balmy ‘Orphan’s Christmas’ with Chloe’s friends in Melbourne, finding that time away from her mundane life is just what she needed.
Join these three lovable women as they each get a Christmas to surpass their wildest dreams.
Rating and Review
Anyone who knows me, knows that I have always dreamed of experiencing a White Christmas. yes, that is on my list and it does not matter that I am not a Christian.
So, back to the story.
As I mentioned earlier, Claire invited me to the One More Chapter Christmas readlaong and I can’t thank her enough because this book was a ride. The various perspectives giving me a window to kind of examine my own relationships with my myriad of friends. How when we are taking it out on each other, someone may be coming from a place where I may not know what they have experienced. Kind of makes you want to look at situations with much more focus.
The characters – not just the three best friends – are well rounded and even though not one person gets the spotlight for a longer period of time, especially the love interests, as a reader I felt I was getting to know the various aspects of their characters as if I had known them for ages.
The setting of the novel takes the cake though. In reading one book, with one timeline, I get to experience three Chistmases! And, one of them a dream that I want to live in real life as well!
FYI, I actually believed that London (or England in general maybe) will be the place where I may get my White Christmas but apparently that is not so!
Lastly, I loved Ms Barker’s writing style very much and I will be looking up more of her books.
So, if like me, you love reading Christmas stories, you’ll want to pick this one up, cozy with a hot chocolate and enjoy the goodness.
Until next time!
Hina Loves To Read 
Many thanks for this lovely review and for being on the readalong.
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Thank you for bringing the wonderful story to us.
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