'The Holiday Swap' by Maggie Knox is a Hallmark Movie in Book Form

Cookies are baking in the oven, filling your home with nostalgic aromas, while the television is set to a Christmas movie marathon. You're covered in flour dust, the apron you've put on proving ineffective. The next cookie sheet is prepped and ready for the oven. You look around aimlessly for something to do while you wait for the timer to go off and the television catches your eye.

Hallmark movies are a guilty pleasure this time of year, but one that you allow yourself. You lean your elbows on your kitchen counter and tilt your head to get a better look at the decorated house dusted in snow as the love story unfolds. The timer goes off and you chuckle at yourself for getting startled, shaking your head and pulling the cookies out of the oven.

About the Story

A feel-good, holiday-themed romantic comedy about identical twins who switch lives in the days leading up to Christmas--perfect for fans of Christina Lauren's In a Holidaze and Josie Silver's One Day in December.

Cass and Charlie are identical twins and pastry chefs, living different lives in different cities. Cass lives in a small town that they grew up in, which embodies the epitome of winter vibes. Charlie lives in Los Angeles and is building a career for herself as a reality-TV star chef.

When a whole wall of pots and pans comes crashing down on Charlie's head, she's left with a nasty concussion. The doctor advises her to rest and take some time off of work. The problem is, she's up for this big opportunity and she can't afford to take the time off. She would just work through the concussion, as this special is only twelve days long, but Charlie has lost her sense of taste and smell.

Back in Starlight Peak, which reminds me a lot of Stars Hollow, Cass is running her parent's bakery for the holiday season while they're on vacation. She wants to prove to them that she can handle it on her own during the busiest time of year, so she can take over the bakery.

Charlie calls Cass with a proposal. They should switch places for the holidays to save Charlie's career.

Review

As you can imagine, it get sticky from here. Even though they're both pastry chefs, their careers are headed in much different directions. Charlie struggles with taking on the family bakery, especially without her sense of smell, while Cass scrambles to acclimate to life as a reality star chef. Two entirely different worlds with one thing in common:

A hot guy and food. It wouldn't be a rom-com unless both girls fell for a guy in their sister's life, would it? It happens, which was predictable. Also predictable and much more welcome was the presence of food! My advice to you: when you read this, make sure you have your favorite holiday treats at the ready.

If you're one of those people who like to bake or prepare the dishes from the books you read or movies you watch, this book is perfect for you. There are so many options, my head was exploding with inspiration for my own kitchen.

Let's talk about the actually writing for a bit, yeah? I absolutely loved how Maggie Knox formatted this gem. We see the world from both Cass's and Charlie's perspectives. Each of the twelve days before Christmas gets its own chapter from both point of views, which was genius.

The writing in general was terrific. I loved the snowy, small town vibes of Starlight Peak. However, I did find it a bit convenient that they both fall for their respective guys at the same time. Both relationships smelled a little like insta-love, which is a huge turn off for me. However, I adored the characterization, so it was enjoyable to read.

What comes with insta-love? Cheese. The Holiday Swap was loaded with cheesy scenes, but I think that was expected. I did like the added layer of guilt that Maggie Knox used as a garnish on these cheesy scenes because it added a bit of realism to them. Both girls were pretending to be the other, so the guilt that plagued both of them seemed genuine.

A Bit of Spoilers

Usually, I avoid spoilers like the plague. I will not include them unless I feel like it's necessary. In this case, I really want to talk about a few specific things. So, if you'd like to skip this section, I respect your decision. Please go read this book and come back (feel free to heart it or bookmark it so you can find it easily when you finish).

For those of you who don't mind spoilers or who have already read the book, let's dive into Cass's character arc. Both girls have similar arcs, but I feel like Cass's is special. When Cass realizes that she wants more than this provincial life, so to say, she has this breakthrough that she not only wants more, but she's capable of more.

I find that so beautiful because, in her head, Charlie was the one that was going to go and do things. Cass was the one homebound and destined to pick up where her parents left off, which is what she wanted... because she didn't think she could do anything else.

I relate to this on a deep level. I just left the field of education after being a paraprofessional for almost a decade because I came to a similar conclusion as Cass. I only wanted this field because I didn't think I could do anything else; I didn't think I was good at anything else. Her character arc inspires me to demand more from life.

Enough of the mushy-gushy feelings. Let's talk about that ending... wow. That epilogue was something else. I thought there was cheese before. These last few pages were drenched in cheese. At first, I really loved that the epilogue was a year later and we get to see where everyone ends up.

And then all of the stuff happens to destroy it. Cass completely skips the proposal and dives right into marriage in front of the Christmas tree while people try to open their presents. Charlie announces that she's pregnant. Everyone claims that this is the best Christmas ever... and it loses me. Granted, The Holiday Swap wasn't realistic and I wasn't really expecting it to be, but this was just too much.

However, all of the cheese and feel-good endings make for a great Hallmark movie and a terrific Christmas read. If you like baking, Christmas love stories, and funny-cute moments, The Holiday Swap may be your perfect holiday read.

Sarah is a coffee obsessed bookstagrammer, currently shivering in Colorado with her wonderful fiancé and border colie mix. For more bookish wanderings, please consider subscribing so you don’t miss a single post. If you'd like to support her content, tips are greatly appreciated.