The Christmas Swap

Reviewed by:

Cindy Akre, blogger and voracious reader

Title:

The Christmas Swap

Author:

Melody Carlson

Publisher:

Revell

http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/revell

Date:

2020

Format:

Hardcover

Length:

163 pages

OVERVIEW
The book opens with an internet-arranged house swap involving two families.  The main focus is on the family who comes to Colorado from Arizona to enjoy winter sports and refreshing winter perspective. However, West, the son of the Colorado family returns to the house to retrieve something important. Unfortunately, his arrival coincides with that of the Arizona family, which also includes two non-family members. He retreats to a small cottage property, but ends up meeting Emma, who was invited by Gillian, the self-obsessed daughter of the Arizona family. 

Emma captures his interest, and West gives Emma her first ski lesson. But West’s true identity remains unknown to her. As their relationship develops, it isn’t long before Gillian discovers his true identity and fame. The book becomes a little sticky from that point. Though West desires to tell Emma the truth, it comes out sooner than expected and causes all kinds of complications.  

The plot is actually interesting and light in nature, but when Gillian discovers the truth about West, her new-found interest in him gets out of hand. The length to which she goes to give Emma the impression that West is really interested in her and not Emma is predictable. This is a classic pattern for books too short to really build characters, action and themes, but overall, the book is a light-hearted, enjoyable read for the winter.

ASSESSMENT

Rating (1 to 5):

3

Suggested Audience:

High school and above

Christian Impact

The Christian impact is not there, but her characters generally don’t wander into unacceptable behaviors.  But some characters stoop to lying and manipulation, which was true with this one as well.  These novellas are not written to cover any depth of theme, character development, etc. but are just delightful little reads….