♥♥♥♥ Four out of five hearts

West is hiding the fact that he's an award-winning, well-to-do song writer. Emma is a down-to-earth musician who makes her living by being a schoolteacher. However, she gets to know West as himself, not as the famous songwriter he is, and it adds charm to their relationship (she actually thinks he's a lowly caretaker). Their relationship progressed fairly quickly, but West and Emma were really sweet, and I loved their scenes together. 

The setting is really cool, too. The story takes place in a snowy, Christmassy small-town, and West's house is basically winter wonderland. Plus, there's lots of skiing, so Melody Carlson definitely added all the right ingredients for the perfect Christmas set-up! 

This book reminded me so much of a Hallmark Christmas movie! Except it had more of a plot, believability, and meaning than your typical Hallmark film. I can totally see the channel getting their hands on this book (just don't ruin it, please, Hallmark!) and I would definitely be down for watching that.

I will say I was a bit disappointed with how the story ended. I just turned the page and- that was it?!! I'm a fan of not resolving everything in a book because real life doesn't end that way. However, I thought The Christmas Swap (and the characters themselves) deserved a bit more of an ending.  I did see that there's a special edition out with a bonus chapter? So maybe that version has the missing pieces I was wanting. 

And Gillian was definitely not a favorite of mine. She was so spoiled, it was hard to see why practical, down-to-earth Emma was even her friend, and Gillian's actions throughout the story made it very hard to like her even a little bit. It definitely felt like a one-sided friendship. The two things I didn't like about the book, however, didn't stop me from enjoying this sweet holiday read. 

In between all of the hustle and bustle, The Christmas Swap is a fun little Christmas treat to enjoy this holiday season.