"The Christmas Swap" by Melody Carlson

About this book:

  “All Emma Daley wants this holiday season is a white Christmas. But the young teacher and struggling musician sure can't find that in sunny Arizona. Luckily, there's someone living in a perfect mountain home in the Colorado Rockies looking to make a vacation trade this year.
  West Prescott is an in-demand songwriter and talented musician who put his own singing career on hold to write songs for celebrity acts to perform. When his mother convinces him to do a vacation trade for Christmas, he never imagined one of the houseguests would be so sweet--or so strikingly pretty. Naturally, he decides to stick around, and, to get better acquainted, he poses as the house's caretaker. But when Emma's friend Gillian discovers his true identity and sets her sights on him, things
get . . . messy.”


Series: As of now, no.


Spiritual Content- Set during Christmas; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of a mission school & missionaries (Emma’s parents); A few mentions of being blessed & blessings;

             *Note: A few (teasing) mentions of aliens.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘crud’, a ‘durned good’, a ‘shut up’, two ‘dumb’s, and six forms of ‘stupid’; Eye rolling, sarcasm, & family bickering; Mentions of pain & injuries; Mentions of lies, lying, liars, & dishonesty; A few mentions of thieves & stealing; A few mentions of drinking, champagne, & brewery; A couple mentions of an out-of-hand college party; A mention of a war; A mention of lottery; A mention of the phrase about people who assume; A mention of filthy mouths;

             *Note: Mentions of car brands; Mentions of singers; Mentions of actors, movies (including one that has a lot of sexual suggestions), cartoons, & characters; A few mentions of brand names (iTunes & Nike); A mention of Girl Scouts.

Sexual Content- Barely-above-not-detailed kisses (at least four) and a semi-detailed kiss; Touches & Embraces; Noticing; Mentions of dating, boyfriends, & girlfriends; Mentions of playing hard to get & being interested in someone; Mentions of flirting; Mentions of jealousy; Love, falling in love, & the emotions.

-Emma Daley

-West Prescott
                                P.O.V. switches between them
                                                        163 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

Melody Carlson’s Christmas novellas are ones I typically try to read and review as they come out each year. It definitely wasn’t my favorite one by this author.

While Emma seemed sweet, she was the only character I remotely liked. Her friend, Gillian’s, family bickers so much and it really brought down the book for me. I wouldn’t necessarily consider this book to be a Christian book due to the lack of faith content, probably just a clean Christmas book.

{I do need to note that Emma is mentioned to have at least quarter Japanese descent, and then a bit later, West thinks about her “almost exotic looks”. I would love to see more diversity in Christian Fiction, but not in this way.}

See y’all on Friday with a new review!

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Revell) for this honest review.