“A premise that rivals the best film rom-coms . . . filled with romance, humor and heart . . . Meredith Schorr delivers chick lit gold!” –Jamie Brenner, USA Today-bestselling author Meet Robyn Lane. She’s always dated struggling creative types, including her current squeeze (Perry, an actor). For this year’s Chrismukkah celebration, her parents would love her to bring someone stable, reliable, … someone stable, reliable, steadily employed. You know, with health insurance and a 401(k).
Now let’s meet Sidney Bellows. Her parents already plan her professional life (she’s an attorney at her father’s law firm). If she brings her current boyfriend (Will, an attorney) to the family Christmas extravaganza, her parents will have their wedding planned by New Year’s Eve.
Leave it to a mutual friend (and copious amounts of wine) to find a playful solution: Swap those boyfriends, fool the parents, and enjoy the holidays. It’s perfect! Robyn can show off a successful attorney boyfriend, and Sidney’s high-society family won’t ring those wedding bells when they meet a flaky actor beau.
The fun isn’t in the theory, it’s in the practice.
Will turns out to be the boy-next-door Robyn crushed on hard throughout her teenage years. Sidney’s family fawns all over Perry like he’s an Oscar winner rather than a D-list wannabe.
Fool the parents? Enjoy the holidays? Swapping boyfriends never sounded so good–or went so bad.
“Schorr mixes and matches couples with charming aplomb in this sweet-natured romcom. . . . Pieces of the puzzle are thoroughly and appealingly mixed up in this well-paced tale, and younger readers and fans of sweet romance will appreciate that the action on the page is limited to innocent kissing.” —Publishers Weekly
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There are so many little details I loved about this book and the two very different “fake boyfriend” stories.
Robyn, Sidney, Will, and Perry are all interesting protagonists, though I found it much easier to root for Robyn and Will than for Sidney or for Perry (whose ego probably needs its own ZIP code).
As weird and quirky as they all might be, the characters still feel real, and while I’d personally very much prefer to celebrate Chrismukkah with Robyn’s family, I couldn’t help watching with a sort of cringing fascination how events unfolded (or rather unraveled) at Sidney’s parents’ mansion.
4.5 / 5 “my kind of quirky” stars
Hey…I have an idea…Let’s swap boyfriends and see what happens! Meridith Schorr has brought so much fun and joy by simply giving a twist to the art of dating. It’s always entertaining to fool parents when growing up but this change of events really gives the reader a laugh, especially when the result is not quite what the characters anticipated.
My favorite holiday book – ever!
I am a huge fan of Meredith Schorr. I have loved each and every book that she has written. When I learn that she has a new book out my expectations are high, after all, she is one of my all time favorite authors. The Boyfriend Swap didn’t only live up to my expectations it exceeded it. The novel was impossible to put down. The only reason it took me two sittings to finish it was because I had to leave the house. But as soon as I returned I immediately had to resume reading because I was so in love with the story and all the characters. The Boyfriend Swap is the perfect light hearted romantic comedy that you’ll read with a smile on your face and the characters will stick with you for a long time after the last page is read.
A well written Christmas story by an Author I have not read before. I now want to read more by this Author.
I loved THE BOYFRIEND SWAP so much. With Meredith Schorr’s trademark wit and humor, she delves into a hilarious yet also poignant tale about family dynamics, love, and self-acceptance. Schorr’s characters are always so fleshed out, so interesting that I tear through the pages to follow them on their journeys. Her writing is addictive; her stories are delicious.
I highly recommend this book, and any of Schorr’s books, if you want to laugh out loud, cry, and cheer on some of the best characters on the page.
This book made me laugh and made me feel for the characters. I absolutely loved them and the concept of what they were trying to achieve, however crazy it really was. In the end I feel like things were how they should be, and I enjoyed the ride getting there.
Entertaining
I really enjoyed this book.
This was a fun Christmas read. This was my first book by Meredith Schorr. Am looking forward to reading more of her books.
I’ve been a long time fan of Meredith’s books, in fact she is my favorite chic-lit author. Every time she comes out with a new book, it instantly becomes my favorite. The Boyfriend Swap was no exception.
Face paced and laugh out loud funny , The Boyfriend Swap is a delightful read. It’s a little drama a little romance, and a whole lot of fun. Hooked from page one, I didn’t want to put it down. I had to know, How does this crazy Swap end? Does it work? Does it go as planned? It was a wild ride!
One of my picks as best summer reads, if you enjoy romantic comedy and chic-lit definitely check this book out!
I’m starting to feel like a Meredith Schorr super fan. I was enchanted with her “Blogger Girl” series, related to “A State of Jane,” and now she’s feeding my love of Hallmark movies.
Complete opposites Sidney and Robyn both don’t want to bring their boyfriends home for Christmas. Lawyer Sidney is afraid her lawyer beau will be nabbed by her lawyer father and her personal life and professional lives will merge and nothing will ever be hers again. Musician Robyn only dates creative types that her parents, musicians themselves, don’t approve of.
Sidney suggests that they swap boyfriends for the long Christmas weekend, and though apprehensive, Robyn agrees. What happens this one weekend changes the women and their lives forever.
What I love about Meredith’s writing is how easy she makes the dialogue and jokes flow. There are no awkward segues that need explanation, she uses current pop culture to enhance her story’s world, but it never seems dated.
If I had to pick a friend out of both characters, I’d have to pick Robyn. We’re both musicians, so we’d definitely have a lot to talk about and bond over.
Sidney seemed overly prickly and defensive, but that gave her room for enormous character growth.
I do admit that I went into this knowing it’d be fairly predictable, but sometimes the best part about predictable (and RomComs and Hallmark movies in general) is the journey.
Another great novel to add to my growing Meredith Schorr collection!
Oh my this was such a good read. I loved it. This is the first book my Meredith Schorr that I have read and I am impressed. I really enjoyed reading this book. It was such an amazing and entertaining story of love gone wrong.
In this story Sidney (an up and coming lawyer) and Robyn (a music teacher) meet by chance through a mutual friend, Ann Marie. During this meeting they talk about their meddling parents and how they don’t want their parents to spend the holidays with their boyfriends. Perry, Robyn’s struggling actor boyfriend, is not her parents favorite and they constantly hound her about the relationship. Will, is Sidney’s successful lawyer boyfriend, who her parents haven’t met yet but as soon as they do they will talk lawyer and ruin her personal relationship with him. Ann Marie suggest they swap boyfriends for the Christmas holiday, jokingly. Then Sidney pushes the idea into reality. When the time comes to meet the boyfriends, Robyn is stunned speechless and she learns that Sidney’s boyfriend Will turns out to be her old secret high school crush. With it being too late to back out now, Robyn is forced to spend time with Will and try to not let the old feelings from the past come forward and remain faithful to her crazy actor boyfriend Perry.
How will the two couples make it through the holidays? Will Robyn be able to hold back her feelings as they resurface? Will Perry get networking he is so desperate to have to help his career? Can Sidney loosen up her bossy ways? Can Will hide his hurt and forgive Sidney for wanting the swap?
Meredith Schorr writing skills are wonderful. She took her time setting up the plot and writing her story, not rushing to get to the end. Her characters are charismatic and entertaining. Her story has funny moments and moments where you will feel sad with the outcome of events. It definitely has you hooked from the very first pages. I was captivated with the events as they unfolded. I loved every minute of it. I am very interested in more books by this author. If you are a lover of contemporary romance, then you will fall in love with this book. It tells a story for your hearts desire, fairy tales and all.
I didn’t really enjoy this book. In fact, I would have stopped reading about 25% through, but felt I should finish it because I received the book from NetGalley for my review.
The premise of the story was kind of fun, but Sidney was horrible. I have to like the main characters, and she was very unlikable. She was selfish, self-centered, and manipulative. On the other hand, Robyn seemed sweet and kind. Will seemed nice and easy going. Perry was a bit self-centered but, he was also easy going and kind to Sidney’s family.
The other thing I didn’t like was the language. A lot of talk about “physical attributes” and at times the language was crude. I was looking for a sweet, clean romance. Don’t get me wrong, there was nothing graphic, just not my cup of tea.
By the end of the book, Sidney was growing up and trying to be better. Everything worked out and I did like the ending.