The Switch: the joyful and uplifting novel from the author of The Flatshare

My favorite O'Leary book, right behind the Flatshare! This book has so much heart and so many loveable personalities who stayed with me weeks after I finished the book! One of those books that makes you feel like you've been on holiday.

I've been Eileened! Leena falls apart at the most inopportune moment and is given no choice but to take a two month sabbatical from her job; she heads to stay with her grandmother, Eileen, for a few days. Eileen, in turn, is feeling that live is passing her by and would like a bit of excitement and possible romance in her life but there's a lack of eligible men in her small village. So Leena proposes a solution for them both; she can stay in Eileen's cottage whilst Eileen heads off to live in Leena's London flat. However, neither of them really understood what they were letting themselves in for . . . After reading Beth O'Leary's first novel, The Flatshare, I didn't hesitate to take up the chance to read and review this second one. Entirely different, and so very entertaining! The characters are both warm, endearing and beautifully drawn - and that includes the wider cast, not just the two main ones. I just loved everything about this novel, and I want a wristband (read it, you'll find out what I'm on about)! This is a well thought out and cleverly planned story; there is always something going on to keep the readers focus moving from one character to another with plenty of humour along the way. Yet again, I've had to explain to my OH what I'm giggling and laughing about at the strangest moments. A really fun read, absolutely perfect for these times of isolation, one which will lift every reader's spirits. Worth every one of the five sparkling stars I'm very happy to give it and the highest recommendation to add this one to your list today!

Leena Cotton is a stressed executive, living in Shoreditch, working all hours, until she has a meltdown/panic attack at a client pitch and is ordered to take a two month sabbatical. Leena's grandmother Eileen lives in a small village in Yorkshire, her husband left her for another woman, and she is feeling stifled and unfulfilled in her life of Neighbourhood Watch, May Day celebrations and other minutiae of village life. Even worse, there are no eligible men for her, all the men in the village are too old, too boring, too right-wing, or her sworn enemy. After bemoaning their fates Leena and Eileen decide to swap lives, Leena will move to Yorkshire and Eileen will move to London for two months, Eileen also hopes that this will give Leena and her mother Marian a chance to reconnect as the two of them have been at loggerheads for over a year. Laugh as a nosey Yorkshire grandmother moves into a trendy warehouse conversion in Shoreditch, flat-sharing with a very pregnant, unmarried lesbian and a single guy. Of course she sorts everyone out and manages to meet all of Leena's neighbours, something Leena has never done. Oh, and Eileen discovers internet dating and friends-with-benefits arrangements. Meanwhile, Leena is discovering the joys of rural village life, fetes, fierce rivalry with neighbouring villages, gossips, Easter egg hunts and trying to organise the May Day event. I requested this ARC ages ago, kept putting it off but as soon as I started this I could barely put it down, sweet, funny, charming, and even sad at times, I was fully invested in both Eileen and Leena's new lives. Highly recommended romance and laughs. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.