Swap and Smell the Roses

The Swap #1

by Karen Booth

When Willow Moore’s lifelong dream of music stardom goes bust she’s burned out enough to need drastic change. As in, she’s trading her Brooklyn apartment for two months in the Connecticut countryside. Soon she’s baking bread, spending Saturdays at the farmer’s market and stopping to smell the roses, but some things in her new #cottagecore life aren’t so pleasant. Like her landlord, former chef Reid Harrell. As grouchy and reserved as Willow is chatty and outgoing, Reid is an annoyingly sexy keep-out sign. Something about Reid, a sliver of pain poking through that flinty facade, makes her wonder whether they’re more alike than she thought.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Adult, Forced Proximity, Chick Lit

289 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 28, 2024

About the author

Karen Booth is a Midwestern girl transplanted in the South, raised on 80s music and repeated readings of Forever by Judy Blume. She writes steamy contemporary romance and women's fiction. When she isn't creating fictional hunky men and the women who test them, she's listening to music with her kids, honing her Southern cooking skills or sweet-talking her astoundingly supportive husband into whipping up a batch of cocktails.

Reviews

[Eglė Eglė · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

Šiek tiek bijojau šios knygos: tiek daug neigiamų atsiliepimų vertė abejoti, ar nebus tik veltui sugaištas laikas, tačiau mane ne tik kad užbūrė knygos viršelis, bet ir traukė jos anotacija. Knyga palyginus plonytė, dviejų vakarų skaitinys, tad veiksmas joje rutuliojasi žaibišku greičiu. Patiko Gluosnės optimizmas ir pozityvas, nors realiame gyvenime ji gal kiek ir erzintų, patiko ir Ridas, karštasis niurzga😀 taip, knygoje buvo banalių vietų, kur jau norėjosi vartyti akis, tačiau bendrai paėmus man patiko. Neįpareigojanti, lengva ir vietomis labai karšta knyga.

[Goda l Knygu_jura · Rating 1 out of 5]

Truputį net bloga buvo, kokia banali. Taip taip, visos meilės istorijos apie tą patį, bet šioje tiesiog niekas neprilipo. Apie dialogus, kurie tokie sausi ir cringe, išvis nekomentuosiu.

[Ramune · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pažvelgus į knygos viršelį, supranti, kad laukia romantiška, lengva meilės istorija. Tokias knygas mielai kartas nuo karto paskaitau - man tikrai reikia romantikos dozės. 🤫🫶
Nors knyga skaitėsi lengvai ir greitai, man nepavyko įsijausti į šią istoriją. Idėja kaip ir miela, tačiau viskas super nuspėjama - turbūt jau po pirmų skyrių gali nujausti kaip viskas vystysis. 🫣 Tikrai nesakau, kad visos knygos turi kažkaip įpatingai stebinti - bet gi norisi kiekvienoje istorijoje rasti kažką įdomaus ir kabinančio, tiesa? 😉 Deja, mano romantikos troškimas su šia knyga nebuvo pasotintas. Jos yra čia, bet man viskas buvo taip paviršutiniška, kad net nepatikėjau ta meile ir pokyčiais veikėjų jausmuose.
Skaitant atrodė, kad personažai dvimačiai, visiškai šabloniniai ir neišpildyti. 🫣 Toks sakyčiau itin lengvas romanas, pritrūko man čia kažkokio "cinkelio" ir šypsotis verčiančios romantikos.

[Reese Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frustrated musician Willow Moore swaps her Brooklyn apartment with her best friend's little cottage in the Connecticut countryside after a miserable and humiliating experience as a performer. Her hiatus from music and city life doesn't go as expected. The cottage floods and she's forced to share space with her hot, grumpy, standoffish landlord, Reid.

He's a former chef dealing with the loss of his father while trying to avoid reminders of his demanding, high-stress career and the painful memories of his past. Together Willow and Reid form an unlikely bond and help each other overcome trauma from their pasts while making tentative steps toward the future.

I adored this grumpy MMC and loved that cooking was his love language.

[Ugnė | pilna_lentyna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vis dar ieškau tobulo meilės romano. Mano santykiai su šiuo žanru banguoti - vienos knygos sužavi taip, kad ignoruoju visą melodramiškumą ir skaitau iki išnaktų, o su kitomis, vartau akis taip, kad po 100psl tenka eiti ieškoti vaistų nuo galvos skausmo. Gaila, kad "Du mėnesiai kitaip", papuolė į antrąją kategoriją.

Nors istorija galėjo būt labai faina - dvi merginos apsikeičia namais. Viena draugė apsigyvena Brukline, kita, vardu Gluosnė, mažame ir jaukiame miestelyje. Ten mergina sutinka super mega žavų ir gražų sodininką-namų savininką Ridą, kurio charakteris kaip tris savaites nešerto katino - nei pabendrausi, nei leisis glostomas. O Gluosnė, gi, visiška saulytė, šypsena ir charizma užkariaujanti visus. Taip ir užgimsta jų konfiktai, man priminę vaikystėj šimtą kartų girdėtą pasaką apie gervę ir garnį.

Bet konfkliktai jukamžinai nesitęs - čia gi meilės romanas. Dar keliasdešimt puslapių ir abu jau šildo vienas kito lovas. Gaila, bet banaloka.

Aišku, buvo ir gražių bei mielų momentų, bet jiems niekaip nepavyko pataisyti situacijos.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

lengva ir paprasta knyga, per daug nesužavėjo. labai erzino Ridas vienas pagrindinių veikėjų, jis vertė vartyti akis, erzino.

[Knygų Romantikė · Rating 5 out of 5]

Švelni, lengva, saldi, bet su keleta 🔥🌶 vietų, tad romantiškai istorijai buvo pats tas. Gluosnė - tornadas, įsiveržęs į Rido ramų, liūdną, ilgesingą gyvenimą. Šiek tiek nuostolių, sutrikdyta rutina, šmaikštūs pajuokavimai, tiesmukai iškelti klausimai ir noras bendrauti, taip Gluosnė išvedė iš rutinos Ridą, kuris ėmė ir įsimylėjo. Lyg mačiau, kad tai tik pirma dalis, tai greičiausiai kitos ar kita bus apie draugę Beilę ir brolį Geibą. Tiesiog tokia nuojauta, kad galėtų istorija turėti tęsinį.

[Kate Ivy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the best grumpy x sunshine book I have ever read!
It’s almost enemies to lovers.

I ate this book up, the FMC goes to the country doing a house swap with her bestie when she meets the grumpy & hot landlord who doesn’t like her one bit. It’s hard being a people pleaser and having someone not like you, so you can imagine how it goes!

I had laughs and cries and just so many wholesome moments!

Loved it.

[Booked on Lattes · Rating 4 out of 5]

POV: Dual
Spice: 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️

This is such a cute read that is perfect for the summer! I’m not sure why but I just love books that involve small town farmer’s markets and bakeries (I know, very specific), and this book checked both those boxes. It also has cottage core vibes and I enjoyed the “swapped” premise.

I really liked both Willow and Reid, in their respective sunshine/grump roles. While this book is mostly light and fun, Reid does struggle with the death of his parents (in the past) and my heart hurt for him in those moments we see him struggle with his emotions.

Although I think that Willow’s best friend Bailey needs to redeem herself a bit before I’m on board with her, I am looking forward to seeing what happened on her side of the swap in the next book!

[Vitalija · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dar viena nuostabi @svajoniuknygos naujiena, tačiau tikriausiai tai pirmas kartas kai knyga man nepaliko įspūdžio. Knygos viršelis ir pasakojimas iš karto dvelkė romantika, lengvu romanu, vasarišku neįpareigojančiu kūriniu. Pati knyga skaitėsi lengvai ir labai greitai, nes nėra didelės apimties, tačiau viskas buvo nuspėjama. Jau per pirmus kelis skyrius buvo aišku kuo knyga pasibaigs. Man kažko pasakojime pritrūko. Tačiau nors romanas ir itin lengvas, romanų mėgėjams jis tikrai patiks ir nukels į vasarą.

[Harlequin Books]

Small Town & Rural Fiction, New Adult Romance, Romantic Comedy, Contemporary Romance
Miniseries
The Swap (Book #1)

[corie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just can’t picture “slay” or “tea” being in the internal monologue of a 35 year old man IM SORRY

[Emalee Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

dont give up on your dreams, theyre worth while. but also realize that sometimes, dreams change.

[Tess Caputo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the start of this book. The first half was fun. I haven’t read a lot of enemies to lovers books (cause I rarely read fantasy.) So I loved their banter and how they sorta hated each other but there was also mutual attraction. But the second they kissed it went downhill from there. I love me some spicy books but the spice here kinda fell flat. I liked the grumpy MC in the beginning but in the end I feel like he got unrealistically not grumpy. They became super nice to each other. Which I normally don’t mind (I love cinnamon roll characters and a cute friends to lovers.) But this just felt sooo boring. There were interesting plot things that were explored but it still fell flat.

[bookjunkiejane · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book rates high in the negative scale.. It totally sucks.. Utter waste of time.. There's no negative rating scale here, so I have to give it a 1..

[Erin McDermott Versosky · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate the main characters. I don’t want to read about them anymore. Sorry not sorry

[Cathlene Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

An adorable read with cottagecore vibes and tension that pays off! So fun and perfect for a spring/summer read in nature 🌿

I love a grumpy sunshine romance where the grumpy person is secretly a softie, and not just for the sunshine person. Reid is battling a mental load from his father’s death, leaving his chef career and just trying to find his way in the world. He doesn’t know he needs more sunshine in his life until Willow shows up.

Willow has also had a tough break in her music career, and she’s hoping some time away will heal the hurt. I love that she was so eager to try new things instead of wallowing on her time off, she made the best of her situation. She leans away from her people-pleasing attitude to figure out what’s best for her (which might be a certain chef-turned-landlord next door) 🥹

I honestly didn’t like Bailey as a character because she acted like a bad friend to Willow in my opinion 🫣 I get she was busy with her class, but that’s no excuse to not be there for a friend in need when she’s giving time to someone else. I still would be interested in reading her story but I’ll have to push past my dislike for her. I also wasn’t a huge fan of Willow’s brother, Gabe, who I feel like will be Bailey’s love interest. Maybe their story will change my mind, we’ll see.

The pacing was great, and I love the banter and conversations between Willow and Reid. They can be vulnerable and honest with each other while also calling each other out on their wrongdoings. There’s tender moments of sweetness, burning spice, and a little bit of angst to round it out. I just know this couple would be the cutest one at the farmer’s market or bakery!

Thank you to Karen, Afterglow Books and NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Read if you enjoy:
🎤 Grumpy x sunshine
🌹 Forced proximity
🎤 Enemies to lovers
🌹 Slow burn
🎤 Small town

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a huge fan of Karen Booth's romances for Harlequin Desire and I was really looking forward to her first title for Afterglow and I certainly was not disappointed by Swap and Smell the Roses.

When Willow Moore's dream of music stardom hit the wall, she found herself swapping her life in Brooklyn for two months in the Connecticut countryside. She is enjoying a slower pace of life and getting to grips with everything rural life has to offer. The only fly in the ointment is her grouchy and moody landlord Reid Harrell. The two of them are like chalk and cheese. However, they might have more common than they initially thought...

The former chef is the grumpy to Willow's sunshine and having once chased success, he has now put all that behind him and wants nothing more than to be left alone - if only is new tenant wasn't so persistent in getting him to talk! Sparks started flying between the the two of them the second they met, but they are simply too different for their relationship to ever develop...aren't they?

As Willow's creativity returns with a vengeance, she realizes that the time has come for her to go after what she truly wants - even a grumpy former chef who might just be the one she has been looking for all along!

Karen Booth's Swap and Smell the Roses is a fabulous contemporary romance that exquisitely juggles heat, heart, humor and pathos. I laughed, cried and feel head over heels in love with Willow and Reid and their love story was one that kept me completely glued to the pages of this book - don't miss it!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Kate]

I feel like I could write a whole dissertation on the death of the mass market paperback and the subsequent lack of risk-taking by the publishers, trying to make the more expensive trade paperbacks appeal to the widest audience resulting in publishing a bunch of milquetoast romances that are just three tropes in a trench coat.

I think you can guess how I felt about this one, but I will add in a few points for posterity.
1) Reid is an asshole to Willow because he does not want to get connected. He stays aloof from the whole town for the same reason. EXCEPT that his giant conflict is that he stayed away and only focused on work for so long and he regrets it because he missed out on time with his father. Make it make sense.
2) Willow's best friend, in one of the three conversations they have in the book, when she discovers Willow is sleeping with Reid, says "You know, it's okay to just leave it in your pants every now and then." and hoooo boy slut shame much??? It is not even a tiny little plot point or character trait of Willow that she's had lots of sex or had too many relationships - in fact, there is no mention of a prior relationship or sexual encounters or ANYTHING in the entire book. Why is her BEST FRIEND treating her like that? I didn't like it, it made me mad. Honestly, her best friend is kind of not great through the whole thing, especially because Willow is doing her a huge favor lending the apartment for her 2 month class.
3) I am sick of grumpy/sunshine being code for asshole/person not respecting boundaries. I want actual GRUMP. Reid is not as rude as some of the other MMC I have read that have been billed as "grumpy" but he is not nice either.

I own two more Afterglow books, and I will read those and see how it goes, but I am quickly losing faith in the imprint.

[Julie Eichelberger-Ford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Swap and Smell the Roses is the first in the new series by Karen Booth. This is a grumpy meets sunshine and the thaw leads to happily ever after. Willow has always dreamed of being a famous singer/songwriter but after being booed and jeered off the stage, she is ready to quit her dream. Her friend needs a place to stay in the city and she needs to get away to decide on her next step in life so she goes to Connecticut to stay in her friend's cottage. Her first day isn't going so well and she must approach her grumpy landlord to get a key to enter the cottage. Reid is dealing with burnout from his career as a chef, recovering from an accident and grieving the loss of his father. Reid has struggles of his own and just wants to be left alone but Willow wants everyone to like her, so she is constantly in his space. After flooding her cottage, causing severe damage that needs immediate repairs, Reid reluctantly asks her to move into the main house with him as he begins working on the cottage. Spending so much time together leads to the attraction that they are both struggling to resist since Willow is only there temporarily but fate has different plans as they both learn dreams and goals are sometimes not always what you really want and that love cannot be denied. This is a wonderfully written story with a range of emotions, steamy connections and a love to last a lifetime.

I received an advanced reader copy from the publisher but all thoughts and feelings are my own.

[Curvy Girl Book Nerd (Jen S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Swap and Smell the Roses is a spicy, OTT, grumpy-sunshine, opposites-attract, instalust with a bit of enemies-to-lovers and slow-burn, girl gets her hunk romance. Willow is a musician who is distraught after being boo'd off stage. She agrees to swap her New York apartment for her best friend, Bailey's, cottage in Connecticut. Reid is a hunky grumpy landlord in CT. He was a chef but is still grieving the loss of his dad. Willow wants to get away from city life, and Reid just wants to get away from people in general. When Willow's cottage is flooded, Reid ends up letting her stay at the main house. At times, these two are like oil and water, but then we have great chemistry along with a few laughs. The two end up doing a bit of soul searching. Can they help each other heal? I thought this was a great sweet and spicy read with a lovely happy ending. I was not really keen on Bailey or Gabe, so I am curious about their possible pairing, but I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Brenda Moser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well written book with strong characters in Willow and Reid. The author does a great job developing the story and takes you into their lives with both trying to overcome trauma, helping each other and discovering a new future together. She moves the story fluidly and delivers a terrific read.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own and are freely given.

[clorosee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super cute and light-hearted. A fun read 🤍🤍

[Ieva P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trumpa, greita knyga, lengvai susiskaite

[Kim Reads (Read Your Writes Book Reviews) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Karen Booth and Harlequin have teamed up once again to bring you Swap and Smell the Roses, the first book in Karen’s The Swap series under the Afterglow Books imprint line.

Swap and Smell the Roses is classic Karen but better. I know that’s hard to believe. The story is longer than her Harlequin Desire books. There is just a little more heat and possibly intensity, and a lot of funny moments. Whereas the Desire line tended to be serious or drama-filled. And the character development seems to be deeper.

I love me a Karen Booth hero. Reid Harrell is unlike any Karen Booth hero I can remember. He’s grumpy and has himself in self-imposed isolation. I love him so much. Reid’s trying to punish himself for working too hard to be the best chef around. He feels bad that while he was chasing his dream of being the best and burning himself out, he didn’t know his father was sick and only had a few weeks left to live. Reid has left his chef career behind and is now back in his hometown of Old Ashby, Connecticut, living a slower, simpler life growing produce. He does however, work overtime to not be friendly or converse with the residents in town. His solitude comes to an end when Bailey Briggs, who rents the cottage on his family’s property decides to swap cities and living arrangements with her best friend Willow Moore for two months to attend a coveted screenwriting class in New York.

Willow is Reid’s opposite in every way. She’s friendly, outgoing, and loves to talk. She has this deep need to have people like her. Her whole life, she’s dreamed of being a singer and songwriter. Unfortunately, things aren’t working out for her and she’s about ready to let her dreams go. While Bailey takes her tiny apartment in Brooklyn, Willow moves into her small cottage in what seems to be the middle of nowhere, Connecticut. Willow knew Bailey’s new landlord was grumpy, she just didn’t realize how grumpy he was and she never imagined that he would be so hot.

Willow and Reid’s first meeting isn’t all that great and things really don’t get any better. When Willow accidentally floods the cottage, they’re forced to live together and things really heat up and start to change.

I loved Reid and Willow. Okay, honestly, Willow’s pushiness got on my nerves a little bit. But she meant well. I loved that these two were able to let their walls down and get to truly know each other, care about each other, and become friends/lovers. Swap and Smell the Roses was so much more than just about the romance. It’s about friendship, discovering yourself, giving yourself grace, being open to love, and more importantly, finding where you belong.

The story strongly hints and implies, who the next book will be about. I’m looking forward to seeing how Karen brings these two together and exactly what the circumstances and fallout are going to be.

~ Favorite Quotes ~

“It only takes a minute to be nice and ask someone their name.”

“We all need help sometime.”

“Sometimes you just have to jump in headfirst and figure out the rest later.”

“The people we love don’t ever really leave us.”

“We all need a break sometimes.”

**Received a copy of the author and voluntarily reviewed it.**

[Caitlin Herring · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[booksy.tx.ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started out with Willow leaving New York to stay in a small town in Connecticut for the summer. Landlord Reid is definitely a grumpy MMC. The story moved along well and had a good build-up. However, towards the end, I was kind of over it. The story kind of fizzled out for me. I didn’t care for the best friend or the brother, and they seemed to lead into Book 2. They were a bit rude in their own world. I didn't feel they were painted in a good light. I didn’t hate it, but not for me.

[Jennie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5, maybe? Her best friend and her brother and her parents are all jerks, none of them listened to her and kept steamrolling her about the music thing.

The romance didn’t wow me, they seemed more friends and then suddenly it was sexy times.

The garden parts were nice.

[Ashley Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book and thought it would be a four star for sure, but unfortunately it really fizzled out in the middle. The problem with having the main characters be annoyed with each other is that it needs to really work and it just didn't. They got too nice, too fast. They lost that spark of wanting each other and driving each other crazy. Parts that could have been exciting were doused way too soon (eg: the cupcake incident. Willow immediately apologized. That ante needed to be UPPED. But the author cuts the tension way too quickly.)

All in all, it's not bad, I just wish it had more oomph to it. Everything felt downplayed.

[Liz | lizzuplans · Rating 4 out of 5]

The moment I saw this cover, I knew I had to request this ARC.
While it was a fun, entertaining, sexy read, I noticed I was not really engaged in the latter half of the book, which was too bad because things started off really well!

I liked Willow and Reid together and I especially loved the small town vibes. I wish I could escape to Connecticut and work in a bakery while enjoying life with a hunky ex chef turned farmer.

I did not like the way Bailey treated Willow and I also was not keen on Gabe. I will read the second book in this series which I am sure is about Bailey and Gabe. It will be nice to read about what happened to them while in NYC.

3.5 stars rounded up.

I received an ARC of this book (thanks!) and these are my own opinions.