#Review : The Accidental Life Swap by Jennifer Joyce was fun and enjoyable / Books Teacup and Reviews

The Accidental Life Swap by Jennifer Joyce
Expected publication Date: September 1st 2019
Publisher: HQ Digital
Genre: Women’s Fiction / Romance
Pages: 384
Stars: ★★★★★

Sometimes one moment can change your life forever…
Rebecca Riley has always been a bit of a pushover. When her glamorous boss, Vanessa, asks her to jump, she doesn’t just ask how high… she asks if her boss would like her to grab a coffee on the way back down!
So whilst overseeing the renovation of Vanessa’s beautiful countryside home, the last thing Rebecca ever expected was to be mistaken for her boss – or that she would even consider going along with it! Far away from the bustling city and her boss’s demanding ways, could she pretend to be Vanessa and swap lives, just for a little while?

*** Note: I received e-copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange for and honest review. ***

Accidental life swap was lovely countryside romance that revolved around Rebecca who accidentally got a chance to live her boss’ life. It was about believing in yourself, have confidence, stand up for yourself and don’t let others pushover you, and for that you only need inner strength and talent are always there, not a false identity.

Characters:

Rebecca had degree in event management but worked as PA for Vanessa, at her event management company. She was timid, lacked backbone, and let everybody pushover her. I didn’t appreciate her lies. She could manage the work she was assigned but looking at those builders and previous project manager’s work, Rebecca needed Vanessa’s confidence and intimidating demeanor. In achieving what she wanted, she hurt friends. But she developed into a confident and strong person by the end of the book. I must say she was very talented, she just didn’t get opportunity to prove her worth before (I should say she didn’t have courage to take the opportunity) and when she got her chance she rocked. I actually liked the way she rectified her mistakes.

I’m fiery female fan and she was far from that. But I know there might be some who are like her. Let me tell you her lack of confidence didn’t make her weak, she was just nice and didn’t know how to stand up for herself.

Oliver was nice throughout the book. He didn’t hesitate in speaking his mind. Fake Vanessa’s intimidating demeanor didn’t affect him and I like him for that. I also liked his childish side, his board game obsession and confessions while playing it.

Stacey, Oliver’s sister, and her animal sanctuary were amazing. I liked Stacey’s fiery nature. You wouldn’t want to be on her bad side but would definitely love her as your friend.

Vanessa was rich, selfish, horrible, and a tyrant boss. She did all in her power to get what she wanted and even fired her staff unreasonably. But her transformation at the end was biggest surprise.

I liked all builders and people of Little Heaton. All characters were well developed and well described.

What I Liked-

Book was beautifully narrated in meek Rebecca’s voice which was not that refreshing but definitely realistic. Writing was great, easy to read and follow with amazing setting. Picturesque countryside, Little Heaton, Vanessa’s holiday home and animal sanctuary took the center stage here. You cannot not notice quirky animals and their name in this book especially those feathery chickens and wandering donkey. I grew to love them all along with characters. When we are in countryside, how can we forget gossips and close relationship between people… and romance. There was right amount of everything friendship and betrayal, family drama, heartbreak and disappointments.

Plot was equally interesting. Book started with Rebecca’s inner rant on how grimy and disrespectful her flatmate was but all in her head. She never, couldn’t confront him or anyone. You seeing that first paragraph of synopsis? It exactly describes Rebecca. She couldn’t even say no to Vanessa when she asked her to oversee her holiday home renovation in impossibly tight deadline. When she reached countryside and at Vanessa’s home, she met builders who mistaken her and thought she was Vanessa. She couldn’t rectify it quickly, in fact she enjoyed the respect she got, influence she could have on workers, and confidence she channeled through her mistaken identity but then she didn’t plan to fall for one of the builders and thus started all the mess.

I thought this false identity cannot last long, the game will be up pretty soon but I was surprised to see Rebecca managed to keep it secret for so long! She had many occasions to reveal the truth, but she kept the dodging it as she desperately wanted to finish the job within timeline, get a promotion and be in the team of event management-her dream job.

Rebecca and Oliver’s slowly growing friendship and romance was kind of cute. Who would keep playing board games rather than taking their fantasy for each other one level up! But we know them best when they played these board games, we see their other side that they managed to keep hidden from others. Rebecca’s problems with her family and Oliver’s past love life was among those hidden side.

Expanding idea of animal sanctuary, unexpected visits to check the progress of refurbishment, office gossips and some disappointing news made the story interesting. Some twists in the second half, though predictable, were quiet good. I could guess what will happened next most of the time but I must say I couldn’t guess that twist in the end.

Climax was intriguing. I liked Rebecca’s ideas and the way things were set up. That last visit from Vanessa and all events afterwards were wrapped nicely. End was perfect. Epilogue was most interesting.

If you ignore predictability and Rebecca’s lack of confidence, which was tiny lil bit annoying in the beginning, this story is definitely fun and enjoyable.

Overall, it was fun, light-hearted, fast paced and cute countryside romance. This book checked all the boxes I want in Women’s Fiction and Romance. Thumbs up!

Book Link: Goodreads | Amazon
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Let’s discuss!

What do you think about the book and my review? Have you read this book already or any book by the same author before? Are you going to add it to TBR?
Have you read any book falling in this genre or theme? Do you like fiery heroine or meek one? Recommend me you favorite countryside romance.