I watch The Holiday every December, so when I heard about a sapphic book coming out with the same premise—two strangers swap houses over the holidays and fall in love with people from each other’s lives—I knew I had to pick it up. As you’d expect, we have two main characters: Clover, who left her fiance last year after realizing she’s a lesbian, and Bee, who just lost a $500,000 contract for the company she runs with her sister. Both of them need an escape this holiday, so they swap houses. Clover visits San Francisco to live her baby queer dreams, and Clover escapes the hustle of the tech world in a cozy cottage in Salem, Ohio.
This is a very cozy story about self-acceptance and discovering love in unexpected places. The romances—one M/F, one F/F—both develop slowly. Clover begins to fall for Bee’s sister, Beth, and Bee begins to fall for Clover’s ex, Knox. Especially when it comes to Bee and Knox, this is a complicated situation, so it makes sense that they aren’t quick to rush into anything. As for Clover, she originally is looking for the girl she kissed in high school, Hailey, who moved to San Francisco after graduation. Bee’s cold and intimidating sister Beth is not on her radar, at least not at first.
One thing I really appreciated about this romance is that the friendships and sibling relationships have their own arcs, too. Clover and Knox grew up together and were best friends. Everyone assumed they’d always be together. Knox is heartbroken by their break-up, and Clover struggles to give him space while missing their closeness—she still loves him, just not romantically. The relationship between them isn’t totally resolved at the end, but it’s at least moving towards repair.
Meanwhile, Bee and Beth have constantly butted heads. Beth is the one who is always completely together. Bee is the irresponsible (but creative) mess. Their parents demand excellence from them, and Bee feels like she’s always failing in their eyes, especially next to Beth. As we get to know Beth better in Clover’s point of view chapters, we realize Bee doesn’t have the complete story. Like Knox and Clover, their relationship is not perfect by the end, but it is heading in a hopeful direction.
I liked Beth and Clover’s romance, but for me, it was just one part of Clover’s queer coming of age in San Francisco. Just as important is her discovering what it would be like to have a queer community around her and being able to be her authentic self without fear of judgement. Between the dual romance and the beginning of Clover’s story being more focused on Hailey, there isn’t a ton of time devoted to Beth and Clover, but I liked what we got, especially seeing Beth from a different perspective after being introduced to her through Bee’s eyes.
If you’re looking for a cozy Christmas read, this is a great choice. I’m also glad to see a sapphic Christmas story with Black main characters, because holiday romances tend to be anything but diverse. Hopefully we’ll get many more diverse seasonal romances soon!
