The Accidental Life Swap

Rebecca has a degree in events management, but has been the general dogsbody a little bit in awe of her take no prisoners boss, who can’t even get her name right. That’s ok in Rebecca’s book though, as she’s certain to get the promotion that’s coming up – and then she can make the impression that she’d hoped for. But, being called into Vanessa’s office isn’t quite what she expected – she’s to ‘oversee’ the renovation of her boss’ country house – and Rebecca doesn’t bat an eye. She arrives – people think she’s Vanessa, she’s justifying her not correcting them by “feeling” more confident and able to act in ways that are against her nature. Of course, she’s enamored of one of the builders – and even acts inappropriately – despite her own reservations, and we’re meant to think that a ‘harmless’ shot of the man’s rear-end, shared with a friend because it’s ‘so’ shareable is ok? Were it a male character – he’d be crucified – but there is still a way to go when the reverse is true, apparently. Becca – for me – was hard to relate to and even harder to enjoy- from her mercurial switches to what she thought was “confidence’ but simply came off as a bad imitation of the much more bitchy Vanessa, to her lying about her identity and genuine belief that when everyone realizes she’s lied and duped them that it won’t be a problem. It’s just a few steps too far into suspension of belief. And while the story was easy to read, it was unevenly paced and full of contradictions in Becca’s personality that had me ready to put this down more than once. Many of the characters were stereotypical and flat for it, and while there were laughs, the story was so untethered to reality that it flew by with barely a squeak – some will love it – others won’t be so intrigued, but I’m not sure it would encourage me to read more of this author’s work. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.