Shopping for a Yankee Swap

Julia Kent

Dec 2020 · Shopping series Book 13 · Julia Kent

About this eBook

Christmas is nostalgia heaven for my family (unless you count the Christmas tree fire last year, which we won't...). 

Mom owns more holiday decorations than twelve area malls combined. Dad prides himself on hand-chopping the best live tree, while my older sister perfected peppermint cookies to the point of orgiastic bliss, and my younger sister has memorized every Christmas carol with her fingers for a piano bash that goes on and on.

And on.

But this year, Christmas is different.

This year, the McCormick men are joining the Yankee Swap. 

You know how it works, right? Bring the craziest gift you can possibly find, pick a number, open the presents in order and play “steal the gift” until person Number One gets one last chance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. 

My husband, Declan, is on a mission to win. He's so sure he can find the absolutely, positively, unreservedly weirdest gift that he's willing to go to any extreme to find it.

Any extreme.

That's right.

He's going thrift store shopping with my mother. The billionaire and the frugal queen are on a quest.

Only one will win.

And on Christmas evening, after we're stuffed silly, sung out, the kids fall asleep and the adults break out the bizarre presents and the alcohol, it'll be showtime.

Because there ain't no competition like a McCormick competition.

But the Jacoby family has a trick or ten up its sleeves, too.

Declan and Shannon are back in yet another hilarious Christmas family saga in Julia Kent's New York Times bestselling romantic comedy series. 

It's a competitive Yankee Swap - what could go wrong? Read and find out ;) .

Ratings and reviews

It's almost a peaceful and treasured Christmas at the Jacoby house. This season's greetings are challenged by the McCormick family Billionaires and all the kids young and old. Julia Kent is legendary. She makes life with your own holiday drama pale in comparison. Witty, laugh out loud, jaw dropping scenes. If you choose the audiobook of reading this yourself, focus on the book fully. Mildly erotic book takes women seeking out their vibrators or husbands. Genuine connections between Shannon and Declan and their frequent love making with yummy rauchy detail. You can handle it. The families are gearing up for a gift exchange. Jacoby family calls it Yankee Swap. But there is a twist. Mrs. Marie Jacoby and Declan Mccormick are close in-laws but their fashion tastes and financial value of items couldn't be more opposite. In a feat of desperation, Declan, reluctantly agrees to go with Marie to the thrift store to shop for gifts. Their wackiness meets interesting plot twists.

There are two things I love about this series. The first, and probably the most obvious thing I love about the McCormick and Jacoby families, is that anything they’re involved in is guaranteed to make me laugh so hard I hurt myself. The other thing I love about this series is a little sneakier. It’s nowhere near as in-your-face as the comedy. I love that these books have moments of great introspection and give me the opportunity to think about my own opinions on some heavy personal topics. Things like: what defines a family, how do you determine a person’s worth, what’s the true measure of success? The McCormick men, in particular, are faced with these questions, and some of the answers they come up pleasantly surprised me. I know that any time spent with Shannon and Declan (and their extended clans) will be wildly entertaining and be over long before I’m ready for it to end. And that’s exactly how I’m feeling now, laughing and happy, but it was over far too soon. I’m more than ready to come back and do this again with the next one. I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book from the author.

Ah, the time-honored tradition of the yankee swap, or white elephant gift exchange as we Okies refer to it… always a fun way to bring families together to lie, cheat, and steal their way to the best of the worst gifts imaginable. And when those families are the Jacobys and McCormicks? Well, hilarity and utter ridiculousness is sure to follow. This book was such a lovely bit of goodness and fun in a year that has been sorely lacking in both. It’s absolutely laugh-out-loud funny while also managing to be sincere, touching, and downright hopeful. I completely adored this book! And I challenge anyone to read it and not end up with a smile on your face. Thank you Julia Kent for this wonderful and unexpected gift. * I was given an ARC of this book and voluntarily chose to review. All of my opinions are honest and entirely my own.

About the author

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Julia Kent writes romantic comedy with an edge. Since 2013, she has sold more than 2 million books, with 4 New York Times bestsellers and more than 21 appearances on the USA Today bestseller list. Her books have been translated into French and German, with more titles releasing in the future.

From billionaires to BBWs to new adult rock stars, Julia finds a sensual, goofy joy in every contemporary romance she writes. Unlike Shannon from Shopping for a Billionaire, she did not meet her husband after dropping her phone in a men's room toilet (and he isn't a billionaire she met in a romantic comedy).

She lives in New England with her husband and three children where she is the only person in the household with the gene required to change empty toilet paper rolls.

She loves to hear from her readers by email at [e-mail], on Twitter @jkentauthor, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jkentauthor and on Instagram @jkentauthor  

Visit her at http://jkentauthor.com