This is a brilliant Christmas story for the modern teenage as there is the usual intrigue of plans, going well and going awry. At first I did find this a hard story to get into but perhaps that is because this is mainly focused at a Young Adult audience and I am slightly outside of that age bracket,
Our story focuses of two characters which share narrator, each character swaps between Elle and Ho0lly. Elle is an influencer with a challenge set to win a large target of followers by the end of Christmas otherwise she has to delete her account, and who to help her but a number 1 fan Holly. But, as Holly lives half way around the world in England that means both of our characters get to have a jetsetting holiday, swapping lives for two weeks. There are sights to be seen, hearts to win and hearts to break. But most of all we see our main protagonists finding their identity in an age where their identity is based on likes and shares.
I would recommend this to my students as a Christmas read but also for them to consider whether they should live their life through a filter?

I received a complimentary copy of this book from #netgalley , thank you. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I received an e-galley of Blame It on the Mistletoe by Beth Garrod from Sourcebooks Fire via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Contemporary romances set in Christmas. Those magical words will generally convince me to read any book but it doesn’t always guarantee that I’d enjoy it. I will say that I did enjoy Blame It on the Mistletoe which was like a teenage version of The Holiday. The Holiday just happens to be one of my favourite holiday films and thus, the book was off to a great start for me with its premise. Two teenage girls who find themselves exchanging homes across the ocean for a week during the holidays. Elle is determined to win the social media contest that she finds herself part of in order to prove something to herself, to a former best friend, and to her parents. Holly is heartbroken and really needs a chance to everyone that she’s not quite as predictable as they make her out to be. Both girls find in their adventures that perhaps their priorities need to be re-examined as they get into the holiday spirit an ocean away from their friends and family. I thought that both storylines were fun to read and has gotten me into the holiday spirit myself - it’s only November but probably not that early according to Holly. If you’re looking for a lighthearted and fun teen contemporary holiday romance read, then Blame It on the Mistletoe may be just what you are looking for this holiday season.

This book has a super cute concept and the cover is absolutely gorgeous but it wasn't for me. Neither of the main characters felt like they had any real depth to me and both of the romances felt incredibly stilted and one-dimensional. I also didn't vibe with the writing style or pacing at all but those all are mostly personal issues. I'm pretty sure this book is absolutely a lot of people's cute Christmas read, but it's not mine.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc of this in exchange for an honest review.

A cute festive read! I didn’t really get a lot of depth and it felt a little unfocused, but overall a cute read.

A cute, quick read for the holidays. It's probably better to read this one closer to Christmas, as it's hard to get into the holiday mood when it's fall. Anyway, it's a cute story and I enjoyed reading it for the most part.

How cute!!

This book did such a good job at putting me in the holiday spirit! I love these switching books where the characters switch lives for a while then fall for someone they never expected to, I'm all for that, it's such a Christmassy trope and it's just so much fun to read too! It's just perfect for the holiday season!

And can we talk about that cover?? How cute is that?? Super Christmassy and colourful and I love it!

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for the earc in return for an honest review.

A cute, festive read for Christmas! A fun take on the trope of switching places. I would feel comfortable recommending this to students.

I went into this book really excited about the premise, I thought it had so much potential. The execution was a little lacking though. It felt a little choppy at times, like there was a lot of focus and time spent on certain things but then other plot points felt really rushed. I felt like it could have done with another round of editing just to clean up the flow a bit.

I really loved Nick, he was absolutely my favorite character and the connection between him and Holly reminded me a lot of Peter and Lara Jean from TATBILB. Full of holiday cheer, introspection about how families change and our expectations of what our holidays are going to be. The last 1/4th of the book redeemed it for sure.

This book really got me in the spirit for both romance books and the upcoming holidays. Holly is obsessed with Christmas and has an opportunity to switch places with her favorite social media influencer Elle. Not only are they switching lives, they are switching countries. Love is in the air with this lighthearted holiday read!

I went into this book looking for something light, fun, and that would make me smile and I got exactly that. Though I was confused the first couple chapters (there’s quite a few people to pick up on!), I found the flow and really got into the holiday spirit. Both Elle and Holly have their insecurities and I enjoyed watching them become stronger individuals. Overall, the perfect quick read for the holidays!

Thank you to @netgalley and @sourcebooksfire for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy. This review expresses my own personal opinion.

Slow start to this one, and I almost abandoned it - while I enjoy YA, I usually like YA that skews older, and I was afraid this wasn’t going to hit the right notes for me. However, it was clearly inspired by “The Holiday” - a vastly underrated movie, in my opinion - so I stuck with it, and I’m glad I did. To be honest, the influencer stuff did get a little tiring, but luckily the characters were so charming, I could look past it. Nick and Holly’s slow-burn romance was truly swoon-worthy, but then again, I’ve always been a sucker for boys in bands. Definitely recommended for YA readers in your life - it’s a sweet holiday tale featuring two of my favorite cities, New York and London, and just the right amount of romance for a YA novel.

*Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this book*

3.5 stars

This is a super fun book for the holidays! It was a pretty quick and easy read, which I really enjoyed. The story follows Holly and Elle who swap places for Christmas. Holly finds herself in the USA, while Elle ends up in a little town in England. Both girls end up meeting a guy, and romance ensues along with other Christmas-y things. The author did a great job of giving each main character their own voice. I could always tell who I was reading, and that can be really hard to accomplish in dual POV books, so kudos on that! I found this book to be cute and funny and I love reading about Christmas. The reason I rated it down is because it seemed extremely modern. Give it 5-10 years and I feel like a lot of this stuff will be outdated and people may have a hard time connecting to it. A huge part of the plot had to do with being an influencer, and there was a lot of modern slang. Again, it's not a big problem by any means, and I'm not a huge contemporary fan, so I'm unsure if this is the norm nowadays, but it almost seemed excessive at some points. I'm also getting old, so that might be a problem in itself haha!

Anyways, I definitely think this is the perfect romantic/funny/cute Christmas read, and would definitely recommend it!

Blame it on the Mistletoe is a great holiday YA read that feels extremely current and fresh (though that also means it probably won't age well, sadly). It's entrenched in the world of influencer culture, showing both some of the highs and the lows of making one's private life public, but it's also a sweet story about two girls who love the holidays and want a change. Perfectly described as Tweet Cute meets The Holiday, this one is a great gift for teens this year.

When Elle, an Instagram influencer, enters a contest to join a new Instagram collective, she has to be the first of those competing to gain 15,000 followers (by Christmas!). In a hail Mary effort to win, she asks if one of her British followers would trade places with her for the holidays. Holly, a Christmas fanatic and huge fan of Elle's jumps at the chance to leave England behind after an extremely awkward encounter with her ex-boyfriend and some disappointments at home. Can these two find themselves, the holiday spirt, and potentially romance by Christmas?

I thought this story was super cute and really enjoyed the different perspectives of the two girls. I liked Holly and Elle both for different reasons, and I appreciated how their journeys in NYC and London mirrored each other. This book is also so crammed full of holiday cheer that it is well and truly a holiday read--there's no mistaking it. So put on your Christmas jammies and your holiday carols and grab this one to read!

Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 8/10

Thank you SO much to the publisher and netgalley! This was so much fun and just what I needed after the heavy books I haven been reading. It took me a couple chapters to feel connected to the characters but I got the Holiday Vibes the book was trying to portray. t’s a heartwarming story of Elle and Holly switching places for Elle’s social media competition. Elle spends her time in the UK while Holly gets to travel to New York during the holidays! For readers of a quick holiday themed book filled with romance, friendship and winter! I could see it as a Netflix mini series!

I loved this sweet, YA Christmas story! The characters were a lot of fun and I enjoyed reading about each characters adventures as part of the holiday swap. Colin the dog was a great character, but I think Nick and Holly stole the show. I could totally see this getting made into a movie!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy!

Elle and Holly connect over social media and agree to trade places for ten days before Christmas. Elle thinks small town British charm will be what she needs to win this competition. Meanwhile, Holly just wants to escape a painful breakup.

I could see this easily translating into a movie. There were so many fun Christmas activities and reading this book filled me with the same warmth and happiness I get from watching a good holiday movie.

Nick and Holly completely stole the show. Holly was infectious with her Christmas cheer and over the top to do lists. However, I wanted so much more from these two and felt a little cheated with the epilogue.

Honestly, Blame it on the Mistletoe is like a Disney version of The Holiday. If you want to kick-off the holiday season with some laughs and a good dose of Christmas spirit, I highly suggest picking this up.

Thank you to @netgalley and @sourcebooksfire for this ARC, Blame it on the Mistletoe comes out November 2nd!

Why you should read:
A 127 point plan for the Best Christmas Ever
Small town holiday traditions
Mistletoe kisses
A reindonkey
Christmas karaoke
Trading places for the holidays

Because I love the movie, "The Holiday," so much, I was really looking forward to reading this book! Plus, I'm a sucker for a novel set during Christmas time. However, this one fell flat for me. The thing I had the hardest time with is how similar the two main characters, Holly and Elle, are. Both are two young teenage girls who's personalities are practically interchangeable. I found it difficult to keep the story lines straight and kept having to go back and reread passages to figure out whose head I was in. Also, I didn't mind the social media aspect because I know that's what drove the entire plot, but I'm not sure I'm a fan on how it was done. Books and movies have a tendency to simplify what it means to be someone influential on social media, and it can come off as mockery, which takes away from the story. Unfortunately, that is what I feel this book did. To be honest, I think this book just needs an extra something to push it over the edge of being meh to really good!

I was looking forward to reading this one as it's the first Christmas book of the year for me. I have been reading more YA in the last 12 months and it had some fund elements that looked promising - social media, competitive teens, relationships, a swap between the two main female characters across continents at Christmas.

I really struggled to get into the book and tired to continue reading from 20 to 35 percent. I found the characters to be really hard to warm to and a bit juvenile and their narratives were a little disorganised and chaotic. I wanted to keep reading at least until they swapped so I could see what happened. I was also liking the girls' friendship and support of one another as well. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to keep me interested and I could only skim the rest of the book. This wasn't one for me unfortunately.

I’m DNF-img this one at the 29% mark.
I was here for the Christmas Swap vibes but it was a miss for me.
The social media aspect of the character and the immaturity just drove me up the wall.
I just don’t have time for the new adult segment.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eArc of this title.

This has been compared to the movie The Holiday, only featuring young adults. In that it’s a swap between a British and an American girl who both have their reasons for wanting to get away for Christmas, it’s a match. However, the Instagram challenge by the mean girl puts a decidedly modern teen spin on it, and I think it diminishes the story although it drives it.

Holly is obsessed with all the trimmings and trappings of Christmas to the point that she feels the season will be ruined if she doesn’t stick with her list and schedule. Unfortunately, her friends and family are held to these rigid traditions as well. It’s clear that, in her push for perfection, she is missing out on the true meaning of the holiday. Elle is so caught up in building her follower count that she takes on a challenge to amass 15,000 new ones, destined to repeat the heartache of her last social media contest. It’s obvious to readers that being accepted into a popular clique isn’t going to bring the satisfaction she craves if it means disappointing those she cares about.

Maybe it was the alternating POV or the raft of secrets the characters are keeping, but I found it difficult to keep all the story threads straight. I kept having to flip back to earlier pages to search for references the author made later in the story. There were a number of shallow subplots that I felt overpopulated the narrative, including the budding romance of Holly’s queer friend Ruby, the mystery behind Elle’s friend break-up with Clara, and the reason behind Holly’s mother’s selling the house. Despite this, if there are teens looking for a clean, Christmas-themed romance, they could do worse than picking this one up.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Sourcebooks through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

This book is for Christmas lovers who watch The Holiday every year and want to read a cute contemporary romance.

Elle, an American influencer, has decided to take part in a competition to gain more followers. If she loses: she has to close her account. To win, she decides to swap houses with Holly who lives in a small town in the UK. She’s going to help Elle and guide her to enjoy the Christmas spirit overseas.

Holly loves making lists and she’s obsessed with Christmas. She wants to have the best Christmas ever and going to the US could help her achieve her dream.

They’re both going to learn a lot about themselves, their family and meet new people thanks to this life changing experience.

It’s cute and funny, I really liked the different references to pop music and Christmas traditions in these two countries.

Can it be Christmas already now ?