A steady 3 stars. The story was cute but not mind blowing. I wish I had fallen in love with the characters more but I felt a bit more detached from them

The Holiday Mix-Up by Ginny Baird
Publication date: October 10, 2023

Date read: September 24, 2023



Lonely-hearted waitress Katie Smith has nowhere to go for Christmas, and a huge crush on her gorgeous diner patron Juan Martinez. So when Juan asks Katie to pose as his girlfriend for holiday festivities at his family's winery, Katie leaps at the chance… that is, until an accident lands Juan in a coma right after giving his folks the "news." Katie knows she should tell the Martinezes the truth, but when they immediately embrace her, Katie is reluctant to let her fantasy of a family holiday go. And then there's Juan's brother, Mateo, whose smile tugs at her heartstrings just right—and who tells her perfect Juan might not be everything he seems. With the winery at stake, secrets on all sides, and Juan due to wake up any day, can Katie and Mateo follow their hearts to a Christmas miracle, or will this mix-up ruin their chances?

When I was younger, I used to love the Sandra Bullock movie "While You Were Sleeping". If you've never seen it, it's super cute (if slightly problematic), and this book follows the plot of that movie almost to the letter. Am I complaining? Nope. I loved that movie. And I loved this book.

The main characters in this book - Katie and Juan - were super sweet and lovable. And even though the "relationship started on a lie" trope is generally my least favorite romcom trope, I didn't care as much as I usually do. I always cringe waiting for the other shoe to drop (and I still did a little), but the sweetness factor in this book was so wonderful that I didn't really mind the other stuff.

I have a harder time reviewing romcom novels than others, because I feel like the standards are a little bit different. I'm not looking for an earth-shattering storyline or an evocative writing style as much as I am looking for a story that will make me "feel all the feels" and leave me happy at the end. This book did just that. I thought that the characters were well-written and real, and I loved the vineyard setting. Katie was a wonderful main character and I was rooting for her the entire way. As far as romcoms go, this book is a winner.

Rating: 5/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

The Holiday Mix-Up by Ginny Baird. Pub Date: October 10, 2023. Rating: 3 stars. Set around Christmas time, this story centers around Katie, a diner worker who is asked by Juan to be his "fake girlfriend" at his family Christmas gathering. The change is Juan is in a accident that leaves him in a coma, but he still told his family about Katie. Katie has to fake her relationship with Juan while getting invited into the family, included in all the festivities, etc. During this time, she starts to get to know Juan's brother and sparks are flying. Katie has an internal battle of if she should come clean about the scenario or let it ride until Juan wakes up. This story was cute, filled with family and Christmas spirit but I felt it was a little flat. I wanted more substance and felt it lacked progression and it was fairly predictable. Overall, a decent cozy read. Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review. #netgalley #theholidaymixup

⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝘼 𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣'𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚...𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙖 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙘𝙠 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜.

📍 Read if you like:
• Holiday Romances
• Fake Dating
• Found Family
• Puerto Rico Rep
• Vineyard Settings

This is a retelling of While You Were Sleeping and therefore I was so excited to read this book. I also saw it had Puerto Rican characters and knew immediately I wanted to read it.

This book wasn’t very original, I wish it had more of a different and unique take on the retelling. Also, I didn’t realize this book wasn’t going to have spice, which isn’t always a bad thing, but I feel like it would’ve been better with the story.

I honestly loved the Martinez family, however, our MFC, Katie, got a bit obnoxious at times. I also felt like the book dragged and took a while to get my interest. It was still festive and honestly a quick read, I just felt like it was a mediocre and unoriginal Christmas story.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

•𝗧𝗪/𝗖𝗪: Death, Medical Content, Grief, Car Accident, Cancer, Medical Trauma

This was seriously the cutest holiday romcom I've read this season! I loved the family dynamics & watching the hijinks unfold.

A cute holiday read, a bit of a While You Were Sleeping vibe. Fluffy and pretty low drama, it's a fun romcom that's perfect for the season.

I found the beginning to be very repetitive and slow. I ended up enjoying the ending. It's a light and fluffy holiday romance with a predictable plot line.

This is a clear retelling of the film While You Were Sleeping starring Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman, which is a fine idea to try and update, but this unfortunately lacks the charm the Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman bring. This follows a character who is pretty forgettable, who agrees to fake date a man for the holidays moments before he gets into a hit-and-run that puts him into a medically induced coma. This doesn't happen before he tells his whole family that he is dating her. She then continues to go along with this scheme while he is in the coma, and like the movie it is based on, falls for the brother, Mateo. She just keeps lying for this man in a coma, who we slowly realize is not a good person. And the brother refuses to believe her when she tries to come clean. The family is totally lovely and fun, and the setting is great, but the premise is hard to buy when the main character is boring and not completely charming. I did kind of buy the romance, and rooted for it in the end. This is a fun holiday romance but is one you'll have to suspend your disbelief for and be willing to compromise a few morals to buy into. Three out of five stars.

This book was ok but it wasnt my favorite plotline. I didnt like the whole faking relationship and boy ends up in hospital, wasnt my cup of tea. I DNF early on.

This was a cute Christmas read. The dialogue felt a little far fetched, but I liked the dynamic between Mateo and Katie. This was just a fun way to end the year of reading.

It was enjoyable and heartwarming. Portrays a close knit Latin family with all its ups and down. The Martinez family made the book enjoyable.

Katie is elated to be asked to be Juan’s date to his family’s annual Christmas dinner. After all, she’s been crushing on him hard ever since he came into the diner that she works at. To Katie’s dismay, Juan asks her to be his fake girlfriend so that his family will stop setting him up on blind dates, but she hopes that it will lead to something more. Right after leaving the diner, Juan is in an accident and Katie is left pretending to be his girlfriend to a family she’s never met. While Juan is in the hospital, Katie becomes close with his family, especially his brother, Mateo. One thing leads to another and Katie winds up in a complicated fake dating scheme with conflicting feelings for both brothers. What will she do and who will she choose?

The Holiday Mix-Up was a very festive holiday romance with Hallmark movie vibes. My favorite parts of this book were the winery setting and Juan and Mateo’s sweet and eccentric family members. Unfortunately, beyond that, I did not like this book very much. To me, the characters lacked a lot of depth and the chemistry was underdeveloped. The story seemed a little unrealistic with a heavy reliance on insta-love between characters that barely even knew each other. Overall, it was difficult for me to get invested in these characters’ love story, though it did put me in the holiday mood. I think this book would be perfect for anyone who loves holiday Hallmark movies and the found family trope in their romance novels!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This was the absolute cutest holiday book I’ve ever read!! It felt like I was reading a hallmark movie except better and less cheesy.
I loved everything about the book truly. Katie & Juan and his family were just so lovable, I almost wanted them to just adopt me (even though I have an amazing family of my own) and as a fellow latina it was really cute to see some traditions and family dynamics I recognize in there.
The character development was great for some of them, for a couple I felt like it could’ve been a little better.
Overall I think it was perfectly balanced with the amount of cheesiness, christmas, latinx, and love.
If you’re looking for something to read during the holidays or even just want a bit of holiday spirit throughout the year, don’t hesitate to read this book.
Solid 4/5.

Note: thanks netgalley and publishers for the ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

I’ve always loved While You Were Sleeping, so this book quickly hit the mark for me! It’s basically the same premise - Katie is infatuated with Juan, who has just asked her to be his fake girlfriend at Christmas with his family. Shortly after, he almost gets run over and Katie saves his life; this is just before he texted his whole family telling them about his new girlfriend called Katie! Unfortunately Juan ends up in a medically induced coma and his family take Katie in as one of their own. The only problem is she quickly starts falling for his brother, Mateo. Swoon.

The storyline is too good. Katie and Mateo’s growing feelings for each other are just adorable to read. I also loved all the family drama, as well as the cozy family dynamic! Mateo is a top tier book boyfriend and Katie was so genuinely likeable. A very cute read.

What to expect:

- While You Were Sleeping vibes
- forbidden romance
- closed door romance
- found family

I loved this modern retelling of While You Were Sleeping (which is a weird sentence for me to write because I feel like that movie just came out a few years ago). I loved all the characters (especially Juan’s brother!) I would recommend this book to anyone who loves watching Hallmark movies.

I enjoyed this sweet Christmas retelling of While you were sleeping. I loved this book more than I did the original movie.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

I will forever think of Ginny Baird as the Queen of Christmas Romance. Yes, she writes books that aren’t set around the Christmas holiday, but I have always found her Christmas romances to be just a little more special. It’s like they wrap you up in a warm blanket and you feel the merriment and wonder of the Christmas holiday where family and traditions are abundant.

The Holiday Mix-Up gives off While You Were Sleeping vibes, with a few Latin traditions. Katie Smith has all but given up on her dream of becoming an artist and traveling the world. She’s happy with her life in Castellana, California, where she still lives in the all-be-small childhood home she grew up in and works as a waitress at Daisy’s Dinner. Katie loves her customers, but it’s Juan Martinez who makes her heart flutter.

A week before Christmas, Juan makes one of Katie’s dreams come true. He invites her to spend Christmas with him and his family, as his fake girlfriend. Katie’s a little disappointed that it’s not a real date, but she’s hopeful that this could be the start of a wonderful relationship. Before the two can work out the details of their ruse, Juan gets hit by a van and placed into a coma. At the hospital, Juan’s family assumes Katie is his girlfriend because of a series of texts sent just before the accident.

With her promise to Juan to not reveal their ruse, Katie sticks with the plan. She just isn’t prepared to be welcomed into the family with open arms, enjoy being with them so much, or the rush of feelings she gets from Juan’s younger brother Mateo.

Mateo is everything his older brother isn’t. He’s thoughtful and level-headed. Mateo thinks of others before himself. Unfortunately, after the end of his engagement, Mateo has sworn off women. So while he’s surprised Juan has a girlfriend that he was going to introduce to the family, he can’t help but be curious about her and their relationship.

The Holiday Mix-Up was a fun story to read. It transported me to the fictional town of Castellana, where Ginny weaved together a romantically, charming tale of the Martinez family history. I loved watching Katie and Mateo become friends and slowly realizing their feelings ran deeper than those of just friends. The rest of the Martinez family proved to be a welcoming and loving group. The Holiday Mix-Up provided all of the love, traditions, and happy feelings I look for in a Christmas romance.

Katie has had a crush on Juan since she started serving him at the local diner. So when he asks her to attend Christmas dinner as his “girlfriend” (in order to avoid getting set up by his family), she happily agrees. But things quickly get out of hand when Juan suffers an accident and is medically induced into a coma.

As soon as I dove into Ginny Baird’s The Holiday Mix-Up, I got a While You Were Sleeping vibe. I enjoyed her modern take of the popular movie. Not only was this book nostalgic for me because it channeled a movie from my youth, but it reminded me of my family traditions.

Katie’s initial love interest is the book is Juan Martinez. Juan comes from a Mexican and Porto Rican family. Therefore, all of his holiday traditions center around his heritage. As someone who grew up eating soapaipilas and visiting family in Santa Fe, I felt a unique connection to the story. I loved getting to see my culture and traditions represented!

This is a perfect read if you are looking for a wholesome, Christmas romance seeped in nostalgia.

Special thanks to Netgalley, Sourcebooks Casablanca, and Ginny Baird for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

A sweet holiday romance that was really heart warming to read. Overall nothing that really stood out or made this unique but it was enjoyable

This was sweet! I really wanted to LOVE it, but it took me a bit to get into it and a longer bit to get through it. It had great bones, but just didn't have the "I can't put this own" feels. Despite that, it was a super sweet, found family christmassy romance that had allllll the warm fuzzy feelings! I would definitely recommend this to someone looking for a hallmark-esque read for the Christmas season!

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy to read!