This was a fun Christmas romance to read. I love the fake dating trope in romance books so I was hooked instantly. However there is a bit of a spin in this one, think While You Were Sleeping movie. I loved the twist and the holiday setting. Although I am not ready for December quite yet, this book did get me in the mode for the Christmas season!

If you are looking for a light, fun, easy read this holiday season, definitely check this on out!

really good romance and I can see that its giving while you were sleeping vibes. loved the romance and the family . loved that the initial couple meet first and that she is having thoughts about the brother.

The Holiday Mix-Up, a modern-day version of “While You Were Sleeping” is a sweet and wholesome novel set around the holidays. While Juan, Katie’s friend and the person who asked her to pretend she was his girlfriend for the benefit of his family, falls into a coma due to an unforeseen event, Katie is left to make nice with his family, whom she meets at the hospital. Juan had just disclosed their “relationship” to his family, which overjoys some, while creating suspicion for others.

Mateo, Juan’s brother, is someone that Katie shares an easiness with, he makes her feel comfortable even when she feels unbalanced due to the secret she is keeping for Juan. They get along better than Katie feels is appropriate given her “fake” relationship with Juan, but something about him just pulls her to him.

Overall, this was a feel good, lighthearted read, just in time for the holidays. I am always a sucker for a holiday romance and this book did the trick. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

This one took me a little to get into because it reminded me of the movie While you were sleeping. Overall it was a charming story and I really loved the way that the family was described. I am used to reading romance novels in the first person so it was an adjustment to read it in 3rd person. With 3rd person narration I don't connect as much to the characters because I don't feel like I am in their heads. On the other side, 3rd person narration allows me to know that what I am being told isn't just one person's interpretation.

I had a difficult time getting into this story. Katie lusts after Juan and saves him from more serious injuries related to a car accident. Right before this happens, Juan asks Katie to pretend to be his girlfriend for Christmas.

Juan ends up in a coma for a long while and Katie holds up her end of pretending to be his girlfriend. While this may not be the book for me, this story would make a really great Hallmark movie :)

I'm gonna start by saying that I loved this book with my whole heart. It's the perfect cozy-sweet-feel good-Hallmark read for Christmas.

Katie falls for Juan, or at least that's what she thinks before meeting Mateo, his brother. Juan, her crush asks her to be his fake girlfriend and Katie ready to make him fall in love with her, says yes, but that same day, there's an accident and Juan ends up in a coma, and now Katie has to be his fake girlfriend for who knows how long!

I love the Martinez so much, they're such a sweet family, honestly it was new to me the way these characters fixed all the problems the story throw to them, and how any character was portrayed as the villain!
Definitely worth the read!

This was an entertaining book, though a little predictable. It was sweet, fun and a breezy read. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

This isn't bad I just think it wasn't for me. It's basically the plot of while you were sleeping which some people love but I don't. They were cute though, I just wanted to see them together more.

I received an arc through netgalley.

This was a great holiday read! Some of these veer too cheesy for my taste, but this one? It was sweet, I LOVED the premise and found the characters to be so endearing and love able.

When you want something sweet without being sickly sweet and with an element of the holidays…this is your girl!

Have you seen While You Were Sleeping?

I love that movie (with one exception, see below) and as I was reading The Holiday Mix-Up, I quickly realized it is the same exact plot. A woman is harboring a secret crush for her regular customer, he asks her to be a pretend date for his family Christmas dinner, she saves him from getting hit by a car and then gets sucked into his family while he is in a coma. Oh, and he has a dreamy brother with whom she has major chemistry. Sound familiar? It even had the same issues that I had with the movie - that there is a family member in a coma and yet they continue their holiday festivities. What?!!
This was a cute romcom and had some very sweet moments with the family dynamics as it followed the same storyline. Slight twists with some family issues but you get the gist.

OMG THIS BOOK!

The Holiday Mix-Up' is like the perfect Christmas rom-com wrapped up in a book! It had so many elements paying homage to “While You Were Sleeping", one of my favorite movies ever! 🎄❤️

Katie, our delightful protagonist, had me rooting for her from page one! Our girl is just so cute, all she wants is to be loved. When she agrees to pose as Juan's girlfriend at his family's winery and then everything happens I was just shocked. 😱

The pace was PERFECTION, I applaud the author over the choice of focusing on the events after the accident and Katie's relationship with Juan’s family.

Katie's dilemma had me in stitches and admiration - the Martinezes embrace her like family, and who can blame them when she's this charming? And then there's Mateo, Juan's bro with a heart-melting smile and some secrets of his own. You'll find yourself swooning just as much as Katie did! 😊

Amidst all the holiday cheer and vineyard drama, the question remains: Will this Christmas mix-up be a disaster or lead to a magical miracle? I won't spill the beans, but let's just say, this book left me with a heart full of warmth and laughter. Don't miss it!

I read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
As described, this is like While You Were Sleeping. It still made it nice to read.
I sort of wish Mateo and Katie had spent more angsty time together so it wasn't insta-love, but that's just me.
The last two love interests came a bit abruptly at the end but I think the author was trying to give everyone a 'happily ever after.'

This was a quick, fun holiday read. Christmas time in wine country in California is quiet. The vineyard is a great backdrop for this small town girl crushes on the soon-to-be vineyard owner. It gives small town "While You Were Sleeping" vibes. Katie Smith is a simple girl who has given up every dream for her future to help her family. Now she's alone & crushing on the handsome Juan Martinez. After an agreement to be Juan's "date" to his family Christmas, Katie is thrown headlong into the embrace of the entire Martinez clan after an accident. Now her "boyfriend" is in a coma & she's discovering that Juan's brother might be the one she really wants to be with. There's enough tension to make it interesting while also getting to see that Katie fits into the Martinez family in a way she hasn't fit anywhere in a long time. A quick, HEA romance with holiday flair.

Sweet but lonely waitress Katie Smith expects to be spending another Christmas alone until Juan Martinez, a handsome customer at the diner who she has a major crush on, asks her to pose as his girlfriend for Christmas day festivities at his family's winery. Katie has reservations but agrees hoping the fake date might lead to a real relationship.

In a twist of fate, Juan is in a serious accident shortly after telling his family that Katie will be joining them for Christmas and is put into a medically induced coma, Katie meets his family at the hospital and they immediately embrace her as Juan's girlfriend. Katie knows she should tell the Martinez family the truth but she had promised Juan that she wouldn't tell anybody and the Martinez family are so welcoming that she's reluctant to give up the feeling of being part of a family again. To make matters even more complicated, the more time Katie spends with Juan's younger brother, Mateo, the more she wonders if she fell for the wrong brother.

The Holiday Mix-Up is a cute spin on the rom-com movie While You Were Sleeping that takes place in California wine country in the week leading up to Christmas. It's a light, cosy read with a chaste, sweet romance, a close knit Latinx family and a festive holiday backdrop.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

When Juan asks Katie to be his fake girlfriend for his family's Christmas dinner, it was supposed to be just for a couple of hours. When an accident puts Juan in the hospital, her promise for a couple of hours expands to days with his family. The accident changes Katie's and Juan's family's lives. I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher through Netgalley. This is my honest and voluntarily given review. This is a very sweet and heartwarming Christmas story. It reminds me of 'Sleeping in Settle' as Katie starts to fall for Juan's brother Mateo. It was wonderful to see Katie embrace their Christmas traditions. I enjoyed reading this heartwarming story.

This book was slow to pull me in, but once it got a hold on me it never let go. Leaving me reading (and finishing) the book at 4am in the morning and regretting my life choices the next day. But only slightly.

Katie Smith is impossible not to love. This is evident with how she pulls everyone in around her. This is a big part of what sucked me in so completely. I had to keep reading until I knew she was ok.

I like Mateo as a lead too, but I feel his voice is not as strong as Katie’s. So, while we want her to end up with Mateo, it is more because they are a good match and it would make Katie happy. Not because we are driven to see Mateo happy. Which feels harsh to say.

Overall, I thought it was a great story and I enjoyed it much more than I expected. It’s a great read all the way around, not just a holiday story.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC!

THE HOLIDAY MIX-UP – Ginny Baird
Sourcebooks Casablanca
ISBN: 978-1-7282-5652-8
October 10, 2023
Romantic Comedy

Castellana, California – Present Day

Katie Smith works in a diner as a waitress and Juan Martinez is one of her regular customers. He’s handsome and charming, and while Katie has a secret crush on him, Juan hasn’t looked her way. But a week before Christmas while he’s finishing up his meal, he asks Katie if she would come to his family’s home at Los Cielos Cellars winery—and be his pretend girlfriend. Katie has no family and no invitation for Christmas, so she agrees. Right after he leaves, she realizes that he left something behind and goes chasing after him. To her horror, she spots a van barreling toward him in the street and runs to warn him but it’s too late. In the ensuing chaos, Juan is knocked unconscious and both he and Katie end up at the local hospital.

At the hospital, confusion reigns as Juan’s family arrives. How can Katie explain who she is when Juan had just asked her to pretend to be his girlfriend and not tell his family? Because Juan had texted his family, they know who she is (ha!) and immediately envelope her into their loving arms. Meanwhile, Juan is still unconscious and put into an induced coma. He can’t help Katie! As she gets to know the Martinez family, one particular member captures her attention—and a growing attraction: Mateo.

Mateo is intrigued by Katie but wouldn’t think of poaching in on his brother’s territory. However, he can’t deny that he is growing more attracted to sweet Katie. As they grow closer, Mateo gets more frustrated. How can he bear to be around the woman who apparently loves his brother when he’s falling for her? Meanwhile, as Christmas draws near, it appears that Juan will be waking up.

Yes, THE HOLIDAY MIX-UP sounds a lot like the plot from the movie While You Were Sleeping. Kate was only doing Juan a favor—and hoping that he’d look her way romantically. But the longer the ruse went on and she got to know the Martinez family better, the harder it was to keep the secret. She begins to care for the various parents, grandparents, and aunt. Then there is Mateo. He is respectful of Katie and her “relationship” with Juan. Mateo and Katie appear to have a lot in common, which includes maintaining the rich culture and family history of Los Cielos Cellars, which is having financial difficulties. She soon learns that Juan is at odds with his family about the winery’s future. And it’s clear that she agrees with Mateo’s vision for the family business. Each day Katie struggles with the secret she is carrying. She needs to tell these nice people that she really isn’t Juan’s girlfriend, but they keep surrounding her with their love and affection. It comes to a point that when the truth is revealed, she fears that they will hate her.

THE HOLIDAY MIX-UP is filled with emotion and the theme of Christmas as the days count down. Readers will understand Katie’s reluctance to reveal the truth because she lost her parents and has no other family. The Martinez family has become her family. Hovering all of this is Juan’s coming out of the coma. Once he does, the ruse will likely be up. Will Katie have lost the trust of his family—including the man she has fallen in love with? Readers will love the funny scenes of a family that has embraced someone they don’t know. But will it all end in heartbreak? Find out the answer by grabbing a copy of THE HOLIDAY MIX-UP.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today

Based on one of my favorite Sandra Bullock movies "While You Were Sleeping", this book gives you all the feeling to start thinking about Christmas
.
But in this version Katie is a waitress in a small restaurant in the town of Castellana and since she started working there she has a crush on one of her clients Juan Martinez
.
Coming from a family well known in the town for its historic vineyard. And unlike Sandra Bullock, she talks daily with Juan, this is how she agrees to be his fake date for Christmas dinner with her family. But when Juan suffers an accident that leaves him in a coma and a terrible confusion occurs in the hospital, she ends up entangled with Juan's meddling family
.
Being dragged into different situations that bring her closer to Juan's skeptical brother, Mateo.
.
Cozy, heartwarming story of love and found family with a Latin soul and flavor, it's another heart full slow burn story from Ginny Baird, and after reading a big amount of them this is another one I love
.
Thanks to Ginny Baird and Source Books Casablanca for give me a copy of this beautiful book in exchange for my honest and voluntary opinion

Its only one week until Christmas in tiny Castellana, California known as the wine country.
Our lovely Katie had spent Christmas alone for a couple of years now. With no friends nor family she spends her days working at the diner. Until one day, the guy she's been crushing on for the last 3 months comes in for his regular order however this time he askes Katie to be his fake date for just one day ( Christmas Dinner) . Our guy is Juan Martinez a handsome successful man . His family owns Los Cielos Cellars for generations and they are well known in town.
Everything is great until an accident happens and Juan is in a coma!!!
Katie has been sworn to secrecy and can't tell anyone about this fake girlfriend thing especially his family (his amazing lovely family whom Katie is enjoying her time with ) nor his brother Mateo the one who is making her feel things she's not supposed to feel given that she likes Juan.
Has Katie been obsessing over the wrong brother this whole time?
Can Mateo stop himself from falling over his brother's girlfriend?
They just have to keep reminding themselves
'No touching, no holding, and definitely no kissing.'

Loved loved this book so much ♥️♥️
Found family ✔️
Christmas Vibes ✔️
Latino family ✔️
A meddling auntie✔️
Lovable characters ✔️
Fake Dating ✔️
And so much more... You need to have this book on your list for the holiday season you will love it 😉😉.
Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher for granting me an ARC of #TheHolidayMixUp in exchange for my honest review.
Xoxo💋

I grew up watching rom-coms like While You Were Sleeping and this book definitely follows the script!

Katie is a waitress who has a crush on her customer, Juan and he asks her to be his fake girlfriend for Christmas. But before they can even carry their plan out, there is a freak accident and Juan is in a coma. Juan’s family believes Katie is his girlfriend and she goes along with it. What she didn’t expect being around Juan’s family was having her fall for his brother Matteo instead.

I got lots of While You Were Sleeping similarities in this book and knew how the story would end but I still thought it was cute. It’s a light hearted read and set leading up to Christmas.

I did like the family themes and the cast of characters in Matteo’s family. As for the romance, though it was cute and I knew how it would end – I kind of wanted more from Katie and Matteo. I just thought they were a little bland. There’s no steam between them, just some kisses but it makes for a wholesome holiday romance.

Tropes: chaste romance, falling for the brother of the guy in the coma, fake girlfriend

My Final Thoughts:

You will definitely like this if you are a fan of the movie While You Were Sleeping. This one was a sweet, light-hearted holiday romance heavy on family themes.