I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Holiday Home Run was previously published in the anthology A Season to Celebrate, and is now being reprinted on its own in ebook. It’s a delightful companion novella to Priscilla Oliveras’ Matched to Perfection series, following a Fernandez cousin Julia as she finds her own HEA, though it can be read as a stand-alone.

However, much like the main books in the series, and Oliveras’ work in general, there’s a distinct Latinx flavor and familia remains central, with Julia having close relationships with her mother and cousins, who appear in supporting roles. However, there’s also the interplay between their expectations for her vs. what she wants, and that was conveyed beautifully.

Ben is a great hero, and I liked seeing him working to find a new family and purpose after finding himself retired from baseball due to injury, and seeing something in Julia, even though she is resistant to kobo at first.

This is a charming story, and a great addition to a fabulous series. I also think it would be a great introduction to Oliveras’ work to those who love sweet, culturally rich contemporary romance.

Julia has moved to Chicago to pursue her event planning dreams - em cee at her big chance in Ben, an ex-MLB pitcher. Too bad she's sworn never to date a baseball player...

A sweet, cute, and light novella about finding your home away from home during the Christmas season. Even though it's set in an established universe, it was easy for me to get to know the characters and get a feel for Julia's family.

Low heat, low angst, just a lovely snack size story to head into the holiday season with.

I received an ARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley.

This was a super cute christmas story that made my heart warm. Ben was a gentleman, i adored him, and the sweet happy ending.

Thanks to Kensington/Zebra Books for an advanced copy of Holiday Home Run a cute Christmas novella! This is part of the holiday anthology A Season to Celebrate and if you've read any of @priscillaolveras earlier books in the Matched to Perfection series the main character is a cousin of the Fernandez sisters.

Originally from Puerto Rico, Julia is in Chicago interning and keeping her fingers crossed it will turn into a job. Former MLB star Ben is figuring out his life after baseball when he volunteers to MC for the youth center fundraiser Julia is working on. Will sparks fly when they start working together?

This was such a sweet and cute novella. It just under 100 pages, so something quick and is just the perfect amount of holiday setting!

Cute, fun short story that will transport you out of our quarantined state for a few peaceful hours. Not necessary to read the prior books in this series, but certainly makes it more fun.

A cute and sweet Holiday story, that could be on the Hallmark Channel. It is a novella, so it is super short and a light/fast read. It was multicultural, which was a nice change in the book world. J

Thank you NetGalley, Kensington Books and Priscilla Oliveras for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
Julia Fernandez has one chance to make her goals a reality. Her parents are planning for her to take over their family business in Puerto Rico, but she dreams of working in Chicago as an event planner. When she gets the opportunity to intern in the city she takes it and hopes it becomes a permanent gig. Former Chicago Cubs star pitcher, Ben Thomas, is a little lost. After an injury ends his professional baseball career early, Ben doesn’t know where to turn. When he meets Julia at a fundraiser their connection is instant!
I read Priscilla Oliveras’ book Island Affair in June and loved it! I’ve been patiently waiting for the day the second book in the series comes out. I requested this book, not even realizing who the author was until I opened it on my Kindle to read. Talk about a pleasant surprise! This holiday novella was packed full of chemistry and heartfelt bonds. While this was a very quick book and the story wasn’t the most in-depth, you still end up rooting on Julia and Ben as they try to find their balance.
Priscilla Olivaras is on my must read author list and Holiday Home Run is just another reason why!

This was a pleasant, short holiday novella. I enjoyed the setting and the references to Puerto Rican Xmas traditions. Ben was a nice guy and a gentleman, although a bit lost due to the injury that destroyed his baseball career far earlier than he expected. In spite of his immediate interest in her, Julia held herself aloof for much of the story for reasons that seemed pretty flimsy, so it didn't seem like there was that strong of a connection between them. But in the end, everything worked out and they seemed on their way to a solid relationship.

I believe i read this book in the past or a similar book like it. Not sure if this was a re release of this book or not. Stranger things have happened

This book just did not work for me. The writing was okay and the story was overly cliché.

Also, I did not like the characters, they were a little bit too forced for me. I do tend to love sports romance, but this one just was not my type of book.

The cultural aspect though was really good, I felt really represented! And it was very quick, so I recommend it if you're looking for a latin american Christmas-y fast-paced story.

About the book:
Julia Fernández is helping organize a holiday event that can catapult her event planning career to new heights - and afford her a permanent job in Chicago, away from her prying family in Puerto Rico. All she has to do is pull off the party of the season, and not fall in love with ex-MLB star Ben Thomas, who's playing emcee for the night. Easy, right?

TL;DR:
- Content warnings: nothing major.
- 3.25 stars
- Really sweet novella. Worth picking up if you like baseball, Christmas-time, and some bi-cultural representation.

Loved:
- I actually LOVED the sprinkled in Spanish some others noted they felt was confusing! I am semi-fluent so I could understand all of it, but Oliveras also explains in English (subtly) what each term means immediately after she uses it. I think those who know 0 Spanish were probably wondering if they were missing something, but she made sure to translate and make it flow nicely.
- I also just love that all of the cultural nuances of Puerto Rico were included along with the Spanglish. I will never get over books with bi-cultural representation or representation of BIPOC.
- I'm a HUGE baseball fan so thought that angle was very cute.

Less into:
- It was soooo quick and surface level. I'd have loved more time with the two leads, because they seemed wonderful, but because we hardly got to know them I couldn't understand what they liked about each other. I felt like a lot of their personal issues were unresolved as well, and that maybe they could've just been left out?

Overall very chaste + cute, takes about as long to read as your favorite romance movie.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I feel so conflicted about this book/story.

First of, it feels as a short story because it is incredibly short and it doesn't go into depth anywhere. There is little to no chemistry between characters, we only get to know our main characters on a superficial bases and there is no actual plot to work around.

I gave three stars because I do think this story has potential. It was a fun and light read and I thoroughly enjoyed the Latin influences in the story. It was so nice to experience a different culture from mine in a book but the author could've done so much more with it. I feel like Julia and Ben are acquaintances but after reading a book the characters should either be your friends or enemies or etc. You need to feel a connection or something but it's impossible when you barely get to know them.

I wouldn't recommend this story because I think it leaves the reader a tad disappointed. .

Adorable. Similar to most novellas I wanted more.

I enjoyed the connection between Julia and Ben but wanted to see a little more angst. on both sides. I did question what Julia's family thought she was doing in Chicago for so long.

Overall a really fun quick read with enjoyable, relatable characters.

A wonderful short Christmas romance!

Julia Fernández is helping with a gala fundraiser for the Chicago Youth Association so she can get a job and move from Puerto Rico to Chicago without upsetting her family. The emcee of the gala was retired baseball player Ben Thomas but the first time he met Julia, he thought she wasn’t interested in him but that soon proved the attraction was mutual.

Holiday Home Run is a cute Christmas short story where the reader gets an evening gala, baseball and a Puerto Rico holiday experience.

Holiday Home Run was previously released as part of the holiday anthology A Season to Celebrate.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I swear Priscilla Oliveras could write anything, and I’m going to follow her until the end of the earth. I feel like she’s my tía, so anything she writes, it’s like we’re having café she’s just telling me an awesome story.

This story was short, and while I’m sad it’s over, I do think it worked well being so short. But, uh, can a gal get a sequel or something because I adore these characters. I think that even in the short amount of time we had, we had great character development and their relationship was formed organically. There wasn’t any super fast, “oh, were doing this now” kind of relationship. I laughed and fished at their small talk. Julia was such a likable character!

Overall, I loved this book. I know it’s a short story, but I want more. I need more. Thank you so much Kensington & NetGalley for the gifted copy. This one is out Oct. 27th and everyone needs this y’all.

Julia is looking to make a brand new start in Chicago. Ben is also looking to make a new start after injury has ended his baseball career. Both are looking for a connection, even if they don’t quite know it. This shirt story is quick, charming, and an easy read to give you the romance fix you are looking for!

This novella was a sweet little quick read and a great start to my holiday books for the year. The characters were well developed, even in such a small amount of time, and I found myself rooting for them! I loved the family and cultural aspects intertwined in the storyline as well.

HOLIDAY HOME RUN by Priscilla Oliveras is an adorable multicultural romance novella. Heroine Julia is is trying to escape the expectations of her loving but sometimes smothering family. Hero Ben has lost his sense of family since an injury forced him to cut his pro baseball career short. When he meets Julia, he sees in her someone who can make him feel whole again. She resists his advances, focused on getting the job that will give her the independence she craves. But what's a girl to do when a handsome pro athlete insists on sweeping her off her feet?

This quick, light read will give you a reason to smile this holiday season. Don't miss it!

I received an ARC from NetGalley, and this is my honest revew.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an eARC of this book.

I have never read a book, a Christmas/Holiday book, were I saw myself in. This book made me feel like I was in Christmas time, that my culture and the festivities in my island are important too. I love how the characters felt real and not "perfect", how the baseball was integrated to the story (since many books don't use this sport in the story). I was glad that the author decided to take it "slow" (for a short book) with the main characters and how the girl wasn't instantly, even if she "knew" him before. The inclusion of the kids was so sweet and perfect, it was refreshing to read a work oriented female that is not an office workaholic, but someone who cares about charities and others. Reading the scenes of the parrandas, bombas, bombazo, etc. made me feel right at home, again, it made me feel full of joy and that the Christmas traditions of Puerto Rico matter too and that can be a focal point in stories too.

This book was a surprise for me since I requested it without reading the synopsis, I just read something about Puerto Rico and that it was holiday plus baseball and I was interested. But what a surprise, a good surprise. A book I think every reader should pick up at some time. Is so sweet and a "cleanse to the palate" for those heavy non-inclusive reads we are used to. I would like to read another book by this author, and if it has Puarto Rico's culture in it, with those description (for example the scene were every instrument and sound is described) I would enjoy picking it up.

Holiday Home Run by Priscilla Oliveras was a fun, light hearted, and quick read! If you need a cute book to get into the holiday spirit, this would be a quick way to do that! This is a story about a young holiday romance, sports, the holidays, and Puerto Rican culture. It's sweet, well written and easy to thoroughly enjoy. For what it is, a sweet novella, it is adorable.