The Mix-Up starts off promisingly enough. Marley is pretty down on her luck, a struggling actress and maid of honour to her successful, so so busy best friend. When she's asked to view a wedding venue on her BFFs behalf, she pretends she's the bride to be. And herein lies the biggest problem with the entire premise of this book. The lying gets ridiculous. There are SO many opportunities for Marley to tell the truth. Instead she keeps going on about how she can't come clean. It's such a flimsy source of conflict. Why Marley repeatedly talks about HER paying the hotel bill for drinks and tasting menu if the wedding gets cancelled, when it's Anna repeatedly guilting her into doing it on her behalf is beyond me. Anna's wedding. Anna's favour. Anna should be paying!

I initially enjoyed the interactions with Reese. However again, there were SO many opportunities for Marley to come clean. Honestly, I just gave up in the end. I didn't care enough about any of the characters to finish. DNF at 52%

*thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to give an honest review*

What a cute rom-com! I loved this was, it was cute funny and I was totally invested. I totally recommend, it was the perfect spring read!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
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What if you meet the love of your life, but he thinks you’re someone else?

Anna and Marley are best friends. So when Anna rings Marley, panicking because she has to miss a tour of an exclusive wedding venue, Marley agrees to go in her friend’s place.

After being totally ignored by the glamorous receptionist who can tell she doesn’t belong there, Marley meets handsome hotel manager Cameron. He assumes she’s Anna and instead of admitting that she’s not the blushing bride, but the unlucky-in-love single friend, Marley plays along to see what it’s like to be Anna for a day.

After all, Marley is unemployed, single and was woken up that morning by her flatmate playing the bagpipes. Anna has a high-flying career and is planning the perfect wedding. Why wouldn’t Marley want to be her?

Only she wasn’t counting on Cameron being so smart and funny. Or this spark between them that she can’t ignore. She hasn’t felt this way about a guy in forever. But he thinks she’s somebody better.

Marley needs a way out of this mix-up to get her shot at true love. But her fictional fiancé is now standing in her way and it’s harder than she thought to stop living someone else’s life…

A funny, uplifting and poignant story of friendship, love and finding your way. Fans of Mhairi McFarlane, Holly Bourne and Bridget Jones will adore Elizabeth Neep’s wit and warmth.
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I have been on a British rom-com kick this spring, which is a little odd for me because I am not much of an Anglophile. However, when this book up came up for review, I jumped on it, never having read anything else by this author (but don't worry; I have added her other books to my TBR shelf at the time of this review!).

This book had everything I was looking for. It was fun. It had a great characters. There was humor (humour?). There was a storyline that was just twisty and turny enough that I had a moment where I sat up in my seat and said, out loud, in my empty living room, "What! Is! Happening?!?!" And as I always hope for in a rom-com, there was a HEO, but not in a cheesy, let's-pull-it-all-together-because-it's-the-end-of-the-book way. You can tell that Neep put some thought into it, and it didn't work out just the way I expected it to. I loved that because I have been reading of books like these, and I do try to guess the ending. I can't wait to read more from this author!

This is a fun lighthearted read which I read in one sitting. Marley is a likeable main character and I really felt for her as she tried to achieve her dreams of becoming an actress. Her idea of becoming Anna for the day seemed a good idea at first but you could quite quickly see how this would end up. It’s a story of self discovery and learning to be kind to yourself, and I was willing Marley on to have that self belief that she was good enough.

After reading some of the other reviews, this book was a pleasant surprise for me. I love a good romcom but the friendship focus and bond in this one was even better. The characters were well developed and I loved reading their crazy scenarios. This ended up being a fun, lighthearted book!

This book is nothing like the description. I felt like the description of the book was focused around the romance of Marley and Cameron, but really the book is more about female friendship and being happy with where you are at in life. The book is good overall, but the description is very misleading. While there is a slight romance in the book it's definitely not the main focus. Which even in the last chapter the characters kind of reference.

Overall, the book is okay. It's a decent and quick read, but I don't know that I would rave about it to someone. I want to give it 2 stars, but I'll round up from like a 2.5-2.8 to 3.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this story a lot. Marley Bright is a 28 year old struggling actress who is just trying to get her life together. When an opportunity arises to escape her life a bit and pretend to be her friend for a day, she goes for it. And ends up in a whole mess of trouble.

I found the characters super endearing and relatable. I loved the friendships that were explored in this book, and I loved that they took precdence over the romance. This book felt very true to many of my female relationships, especially as well all navigate different parts of our lives. It's about growth and learning how to communicate with each other, which Marley and Anna have to do throughout this book.

I even liked the convoluted mess that Marley made for herself. All of it stemmed from a very relateable problem that felt authentic. Most of the time when stuff like this happens in books, I feel frustrated because it seems like such an easy fix, but here, Marley's characterization was written so well that her lack of communication made sense. I fully enjoyed this book.

2.5 stars

This book is a mess, I knew from the synopsis that we would have some kind of confusion and lies involved in the story but I didn’t think it would be as much, and neither it would irritate me as it did.
If it hadn't been such a quick book to read maybe I wouldn't have finished it.
The protagonist irritated me so much that I just wanted to go into the story to shake her up and tell her to stop lying and communicate with others, so much so that when that happened around 70% of the book I started to like the story much more.
I thought that from that part on, the author managed to show how our protagonist can be mature, I really liked how the situation was solved without much drama and in a mature and responsible way, and I loved the friendship that was formed in the end.
I was sad that the romance was not more prevalent, in truth I found all couples meh. Because of the end of the story, I can say that I do not regret reading this book and it was not a bad reading experience, I just expected and wanted more!

I really enjoyed The Mix-Up, Marley is down on her luck, no job and no partner while her best friend Anna is very successful. When Anna asks Marley to step in for her at a tour wedding venue, she is mistaken for Anna she plays along, what harm could it do to pretend to be her friend for the day?
This was a good book; it was fun, awkward and light read. Marley’s character came across so well, I felt the awkwardness emanate from her, her friendship with Anna even though they were best friends seemed to be a one-way type thing, Anna would pick Marley up whenever she needed her.
Even though this is described as a rom-com, I think it is much more than that, not so much romance as I’d like but a journey of self-discovery and a message of you are enough!
It is not the usual genre I would read but so glad I got to read it, it was a great book.

While Marley is feeling quite depressed by her rejection for yet another audition, her friend Anna doesn't call her to comfort her. No, she calls to ask for a favour. Anna is getting married soon, but is way too busy with her work in real estate. A spot is opening up in the wedding venue she would like to have most of all: the Hyde Hotel. But Anna has a work appointment she can't postpone and asks Marley if she can go to the hotel instead.
Figuring that she wouldn't have much else to do, Marley agrees to go. Seeing the fancy place and thinking about Anna, Marley wonders what such a perfect life would be like. So when the manager comes to show her around, Marley pretends she is Anna, the blushing bride.
One day of being Anna is great fun, but as it stretches into weeks and she's meeting all these lovely people who think that Marley is in fact the engaged Anna, everything seems to fall apart quickly. Will she be able to come clean and keep her new friends? And even more importantly, will the handsome Cameron be able to forgive her?

The Mix-Up is a lovely story about finding your way through hardship. When her life has become dreary and there doesn't seem to be any hope, Marley looks around and envies the people that seem to have the perfect life—especially Anna, with her perfect apartment, her perfect soon-to-be husband, and her perfect job. What does Marley have to show for her almost 30 years? She's sharing an apartment with the peculiar Xavier, who seems to have a new hobby every few days but doesn't appear to have a job. Marley has an agent that doesn't even know her name, calling her Mary all the time, and is seemingly unable to get her any acting jobs. So when Marley gets the chance to be Anna, she takes it. Why shouldn't she?
As the story continues, we learn why she shouldn't have. Even though she calls herself Anna, she is still acting more or less like herself. The new friends she makes, she makes being herself. But her confidence doesn't grow; in fact, it only seems to decrease with every day she thinks she has to be Anna to be liked.
But don't worry, friendship is a strong thing and that is also what The Mix-Up is about: the power of love and friendship. Yes, everyone makes mistakes, but your friends are there to help you get up again and even laugh about it later on.

Author Elizabeth Neep has written a very entertaining novel, even though it had me cringing from time to time. I winced at the naivety with which Marley blunders through life, stumbling head-on into trouble that could have been seen from miles ahead. Of course the boy is trouble, Marley! Don't let him seduce you! But then that is also a very realistic aspect of The Mix-Up. Even though the main part of taking your best friend's identity might feel unrealistic, everything that follows are things that I can imagine happening all the time. For me, that is the strongest aspect of the book.
From time to time the plot felt a bit rushed. Sometimes sentences became a little muddled, because of the constant thoughts Marley was having while having conversations. These thoughts appeared throughout the dialogue, so I had to read and reread passages to see what was being said aloud and what was solely happening in Marley's head. Yes, it made me experience Marley's anxiety, but it also felt like Neep wanted to tell everything at once, where it might have been better to have taken the time and perhaps a few extra pages to get to the bottom of Marley's thoughts and actions.

All in all, though, I enjoyed reading The Mix-Up. I definitely liked its original plot, which had me hooked right up until the end, wondering how it would all work out.

Thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture and Elizabeth Neep for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Anna and Marley are the best of friends; Anna is due to be married soon, has the perfect job, perfect life and Marley is a struggling actress whose parents are longing for her to get a 'real job' in order to live a good, happy life. As Anna can't make one of her wedding appointments, she asks Marley to stand in for her... only Marley doesn't only just stand in for Anna, she accidentally becomes Anna. As Marley's little white lie continues, it becomes harder for her to tell the truth to Anna, to the handsome hotel manager Cameron, and to the many other people she has met as Anna. But friendship can overcome anything, right?

First off, you'd expect this book to be a rom-com and whilst the element of romance is definitley there, it is not the be all and end all and I loved that about it! The plot could definitely have survived without Cameron's character but I appreciated the breif romance we did get!

I loved each part to the story; the TV pilot competition (genius!), the romance with Cameron, Xavier being Xavier and the detection of a possible affair.

I loved that Neep took us on the journey of Anna and Marley's friendship; the highs and the lows, the secrets and deception, the humour and the love, and that it played a central part in the story.

A fun, light-hearted, easy-read that includes drama, self-discovery, dreams, chaos, laughter and friendship. Cannot wait to pick up another one of her books!

I have absolutely fallen in love with Elizabeth Neep’s writing through this book! What I loved most is that this is a romance sans the smut - we really follow and get to know the characters and their relationships with one another, how these develop, and the world around them which is something I really enjoy in a contemporary.

While there are some predictable elements in this story, overall I loved the characters, the tropes it used (false identities, struggling actors, brides-to-be) and the storyline in general! One thing I felt it was missing (which is why I knocked a star) is a development of the resulting romantic relationship - i feel this was not explored enough and the book could almost be classified as a contemporary as a result...

Overall, I LOVED this! I cannot wait to read more from Elizabeth Neep in the future!

Marley is an out of work actress who’s just been rejected for yet another role when her best friend, Anna, asks for a favour. The most perfect wedding venue has contacted her for a tour, but she can’t make it - enter Marley. When she arrives, she ends up pretending to be Anna, which triggers a web of lies that keeps getting more and more tangled as time goes on.

This was a fun story! It had drama, a bit of mystery, and even some romance. I really enjoyed the growth that Marley and Anna’s friendship had to go through throughout this novel, and the message of nothing being as perfect as it looks. I also loved the shenanigans of the TV pilot contest and all the drama that came along with it.

I thought Cameron was going to be a lot more involved in the story, so I was sad when he basically disappeared for a good chunk of the middle. Honestly, this story would have worked just as well without his character, but I appreciate the romance that we got!

This is the second book I’ve read from Elizabeth Neep (the first being The Spare Bedroom) and I really enjoyed myself. It was a quick read that kept me entertained and awake past my bedtime reading. I’d definitely recommend it!

Marley is a struggling actor and is having a bad week. She agrees to go in her best friend Anna's place for the tour of the wedding venue.

After taking two steps into the hotel, she feels out of place and, the receptionist ignoring her doesn't make it better. Marley meets Cameron, the handsome manager, and when he calls her by Anna's name, she doesn't correct him. Not when one as gorgeous as Cameron is smiling back at her, she plays along to be Anna - a blushing bride rich with a perfect job and a perfect life.

What she was not expecting was to feel the sparks between them, to meet a stranger in the hotel bar and to participate in a competition with them, and to have to continue this facade. Things soon get pretty complicated and, it gets harder to untangle from the mess.

It was a fun read with drama, jealousy, teeny-weeny romance. I loved how friendship was the central part of the story, I love such books. I wasn't the biggest fan of Anna, but everything at the end falls in perfectly for everyone.

I have to admit I was nervous about this one. The initial ratings were pretty ho-hum, and I wondered why it wasn’t getting more love. Perhaps those who read more rom-coms felt it was missing some pizzazz. All I can say is: I liked it and thought it was charming.

Marley Bright is a 28-year-old struggling actress in London who has yet to make any real mark in her chosen profession. Her parents are pressuring her to get a “real” job, her long-time best friend, successful real estate agent, Anna, is relying on her to spearhead her ridiculously overpriced upcoming wedding to Jake, and she’s living with a weed-smoking, bagpipe playing roommate, Xavier, who seems one penny short of a pound on his best days. (For those of you who saw Notting Hill, he initially reminded me so much of Spike!) When Anna is tied up with business and unable to go check out her dream wedding venue at the Hotel Hyde one day, she asks Marley to go in her place. Simple enough, right?

Not so much.

The receptionist at the hotel assumes Marley is Anna, which, in an insecure moment of wanting to be seen as successful, Marley decides not to correct her on, especially after the handsome and kind single hotel manager, Cameron, takes particular care to spend time with her and show her around. He, in turn, introduces Marley to one of his employees, Reese, a hip budding writer with black and pink hair who wants “Anna” to act in a TV pilot competition she’s entering. Reese then introduces “Anna” to her friend Will, who will play her love interest in the TV pilot and may have his own interest in her, not knowing “she’s” engaged. To make matters worse, the real Anna doesn’t even know Marley is using her name, and as Marley gets further enmeshed with all these people, her ability to sustain the “Anna” lie becomes more and more difficult.

Talk about an identity crisis!

There’s so much more to the story plot, but this really is a tangled web to unwind, so I’ll let my fellow readers do that part. I thought the characters, even when they weren’t at their best, were interesting and engaging, the storyline was a lot of fun, and there was a nice overall humor to it. Being a rom-com, there was the requisite, ‘which guy will win her heart?’ aspect, and there was a fair bit of sexual tension, but it didn’t go all play-by-play on me, so I appreciated that.

All-in-all, Elizabeth Neep has written a warm-hearted, fun story that I could totally visualize on the big screen and was the perfect balance for a looooong month of moving!

★★★★

Thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture, and author Elizabeth Neep for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. It will be published on May 27th.

“What if you meet the love of your life, but he thinks you’re someone else?”

That’s what happens when Marley arrives at her best friend Anna’s potential wedding venue to tour it for her and…. pretends to be Anna for a day.

“After all, Marley is unemployed, single and was woken up that morning by her flatmate playing the bagpipes. Anna has a high-flying career and is planning the perfect wedding. Why wouldn’t Marley want to be her? But as the story evolves she realizes “it’s harder than she thought to stop living someone else’s life…”

Based on the description I definitely thought this would have been more of a romance type novel but it’s actually more a story of friendship and self discovery. It’s hilariously written, the author actually had me laughing at loud at moments and I enjoyed the story of friendship and the emphasis on being honest with yourself and your friends. I do however wish the love story was a bit more prevalent (but that’s just me - I love a love story).

Real rating 3.5*

The synopsis for this story looked like a really fun romance book, however the book was definitely more of a friendship-based story in the end. Marley is a struggling actor trying to find work and her friend Anna is planning her massive dream wedding. Marley ends up going for her for an afternoon appointment at a hotel that she really wants her wedding at, only ends up saying that she’s Anna and is now stuck with this growing lie as time goes on.

Although it was quite a fun book I did not like Anna’s character and struggled to connect with her. She was very self-absorbed, and I felt like she just used Marley whenever she wanted. Marley also frustrated me throughout, I know that the lying was to add more to the drama, but I think it went on way too long, and it was only near the end once she came clean that she grew on me a bit. I really liked Xavier's character he was super fun and quirky and just seemed like a very kind person.

I thought that the ending was pretty abrupt and would’ve liked just liked to read a bit more of Marley and the guy that she ends up with.

Overall it was a fun and easy read. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Bookouture for this e-ARC.

This story is perfect for fans of the Bridget Jones vibe. As a fan of Sophia Kinsella, I was drawn to this book because of the similar feel, and I was not disappointed. This is a charming and witty story of a woman who pretends to be her best friend, and gets caught up in it. I feel this story is perfectly paired with a cocktail and warm day reading outside. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending an e-ARC.

The description of this book made it seem like this would be a romance novel heavily focused around Cameron and Marley, when in fact, the book was nothing like what I expected. It felt like the writer was trying a little too hard to make the main character relatable at times, especially in the earlier chapters which to be honest just made her a bit irritating. Once it got into it's groove it improved, but I still found the plotlines extremely predictable and a little lackluster. If you are looking for a book about female friendships, this may be for you, but I wouldn't recommend if you were picking it up hoping for a romance heavy read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC. I’ve never read anything buy this author before and will say I was pleasantly surprised.
It’s touted as your typical “chic lit, rom com” and while it was that I believe there was a bit more depth. A few more lessons weaved into the writing. We meet Marley, a struggling actress who’s desperately trying to book work. She’s struggling to pay bills, her parents are pressuring her to get a real job and her best friend is constantly throwing wedding preparations in her face. Enter Anna, the best friend so busy wedding planning she wants Marley to go and look at a venue alone, reluctantly she agrees only instead of going for Anna, she goes as Anna. Now she’s living this lie because it’s not a one and done. She meets people, she interacts with people and she stumbles upon a potential acting gig. Watch as she struggles to tell the truth, as she comes to terms with her relationship with her best friend, and casually has feelings for a man who thinks she’s engaged and planning a wedding. A cute, light book; that definitely has depth. Juggling dreams and friendship follow Marley through her journey and see if she can come out of this chaos without to much damage.