I'm a huge fan holiday/Christmas books. I can read them all year long and not get tired of them. Especially love have fun and predictable they can be. Unfortunately, this book was not for me.

Katie is a waitress at a diner, who Juan (a regular) has asked her to be his fake girlfriend for the holidays. Unfortunately, soon afterwards falls into a coma and she keeps up the act for his family.

Mateo, is Juan brothers, after meeting Katie, even though she is "taken" has started to fall her..

Both this characters fell flat for me and didnt feel a connection to either. I honestly preferred the side characters more.

1.75 stars

A cute retelling of While You Were Sleeping! The setup was quite good with two MCs who were genuinely nice. I really liked Mateo's family and how hilarious they were at times. But, the part that fell flat for me was the romance. There was hardly any chemistry between Mateo and Katie and I don't even understand why they fell for each other. I wanted to like this a lot more than I actually did.

This is a good book. The two main characters are Katie and Mateo. Katie is a waitress at a diner. She has had a customer come by for 3 months. The customer, Juan, is Mateo’s brother. He ask Katie to be his pretend girlfriend for Christmas Day. She says she will but as Juan is leaving he gets hit by a van. He had been texting his family about Katie being his date for Christmas. At the hospital when he was brought in his family saw Katie. They loved her being Juan’s boyfriend. But once she saw Mateo and he saw Katie all bets were off. They fell in love.

While You Were Sleeping is my favorite romcom, so the moment I read the summary for this book, I knew I had to read it! And I'm happy I did. I would definitely recommend trying this novel!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

I love a good holiday themed book - particularly when it is a loose retelling of a movie I enjoy. The Holiday Mix-Up by Ginny Baird echoes While You Were Sleeping very loosely. It follows Katie who works as a waitress and has no family. She is asked by Juan to be his fake date at his family's Christmas to get his aunt off his back.

However, Katie has had a crush on Juan for a very long time. Anyways, prior to the event, Juan is hit by a truck and goes into a coma. Katie saves him from dying and goes to see him at the hospital. While there, his family assumes the two are engaged, even though they barely knew each other and had only planned the fake date.

So, much like the movie, in The Holiday Mix-Up everyone just falls for Katie and in turn she falls for the family. She also ends up getting pretty close to Juan's brother, Mateo. As it turns out, the two are quite similar in their values and what they want out of life. Slowly, Katie and Mateo fall for each other. However, they can't act on it because Mateo truly believes Katie is Juan's fiancé.

Overall, Ginny Baird's The Holiday Mix-Up was a cute story. I ended up rewatching While You Were Sleeping because I liked the plotline of this story. It is very chaste - there's absolutely no spice and barely even any kissing. So, your mileage may vary if that is something you look for. Katie and Mateo are good and nice people but not especially memorable.

On a Scale Of One To Buddy The Elf, How Much Christmas Spirit Does The Holiday Mix-Up Have?

I would say that The Holiday Mix-Up has an uplifting amount of Christmas spirit. There is volunteering. Cookies are baked. Family gathering occurs. Oh, and we even get to go to a Christmas tree farm. I liked that this story was thoughtful in different aspects of celebration. It is a book that ultimately does uplift and there is no villain. I just liked how low stakes and low stress it was.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

This one was alright. A nice mindless read but since finishing it I haven’t thought about it again. I would recommend if you need some fluff but it wouldn’t be the first one that would come to mind

I didn't love or hate The Holiday Mix-Up. It was a cute little Christmas novel. I liked how Katie meshed with Mateo and the family, but I feel like we let Juan off the hook really easily for all he'd done. It was cute! I don't like closed door/no spice romance novels, but it was a sweet book with fun tropes.

My only wish would be more spice, more flow, more accountability for Juan, and for Mateo and Katie to get together sooner!

This was a cute enough story. It wasn't particularly christmassy and could probably be read year round. The "other brother" trope is not my favorite but this was written in a way that it wasn't too bothersome. I did find some of the reactions over the time for the truth that had been revealed, but over all a nice little palate cleanser.

I recently had the pleasure of immersing myself in the delightful world created by Ginny Baird in her novel, "The Holiday Mix-Up," and I extend my sincere gratitude to NetGalley for granting me access to an advance reader copy (ARC) of this charming book. Baird's storytelling prowess shines through in this heartwarming tale of mistaken identity, unexpected romance, and the magic of the holiday season.

"The Holiday Mix-Up" follows the endearing journey of its protagonists with a perfect blend of humor, warmth, and festive cheer. Baird's characters are wonderfully portrayed, each with their own quirks and vulnerabilities that add depth to the story. As the plot unfolds, we are swept away into a whirlwind of Christmas magic and romantic misadventures that kept me eagerly turning the pages.

Baird's writing is engaging and immersive, effortlessly capturing the spirit of the holidays and the joy of falling in love. With its enchanting storyline and lovable characters, "The Holiday Mix-Up" is a delightful read that leaves you with a smile on your face and a warmth in your heart. I highly recommend this novel to anyone looking for a heartwarming escape into a world filled with love, laughter, and holiday cheer. Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with the opportunity to experience this enchanting story before its official release.

Think While You Were Sleeping with a Latino family who owns a winery. Katie, who works as a waitress at a diner, agrees to pretend to date her long time crush, Juan for Christmas so he won't get set up again this year. Immediately after Katie agrees, Juan gets into an accident and remains in a coma in the days leading up to Christmas. Not wanting to break her promise to Juan, Katie continues with the charade that she is Juan's girlfriend. Meanwhile, Juan's family welcomes Katie with open arms and she keeps finding herself in the middle of family gatherings to keep up appearances. Katie wasn’t expecting Mateo, Juan’s younger brother, to have her questioning her feelings about which Martinez brother she really wants.

I really wanted to love this book, but it fell a little short. It was very instalove and borrowed a little too heavily from previous works. It is a cute and clean romance for Christmas, just not a book for me.

This one was a little far fetched, but also delightful!
Katie and Mateo were adorable and the chemistry between them was immediate. I think the best part for me was the relationships between the family. The temptation for Katie at first was the immediate connection to Mateo and Juan's family, something she was missing. I can totally related to that. I also loved the holiday aspect of it.

Very cute.

A fun romantic comedy of a fake dating mix up. I loved the Christmas theme and the fun antics of the main character. Great easy read. Thank you to NetGalley, Ginny Baird and Casablanca Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the eARC! This was such a cute retelling/tribute to While You Were Sleeping! I absolutely loved it, what a heartwarming, perfect holiday read! I highly recommend this!

The Holiday Mix-Up by Ginny Baird is a contemporary romance. 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. Second son Mateo Martinez loves his brother, but Juan's plan to "rebrand and expand" Los Cielos Cellars has cost their family too much and put its entire tradition in jeopardy. Katie seems to understand, but she's still committed to Juan…even when Mateo starts to wish her gentle heart and beautiful smile were committed to him instead. 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?

The Holiday Mix-Up is a solid read, with a set up that had me intrigued. I thought the set up, and the character ideas and backstories had some great aspects to them. I loved the Martinez family. I liked the interplay between generations, the combination of caring, humor, and irritation between them was realistic and engaging to read. Katie's sweetness did not generally make her a sucker, she stood up for herself when needed, and chose to be kind and do good where she could. I thought the connection between Mateo and Katie felt organic and grew nicely. I like that all characters were a little imperfect, human. Even when I sincerely wanted to kick a character, I ended up feeling a little bad for them as well. Although I still want to kick them a little. I will admit that it did feel a little to sweet and neat for my personal tastes. However, I think the romance here will appeal to many readers and hopefully will turn into a series, or have a follow up to answer any remaining questions about the winery and Juan's future romantic endeavors.

Such a cute, heartwarming holiday romance! I loved the characters and couldn't put the book down! This had a cozy, hallmark feel to it. I love fake dating stories, and this one was so cute! A waitress, Katie Smith, is asked by a diner customer, Juan Martinez, to be his fake girlfriend during his family's holiday festivities. YES!!! Imagine her surprise when it was at a winery! Not going to lie, made me want to have a glass and read by the fireplace! Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

FAKE DATING FOR THE FAMILY IS MY FAAAVE IN A HOLIDAY ROMANCE!

Mateo and Katie were seriously adorable and if you like While You Were Sleeping with Sandra Bullock you will absolutely love this movie. I've been trying to incorporate more romances with BIPOC characters and the Martinez family won me over. Definitely include this in your holiday reads because it is worth every second!

This book is about. Katie Smith, who faces spending the holidays alone after losing her last family member. Regular diner patron Juan presents her with an unexpected opportunity to spend Christmas with his family by posing as his fake date. Despite initial hesitation, Katie agrees, hoping their charade could lead to something more. However, a dramatic turn of events occurs when Katie saves Juan from an oncoming van but ends up injured herself. With Juan in a coma and his family believing they were dating, Katie is torn between her feelings for Juan's brother Matteo and her promise to Juan. As she navigates her deceptive act, Katie grapples with her growing feelings and moral dilemma. Set against the backdrop of a close-knit Latin family's holiday celebration, this heartwarming tale explores love, loyalty, and the complexities of relationships.

This book was adorable and the perfect holiday read. I don't believe I had read other books by Ginny Baird but this certainly will not be my last book of hers to read. I loved it. If you love Christmastime and Romance, I don't see why you wouldn't love this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my review!

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This was a fantastic holiday romance. I liked the plot and the characters were a lot of fun. Very much recommend this book.