The Mix-Up

 

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.