I cannot get over the fact how swoony this book was. I'm completely, irrevocably smitten with this book.
Hate-to-love + small town festives + Schitts Creek vibes? Nothing could be more perfect than this.

Told solely from Matthew's pov, it was amazing to not only see the depth of his feelings but also the vulnerability Hector possessed as well. Their dynamics was A+ from beginning.
I loved how they were bickering & having sassy comebacks while also completely being obsessed with each other..... *dreamy sigh*

Matthew's character development felt so natural & I loved to see that side of him. The 3rd act breakup wrecked me but I LOVED the grand gesture so much!! Can't wait everyone else to read & fall in love with this book.

<i>Thank you Netgalley & Publisher for the arc in exchange of an honest review.<i>

4 stars for this adorable and honest queer Christmas rom-com!

This book tells the story of rich and spoiled Matthew Prince, who is sent to his grandparents cabin to avoid a media scandal. Here he has to share a room with Hector Martinez, who he teams up with to throw a charity gala to get them both a ticket home.
I loved the setting and the characters in this book, you really grow to love Matthew the more you read, just like he gets to know himself better and learns to love himself. Hector—despite his overuse of the word dude—is a lovely flannel wearing, wood chopping bisexual English major that you just have to love. The personal and romantic developments in this book felt so natural and even the conflict had a lot of reasoning behind it. I also really liked how this book deals with mental health (anxiety in particular).

Read this book if you like:
- A small town with a queer, open and accepting community
- Honest and good portrayal of general anxiety disorder (the anxiety brain has a name here)
- Home not necessarily being a place but a person
- Dancing to Christmas songs, sparkling lights and grand gestures
- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (and the Muppets movie version)
- And they were roommates!!
- Cornelia Street by Taylor Swift

Loved it! I will read anything Timothy writes!
You're a Mean One, Matthew Prince is the perfect holiday rom-com to kick off the season!

You’re a Mean one Matthew Prince by Timothy Janovsky was a fun Chrismtas rom-com with your Privileged rich kid, a hardworking kind guy and a small town with an event to run to help the local businesses. This queer romance falls under my “Hallmark after dark” label. Sweet, and lighthearted with some really great mental health representation and self growth.

In this book you get spoiled, immature, overly opinionated main character, Matthew, who makes a crazy expensive impulse buy and ends up in the small town of Wind River with his Grandparents to be off the grid. Welcome in our kind, hardworking student, Hector, who is the exact opposite. Their lives literally collide in Matthews grandparents basement bunkbeds. And the story grows from there.

This book was full of so much growth and holiday cheer. I really hope that we are able to learn more about some of the secondary characters, especially Noelle. This was a fun holiday read. Make sure it is on your radar.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions

LGBTQ
When Matthew Prince makes a financial
Faux pas he gets sent to his grandparents in a small town called Wind River.
Upon getting there he discovers he has an annoying room mate. Just when everything seems lost Matthew is asked to step in as an event coordinator, the catch is his roommate is his party planner partner...

Firstly this book covers some pretty heavy topics like anxiety, but does so in such a sensitive way.

I loved the character growth, how Matthew started out selfish, self centered, image obsessed but grew into himself while simultaneously rediscovering his awe-filled childhood self.

The side characters were pretty amazing too and very gracious and all round the amazing people Matthew needed in his life.

Hector perfectly balanced Matthew and guided him through some tough moments in such a caring and sensitive way.

All in all an enjoyable book with lovely characters (although they don't all start out that way). I loved the event planning aspects and the way Matthew talks himself through panic attacks, it's very reassuring but also relatable.

Thank you to netgalley and sourcebooks for the arc copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

Read this if you:
Love forced proximity
Love enemies to lovers
Are looking for a LGBTQ Christmas story
Are looking for a light spicy book.
Love Small town settings
Christmas reads.

4.5 - “Following expectations doesn’t make you a better person. Being the person someone says you should be doesn’t always make you happy.”

Matthew Prince is a young, rich socialite who has just made a huge PR mistake. As punishment, his less-than-present parents send him away from New York City and up to his grandparents in Wind River, Massachusetts. It’s a festive, winter wonderland and Matthew can’t see how things can get worse. Then he needs to share his room with Hector Martinez, a very attractive local college student who’s also living with his grandparents. What ensues is a beautiful story of acceptance, self-love, and self-discovery,

This book is so funny on the surface, but it tackles some heavy subjects really beautifully, I just loved the writing and the characters so much, and it was a joy to read.

Matthew is truly a delight, even when he comes off as a spoiled brat. He is so young and doesn’t really know better because of the lavish lifestyle he’s been afforded by his parents. The small town of Wind River is the last place he wants to be. When he finds out he has to share a room with Hector, he doesn’t see how his stay ca get better.

Hector is a wonderfully written character. He’s complex and full-fleshed out and serves as Matthew’s polar opposite. Away from his family in Texas, he’s a little resigned at the beginning, but he proves to be a sweet juxtaposition to Matthew. Their relationship is endearing and sweet, and they have tension from the get-go, so I was anxious to see their relationship develop.

The character growth is outstanding, and I always find I love stories that have this. Matthew truly comes into his own, realizing what, and who, is important. Matthew has a complicate relationship with his parents and even through I just complained about unsupportive parents, it was just done so well here. We get a lot of information on how it has affected Matthew and it was lovely to see him talk control of that throughout the book. It felt realistic and added emotional depth to the story.

I can’t recommend this enough for Christmas TBRs!

Actual rating: 2.5 stars.

I had high hopes for this book but I ultimately found it to be a predictable and not too well-written holiday rom-com. I literally fell asleep once while reading it... In the first half of the book, Matthew Prince is basically just a copy of David Rose from Schitt's Creek but without any of the charm Dan Levy brings to that role. He definitely gets more bearable later on and even has moments of actual likeability but most of this book, Matthew included, just largely didn't work for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm going to be 100% honest and tell you I did not like this book *cue tears*. I could not connect to the main character Matthew at all. I found him to just be annoying tbh. The premise of the book is SO amazing but the execution of the plot was just not it unfortunately.

However, please do not let this deter you from reading this book, I know for a fact a lot of people will love this one.

Matthew Prince—party planner, jet setter, and socialite—irritated the hell out of me when he first arrived in the small town of Wind River with his spoiled attitude of superiority.* But try as I did to stay mad at him, the boy grew on me with each page. It was easy to hope that the handsome, hardworking, and kind Hector would bring out the best in Matthew and renew his sense of romance and holiday joy. And if that’s all this was, it’d still make for a decent Hallmark romcom with a twist. But of course there’s more. Beneath the superficial layers of money, class, and sexual energy lies an emotionally scarred human struggling with generalized anxiety after years of loneliness and neglect and a boy who sees that person and wants to love them. I enjoyed it immensely.

*There are definitely some David Rose of Schitt’s Creek vibes with Matthew’s predicament and initial attitude, and I didn’t love him or the show at first either, so take that as you will.

Big thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read this in exchange for my honest review.

4/5

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Ever read those characters where you just want to punch in the face at first and tell them to stop being a spoiled little bitchy brat? Because that’s how Matthew Prince first comes across and it takes just a little bit of time getting used to him and for his character to become a little bit more likable. I loved how this book focused on so many different aspects such as mental health and rediscovering yourself after going through some hardships. To start with, it is soo important to me that mental health was focused on so much in this book. I feel like there just isn’t enough focus on MH in general and it can definitely help people understand that what they are experience is normal and it’s okay to have a diagnosis. I think it also shows how much Matthew grows with his diagnosis and finding the right person to understand what you are experiencing with anxiety can help you go far.

I think the author does such a great job at delving into family history and showing the reader how your experiences growing up can affect who you are in the present but doesn’t necessarily have to determine who you are in the future. Overall, I loved this book and I think it is a perfect book for the upcoming holiday season.
*
This review will be posted to my Instagram blog (read_betweenthecovers) in the near future!

If you love some Hallmark-family-Christmas-cliche-moments, this one is definitely for you.

Personal Ratings : 3.5🌟

There is a lot more to this book than meets the eye, and while I don't hate it, but I don't particularly like it either. Its kind of a shame because, the setting and the story and the angst is already quite cute and everything sounds promising, but I think what didn't work out for me was the writing style.

Short Summary
Mathhew Prince has it all. A successful family, a famous author as a mother and basically living his life. When a small misjudgment on his part has led him to an exile to his maternal grandmother's hometown for Christmas, Matthew was horrified. It got worst when he came to his grandparents home to be greeted by Hector, the guy who would be sharing a room and a bunk bed with him. Setting of on the wrong foot with Hector, but somewhat both of them knows that there are more things than meets the eye. Its the story of family, love, reconnection and above all, loving yourself.

Personal Thoughts
Firstly,I would like to applaud the author for having an array of Representations in this book. There is a rep for General Anxiety Disorder specially, which I have a soft spot on. I always appreciate a good mental health rep in romance, and this is a first for GAD for me which makes it refreshing to read. Matthew is a character that I came to love and I personally liked how the author brings about the characterization and Matthew's growth at the end. The family relationships and drama, and taking the holidays as a part of celebration in a sense that brings nostalgia makes the book like watching a cliche Christmas movie but it makes you feel warm and good so there's that.

I think my major problem with the book is the Writing. There are certain parts, where everything felt.....so... draggy. There are so many unnecessary fillers that I felt that can be finessed better. The writing is a bit rough on the edge, and I would actually be okay if its a debut novel. Nevertheless, its not the biggest problem for the book, but it did disrupt my reading pace for a bit cause I feel like skimping over some lines due to how long and repetitive some parts can be.

Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the book. There are many parts that the author can improved on but I do applaud for his vision and intentions in the book.

Biggest thank you to Source Casablanca and Netgalley for the e-ARC of the book!

I really loved this book! The focus on mental health was fantastic and I truly enjoyed the character development over the course of the novel. It was adorably festive, steamy, and sweet!

Matthew has just about everything and is grateful for none of it. He reminded me of a mix between Perez and Paris Hilton and honestly he’d probably love that description.

Hector is everything that Matthew is not so of course they’re going to hate each other. But as so often is the case love and hate are very close together so is it really hate or could it be love?

I just really enjoyed this story and I think anyone who enjoys enemies to lovers or who thinks the grinch needed to have his heart grow 3 sizes should read this story ASAP.

This is a story about rediscovering yourself.  Matthew Prince is the spoiled only child of two well known and wealthy parents.  His parents are both more focused on their careers than on Matthew who, since an incident when he was a teenager, has been the subject of media fascination.  When spiraling because of a recent break-up, Matthew does one thing that catches his parents' attention -- he buys an island.  In an effort to keep this mistake out of the public eye, they ship Matthew off to spend the holidays in the small town where his mother grew up and his grandparents still live.  Some may find the town charming but not Matthew, who is used to the clubs, restaurants, and hustle and bustle of New York.

To make matters even worse, it turns out that his grandparents have a student from the local college living with them and he and Matthew have to share a bedroom.  Hector Martinez is everything that Matthew is not -- a hard worker and dedicated student, low key, and more comfortable chopping wood than at a party.  At first, Matthew and Hector are like oil and water.  But then the annual charity gala loses its coordinator, and Matthew agrees to take over in an effort to show he has changed and get back home earlier.  He and Hector are forced to team up to plan the event. As the two spend more time together, Matthew realizes that he may have misjudged Hector, and himself -- and that a little small town holiday cheer, complete with a new romance, may be just what he needs.

I absolutely loved this book!  Matthew is the lovable Grinch we all need -- hurt in ways even he does not fully grasp by his parents and his former relationship and trying to deal with his own anxiety, he has become hardened against genuine connection and simultaneously haughty and doubting his own worth.  Over the course of the story, the author does an amazing job charting Matthew’s growth in a way that is heart-warming and feels authentic.  I so appreciated how in the midst of this very charming story, the book handles with depth and nuance issues around mental health, identity, wealth, and privilege.  And the build up and then exploration of the relationship between Matthew and Hector is pitch perfect.  This is the ideal, modern queer holiday story that will make the holiday season sparkle even brighter this year.

Very highly recommended!

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebook Casablanca for this advanced copy.

At first, I thought this book is perfect for Christmas romcom, but I was wrong. I found myself really hated the main character here, AKA The "Prince" AKA Matthew Prince AKA Big baby who spoiled by his parents' money.

I understood that this book was a typical Hollywood movie when rich ass white people went to middle of nowhere to get the "Character development", but sure, as a jerk main character, the author should put a limitation of how jerk he was. Matthew Prince was overly selfish and full of drama. And his character development was freakin' slow !!! Until at some point I hated him so much even before he got his "character development". Sorry, but I didn't care anymore about his relationship with his parents' or his mental issue. It took me to long to feel sorry for him.

Also, I HATE Hector from the bottom of my heart. I didn't understand why Matthew Prince thought saying "dude* in the middle of making out was sexy... I Mean that was cringe!!! He sure had no taste in guy.

And the writing style... I had no idea where was the beautiful quote I should choose to put it on Instagram... There was no beautiful writing at all.

Overall, I didn't enjoy this one and definitely not for me.

I am the person who hates Christmas till December, but I liked the blurb and thought I'd give this a read. I absolutely loved this book. I can see me reading it at Christmas every year.

The characters were so good Matthew reminded me alot of David from Schitt's Creek which is one of my favourite TV shows. I loved Hector so much I do agree the best version of A Christmas Carol is definitely the Muppets version.

5 stars overall I can't wait to read more from this author.

3.75 STARS
I had trouble with the beginning of the book feeling overly cheesy, but half way through I learned to love it for what it was. It’s a cute Schitts Creek type of book, with forced proximity and set during Christmas. As long as you don’t have an aversion to reading the word “dude” 1 million times, then it’s a really sweet Christmas season rom com.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

You’re A Mean One, Matthew Prince is an LGBTQ+ very quick, very light-hearted read that will be perfect for the holidays.

It follows spoiled Matthew Prince to his grandparents house in Berkshires for the holidays after he irresponsibly spends too much of his family’s money. There he meets Hector, a local student staying with his family because he can’t afford to pay room and board at the local university. Add in some winter Christmas coziness and a lot of forced proximity, and you’ve got yourself a romance.

I was looking forward for this one because I love the story of the Grinch, and it seemed like it would add a fun Christmas layer to the grumpy x sunshine trope I was expecting. I wouldn’t exactly classify Matthew and Hector as a grumpy x sunshine, more enemies to friends to lovers for the most part. I enjoyed their story and the anxiety rep.

It gives very David Rose from Schitt’s Creek season 1, pre-Patrick vibes if you enjoyed that character arc.

Tropes/Additional Info:

-forced proximity (sharing the bunk bed absolutely sent me)
-snowy cozy vibes
-early 20s main characters
-open door love
-generalized anxiety disorder rep

This was so stinking cute! I was wanting a queer holiday romance that made me feel warm and cozy like a mig of hot chocolate and thats exactly what this was.
This book was the perfect enemies to lovers holiday story. Actually no this book gives off David and Patrick vibes so hard so if you ever wanted to read a holiday romance featuring those arcatypes this is definitely for you.

I'm gonna nope. Grumpy characters are fine. Whiny, entitled brats, less so. I may have loved this when I was younger, but I just don't have the patience for another Schitt's Creek whiny man, Matthew Prince doesn't have the humor to counter his behavior. I get his parents suck, but he could be nicer to his grandparents.
Also whenever there's a "social media dependent" storyline, it's just really, again? We know
The anxiety rep was great.