This book was clearly riffing on The Santa Clause but in a way that was so incredibly tender and heartfelt. Quinn and Patrick have been married for several rocky months, and they pass each other like ships in the night — between repairs for their money-pit of a starter home and late hours at work, they hardly see each other. Then Patrick brains Santa Claus with a frying pan and has to become the new Santa, and the two are whisked off to the North Pole where they discover all kinds of truths about themselves — how to embrace their passions and interests, and how to let go of the things in their old lives that no longer serve them. There was plenty of Christmasy hot cocoa drinking and snowball fights and North Pole goodness to make this a solid Christmas romance, but the best part of the whole book was the self-discovery the two Merriest Misters do as they figure out how to bring joy and love to all aspects of their life.

Full disclosure: I am an absolute fan of Timothy Janovsky, and I am wary of marriage in trouble romances. I was tense (in a good way) while reading this book. Patrick and Quinn fell into their current lives by following the respectable expectations of college, jobs, marriage and home. We immediately see the cracks in the picture perfect image they present to the world and to each other. Which makes it absolutely brilliant that they get swept into a literal picture perfect world of the North Pole as Patrick takes on the role of Santa Claus for a year. I was so worried that Patrick and Quiin would fall into the role of Santa Claus and the Merriest Misters with the same inertia as they did into there previous life. And they did, kind of, for a bit. But where this story really shines is how Patrick and Quinn come into their own and the ways in which they allow these new versions of themselves to merge into the latest version of their relationship. The ending was absolutely perfect for the couple.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Timothy Janovsky for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own. 💖

I absolutely love Timothy Janovsky, and this one did not disappoint! I have to be honest, I was a little concerned with a storyline similar to The Santa Claus. That's a Christmas classic, and I wasn't sure how a queer retelling would go. But yall. This was hands down my favorite holiday read!

I loved both Patrick and Quinn so much, and was rooting for them from the start! Yes, there was use of the miscommunication trope, and yes we are given a third act breakup. That should tell you you just how much I loved this one! Even with both I still enjoyed every page! We got a front row seat to the slow unraveling of their marriage, and because of the dual POV, we're able to see both partners perspective on the same events. This was one of the best parts for me. Like an actual marriage, both parties were feeling entirely different things. Both were hurting. And no one would sit down and talk! 🤣

The backdrop of The North Pole and Santa's workshop was just the best! I loved seeing them settle into their new lives, and come together in the times they needed to especially. Patrick and Quinn never fell out of love, they just stopped communicating.

I loved every bit of the book and can not WAIT for his next holiday novel! 😍

This was such a sweet holiday romance that didn’t feel wrong to read outside of the holidays. Quinn and Patrick’s relationship felt so sweet and realistic. The miscommunication trope was troping hard in this book at times though. If they had just talked to each other and voiced their concerns instead of pushing them off, they could have made some better decisions before their problems started sabotaging the magic of the North Pole. I definitely recommend this book to people who love romance novels with a bit of magic added in.

3.5*
A cute holiday romance I will admit I don’t care for the miscommunication trope though which ended up bringing the rating down for me as it was a pretty big issue in this.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for this Advanced Readers Copy of The Merriest Misters by Timothy Janovsky!

I absolutely LOVED this book. This was such a cute holiday read. I absolutely adored the characters & the dual POV. Mark and Zach's characters both warmed my heart. I need more holiday reads like this. Look forward to more by this author.

I loved this book so much 🥺 am i surprised? Not at all lol I have loved every Timothy Janovsky book I’ve read and this being a queer retelling of The Santa Clause had me sold from that description alone! I loved both Patrick & Quinn and it was so easy to root for them even when they just needed to communicate and they would be able to solve 75% of their problems! I have more to say about this one eventually but I’ll just leave it at I loved it for now

In The Merriest Misters, Timothy Janovsky delivers a festive twist on a classic holiday tale, blending the magic of Christmas with a heartfelt exploration of love and commitment. Patrick Hargrave and Quinn Muller, married for less than a year, find their relationship strained under the weight of daily life and financial stress. On Christmas Eve, an unexpected incident involving a certain jolly intruder propels them into an adventure that requires them to don the iconic red suit and take on the role of Santa Claus.

As Patrick and Quinn navigate the challenges of delivering presents and managing the North Pole's operations, they are forced to confront the issues that have been driving them apart. The journey is filled with humorous mishaps, endearing elves, and a sleighful of holiday spirit. Through this magical experience, the couple learns valuable lessons about communication, trust, and the true meaning of partnership.

I'm giving The Merriest Misters a jolly 3.5 out of 5 stars. The love story is engaging, and the character development is commendable as we witness Patrick and Quinn's growth both individually and as a couple. However, the ending felt somewhat unsatisfactory, leaving certain plot threads unresolved and a desire for a more conclusive resolution. Despite this, the novel offers a unique and heartwarming holiday read that combines romance with a dash of Christmas magic.

This book was in turns fun and heartbreaking, but ultimately full of love.

The story is told from alternative POV between Patrick and Quinn. They are both dealing with a lot, but they are hesitant to share it with each other. It definitely highlights the need for communication within a marriage.

I feel like I connected most with Quinn and his experiences of trying to be what everyone else wants, while hiding his own needs, or pushing them aside. He loves Patrick, but doesn’t feel like he’s enough.

Patrick also struggles with feeling like enough. He thinks that his family is disappointed in him and that he is failing Quinn and a disappointment as a husband. His feelings of inadequacy create a self-fulfilling prophecy for him, the worse he feels, the less he does right.

There is so much humor mixed in throughout the story, starting with Patrick’s first interaction with Santa and continuing through Patrick’s parents learning where he has been for the year.

I loved the world of the North Pole that Janovsky created. The elves and Priors were a lot of fun. Patrick really comes into his own and Quinn learns what he really needs while they are there. But their relationship is challenged by it all.

I like the way that the story is ended. Things aren’t perfect, but they are exactly as it should be.

Disclaimer: I received an eARC for review consideration through Net Galley on behalf of the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What a fun Christmas book!

I’m a huge fan of The Santa Clause franchise. So, the idea of a reimagining of that premise was right up my alley. I adored this story. It had me grinning so much.

I really enjoy books about couples who are going through a rough patch and are contemplating breaking up, only to discover their love for each other all over again. This book definitely tackled that topic but, it tackled so much more while still keeping a lightness about it.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for providing me with a digital ARC of this novel!

I'm a big fan of holiday rom-coms and I loved The Santa Clause as a kid, so I was extremely excited to read this book once I saw its premise. The story follows Patrick and Quinn, two husbands who are feeling their romance start to dwindle as they deal with stress from their jobs and their new fixer-upper house. On Christmas Eve, Patrick hits an intruder in their home - only to realize it's Santa Clause! Santa angrily quits his job on the spot, and it's up to Patrick to pick up the sleigh reigns and save Christmas. Patrick and Quinn end up making a year-long commitment to live at the fantastical North Pole and prepare for the following year's Christmas, with Patrick continuing on as Santa and Quinn becoming the Merriest Mister (formerly the role of Mrs. Clause), along with the help of the elves who live there. Will this time in a new, magical place be enough to rekindle their relationship?

This is a sweet story! I had a hard time getting into it initially, but once they arrive at the North Pole, it really picks up. I loved the magical atmosphere, fun side characters, and unique take on the plot from The Santa Clause. The story tackles a lot of complex themes, but it still manages to keep a fairly lighthearted tone. Timothy Janovsky excels at balancing the complicated issues his characters are going through with the whimsical Santa Clause plot line. I enjoyed it.

I found the characters in this book to be realistic and fairly likeable. I really liked Quinn; he is easy to root for as he discovers himself and learns to prioritize his own needs. While I didn't always love Patrick's choices, I also found him to be an interesting character. He feels very human, as he makes mistakes, tries to learn from them, and then still continues to struggle, even when he has good intentions. Both main characters show growth throughout the story. There are some great side characters, too, but I wish that some of them had more page time. Patrick and Quinn are the only fully developed characters (which makes sense, given that it's a romance book), and the side characters tend to only be around for a chapter or two at a time.

I thought the writing was good overall. Sometimes it did too much telling and not enough showing, but otherwise, I thought it was easy to read and flowed well. The author created such a cozy atmosphere at the North Pole - I loved those chapters. I don't always like when novels include a bunch of flashback chapters, but here, the flashbacks were great. They gave me just enough context to better understand Patrick and Quinn's relationship, but they also didn't slow down the story.

I have a few minor critiques I want to mention, but they didn't lessen my enjoyment of the story very much.

First, the pacing could have been slightly improved. The first quarter of the book is a little slow, and the last quarter wraps things up a tad too quickly. I liked the ending, but I wished the epilogue had gone on longer and we got to see how things went for the characters further into the future. I also found a few plot holes, but it's hard to take them too seriously when the book's premise is so silly to begin with, so I won't spend time going into those. Lastly, and this one might be a personal preference, but I would have liked the Christmas plot to be a little heavier, especially in the final third of the novel. It's certainly present throughout the beginning and middle of the book, but at the end, the magic and holiday wonder kind of fades into the background. If the ending had been expanded, it would have been nice to get a few more warm and fuzzy Christmas moments. I think people who are picking this up solely for a fun Christmas read could be disappointed by how much of the plot revolves around the main couple's relationship and their individual issues.

I had a good time reading this, though! The Merriest Misters is one of the better holiday romances I have read, and I love all of the diversity it features. This was my first time reading one of Timothy Janovsky's books, but I'll definitely be checking out his other works in the future, because this was delightful.

3.75 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.

I struggled with this book for so long. It took me three weeks to get to 54% when I finally decided to just give up and read the last couple chapters because I could not connect with either of these characters. They had terrible communication and every time Patrick did something without consulting with Quinn first (or he would just LIE, which is even worse) I wanted to scream.

Thank you to St. Martins for the eARC in exchange for a review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book.

I feel sad giving this one just two stars, but it disappointed me. This is a book that I had such high hopes for because I love Christmas and The Santa Clause has always been one of my must-watch movies during the holidays, so I loved the premise of one of the characters unexpectedly taking over the Santa Claus role, but unfortunately, I just did not love it.

I didn't love with either Patrick or Quinn as characters and by the end of the book, I found myself almost wishing that they'd end up getting divorced because they were so mismatched (and not in a fun "opposites attract" kind of way) and it was just so clear that they got married way too quickly and probably would've broken up by now if they hadn't been married. The end felt less like a happily ever after and more like a "fine, we'll just do these things to stay together" to me.

Some of the more Christmas-y elements in the North Pole were fun, though! I loved the idea of all the retired Santas and their wives living in the North Pole and guiding the new Santa.

Such a wonderfully fun Christmas story! I loved that the romance was between an already established couple. I also loved that it was a retelling of The Santa Clause, a hugely nostalgic film for me. A very humorous story with a lot of heart.

I don’t know about you all but it’s cold and snowing where I am, so I’m still reading holiday books!

THE MERRIEST MISTERS is a hilarious Santa Clause story about a gay couple who aren’t quite happy in their marriage and in their careers, and they get a year to figure it out when one of them unexpectedly takes the reins (literally) and becomes Santa Claus. I really enjoyed the shenanigans (elves, reindeer) and the story. Would recommend! Thanks to the publisher for the copy via NetGalley!

This is a super cute queer holiday romance. I love the take on The Santa Clause movie because I loved that movie when I was a kid. I love that it was given a queer twist. It's the perfect book to read during the holidays.

4 stars- I loved this LGBTQ+ "The Santa Clause -inspired marriage in trouble romance. I think it hit it out of the park right away- the first 30% of the story flew by. I feel the pacing slowed down a lottttt towards the middle and had a tough time staying with the story, but think I loved both Quinn and Patrick's arcs throughout the story. Both of their growth stories occurred in tandem with each other and showed how people in relationships can continue to grow, and the paths don't have to divert from each other but can run concurrently.

I’m pretty sure this is the first romance I’ve read featuring an already-married couple, and it still had my heart skipping! It didn’t follow a lot of classic holiday tropes, which was refreshing after all the other ones I’ve been reading this month 🎄

The Merriest Misters is a reimagining of The Santa Clause, featuring Patrick and Quinn, whose marriage could use a little magic!

I really loved both characters as I watched them work through personal, professional, and relational issues. The backdrop of Christmas was everything you need for the holiday season.

I’ll be honest: I was sold on this book when I heard it described as “a queer The Santa Clause.” Take one of my favorite Christmas movies and make it less heteronormative? And then tweak the world-building and magic system so that the only real connection to The Santa Clause is the concept of the main characters discovering, through an accident, that “Santa” identity/mantle is passed down (sometimes in a planned way, sometimes not-so-planned)? I’m definitely in.

This is the first Timothy Janovsky book I’ve read (although You’re a Mean One, Matthew Prince has been sitting on my shelf since last Christmas…. Sorry, previously purchased book!), and it won’t be the last because I mostly had a blast reading this. The main characters, Patrick and Quinn, are lovable and relatable (if, near the start, a bit infuriating). Through flashbacks we see how they met, how their romance developed, how they got married and rushed into buying a home (because heteronormative expectations of wedded life…), and how they perceived their families’ reactions to all of it. This is important because, as I mentioned … they’re a bit infuriating at the start. I am not usually a fan of books where everything that happens hinges on a total lack of communication between people who should be communicating. There were several times early on where I stopped reading to shout “Oh, for Kringle’s sake, JUST TALK TO HIM!” But just as I was hitting my limit, the characters did start to talk it out – haltingly, yes, but just enough to keep me invested. And I’m glad I stuck with it, because the second half of the book was even more worth sticking around for. I laughed a lot, and I got teary-eyed as well. And may have cheered once or twice. (Without spoilers, let me hit you with this phrase: Non-Binary Young Elf Poet.)

The world-building is also fun, including looks into the elf society and the existence of a Council of Priors whose guidance isn’t always perfect but at least is heartfelt (including changing the title of Mrs. Claus to the titular Merriest Mister). I would welcome a repeat visit with Patrick, Quinn, their human families and friends, and their new extended family at the North Pole.