Review: "The Merriest Misters" by Timothy Janovsky

The Merriest Misters by Timothy Janovsky
Published October 2024 via St. Martin's Griffin
★★★

It's the merriest time of year...but for Patrick and Quinn, the cracks are showing. They've been married less than a year, and they're barely communicating anymore. Instead they're keeping secrets, spending time in separate rooms, and...knocking out Santa downstairs?

And so we learn that when one Santa quits, retires, or dies, another Santa must take his place...and with a sudden time crunch for a decision to be made, it's up to Patrick to try—and Quinn to reinvent Mrs. Claus as the Merriest Mister. When they agree to a trial year in the North Pole, it seems that all of their problems have been solved...for now.

Generally speaking, this makes for a cute, high-concept romp. I can't say that I've ever actually dreamed of moving to the North Pole and taking over Santa's workshop, but it's sort of fun to imagine, isn't it? There must be hot chocolate year-round. I did end up wishing that more of the details of that concept had been workshopped, though. We learn early on that it's the love of Santa and Mrs. Claus (or, in this case, the Merriest Mister) that powers the North Pole—and thus Christmas—so Patrick and Quinn quietly push aside their (very valid!) relationship concerns to go on something of a belated honeymoon in the North Pole. And so everything is grand...until, relatively late in the book, they have an argument (Patrick is not great at involving Quinn in giant, life-changing decisions), and the very fabric of Christmas is threatened. And, okay: I read too many memoirs about toxic iterations of religion. I am viewing this from a lens through which it's not supposed to be viewed. But I can't help but think that this is a version of Christmas powered not so much by love as by Mrs. Claus/the Merriest Mister 'keeping sweet', as it were, and making sure Santa stays happy.

I would love to know so much more about this world: What were the experiences of the previous Santas and Mrs. Clauses we meet, and why did they choose to stay? What or who did they leave behind? What do their lives in North-Pole retirement look like? We meet them briefly but never get to know them in any kind of detail. What does it mean in practice that the real-world life of a Santa is "taken care of" while he's working? (Because...as far as I can tell, all it means for Patrick and Quinn is that the bank doesn't repossess their house while they're away; the confusion and upset with which their loved ones greet them when they call—the North Pole has great reception, it seems—suggests that it's not actually as simple as their lives being expertly put on hold.) Is it an effect of the North Pole that Patrick casually forgets his commitments back home, or is that just Patrick? (I initially thought it was the former, but then we see that they're able to contact people at home whenever they want, so I'm less convinced that it's a Christmas-magic thing.) What are the lives of the elves like, and who are they when they're not bowing and scraping and making sure the Claus couple's needs are met? Could a Claus couple bring a kid to, or have a kid in, the North Pole, if they were so inclined? What happens if you're stuck in the North Pole as Santa, not allowed to leave, and something happens to a loved one in the real world? How much does Santa actually do, and how much is he a figurehead? Is Santa expected to visit every household that celebrates Christmas, or just some of them—and if the latter, how is that determined? What about traditions that celebrate Christmas in January? If Christmas were cancelled, what would that actually look like? Just no gifts from Santa, or would trees magically disappear from people's houses and stockings fall from fireplaces?

I think this can be chalked up to one that is very fun in concept but requires a fair amount of suspension of disbelief, which is unfortunately not my forte. Recommended for those who overthink less than I do.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.