Timothy Janovsky’s The Merriest Misters is a mash up of a marriage-in-trouble story and The Santa Clause – yes, really! – that I mostly enjoyed but which, unfortunately, fails to stick the landing. It’s well-written and the issues the couple are dealing (or not dealing) with are recognisable and realistic, but the ending is dissatisfying and I came away from the book thinking that maybe the leads should call it quits – which isn’t what I want to be thinking when I finish a romance novel.

Quinn Muller and Patrick Hargrave have been together for over five years and married for a little under one. They recently bought a house Quinn doesn’t really like, they have stressful jobs – Quinn is an elementary school teacher and Patrick is a junior architect at a big firm – and of late their jobs, the house and life in general are sucking them dry, leaving them very little time for themselves or each other. When Patrick tells Quinn he’s agreed to host Christmas for his family, it’s just another straw on the camel’s back for Quinn, but good spouses don’t make unnecessary drama, so he bites back his annoyance and says they’ll work it out.

Things quickly go from bad to worse when Patrick is fired the next day. Feeling like he’s failing at being a good husband and not wanting to add to the stress Quinn is already feeling over the Christmas preparations, Patrick decides not to tell him straight away – but he inadvertently lets the cat out of the bag during an argument. Angry and miserable, Quinn goes to bed in the spare room that night, but is rudely awakened by Patrick, who is brandishing a frying pan and saying he thinks he’s killed someone. Quinn accompanies Patrick downstairs to the kitchen where there’s a man dressed in red lying on the floor, out cold. When he eventually comes round, the man – who really does look like Santa Claus – gets up and yells “I quit!” before storming out of the house, leaving his suit behind. Before they can think too much about what just happened, an elf appears – at least, Quinn thinks he’s an elf – who explains there’s no time to lose. It’s Christmas Eve and unless Patrick and Quinn are willing to put on the enchanted cloak and finish delivering all the gifts, Christmas won’t happen. It’s a no-brainer, for Patrick at least. Quinn decides to go along for the (sleigh) ride.

After an exhilarating night delivering gifts, Quinn and Patrick are asked if they’ll consider staying on until the next Christmas, at least. They have until New Year to decide and while Patrick is keener on the idea than Quinn, Quinn lets himself be persuaded. Maybe a change of scene is what they need to repair their marriage and fall in love again.

The story is told in the present – a series of vignettes of Quinn and Patrick’s lives as Santa and the Merriest Mister – and some short flashback chapters that show Patrick and Quinn’s relationship at various stages, from their first meeting through to their wedding and house hunting. From the start, it’s clear that Patrick is trying desperately to make up for not training to be a lawyer like his parents wanted, and having absorbed his father’s very traditional ideas that a husband should be a stoic provider means he views his role as protector rather than equal partner. We see how he and Quinn kind of rushed things after they’d become a couple – mostly because Patrick was trying to conform to his father’s idea of ‘the right’ way to do things (meet someone, get married, buy a house) – and that Quinn’s background (his parents divorced when he was young and he’s determined to never let that happen to him) has a lot to do with why he’s allowed Patrick to bulldoze him into certain decisions, such as buying a house he really doesn’t like, and even moving in together and getting married before he was really ready for either of those things.

The author does a great job creating an atmosphere of warmth and love and contentment in the North Pole scenes, and of explaining the lore and how everything works. Things start well, and Patrick takes to being Santa like a duck to water; he’s completely re-energised and discovers a new drive and sense of purpose, and Quinn hopes he’ll be able to find a job that fulfils him in the same way when they return to to real world. Having time and space to properly think about what he wants has made Quinn realise that teaching isn’t the right fit for him; he still wants to work with children and young people but in a different capacity, and he’s looking forward to finding the right opportunity. But as the days pass and with their year coming to a close, Quinn realises that their relationship is essentially much as it was when they took the gig. Patrick is still making decisions without consulting him and Quinn is still letting him – and when Patrick says he wants to stay, but Quinn doesn’t, there’s only one thing to do if they’re to save Christmas a second time.

I suppose the underlying message is that it’s important to take time for yourself and to spend time finding out who you are and what makes you happy – and that no matter how much you love someone (and I really do believe Patrick and Quinn love each other) if you’re not able to be yourself and communicate effectively with your partner, then things are unlikely to go well. I liked watching Quinn growing into himself and doing what made him happy, and I loved the scene where Patrick takes steps to mend his relationship with his brother, but the ending just didn’t work for me. I get that an HEA looks different for different people and that what works for one couple won’t necessarily work for another, but in the context of a romance novel, the solution Quinn and Patrick arrive at doesn’t feel much like an HEA to me. For one thing, there’s still too much left unresolved between them, and for another, Patrick once again doesn’t involve Quinn in the decision making process. And third

Also – they just disappear for a year and ghost all their family and friends. Why does nobody report them as missing?

I know it must seem as though I didn’t like the book, but that isn’t the case. The marriage-in-trouble aspect of the story is really well done, the problems Patrick and Quinn are experiencing are very relatable, and I absolutely felt their frustration and their unhappiness in the early part of the book. The choice they have to make in order to save Christmas really tugs at the heartstrings, and the letters they write each other while they’re apart are sweet. But Patrick doesn’t appear to undergo any real personal growth and in the end, I just wasn’t convinced these two people, regardless of their love for each other, were meant to be together.

The Merriest Misters might be worth a read if you’re looking for a different take on a Christmas staple and don’t mind the lack of real resolution to the relationship problems. But if you want something a bit cosier for the festive season, this probably isn’t it.