As soon as I heard the title of Timothy Janovsky’s latest novel, I was intrigued. How could I not be with a title like You’re a Mean One, Matthew Prince? It just screams, “Pick me up and read me!” I didn’t know it was also telling me I was going to love it but that’s what happened. This might be my favourite Christmas read of the season!

Here’s the book’s description:
Bring a little joy to the world?
Not today, Santa.
Matthew Prince is young, rich, and thoroughly spoiled. So what if his parents barely remember he exists and the press is totally obsessed with him? He’s on top of the world. But one major PR misstep later, and Matthew is cut off and shipped away to spend the holidays in his grandparents’ charming small town hellscape. Population: who cares?
It’s bad enough he’s stuck in some festive winter wonderland—it’s even worse that he has to share space with Hector Martinez, an obnoxiously attractive local who’s unimpressed with anything and everything Matthew does.
Just when it looks like the holiday season is bringing nothing but heated squabbles, the charity gala loses its coordinator and Matthew steps in as a saintly act to get home early on good behavior…with Hector as his maddening plus-one. But even a Grinch can’t resist the unexpected joy of found family, and in the end, the forced proximity and infectious holiday cheer might be enough to make a lonely Prince’s heart grow three sizes this year.

Enemies to lovers romances are really tough for me but I keep giving them a try because everyone once and awhile a rom com like this comes along and I remember how excellent that trope can be. Neither character really dislikes the other, it’s the circumstances that have them all twisted up and once they move past that, well, then sparks can fly! And fly they did. *fans self*

I’m not going to be the first to compare this read to Schitt’s Creek and I likely won’t be the last, but I’ll do it anyway. If you loved that show, you’ll really enjoy this book. Matthew had so many David moments which resulted in a lot of cringing and laughing. Hector isn’t quite like Patrick but he’s a perfect match for Matthew. It’s not just the two main characters who gave off Schitt’s Creek vibes but the whole town. The name of the town has totally flown out of my head, naturally. It’s a more thriving town than Schitt’s Creek is with a successful college and there’s no motel, just a B&B that was all booked up – no room at the inn! But there’s a coffee shop with the best barista in town (and an all-around stand-up woman) and there’s a mix of wacky and loveable everywhere you look. Schitt’s Creek with a dash of Stars Hollow, perhaps.

Matthew and Hector are both quite young, so they act like you’d expect of young men – focused on the immediate needs and wants and not fully being able to see the big picture. Some may think the romance was a bit insta-lovey but I didn’t find that to bother me. It’s a Christmas rom com. What else would I have expected? It was because of their youthfulness, I think, that the third act break up played out the way it did. Personally, I was pissed at how it turned out and I was Very Angry at a certain character (neither Matthew nor Hector). I was reading a romance so I knew it would all work out in the end, but I found myself wondering how on earth things would get patched up. I was rewarded with a really lovely Happily Ever After, which pleased me greatly!

The Christmas aspect of this novel was present without being overwhelming and I had no problem with this story billing itself as a Christmas rom com. There’s a lot of festive spirit including a Christmas tree farm visit and an outdoor light festival. There was also an emphasis on the importance of family, whether that’s blood family or chosen family and that was a really nice touch too. Matthew already had a big heart, just one that he hid, but I’m sure it grew three sizes over the course of the novel. (OK, I just re-read the book's description and it makes the same Grinch reference so just pretend I made it first, alright?)

I really very much enjoyed You’re a Mean One, Matthew Prince and think others will have a lot of fun with Timothy Janovsky’s novel as well. It was full of laughs, heart, and Christmas spirit and I definitely recommend it!

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Absolutely loved this!! Some of the best anxiety rep I’ve read I cannot get enough of this authors work. Highly recommend

I LOVE the Grinch and thus I found myself paying extra attention to You’re A Mean One, Matthew Prince by Timothy Janovsky. This is a gay romance about a young man whose heart grows three sizes. Suffice to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Matthew Prince, the title character, has been raised in the lap of luxury. One day, he makes the decision to buy an island with his parents money. This pisses them off and so he is banished to stay in the small town his grandparents live in while his parents keep the island buying out of the media. While staying with his parents, it turns out that Matthew has a roommate — Hector Martinez. Hector is amazing and a college student. Matthew ends up volunteering to direct a charity gala and learning to care about something besides himself.

You’re A Mean One, Matthew Prince was quite a good read. I am glad that I listened to the audiobook of this — as it made it easier to squeeze into my busy month. Also the audiobook narration is easy to listen to. The narrator is Mark Sanderlin. The duration is 10 hours and 39 minutes, but I listened to this sped up. Also, borrowed this from Hoopla. I loved the character growth that Matthew experiences as well as the chemistry he has with Hector who is a pure soul. Loved Hector so much.

ON A SCALE OF ONE TO BUDDY THE ELF, HOW MUCH CHRISTMAS SPIRIT DOES YOU’RE A MEAN ONE, MATTHEW PRINCE HAVE?
If we think about Christmas as a time to care about others and a time to uplift your community, Timothy Janovsky’s You’re A Mean One, Matthew Prince checks the boxes. This book is sweet and touching — but there is definitely some spice too. I absolutely recommend you add this to your Christmas reading list.

Enemies to lovers that morphs into friends to lovers and it's Christmas? You really couldn't ask for more. This was a perfect. The mental health rep in this was well done and I felt myself empathizing with these characters.

Thank you #netgalley for an early read of #youreameanonematthewprince

I could not have been more excited to read this one this holiday season, and it lived up! The writing was well-paced, the story was pitch-perfect seasonal fun, and the characters so well-drawn. I was envisioning Matthew as David Rose the entire time and loved every second! This was a fun one to recommend to my fellow reader friends this holiday season. I’ll definitely keep an eye on this author’s future releases!

I wanted to like this and I might have if most of the dialogue hadn’t made me cringe. I also just really didn’t care for the narrator at all.

A sweet, fun romance about finding more than you expect in unlikely places. I thought the romance between Matthew and Hector was lovely, a very quick turnaround of the always delicious enemies-to-lovers trope. Matthew as the protagonist has a strong voice as the sole POV and you can feel the way his character grows in his language alone, the sign of good writing. It took me a little while to get invested (Matthew is pretty unlikable at the start) but by the midpoint I was hooked and pretty much read the rest in a day. The ending was wonderfully satisfying. A great read for any romance reader.

Why not a perfect star rating then? Well, “dude” — that one word says it all. I get that it was a verbal tic on Hector’s part but oh my god it must’ve been in this book four hundred times by the end of it. Unlike Matthew, I didn’t find it endearing. It drove me batty and honestly I just started skimming over it so it wouldn’t ruin the romantic story. Yes, this is a little thing to get hung up on. That’s why I absolutely still recommend it. It’s well worth it!

Note: I received a free electronic edition of this book via NetGalley in exchange for the honest review above. I would like to thank them, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to do so.

Bonded over a love of The Muppets Christmas Carol, what could go wrong in this budding relationship between a down on his luck rich party boy and a hard working, empathetic house guest as they plan the party of the year?

While I initially thought I was going to DNF it, I stuck with it and was w surprised! Matthew Prince not only had to win Hector over, he had to win the readers over with his frosty grinch-like personality, just like the grinch, after Matthew's layers were peeled back and his trauma reveled, I was rooting for him!

While this was Book2 in the Boy Meets Boy series by the author, I don't think I missed out on anything by not reading Never Been Kissed (which is on my TBR!)

this was a fun enough read - a pretty surface level holiday romcom, which isn’t typically my thing but i needed a cute holiday read this year, and i’m always willing to try LGBTQ romances. for fans of things like Red White & Royal Blue

Matthew Prince is being exiled from his New York life to spend Christmas in his grandparent's small town, Wind River. To make matters worse, he has to sleep on a bunk bed, where the top bunk is taken by his grandparent's guest, Hector. If Matthew is ever going to get back into his parent's good graces and out of Wind River, then he and Hector will have to work together to create a charity gala that will impress everyone.

I loved Matthew Prince and his completely understandable grinchy attitude. The romance was so good, and I loved that the small town didn't just immediately love Matthew. It was such a fun Christmas read.

This book was Schitts Creek, meets Red White and Royal Blue, meets A Christmas Carol and it was PERFECTION! So cute and fun! The perfect (gay!) Christmas rom com! I’m gonna need the hallmark channel to pick this one up right away!


When Mathew Prince causes viral drama by purchasing an island, his parents send him away sans credit cards to his grandparents for a humble small town Christmas. As if that isnt punishment enough, he also has to bunk with a hunky lumberjack while he’s there…

If you go into this novel without reading the blurb, you’re probably thinking one of two things:
1. Matthew Prince is mean.
2. Matthew Prince is the Grinch.

Matthew Prince isn’t really either of these things, so the title is misleading. That being said, it was a light and enjoyable redemption story with a light romance subplot underneath. I enjoyed that Matthew, while showing personal growth throughout the story, still kept his character and personality,

I thought the romance between Hector and Matthew was a little watered down. I would have liked if there was more reason for Hector’s initial animosity and some deeper moment where the two of them started to like each other in the middle. It felt a little forced and unnatural, but even so, I still kept turning the pages to see what happened next.

This was a super slow burn. It was hard to get through because Matthew was so unlikeable. It was difficult to relate to him, and I just didn’t care for him. He did have a redeeming story, but I still didn’t like him. Maybe if we got some story from Hector’s pov and see him from that perspective, maybe I would have enjoyed this more.

Overall it was a cute story, and I loved all of the side characters. Dude was said way too many times and not in a cute, endearing way.

Thank you Sourcebooks for my early copy in exchange for a honest review.

First of all, the title is spectacular. I enjoyed this! I saw someone compare Matthew Prince to David Rose and I don’t disagree! It was fun and cute and the perfect MM holiday romance we deserved

A cute gay holiday romance, what's not to love? Unfortunately the main character's spoiled rich persona was really hard to get past. He was annoying and unlikable to the point that it made it hard to get into the story.

I really enjoyed this one. I started off really disliking the main character and struggled to find a redeeming quality as we were in his head all the time. But things picked up and we got to see a different side of Matthew which I loved

Very fun and fluffy read - exactly what I wanted to read around the Holidays. While nothing is groundbreaking or overly original and the story plays out exactly like most Hallmark movies so it was very predictable, this story just left you feeling good and happy afterwards.

This was my first book by this author. While I loved the diverse cast and seeing a main character with generalized anxiety disorder, this book still fell short for me. Using “dude” as a term of endearment was a bold choice.

This book was cute. Not my favourite but it did put me in the holiday vibe. I loved the small town vibes. The romance was cute. The word dude was over used to a point where it was annoying. I recommend if you're looking for an easy read for the holiday season!



***This book was given to me for free in exchange for an honest review***

OH MY GOSH, this is a must read rom-com you will want to add to your shelves this holiday season! I am so proud to be in the time of the queer representation in Christmas books, and this added to the most adorable plot.


I’m a sucker for ANY Christmas romance, so I especially loved the scenes of Matthew and Xavier enjoying Christmas-themed activities together. I know that there has to be a third act breakup, but I do wish it was something a little deeper than a miscommunication that could have been explained away.
Overall, pretty impressed and can't wait to read more from this author!