i loved every single thing about this book, seriously. the POV from Aidan was so well done, and the relationship between the MMCs was *beautiful.* it was cozy but still really emotional, it was like a really good lifetime movie🥹🥹 i will be rereading this around christmas time and have already recommended it to my friends!

very fun and light romantasy with some good vibes and very cute romance. felt vaguely like some of those frankenstein romances but a lot lighter. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

ARC REVIEW:

I got this from NetGalley, so thank you to them and to Timothy Janosky!

This is my second ARC from the Author and I was super excited to get my hands on it!

Henry, a antique store owner with an art background, suffering in the love department after catching is Cam cheating on him, and then witnesses his cousin, Alexa, get engaged to one of his high school bullies at Thanksgiving (USA). In a moment of weakness, he makes a wish to have the perfect man for him. Unknown to him, his wish does come true. HIs favourite and cute mannequin in his store comes to life. The caveat, the mannequin (Aidan) has until New Years' Eve to experience true love.

Henry, feeling sorry for himself and not trusting that Aidan, is extremly skeptical at Aidan and his love; while Aidan is navigating life and all of it's experiences for the first time.

Both men stumble through the four (4) weeks that they have, both happy and sad, and deal with everything that comes along the way as they both realise that life and the world isn't as bad as it seems when you have love with you.

I was hesitant to pick this up after seeing the title. I love Timothy Janovsky, but I didn’t enjoy the magical element to his last Christmas novel. However, I LOVED this one! It was like “Life Size,” meets “The Little Mermaid,” but gay. I was here for it!

Henry and Aiden’s banter made me giggle throughout the entire book. Aiden’s innocence as a human was charming and quirky. The premise was slightly cheesy (fall in love or you’ll turn back into a mannequin forever!), but Timothy’s writing style and character development made up for it.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I always look forward to Timothy’s new releases and this one didn’t disappoint!

Janovsky delivers pure festive gay joy—like if T.J. Klune rewrote a Hallmark movie after three spiked eggnogs. It’s weird, warm, and totally wonderful. I laughed, I swooned, I questioned my feelings for department store displays. Verdict: Five out of five peppermint kisses. Santa’s gay now. Pass it on.

I thought this was such a unique twist on a Christmas novel. I absolutely loved Aidan and Henry's characters. The witty humor throughout was great. It was well written and made it so easy to finish in one sitting. The mannequin coming to life reminded me of an older Disney movie called Life Size. I wonder if the author got the idea from there. I loved the way the author gave us the happily ever after ending. This one had some emotional parts in it but it didn't take away from the romcom aspect. i really enjoyed this one.

(Rounded down from 4.25 stars)

If I were rating A Mannequin for Christmas purely on the silliness of its premise (affectionate), it would hands down be 5 stars. After experiencing yet another heartbreak, Henry Aster wishes for "the perfect man", so naturally the mannequin in the window of his vintage shop comes to life with the deadline of experiencing real, human love by midnight New Years Day or he'll return to his mannequin form. Henry now has to teach this mannequin to be human, and hopefully save his vintage store in the process.

As someone who deeply loves all sorts of made for TV Christmas movies (including the 2011 movie where a mannequin comes to life as someone's "perfect man") and the ridiculous plot lines around finding love and saving a beloved local business, A Mannequin for Christmas absolutely scratched that itch. Timothy Janovsky wrote a book so full of heart, joy, and magic, with characters who are just trying to figure out how to live well and find love for themselves and with another person. I found myself laughing at Aiden's "list of things that can kill you" and just waiting for the moment when Henry's credit cards would be declined after Aiden's online shopping spree. I have loved everything else Janovsky has written and I am so glad this one can be added to the ranks.

This made me LOL!!! I don't think I've ever watched the movie Life Size, but I know what the general storyline of it is and after reading this book I want to go and finally watch it. Aidan is absolutely a sweetheart. He has such a raw earnestness and excitement for life (granted that is mainly because it is his first time experiencing it) which is exactly what Henry needs since he's reached a point of jaded exhaustion. I loved Henry's relationship with Isla and it felt really realistic the struggles he went through as coming to terms with her declining health.

Thank you St. Martins Press and NetGalley for an ARC of A Mannequin for Christmas!

It’s rare for a book to grab me before it even starts but Timothy got me right away with the dedication and had me locked in with the first few lines. When I saw the concept for this story, I was so excited. It’s familiar but hasn’t been done a ton, plus Timothy just has a way with taking generic ideas and blowing them up into something incredible so I was very excited to see his take. The story overall was good, with some truly hilarious parts that made me laugh out loud. I liked the dynamic between the MMCs and I always love an added element of magic to a story. Where the story started to lose me was how often Aidan’s ignorance was referenced. It really wore on me after a while. But where the story really lost me was towards the end. There were some decisions that were made that I just didn’t care for and didn’t felt like added to the story. So overall, not my favorite of his, but still a solid, cute romance!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press| St. Martin’s Griffin and author Timothy Janovsky for providing me with the eARC of “A Mannequin for Christmas”, in exchange for my honest review!
Publication Date: September 30th, 2025
Reviewed on Goodreads: July 1st, 2025

I ate this book up!

- MM Romance
- Christmas Theme
- High-stakes romance
- Sort of a Cinderella type story

Henry Aster is a shop owner, an artist, and the victim of a recent devastating breakup with the man he’d indented to purpose to.
Surrounded by love and engagement during the holiday season, he wishes for the universe to give him the perfect man.
He soon learns that sometimes the universe works in mysterious ways.

A mannequin from his shop comes to life, and he might just be the perfect man for Henry. The problem is he has to experience human love by midnight on new years eve- or else he will turn back into a mannequin forever.
Can Henry teach him to be human, and fall in love in only four weeks time?

This story was SO good. It was romantic, wholesome, funny AND emotional.
It honestly had it all.

I adored all of the scenes of Aidan trying to learn how to be human.
From trying different foods, to learning what money is, and discovering how people don’t always mean things literally. It was adorable.
(I especially loved the scene of him trying and failing at negotiation)

The romance in this was cute!!
Henry and Aidan are a perfect couple, and nobody could change my mind. They kept me giggling through the entire book.
Aidan’s Christmas gift to henry? Henry taking Aidan on his first real date? I loved it.
Near the end of the book, I was so worried about them, I swear my eyes got watery.

I also love the Christmas theme here. It was fun and cozy and made me yearn for Christmas in July. This will be a fun re-read during the holiday season!

Overall, really awesome story, and It is going on my favorites list!
I loved!

Thank you St Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this eARC, these opinions are my own. A lovely holiday rom com! Henry is unlucky in love and after a recent break up he dreads going home for the holidays and facing is family on Christmas alone. So he makes a wish for the perfect man, sometimes wishes come true right? That’s the case here anyway when Henry discovers that one of mannequin’s where he works has come to life. The mannequin, self named Aidan must find before midnight on New Year’s Eve in order to stay human. But Aidan doesn’t know much about being human so Henry can teach him, plus it means he can attend his families holidays with a boyfriend. As the two draw closer could Aidan be the one Henry has been searching for all along? A cute quick romantic read that will have you feeling all of the holiday warmth and happiness!! Plus it was filled with the witty humor that I have come to expect from a Timothy Janovsky novel! A feel good rom com with will have you feeling all the warm and fuzzies and put you in the mood for the holiday season!

Thank you NetGalley for this arc!!

This book evoked every single emotion from me. I spent the whole time laughing, crying, kicking my feet with excitement. My favourite book of 2025!!

Ever wonder what would happen if you wished for the perfect man to come into your life, only to have the store mannequin at the vintage shop come to life? Well, that’s the premise of Janovsky’s new Christmas novel.

I enjoyed Aidan the most, where his naivety and aloofness was comical throughout the entire story. He can only know so much since he spent his entire life as a mannequin. Henry was a good character too, the grumpy to Aidan’s golden retriever and sunshine attitude, but Aidan really steals the show here.

The reason for my not perfect rating, however, is the ending. I can see why the author went in the direction he did, and yes they end up together (it is a holiday romance and all), but Aidan and Henry could have stayed together while Aidan went off to discover himself and ultimately become an actor for Christmas movies. Sure, you could say Aidan and Henry needed to know for certain that they were meant for each other, but Aidan only exists because of Henry, so I felt that plot point seemed irrelevant.

A magical holiday romance that will both make you smile and rip your heart out? Sign me up. With a minimally similar premise to the movie Mannequin, I was drawn to the story. Henry and a Aidan had quite a bit to navigate with the wish coming true. It was a little tough to grasp what Aidan was aware of and what he wasn't. Henry's insecurities and anxiety did their best to drive Aidan away. Great Aunt Isla is the MVP of this story. As much as this story is magical, it's realistic too. The last few chapters will just wreck you

This was a fun holiday novel.

Aiden reminded me of the male lead in Hot Frosty in his childlike he was but it worked over the novel.

While I was glad they got the Happy Ever After I didn’t love the twists in the ending and it made the ending feel forced.

It’s still worth a read during the holidays.

Thanks to NetGallery and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

It was okay! Cute idea, quick read, decent characters, but I just wasn’t absolutely crazy about it. Would still recommend it to anyone who wants an easy read with the vibes of Life Size!

Well this was fun, and had a whole lot of heart. I was obsessed with the movie Mannequin when I was a kid so I was definitely all in on this premise. Henry had such a tender soul, and his relationship with his great aunt really tugged on my heartstrings. Aidan was beyond sweet - I loved how earnest he was. And I really enjoyed watching their romance develop. There were a couple things about the third act that didn't completely work for me but overall I thought the ending was pretty satisfying. This is a perfectly delightful read for the holidays (although I enjoyed it just as much in the summer).

It has been a while since I have been actively rooting against a couple in a romance book, but Henry and Aidan broke that streak. I absolutely hated the last 25% of this book. My main complaint prior to the last quarter of this assault on romance was that a former mannequin whose primary socialization was watching cheesy Christmas movies wasn't given any freedom to experience life on his own. My secondary complaint was that Henry, who was too down on himself to be a good partner to anyone, was dragging Aidan around like a doll. So, the third act breakup was totally necessary in my opinion, but the way things were handled after that? No. No, thank you. Nope.

This book would have been infinitely better if we'd dropped the pretense that it was supposed to be a romance and end in a certain way. I would have absolutely loved to see Henry's misery continue to the last page instead of THAT ending. An open ending a la Annie Bot would have even been fine, but the way things devolved after the train station—that needed a better conclusion. Sometimes a book doesn't really want to be a romance.

I loved Isla and most of Aidan's POV. Henry and the conclusion are where it lost me.

Very cute holiday romcom. A few wishes and a little bit of magic bring Henry his dream man. He only has to figure out how to trust in love to keep the magic alive.

This book would be a great, light read for the holiday season to help get into the spirit of Christmas.

This book is a very witty and interesting story! I really enjoyed the character building. Timothy Janovsky always manages to write such heartwarming stories.