A Mannequin for Christmas
A Novel
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
A Christmas romance for Barbie fans who wished Ken and Allan got their own love story.
Henry Aster swears he is unlucky when it comes to love. He thought he’d finally found The One, but a sudden break-up has left him hopeless right before the holiday season.
Facing another family Christmas alone, Henry makes a wish for “The Perfect Man.” The next morning, when he arrives at the Jersey Shore vintage shop he manages, he finds one of the male display mannequins has sprung to life and entirely wrecked the place.
The magicked man is gorgeous, of course, but he comes with a Cinderella-style caveat: If he doesn’t experience true, human love before the midnight chime on New Year’s Eve, he will turn back into a mannequin for good.
Now Henry doesn’t have to show up to family Christmas alone. The catch? This new man—self-named Aidan Smith—knows nothing about being a human. Henry has one month to teach Aidan how to be a functioning person in the modern world and the swoony boyfriend that will win over his family. It’s an arduous task that draws them close together... but can human love ever really be true?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This sweet and unapologetically silly Christmas contemporary from Janovsky (The Merriest Misters) finds newly single 28-year-old artist Henry Aster making a go of running his great-aunt Isla's vintage shop in Ocean Glen, N.J. Dreading the thought of spending the holidays with his judgmental family solo, he makes a wish for "the perfect man"—and the next morning finds that his favorite mannequin at the shop has come to life. The mechanics of this are hand-waved away; the mannequin, who names himself Aidan, discovers a note in his pocket that reads, "Congratulations! Because of a wish, you are now human. You have until the midnight chime on New Year's Eve to experience true human love or else you will turn back into a mannequin for good." What follows is part madcap romp as Aidan learns to be human (with guidance from films on the "Christmas Movie Channel") and looks for love with Henry's occasionally inept help, and part introspective tale of personal growth as, over some painful holiday encounters with family, Henry reflects on love, loss, and difficult decisions. The two halves don't totally mesh, and the chapters from Aidan's perspective are much more fun than those narrated by Henry. Still, readers seeking lighthearted, magic-infused fare will find this hits the spot.
