Book Review: "You Had Me at Happy Hour"
Timothy Janovsky does it again with a fun and sexy romance that doesn't shy away from darker themes.
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Warning: Spoilers for the book follow.
As you may have noticed over the past few months, I’ve become quite a fan of Timothy Janovsky, one of the most successful prolific writers of gay romance. You Had Me at Happy Hour is one of three books that he’s released this year–the other two were the Christmas-themed The Merriest Misters and The Fake Dating Game–and this one makes for a nice complement to the other two.
At the heart of the story are Julien and Greg, the former an aspiring sommelier working at his aunt and uncle’s restaurant in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the latter a TikTok mixologist down on his luck who moves to town from New York City in an effort to get his life back together. At first it seems like they’re going to be oil and water but, in fine romantic comedy tradition, they soon find that each has something to offer the other. They all bring their own unique baggage to the relationship, of course, but their issues end up giving each of them the tools they need to navigate the fraught waters of romance.
Julien is, I think, it’s safe to say, a bit of a brat at times. Though some of this is obviously due to both his OCD and his trauma–more on those in a bit–the truth is that he really does want everything his own way and isn’t particularly adept at seeing things from other people’s point of view. Rather than making him unlikeable or unreadable, however, I see this is a major part of what makes him such a compelling hero. I read queer romances for their imperfect heroes, and Julien definitely fits the bill in that regard. After all, part of the pleasure of romance is watching people grow and change as they realize that romance and love can change them for the better.
Greg is, on the whole, a bit of a lighter character than Julien, even if his burdens are quite obvious, if only to himself. He’s gone from having a successful career in New York City to being weighed down by an enormous amount of credit card debt (a situation that any millennial can identify with). From the moment he meets Julien it’s clear that he’s more than a little smitten with him, for all that the other man gives him something of the cold shoulder. Even though I found myself identifying with Julien more–I too struggle with OCD–it was Greg that I enjoyed getting to spend the most time with, as he seems to make himself more available both Julien and to the reader.
Janovsky deserves a lot of credit for being willing to address mental health in the context of romance, and this book takes this to new lengths. As already mentioned, Julien has OCD, which makes it difficult for him to forge lasting connections with others (not least because he has all sorts of hang-ups regarding cleanliness and physical intimacy). Coupled with the trauma of his upbringing–both of his parents were alcoholics who found it impossible to really raise a child–this makes him a bit of a tough nut to crack for Greg, and for himself. Greg, likewise, suffers from generalized anxiety, as well as a bit of ED from both his own hang-ups and his medication.
As a result of all of this, much of the romantic tension stems from the characters learning how to work and live with their mental health issues rather than trying to cure them. This is difficult territory for anyone, and it’s made even more prickly by the fact that both Julien and Greg are at the stage in their lives when they’re still building careers and trying to figure out how to create stable futures. Janovsky, fortunately, is able to keep the various narrative and personality tensions balanced, so that we can cheer these characters on with full hearts.
You Had Me at Happy Hour shows that it’s often immensely rewarding to open yourself up–emotionally, mentally, physically, sexually–even (especially) when doing so carries a lot of risk with it. So many people try to wall themselves off from the world outside, hoping that by doing so they can control whether or not they get hurt. The truth, though, is that this can only ever be a temporary solution. The further one isolates, and the more one tries to pull away from love, the more lonely and despairing one becomes. This is a hard lesson for Julien in particular, but it’s ultimately one that he learns.
One of the other things I appreciate about Janovsky is his willingness to dial up the sexiness level in his romantic comedies (I detest the term “spice,” which I think is a means of disavowing sex, but that’s another newsletter). In this case, he goes all-in, giving us no small amount of kink, with dildos, sex toys, and everything else given their own time to shine in the spotlight. Even here, though, mental health casts its shadow, since Julien has a very specific set of standards that have to be met in order for him to be able to be intimate with another and Greg suffers from ED as a result of both his medication and the burden of expectations. Still, the two manage to make it work, and it’s wonderful to see.
Lastly, it’s worth noting that this book also makes it clear that chosen family has always been and will probably always be a key part of many queer people’s lives. Neither Greg nor Julien has ever had much to do with their parents, the former because they’ve simply been emotionally unavailable and the latter because his parents were addicts who lost custody of him. As someone who has been and remains close to my own parents, I found these stories heartbreaking, but there is at least some comfort to be had from the fact that Julien’s aunt and uncle give them both the love and support they need and deserve.
Suffice it to say that I really did love this book. Janovsky has really mastered the rom-com formula, and he excels at giving us protagonists that are simultaneously endearing and irritating. What more could you ask for in a queer rom-com?