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alexisisreading's review
4.0
This was so cute!!! I loved the meet cute and the dynamic between the two characters.
I loved Sacha full stop. I mean:
Incompetence irritated Sacha more than the stupidest person ever could. Stupid people were stupid, they couldn’t help that. But the spectacle of a perfectly intelligent individual being monumentally moronic incensed him beyond belief.
PLEASE???? He's perfect. It's that Ivanov charm. Jonah was perfect too, I loved how thoughtful he was and how he worked hard at his job even though it wasn't necessarily the job he wanted. I thought his family dynamic was interesting too as they all seemed to be supportive and want the best for him. I also didn't realize there is an epilogue in Garrett's holiday collection that has an Alexei cameo which I am running off to read right now. But overall this was very enjoyable and I liked it a lot :)
“That I will be there, Jonah Gray, wherever you are, because I do not want to be anywhere else.”
also, alicia is right and the Jonah Gray name took some getting used to lmao iykyk.
I loved Sacha full stop. I mean:
Incompetence irritated Sacha more than the stupidest person ever could. Stupid people were stupid, they couldn’t help that. But the spectacle of a perfectly intelligent individual being monumentally moronic incensed him beyond belief.
PLEASE???? He's perfect. It's that Ivanov charm. Jonah was perfect too, I loved how thoughtful he was and how he worked hard at his job even though it wasn't necessarily the job he wanted. I thought his family dynamic was interesting too as they all seemed to be supportive and want the best for him. I also didn't realize there is an epilogue in Garrett's holiday collection that has an Alexei cameo which I am running off to read right now. But overall this was very enjoyable and I liked it a lot :)
“That I will be there, Jonah Gray, wherever you are, because I do not want to be anywhere else.”
also, alicia is right and the Jonah Gray name took some getting used to lmao iykyk.
bookish_notes's review against another edition
3.0
I hate to say it, but maybe I don’t love Garrett Leigh’s books like I used to. The Slide/Rare, Misfits, and Blue Boys books? LOVED. But lately, I’m just not finding that connection with the characters I’m used to with her books? The story and the characters seem to hit that romance beat to the point where I finished this easily enough, but I feel like it lacks the full emotional journey I would expect.
This book is relatively low angst compared to what I’m used to love from her, but some trigger warnings for this book still would have been nice. In typical Garrett Leigh fashion, the characters have unnecessary tragic, or just sad, backstories.
Trigger warnings include mentions of sexual assault experienced as a teen, mentions of sexual assault of an employee in this book, family member dying in a car accident before the story begins, and family member one of the MCs is not close to dies in this book.
This book is about two very, very rich men - both billionaires? One is a maybe millionaire?? Not entirely sure exactly but they certainly don’t have any concerns when it comes to money. This book is told from alternating third-person POVs. There’s Englishman Jonah Gray, head of his own startup ad agency (his business is in his parent’s building). And working across the hall for a tech business, is Russian Sacha Ivanov. And this book doesn’t let you forget it.
I would like to mention this is the third book I can recall that mentions a character from Russia as “the Russian”. And it’s not just the one time. But many times throughout. It’s mentioned that Sacha moved to the UK and has been living and working in the country for 11 years yet everyone only ever seems to refer to him as “the Russian”. I know the author included a dedication/mention at the beginning this went through a sensitivity read by someone who is Russian, but maybe they were too polite to say it so I will. It’s weird, borders on insensitivity, and authors need to stop doing it. The character should be more than him being Russian, you know?
The story does have fake dating in it, but it’s not really anything? If you blink, you miss it. Jonah and Sacha meet for the first time in an elevator and when it breaks down, Jonah winds up inviting Sacha as his date to his parent’s holiday party. The fake dating aspect is just for Sacha to meet Jonah’s parents and that’s over with pretty quickly? So if you’re looking for more of a fake dating trope book, I don’t think this is it.
I think Jonah and Sacha are great enough characters but we don’t really KNOW them, or see them coming together long enough, and then the book is over. They spend most of the book navigating a friends/not friends vs friends with benefits situation. The last chapter does work as an epilogue of sorts but it feels like the story gets cut short before you ever really see them together as a couple.
This book didn’t take me long to read but I definitely wanted MORE. We never did find out more about Sacha and where his family money is from. How many siblings does Jonah have?? We will never know. There were sex scenes that felt unnecessary and more like because the author felt like she had to put them in? They didn’t add much and I winded up skimming through them. The work situations and day-to-day life at work took up too much time away from us knowing the characters? It was just mostly boring to read the corporate work bits. Does Jonah’s best friend Lilly have her own book? Does Nico, Jonah’s employee and friend? Love when authors introduce characters but give me no indication they’ll get their own books.
This is an okay holiday-themed book, in that the Christmas season takes place during this book. There’s just a lot that feels like is missing from this story for me even though I liked the characters.
This book is relatively low angst compared to what I’m used to love from her, but some trigger warnings for this book still would have been nice. In typical Garrett Leigh fashion, the characters have unnecessary tragic, or just sad, backstories.
Trigger warnings include mentions of sexual assault experienced as a teen, mentions of sexual assault of an employee in this book, family member dying in a car accident before the story begins, and family member one of the MCs is not close to dies in this book.
This book is about two very, very rich men - both billionaires? One is a maybe millionaire?? Not entirely sure exactly but they certainly don’t have any concerns when it comes to money. This book is told from alternating third-person POVs. There’s Englishman Jonah Gray, head of his own startup ad agency (his business is in his parent’s building). And working across the hall for a tech business, is Russian Sacha Ivanov. And this book doesn’t let you forget it.
I would like to mention this is the third book I can recall that mentions a character from Russia as “the Russian”. And it’s not just the one time. But many times throughout. It’s mentioned that Sacha moved to the UK and has been living and working in the country for 11 years yet everyone only ever seems to refer to him as “the Russian”. I know the author included a dedication/mention at the beginning this went through a sensitivity read by someone who is Russian, but maybe they were too polite to say it so I will. It’s weird, borders on insensitivity, and authors need to stop doing it. The character should be more than him being Russian, you know?
The story does have fake dating in it, but it’s not really anything? If you blink, you miss it. Jonah and Sacha meet for the first time in an elevator and when it breaks down, Jonah winds up inviting Sacha as his date to his parent’s holiday party. The fake dating aspect is just for Sacha to meet Jonah’s parents and that’s over with pretty quickly? So if you’re looking for more of a fake dating trope book, I don’t think this is it.
I think Jonah and Sacha are great enough characters but we don’t really KNOW them, or see them coming together long enough, and then the book is over. They spend most of the book navigating a friends/not friends vs friends with benefits situation. The last chapter does work as an epilogue of sorts but it feels like the story gets cut short before you ever really see them together as a couple.
This book didn’t take me long to read but I definitely wanted MORE. We never did find out more about Sacha and where his family money is from. How many siblings does Jonah have?? We will never know. There were sex scenes that felt unnecessary and more like because the author felt like she had to put them in? They didn’t add much and I winded up skimming through them. The work situations and day-to-day life at work took up too much time away from us knowing the characters? It was just mostly boring to read the corporate work bits. Does Jonah’s best friend Lilly have her own book? Does Nico, Jonah’s employee and friend? Love when authors introduce characters but give me no indication they’ll get their own books.
This is an okay holiday-themed book, in that the Christmas season takes place during this book. There’s just a lot that feels like is missing from this story for me even though I liked the characters.
jamiesbookaddiction's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure how I feel about this one. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great.
I feel like we were missing stuff with Sacha's background. There's only one sentence at one point that makes you go wait, is that why he doesn't want a relationship? But we never get in-depth with that.
I liked Jonah and Sacha together. But I really did feel like we were missing things in the story.
I feel like we were missing stuff with Sacha's background. There's only one sentence at one point that makes you go wait, is that why he doesn't want a relationship? But we never get in-depth with that.
I liked Jonah and Sacha together. But I really did feel like we were missing things in the story.
cm02's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Death of parent
robazizo's review against another edition
3.0
3.75 stars. Not enough to be 4 stars, but too good to be 3.5. Sasha needed a serious slap on the head during the middle part, but I adored Jonah throughout. He was so obviously looking for ways to define himself in ways that didn't have to do with his money. Sasha's behaviour was explainable because of his background, but it took just a bit too long and I would have liked to see him grovel a bit more. In the end they both had a positive influence on the other's life and in spite of the hurdles and a severe case of denial, it was obvious early on that they just fit together.
thisgayreads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
3 ⭐️'ˢ
"Angels In The City" By Garrett Leigh
📕 Edition: eBook
"Angels In The City" brings Jonah and Sacha into a fake relationship that evolves beautifully. The office romance, sprinkled with doughnuts and white knights, creates a sweet atmosphere, though it didn't give me the full Christmas vibe I craved. 🍩🌃
"Angels In The City" By Garrett Leigh
📕 Edition: eBook
"Angels In The City" brings Jonah and Sacha into a fake relationship that evolves beautifully. The office romance, sprinkled with doughnuts and white knights, creates a sweet atmosphere, though it didn't give me the full Christmas vibe I craved. 🍩🌃
avalydia's review against another edition
3.0
This was fine. I liked the initial banter between the characters, but after a while, it just felt like they were talking in circles all the time, to a truly unnecessary degree (eg, "What do you want?" "From this room, or from you?" like come on now, he's obviously not asking what you want from the fucking room).
It got to the point where I was wondering if maybe Sacha was neurodivergent, but the story never went there, so I guess it was just the dialogue. And it was especially weird because there were a couple of mentions of Sacha not recognizing a word in English, or trying to figure out how to say something, yet the way he was interrogating Jonah and turning his words around on him seemed more characteristic of someone completely fluent in the language.
I also wish the story had done more to addressJonah being sexually assaulted by his parents' friend Ratner. It was kind of brushed off at the end as something Jonah had mostly gotten over, even though it was clearly bothering him throughout the entire book. I was expecting Ratner to appear again, and for Sacha to warn him off or for Jonah to finally tell his parents, but he never did and the subplot went nowhere.
That said, the dual company workspace was an interesting setup and the writing was pretty decent, so definitely not the worst romance I've read by any means.
It got to the point where I was wondering if maybe Sacha was neurodivergent, but the story never went there, so I guess it was just the dialogue. And it was especially weird because there were a couple of mentions of Sacha not recognizing a word in English, or trying to figure out how to say something, yet the way he was interrogating Jonah and turning his words around on him seemed more characteristic of someone completely fluent in the language.
I also wish the story had done more to address
That said, the dual company workspace was an interesting setup and the writing was pretty decent, so definitely not the worst romance I've read by any means.
sophiereadsstories's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Sacha was by far the most brooding, mysterious MMC I've read in a while. For quite a long time I thought he was going to be a secret assassin or spy or something, but turns out he's just that brooding. I really loved how Sacha immediately supported Jonah and agreed to be a fake boyfriend for the evening and being so perceptive to Jonah's feelings. But of course, since he's so brooding he almost misses his chance of a HEA with Jonah because he can't accept his feelings for Jonah. I loved that Jonah stood up for himself, knew is worth and refused to be stringed (strung?) along. Well done Jonah!
bfdbookblog's review
4.0
I kind of loved this book from the beginning, even though Sacha pissed me off a time or two. I was sucked in and didn’t want to put it down and let me tell you I am itching to hear this vocally performed because I think I’ll love it even more then.
Sacha broke my heart. Jonah warmed it. Sacha clearly needs Jonah to thaw his frozen heart. They both need a distraction from work and someone to give them a work-life balance. Their instant chemistry, entertaining banter, and immediate emotional pull drew me in, and didn’t let go. Thankfully the ‘relationship’ miscue didn’t last long, and they figured things out quickly.
I’d love to see them again in a future book. Does Nico have a story? If not, he’s getting one, right?
Sacha broke my heart. Jonah warmed it. Sacha clearly needs Jonah to thaw his frozen heart. They both need a distraction from work and someone to give them a work-life balance. Their instant chemistry, entertaining banter, and immediate emotional pull drew me in, and didn’t let go. Thankfully the ‘relationship’ miscue didn’t last long, and they figured things out quickly.
I’d love to see them again in a future book. Does Nico have a story? If not, he’s getting one, right?