A review by dith_kusu
Angels in the City by Garrett Leigh

3.0

3.5 stars. This had the squeal-inducing Christmas magic premise, and Jonah and Sacha had great chemistry and I liked the concept of their two characters, the lovely meet cute with the redhead cheery British posh boy and the silent hot grouchy Russian expat in London over the holiday season. But as the story went on, while this was a breezier read, I felt that the scant character sketches of the couple either warranted a shorter novella-length story... Or if author wanted a longer book, they should've given more of the two's backstory beyond the hints and glimpses touched upon, only to then quickly move past to get to the inevitable declarations of love that felt inorganically sped up and not heartfelt. Sacha has a sad family past that's made him into this commitment phobic guy who sabotages their burgeoning relationship by saying they're not friends, he just wants the sex, then comes back and it's quickly resolved in time for the Christmas gathering with Jonah's extensive loving family who we also barely get mentions of. I also felt that the story could've used more infusion of the holiday spirit, lacking the full force of that cheery or wistful atmosphere that could've boosted it up overall for me, though the mention of Sacha's yolka was nice. This author does do pretty good quicker M/M romance reads though, has a huge back catalog and churns quick output, and I appreciate the casual but distinctive UK setting of their works, and that the characters range from lower middle class backgrounds like my last read of hers, to the casually posh rich people depicted here. I have so many books I want to read before the end of the year but due to my particularly bad mood flareup over however this long time, I won't be making a dent in that pile within the remaining week left in 2020 (what is time!?). Hope to squeeze in at least one or two reads by next week though, hopefully.