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Hometown Christmas

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About this listen

Can Yani and Gavin go from friends to lovers this Christmas?

Yani Nicolaou is sworn off love for good. After fleeing a bad break-up in London, the only blood, sweat, and tears he has left are for his gyro stall at the Christmas market. Rebound fling? No thanks. He’s sticking to one-night-stands.

Ex-army vet Gavin Richie has even less capacity for romance. Managing a homeless shelter while recovering from injury keeps him far too busy. So what if he’s often alone? He’s content being single, or so he thinks until a chance meeting lights a spark he can’t ignore.

Yani is the warmth and affection Gavin hadn’t known he was missing. As Christmas lights up the city, their lives entwine in more ways than one. Falling for each other is easy. Holding on is harder, unless a hometown Christmas proves their love can last longer than the festive season.

Hometown Christmas is a standalone MM Christmas novella.

©2019 Garrett Leigh (P)2020 Garrett Leigh Romance Winter Christmas
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This had every element I was looking for on my holiday read list with out being too over the top and eye roll. They were both closed off from the world but managed to connect somehow and their love bloomed from there. The story line was unique and the chemistry was evident. Great listen

Everything a Christmas story should be

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The two men both have their own issues, Yanni has OCD and has left a bad relationship behind and Gavin is ex forces and has PTSD, as well as being medically discharged after breaking his neck. They might have never met if not for Yanni's best friend persuading him to volunteer some time cooking at the homeless shelter.
Dan Called did a great job doing the different accents and was a joy to listen to. Really enjoyed the story and it was easy to immerse myself into it.

On the market for Love

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I read Hometown Christmas when it came out as an ebook a year ago and I loved it. Some of the comments I made at that time don’t exactly apply to the audiobook but I still think they’re pertinent. I love books that challenge me in different ways. Hometown Christmas is one of those books. It has a lot of new-to-me British terms/slang and I loved it. I will admit, though, that I'm very happy I first read it on a device that makes it super easy to look stuff up while I'm reading. While I got the gist of most words as they were used in context during the story, I love being able to really know what a particular term means.

It's kind of funny, I didn't really think of this so much as a Christmas story. Christmas is there but not until near the end of the book and that was fine with me. The story is more about two men, kind of broken in different ways, coming together and creating a relationship that worked for them.

Gavin is former military, discharged due to a serious injury, and he can't talk about a lot of his life. Yani is a cook who has his own stall in a market where he sells Greek food. He has OCD and has to fight to keep it from controlling him.

Both Gavin and Yani are a bit gun shy when it comes to relationships. They first get together as a one-off then become friends. Because of his last failed relationship, it takes Yani a bit of time to accept the fact that what he and Gavin have is more than just a fling. Gavin's infinite patience, and understanding of Yani's OCD, pays off and Yani finally accepts that he's in love with Gavin.

Dan Calley did another great job with his performance of this story and I know I’ll be listening to more books that he performs.

A complimentary copy of this audiobook was provided to me but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author and/or narrator.

Wonderfully British; a beautiful story.

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I’m not a huge Christmas fan but a really good holiday romance has been known to put me in the mood. This was one of those books. Probably because Yani has sworn off love. He’s got a stall at the local market where he sells Greek food and he’s popular. He’s got friends and acquaintances and has no need for anyone else. Then he meets Gavin. Gavin who is even less looking for love. He’s recently out of the military with a whole bunch of problems and has taken a job at a homeless shelter. Helping the less fortunate. But when they are short a cook one night, Yani comes to the rescue.

Suddenly both men are facing someone they can be attracted to. Someone they might want to hook-up with. Someone to occupy their time before Christmas arrives.

Except hooking up isn’t enough. They like spending time with each other. They’re there to support each other – Yani as he faces the loneliness of not being with his family and Gavin as he deals with what he endured in the military. When one is imperiled, the other is there to rescue. In the process, they realize they’ve become more than just f-buddies.

So this is a Garrett Leigh book and there are characters with mental illnesses but they the illnesses don’t define them. It just is. I like that about her writing. Real characters who could be people I know in my life. My only complaint is the men are smokers. And I get that it’s an addiction and it might suit the characters but, in this day and age, it just hits me the wrong way. I want these characters to have nice healthy long lives. Just sayin’

Another great book narrated by the wonderful Dan Calley. He and Ms. Leigh make magic and it makes me almost – almost – get into the Christmas spirit. Well done.

Will they find love in time for Christmas?

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A great Christmas story by Garrett Leigh. Enjoyed the story and characters. Dan Calley did a fantastic job bringing the characters to live.
This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Super

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