If, like me, you’re not the biggest fan of the schmalzy, Hallmark-y Christmas romances that proliferate at this time of year, then Garrett Leigh’s Christmas on Cosmic Avenue could be just what you’re looking for. It’s funny and snarky and warm; and it’s festive without being over-the-top, which makes for a perfect seasonal love story as far as I’m concerned.

Sab Dubois – brother of Tam from Christmas on Stardust Lane (this town – now called Everwyld – has the most wonderful street names!) – is a single dad to two-year-old Esme and has been on his own for over a year, ever since his cheating ex walked out after he told her he thought he might be bisexual. She just laughed in his face, called him “a cokehead with a fried brain”, and went out and screwed someone else – one of the many side pieces Sab had known nothing about. Now he has full custody of Esme and although being a single parent isn’t the easiest thing in the world, he adores his daughter and has plenty of support from Tam and his husband Bhodi (a nurse), who live just a few streets away.

He doesn’t have much of a social life, though, no matter that Tam and Bhodi have Esme overnight once a week and encourage him to get himself back out there and into the dating scene. Sab knows he could to talk to his brother about the shift in his sexuality, but he just can’t; he’s a recovering addict, was so fucked up for so many years, and hasn’t got over what he did not only to himself but also to Tam – and doesn’t want to keep using Tam as an emotional crutch. He’ll tell him – at some point, maybe when he’s more sure about it himself. Just… not yet.

But perhaps being sure, or finding out for sure, if he really is into men as well as women is something he should do before making any life-altering decisions or confessions. Sab has never been one for casual sex, but thinks that maybe hooking up with adventurous MF/bi couples is the way to ease himself in (so to speak) to man-on-man sex rather than setting himself up on the brutal meat-market of Grindr, so he downloads a swingers app, creates a profile and starts swiping.

Firefighter Galen McCarthy is still on light-duty following a serious on-the-job incident eighteen months earlier that almost killed him. So his role at the scene of the fire at the local chippy is mostly directing traffic by speaking to drivers in the long queue of vehicles created by the closed road and asking them to wait or find an alternative route. When he taps on the window of the white van and looks inside, he recognises the gorgeous guy in the driver’s seat as his neighbour-from-over-the-back-fence and is surprised – but not displeased – to see that he’s been scrolling through a familiar-looking app. Cheekily, Galen leans in, takes the phone, opens Google Play and downloads a different app, telling Sab it’s a better one – a big grin on his face as he turns to walk away. It’s been quite a while since a bloke has really turned his head… the least he can do is to find him online later and welcome him to FlingIt – isn’t it?

Sab doesn’t recognise the brawny, auburn-haired firefighter with the dazzling smile, but he can’t stop thinking about him and has been alternating between hoping he’d message him on the app and berating himself for being ridiculous ever since the previous afternoon. So when he sees Galen’s message Sab goes into a bit of a tailspin, the anxiety and low grade panic he’s experienced ever since his ex mocked and ridiculed him taking hold and tying his insides into knots before he can tell himself to calm down. The guy has given him a tip and sent him a message – that’s all. It doesn’t mean he’s looking for the same thing as Sab.

Christmas on Cosmic Avenue is a beautifully written story of two men slowly falling into a relationship and finding the kind of strong emotional connection neither of them had expected, or, in Galen’s case, wanted. He’s never been interested in relationships and has been happily playing the field – so offering some advice and maybe some hands-on experience to a newbie like Sab is easy. But when the intense attraction simmering between them turns into shared meals, long walks and hugs he never knew he craved… there’s nothing easy about it, and Sab’s presence in his life has Galen questioning everything he thought he knew about himself.

Sab has been through a lot and hasn’t made it to the other side completely unscathed, but he’s been sober for over five years and is determined to stay that way. That isn’t to say he doesn’t still have demons to slay; his ex did a number on him and her comments about his sexuality, together with Sab’s view of his past addiction as a symptom of weakness, have made it easy for him to believe himself unworthy of being someone’s choice of partner. With his rational mind, he knows that’s not true. But emotionally… he’s frozen into inaction and prone to second-and-third guessing everything.

I really liked Sab and Galen; their baggage means both of them are given to overthinking, but they’re down-to-earth, multi-layered characters who are absolutely perfect for each other – if only they can get out of their own way and let themselves see it. Their romance is nicely developed, full of chemistry and yearning, and although Galen’s schedule and Sab’s single-parenthood make it difficult for them to find time to get together at first, that gives them time to get to know each other a little through messages, and the ease with which they eventually become closer is incredibly well done. There’s some miscommunication going on thanks to their presence on a swingers’ app (both of them thinking that what the other really wants is to be hooking up with couples-and-more, and that they’re just a temporary stop on the way to that), and I have to say that it does take a bit too long for Galen and Sab to pull their heads out of their respective arses and admit what they want and how they feel, both to themselves and each other. And then the tension is really amped up when the dangerous realities of Galen’s job are suddenly made stark and the possibility arises that maybe they’re already too late.

I look forward to Garrett Leigh’s Christmas stories each year because I know they’re likely to suit me; the setting, the characters and the way they speak and act – feel very familiar, and I love that while these stories are perhaps a bit less gritty and angsty than her usual offerings, they still have a bit of an edge and are not drowning in syrup. Eagle-eyed readers will spot cameos by and references to characters from the wider Garrett-verse – Tam and Bhodi play important secondary roles here, we revisit Galen’s friend Logan (Christmas on Firefly Hill) – and Galen himself has briefly appeared in some of the Rebel Kings books.

Christmas on Cosmic Avenue is a sexy and emotional slow-burn romance wrapped around a lovely story about family, friendship, exploration and belonging that strikes just the right balance between angst, humour, hurt/comfort vibes and festive cheer. I enjoyed it and am happy to recommend it.