Mirrigold: Mutterings & Musings

Wildfire by Garrett Leigh

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don’t know how she does it but each time I pick up a book by Garrett Leigh, she blows me away.

Her characters are never given an easy life, they have challenges to break the strongest of backs but they are always resilient, they persevere and, ultimately they triumph in a way which works for them.

Her men are never “cured” by falling in love, there’s no magic dick pill to end mental health issues or to smooth away the edges of neurodivergency, there’s no therapeutic kiss to end the symptoms of PTSD.

Instead, what they get are blocks of support, coping mechanisms and unfailing love which means it becomes easier to deal with the stresses and strains.

Here we get two beautiful men who have huge hurdles in their daily lives. For Joss, his is part of his being, his Tourette’s and his ADHD are an intrinsic and permanent factor and he accepts that and deals with it through medication and strategies.

Kai’s is trauma related, a recent catastrophic situation that he’s still coming to terms with and, unlike Joss, there’s an air of melancholy and sorrow that drives his daily routine.

But when they meet it’s like lightbulbs and flashes of neon and the overwhelming chance for change to come. Kai brings calm to Joss’ whirlwind mind, and for Kai, Joss is a breath of air drawing him out of the darkness.

We’re then taken on a journey of not only deeply emotional friendship between the two, but also a bisexual awakening on Kai’s part which feels completely organic and which brings comfort in a myriad of ways.

The sex, for Garrett, is perhaps less steamy than in some of her other works, but it’s perfect for this romance. It’s exploratory, it’s healing, it’s lustful and heady, it’s quiet and calming.

But most of all it’s tethering, creating an invisible force between them which ties the two men together against all the odds to deliver a truly compelling happy ending.

There’s all the British banter you’d expect from a London boy uprooted and it’s also a quiet paean to the glory of good food cooked with love.

Keep an eye out for Easter Egg references to a couple of Garrett’s other fabulous series and, of course, there’s lots of Jax, Tanner and Molly in this one too 💗

#ARC kindly received from the author via Sarina Bowen’s Heart Eyes Press in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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