Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Healing Hearts 
SERIES: Stealing Hearts
AUTHOR: K. Evan Coles
PUBLISHER: Wicked Fingers Press
LENGTH: 146 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 1, 2020
BLURB:
Some hearts are made to be mended.
Zac Alvarez never expected to start his life over at forty-five, but his recent divorce means doing just that. Luckily, his career as a nurse in Boston keeps him busy and he has friends who understand Zac’s need to be as careful with his heart as he is with his diet.
Acting on a whim one fall afternoon, Zac buys lunch from a food truck and meets Aiden Marinelli, a bold young chef who is taking the city’s food scene in new directions. Aiden is only thirty, a fact that doesn’t sit well with Zac, but both the chef and his food prove impossible to resist.
An attachment forms between the two men and, as the winter holidays draw near, Zac begins to emerge from the protective shell he’s built around himself. A chance encounter with his ex-husband shakes Zac’s newfound confidence, however, and he pushes Aiden away, unaware how deeply the act will hurt them both until it is too late.
Now, Zac must decide if he is brave enough to go after what he wants and mend not only Aiden’s heart but his own.
REVIEW:
Zac is a nurse who has been through a rough divorce a year ago after 15 years with his husband, the last 8 of that married. His ex works at the same hospital – thankfully in administration so they rarely see each other. Then there is the fact that he was cheating with a supposed mutual friend before they divorced and that guy also works there 🙁 For a year he’s pretty kept to himself. His friends at the hospital have noticed. A newer nurse, Gianna, encourages Zac to try one of the food trucks that is parked at the hospital and he reluctantly agrees to pick them up food. The truck is called Endless Pastabilities 🙂 This is not something Zac usually indulges in. He keeps a very tight lid on his eating and diet. This has been drummed into his from childhood and frankly has done a real number on him. His husband was 5 years younger and he was always trying to keep the pounds at bay.
Zac orders from the truck and Aidan, the truck owner and chef flirts with him. The food is incredible and he runs an extra five miles. He continues to go to the truck and he does enjoy the flirty talk with Aiden as he’s not had that in his life for a long time. He can’t figure out why a young gorgeous guy like Aiden would have any interest in an almost 45 year old nurse, but he seems to enjoy their banter 🙂 Then Gianna invites Zac to Friendsgiving at her place that she and her brother are hosting which she swears is not a setup. Zac agrees to go since his other colleague Mark and his boyfriend Owen will be there. When he gets there though, turns out her brother is Aiden! Starts out a bit awkward but then things get better 🙂
Aiden really likes Zac and wants to get to know him better. They end up meeting for drinks or dinner or whatever. Zac cannot imagine why Aiden is single – he’s young, gorgeous, successful with his food business, personable. It almost gets in the way of Zac still seeing Aiden. But then they kiss – and it’s fireworks. Their chemistry is amazing and Zac is surprised again that Aiden would be attracted to him. It’s clear that his divorce and his mother’s constant harping on his diet and exercise have done a number on him.
Zac’s friends notice the change in him. They are happy to have their old friend back after the walls he put up after the divorce. But on the evening of a party, things happen to make Zac question everything an brings his insecurities rushing to the forefront. He realizes he could get hurt even worse this time – and he might not recover – if he lets Aiden all the way in and then Aiden leaves him. His gut reaction not only hurts him but it hurts Aiden too. Neither is happy about it and it’s not clear if Aiden will give him a second chance.
Well this is another satisfying story in this little world built by K. Evan Coles. We have another nurse in this Boston hospital who has been through some crap! I totally loved Zac and understood his pain. His mother’s love definitely seems like it was conditional – which is just terrible and a bit too common I would say. His inability to achieve perfection has him holding such a tight leash on his desires. Between that and the number his ex and more importantly his ex’s douchecanoe boyfriend has done on him, it’s no wonder he’s just kept to himself. Aiden was an absolute delight. His love of food, people and his friends was just infectious. Also, now I want cacio e pepe 😀 Gianna was a wonderful friend to Zac as was his colleague Mark. They try to help Zac see himself through their eyes instead of his own hypercritical ones. Their falling out and then working things out were very believable and I was happy to watch Zac and Aiden communicating as adults should and figuring out how they both felt about things and what they each needed. There is plenty of steam and tender moments as well as some pretty difficult moments when Zac was able to share his pain and insecurities. There is a nice holiday feel with Friendsgiving and some Christmas decorating and parties and special meals, so that was a nice bonus for this season 🙂 I am so enjoying this series and I think you will too if you’re in the mood for a second chances, age-gap story that provides a happy ending with plenty of smiles and good food. The only thing I wanted that I didn’t get was a near-death experience for Stanton! LOL!
RATING: 
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