Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Asim Bishara is a firefighter in Indianapolis, the city he settled in when he left his family-of-origin behind in New York City after the 9-1-1 attack. He lost his family after he admitted he was in love with Steven, a firefighter who died when the World Trade Center collapsed. He never stopped loving Steven, even now, thirteen years later, though he was a teen at the time, and they had only just admitted their love for each other right before he died. He’s afraid to come out to fellow firefighters, and that, in combination with his inability to move through his grief, contributes to an accident at a fire scene which ends up hospitalizing him.

Finally attempting to have a social life after the death of his husband, Zach, who died the previous New Year’s Eve, Ángel Stanford gets a babysitter for his daughter, Gracie, and heads to a party given by his friends Jude and Sean, Healed Hearts (Heartland #2). There he meets Asim who, he’s been told, is new to the gay scene and needs to dip his toes into the water of casual relationships. But his friends are wrong—Asim is looking for anything but casual, and he certainly isn’t interested in this outwardly effeminate, flamboyant character who seems to be flirting with him.

Not a good start and neither man is happy at the end of the evening. It’s shortly after this event that Asim ends up in the hospital from his on-scene accident, and the part-time nurse assigned to his case is Ángel. Not taking advantage of that, Ángel nevertheless learns a bit about this man, and when they meet again at a bereavement support group, Ángel learns even more of Asim’s story, and yet Ángel is still hesitant to speak of his own grief. I enjoyed the way the author allowed for a very slow burn to the start-up of this relationship, at the same time giving readers their back story and allowing us to learn more about each man in the way he deals with the grief of loss.

This is definitely not a see-each-other-insta-love story, and yes, there’s angst, but it’s very well done and makes for a highly satisfying read. Throughout the course of the months in which the story takes place, we witness Ángel going through the stages of grief for Zach, finally coming to terms with his death, but it’s a long time before he’s able to cope with and act on his feelings for Asim. In the meantime, Asim is seeing a therapist and coming to terms with his grief and his virginal attempts at having a relationship, including finding the patience to wait for Ángel.

Of all three books in this series, I liked this one best. It had much more depth and touched me deeply, tugging on my heartstrings throughout most of the story. It’s a beautiful love story, both past and present. I hope that those who like hurt-comfort or healing from grief stories consider picking this one up. And, although the story includes returning characters from previous stories in the series, that in no way impacts the enjoyment of this one so it can easily be read as a standalone.

Cover art by Paul Richmond beautifully depicts Ángel and Asim with a picture of Ángel, Zach, and Gracie sitting on the table behind them, symbolizing Asim’s acceptance that Zach will always have a place in Ángel’s heart.

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Book Details:

ebook, 1st edition, 260 pages
Expected publication: November 25th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN 1634777905 (ISBN13: 9781634777902)
Edition LanguageEnglish
URL
SeriesHeartland #3