Review: Hearts and Flour
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 6, 2013
It's good to have principles; our lives would be chaos without them. Having a routine we live by is important, but at the same time, we need to have an open mind and understand that things in our lives may change and things that were important in the past, may not be as monumental in the future. Micha Truveen, of Tara Lain's book, 'Hearts and Flour', is obsessed with eating healthy and staying fit. He religiously adheres to his principles, and expects his students to do so as well. There's no margin for error in his book; it's all or nothing. This inflexibility threatens to destroy something infinitely more valuable than his unwavering health food tenets--his happiness.Micha owns a successful health food cafe where he teaches cooking and nutrition classes. He also has a handsome boyfriend who, unfortunately, he finds out is cheating on him. To make matters worse, his students have discovered a bakery which makes the most scrumptious cupcakes imaginable and have the nerve to flaunt them in front of Micha. He sees this as another betrayal, as his failure to teach his students properly. Micha is so rigid in his beliefs that he doesn't stop to think of a cupcake as an occasional pleasurable experience. He sees it as sabotage and sees the baker of the cupcakes as an evil influence undermining his beliefs and trying to lead his students, and the rest of the community, astray. Micha, depressed from the events of the day, decides to accept a friend's invitation for an anti-Valentine's party which, in essence, is an orgy. There he meets Queen, a cross-dresser, and falls instantly in lust. Micha and Quintin are compatible in almost every way, but in order to be together, Micha has to learn to put his own feelings aside and see matters from Quintin's perspective.Although Quintin's introduction as Queen is quite dramatic, I liked his attitude right away. He is attracted to Micha as much as Micha is to him and wastes no time letting him know in the only way anyone does at a hedonistic party, they have hot, wild, steamy sex. Although it's supposed to be a one time thing, Micha wants to see Queen again. I liked that they'd obviously felt something besides lust in their encounter. Queen is amazing, but I loved Quintin even more. He is smart, ambitious, good-hearted person who hasn't had it easy considering he can easily pass as a woman. His inclination to wear women's clothing is also another problematic area of his life. I love the way he takes care of his grandmother, who, by the way, steals the show as far as I am concerned. He's so afraid of losing her respect. In an attempt to live up to her ideals, he hides who he is. He doesn't trust their close relationship enough to tell her he's gay and a cross-dresser, even though she's obviously a very free-thinking lady. Quintin sacrifices his happiness for the sake of keeping up appearances with his grandmother.This is a light-hearted, endearing romance, which also touches on some more serious issues as well, i.e., being gay, fear of coming out, infidelity, loyalty, cross-dressing, and most important of all, being true to yourself. I recommend this story to everyone who would like to read a good Valentine's Day story, excellently written, candid, with great humor, and seriousness all combined in a happily ever after package. Thank you, Tara, for a unique, enjoyable story.  Originally reviewed at Rainbow Book Reviews.