In Change of Heart, Drs Whitney Aldritch and Meri Mercer hold themselves to the highest standards of behavior except for the two weeks a year when they dress up, crash weddings, and shed their very adult, important responsibilities. They make up names, never crash a small wedding, always bring a gift, and never sleep with someone in the wedding party. Whit breaks that rule at the last crashed wedding of the summer when she locks eyes with the Best Man at a very large, fancy wedding. Whit slips out at dawn after a lively night of carnal knowledge and forgets about Best Man. Until he shows up as one of her residents at the Boston teaching hospital where she is a transplant surgeon and has been leading an effort to reduce abuse of Residents (see very adult, important responsibilities). Picking up where they left off is not appropriate professionally, on any level. But the attraction is still there, and Henry has been trying to find Whitney for months.
Whit and Henry are lovely. I know nothing about hospital politics or the reality of the power difference between an Attending and a Resident. I appreciate that there isn’t much of an age gap between them, and that even though Whit has no intention of having a relationship, she still makes sure his education is not impacted by their previous encounter. Once Whitney stop freaking out, maintaining the professional boundary between them is partly a source of tension, but it’s also an act of care. I love care taking scenes, and there is one in particular that I read three times in a row. Henry and Whit romance each other through their own versions of care taking whether it’s cupcakes or skills development.
I loved that they each had their own friends and those friends remained important to them. Even with the first flush of getting together after months of pining, they are explicit in their desire to maintain their external relationships. It’s one of the things Canterbary does well. She gives her characters family and friends outside of the romance, and she makes those communities diverse (side note, one of the surgeons Henry works with is very pregnant and still very much a boss). We learn so much about Whitney and Henry by the way they interact with other people and how they prioritize the people in their lives. Whitney is the worrier and Henry is the problem solver. We see Whitney taking on the weight of the world in so many places and the myriad ways Henry solves problems and makes things happen.
The thing that makes all of this work so well is Kate Canterbary’s attention to detail. Her characters are specific and the places where they live feel lived in. We get enough specific details about the people around the main couple that we know that the characters who are side characters in Whitney and Henry’s story are the main characters in their own lives. Reading Change of Heart feels like Canterbary effortlessly served up these characters’ lives. But when you look closely, you can see every bit of care that went into this book.
I am delighted that this appears to be a series, because I need to know what happens with Meri and the man who really knows how to start a conversation.
I received this as an advance reader copy from the author. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.