A Heart to Revitalize Me

The Magi Accounts 4.5 (The Magi Accounts Companion Stories)

By: Michele Notaro

Narrated by: Zachary Zaba

Lately my straight best friend has been very… handsy, which is killing me because I’ve been in love with the idiot for years.

I love my best friend, I always have, but I never wanted him to realize just how much. He’s never seemed to notice before, but since he broke up with his girlfriend, he’s been really clingy. Like way more than I’ve ever seen. I love it. And it’s killing me.

What I really want is all those cuddles and sweet touches to mean more than they do. I have to keep reminding my heart that everything Haiden is doing is platonic, even if it feels like it isn’t. Unfortunately for me, my stupid heart doesn’t stop hoping for more.

A Heart To Revitalize Me is a MM urban fantasy romance companion novel meant to be listened to AFTER A Ruse To Unchain Us (The Magi Accounts 4). This is Logan and Haiden’s story and takes place between books 4 and 5 of the main series. It’s the last Magi Accounts Companion Stories novel and is meant to be listened to as part of the series, not by itself, although the love story is resolved in this book.

©2023 Michele Notaro (P)2025 Michele Notaro

Great Series Addition!

“A Heart To Revitalize Me” is part of The Magi Accounts Companion Stories by Michele Notaro. It’s not necessary to read these companion books when reading the Magi Accounts, but it adds a lot to the experience as relationships and events in these books to have an impact on the main series. I highly recommend reading all of the books in both series in their respective order. Yes, it makes this a longer series to read but it is so very worth it. This series and this book are not standalones.

I recently had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook for “A Heart To Revitalize Me“ and I was excited. The books in this series are some of my favorite re-listens and I was excited when this book was released in audio. Haiden and Logan have been cherished parts of this series since they were younger teens. Readers have watched them grow into young men as the world they lived in changed. This is the book where the two best friends become so much more. It is sweet and fun but still has the feel of the main series and the world it’s set in. The audio for this book was fantastic! Zachary Zaba’s performance was so good! He has really made this world come to life with his narration.

I was given a copy of this audiobook and this is my honest opinion.

Cute

This is a great story and I’m so glad this darling couple got their chance to shine. The narration is really well done.

Love and Longing

A Heart to Revitalize Me is the last of the Magi Accounts Companion novellas and the second to last book in The Magi Accounts series. This is Logan and Hayden's story, a best friends to lovers tale with all the angst and pining you get when one MC (Logan) has been in love with his straight/ has a girlfriend best friend (Hayden) from almost the moment they met. Hayden was a bit distrustful of the Ono-Nais, and may have been somewhat hostile to the other teen in the beginning. Which made it difficult for Lo to like his crush. But after Hay has that lightbulb moment and realizes his forever is right in front of him. he begins to court Logan. Except Logan doesn't realize it.
Zachary Zaba does a great job conveying Logan's confusion and doubt. "It isn't a date- he never said it was a date." Just because Hayden brought him chocolates and flowers didn't mean a it was a date. Did it? It was absurd, it was sweet. Oh the humor. Oh the angst.
The combination of Michele Notaro's wonderful story telling with Zachary Zaba's narration was a delight. It didn't seem like seven hours passed! Very enjoyable experience. The audio gave the story added dimension. Definitely worth a re-listen.
I received an advanced audio of this story and this is my review.

Insecurity and Love!

FINALLY! Poor sweet Logan finds out his best friend Haiden actually has just as strong of feelings for him. It just took stubborn Haiden a little while to go for it. I adore when best friends just need to be close to each other and are very tactile. These two were genuinely sweet and totally belonged together. Haiden wants Logan as his mate. Swoon. I did like that although it was a sweet romance it was also a bit more realistic. It was not just instant I love you. Haiden had to help Logan not feel insecure and to know he was his everything. Cuddly with a bit of steam! Zachary Zaba has the best narrating voice for paranormal sweethearts!

Logan and Haiden!

Logan's crush on Haiden hasn't exactly been a secret over the last couple of books in the main series, but I genuinely wasn't sure if they'd end up getting a story of their own with how close Haiden kept his cards to his chest. You can imagine my excitement when I found out about this novella, and let me tell you, it was just as sweet and adorable as I hoped it would be. I'm a total sucker for best-friends to lovers, and everything about Logan and Haiden at the start of this made me want to grab them and smush them together until they figured themselves out. Haiden and Logan were the kind of friends who didn't hesitate to hug and cuddle, and it was killing me that Logan was too scared of messing up the status quo and Haiden was too oblivious about what his tiger wanted to see what was right in front of them. Even after Haiden did finally sort out what his need to constantly be around Logan meant, Logan had convinced himself there was no way Haiden might ever want to date him even when Haiden was literally taking him on cute dates and giving him cute nicknames. I found the whole debacle endlessly entertaining, and things only got better when Logan and Haiden finally got on the same page about their relationship and started being all lovey dovey. Because they knew so much about each other, their relationship got deep quickly, and I was thrilled to see how compatible they were as life partners. The majority of their story had such a sweet and happy tone, but towards the end Michele Notaro reminded me that the two of them still live in a very dystopian world where nothing can be taken for granted. While I do wish that Logan and Haiden could have sailed easily into a happily ever after, seeing the way they responded to each other in harder times made me even more certain they were ready to commit to their relationship for the rest of their lives. The themes of found family and unconditional love tied the whole story together, and I can't say enough good things about where Logan and Haiden ended up. Now all that's left is to take care of the Red Cloth!