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Deaf Hearts #0.5

The Deaf Chef

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Whoever convinced me to eat at the food truck on campus needs to be covered in honey and left out for the ants because the guy that runs it?

He’s a total asshole.

Granted, I might have pissed him off by overstepping my bounds, but I was trying to do him a favor. After all, he’s Deaf and I’m an interpreter here at the college so why wouldn’t I help out when he needs it?

Which, okay, maybe he didn’t ask for help, but I was distracted by his gorgeous smile and his biceps. Sue me.

It doesn’t take long for me to learn his name: Mellie.

Or what he likes to do for fun: work out at the gym.

But it does take a little patience and an incident with a vicious wasp for both of us to figure out that while we might come from different worlds, we have a lot of shared interests. Namely making out in the back of his truck.

And it also doesn’t take long for either of us to realize we definitely want more.

This story was originally published in the Delicious Charity Anthology, but now it's available for free download through Prolific Works.

70 pages, ebook

First published August 30, 2025

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About the author

E.M. Lindsey

150 books1,528 followers
E.M. Lindsey is the author of MM contemporary romance. She presently lives and works in the southeastern United States.

EM Lindsey also writes MM Paranormal Romance under the pseudonym Ariel Millar.

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5 stars
101 (26%)
4 stars
184 (47%)
3 stars
89 (23%)
2 stars
9 (2%)
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3 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
Profile Image for haletostilinski.
1,578 reviews711 followers
October 5, 2025
A quick 65 page read about Rhett and Mellie, who we meet in the first full length book of this series as an already established couple.

Rhett is hearing but has a deaf cousin who came to live with his family when he was 4, so he grew up learning ASL, and went to college and changed his major to Deaf studies, and so became an interpreter.

Mellie was born deaf - and I think it's implies his parents are deaf too? Maybe? - and his brother was born deaf and later became blind as well, so Mellie has a bit of a chip on his shoulder when it comes to hearting people, even Rhett who has been in the community for a long time.

They meet at Mellie's food truck on the community college campus where Rhett works and when Rhett offers to interpret for these hearing college kids who are being pretty lazy about following instructions, Mellie takes offense to that, feeling he can handle it all on his own.

After that faux pas, Rhett backs off and while Mellie tries to remain indignant and angry about it all, he's very attracted to Rhett and wants to sleep with him. Rhett wants Mellie too and kind of likes his annoyed attitude.

Of course, with this being so short, it couldn't be amazing, and things happen very quickly between these two, but I liked what we got and they were quite sweet together on their date. For what little we were getting, they had good chemistry and the spicy scenes were good. I do kind of wish we'd gotten a full on penetration scene, but oh well.

Technically this came out before book one and is meant to be read before it, but I had no trouble reading this after the fact of reading book one, so this is a quick little intro to Rhett and Mellie's relationship and how they got to be the solid, in love couple we see in book one.

Nothing very special about this, but nothing bad or boring about it either, so it earns a soldi 4 stars from me.

Can't wait for more in this series. Until then!

My Ratings for the Deaf Hearts Series:

✨ The Deaf Chef: 4 stars
Kiss-Fist: 5 stars (my review)
ILY: TBR
Profile Image for Toni.
616 reviews10 followers
April 13, 2026
Ebook/Kindle Read
75 ish Pages
Prequel Novella: 0.5 of the Deaf Hearts series
MM Romance
Insta-Lust
Chef x Interpreter
Deaf MMC
Short and Mid-Spice

Mellie runs a food truck on the campus where Rhett works and takes an instant dislike to him, its made worse because he is attracted to him too and doesn't want to be. The feeling is mutual only Rhett hasn't really done anything to earn Mellie's ire.
You know how the story is gonna go, its a nice warm up act before the series starts and explains their back story as an existing couple in future books.
Profile Image for Leo.
951 reviews17 followers
September 12, 2025
4☆
🅢🅟🅘🅒🅔:🌶🌶
🅛🅐🅤🅖🅗🅢:🤣
🅣🅔🅐🅡🅢:🥲
🅜🅒🅢: Rhett, Mellie
🅟🅞🅥: 1st Dual
🅣🅡🅞🅟🅔🅢: Deaf/Hearing, Grumpy Sunshine,
Profile Image for Colleen (colleenreads40).
451 reviews22 followers
September 5, 2025
The Deaf Chef is E.M. Lindsey's prequel novella of the co-written Deaf Hearts series with Cora Rose. This short story was originally a part of the Delicious: An MM/MMM Charity Anthology: Volume Two, and is now available as a freebie through Prolific Works. The first full-length novel in the Deaf Hearts series, Kiss-Fist, will be available in September. Here's what you can expect from Rhett and Mellie:

💙 MM contemporary romance
💙 First person dual point of view
💙 Guaranteed happily ever after
💙 Open door spice
💙 Food truck owner and ASL interpreter
💙 Starting off on the wrong foot
💙 Deaf representation
💙 A vicious wasp attack

This was a great prequel novella to the new series from Cora Rose and E.M. Lindsey! It's only six chapters, but it paints a good picture of the contemporary universe we're stepping into and introduces us to the main characters of Kiss-Fist. As per usual, E.M. Lindsey's disability representation doesn't miss. This novella explores some of the nuances and challenges that Deaf people face when interacting with ASL interpreters.

After Rhett tries to do Mellie a favour at his food truck one afternoon, they get off on the wrong foot. I enjoyed the little enemies to lovers thing they had going on, however brief it was. I look forward to getting to know all the characters a little bit better, and I'm excited to read the first full-length book in the series. You most likely won't need to have read this one to enjoy the series, but it's a great jumping off point!
Profile Image for Allison.
265 reviews27 followers
December 19, 2025
Story: 4/5
Spice: Medium
Characters: 4/5
-ˏˋ⋆⋆ˊˎ-
Overall reco:
Adorable. I read this series out of order and while reading Kiss-Fist I had a feeling I'd missed either a book or novella before it. Millie is hilarious. I had liked him in the full novel and this story of how him and Rhett connected was rather adorable. It wasn't groundbreaking but a very enjoyable 65 or so pages
Profile Image for Naz.reads.
323 reviews150 followers
October 11, 2025
3.25/5 ⭐️ 1.5/5 🌶️

- Strangers to lovers
- ASL interpreter MMC
- Deaf chef MMC
- Novella
Profile Image for Michele (_LivesBtweenPgs_).
742 reviews24 followers
September 11, 2025
Fantastic little opener to this world and characters!

Rhett & Mellie are the cutest.
All it took was a sting to make the whole picture come into focus for Mellie and when it did, phew those sparks soar in the best way possible.
Rhett is hearing but an interpreter within the deaf community, he never expected to run into the hot food truck owner.

The grumpy/grumpy-ish caught me by surprise but it was well worth seeing them be grumps together and separately. Rhett struggles cause he thinks Mellie doesn’t like him, Mellie is on the fence because Rhett is hearing but in the end, you do what’s necessary to get your person. Even after something unexpected brings Rhett to the rescue and be Mellies hero.

EM Lindsay does a great job of sucking you into the book until the very end.
I can’t wait to see what else is in store for Robbie, Rev and even Thom.
Profile Image for Erica Testa.
458 reviews19 followers
September 19, 2025
I loved this little novella!
Spoiler alert that I read Kiss Fist first before seeing this was an option. I would have loved a full length story of these guys! So sweet and spicy. There have been so many characters introduced in both of these that I hope the series is here to stay as long as they are doing right by the deaf community. Which brings me to my only concern.

My concern (with Kiss Fist and this one) is I’m a little surprised that neither author has mentioned where their deaf community info came from- whether they are a part of the community or using sensitivity readers… (not that they need to share personal info but in using something of this nature in novels….) it’s just a very very nuanced community and I wish they had disclosed how they made certain that it was as accurate and respectful as humanly possible. I kept waiting for an acknowledge or authors note. The anti- AI stance in this one was nice though.
Profile Image for Lady Macbeth.
1,201 reviews35 followers
September 14, 2025
5 stars
Such a very lovely story!
Rhett is an interpreter for Robbie, Deaf professor, at the University. Rhett is a good guy but he hasn't find real passion yet, especially in love relationships. One day, Robbie sends him to get lunch from a food truck run by a friend. So Rhett meets Mellie, gorgeous Deaf chef, but he leaves a negative impression when he tries to help the chef with some rude students by overstepping.
Their second meeting is definitely better and I really really loved how grumpy Mellie melted around Rhett! He went far away from his comfort zone and asked him on a date. They were adorable together and, despite Mellie's reticence on taking a chance on a hearing guy, they were perfect for each other.
I really wish the author will expand this novella in the future. And I also hope we'll see Robbie and Thom's stories too.
Profile Image for Noa Ashley .
492 reviews10 followers
September 9, 2025
I read this story a while ago and I'm so glad that it turned into a series! I really love the setup and the characters.

Here is my original review, I've given the story 4.5 ⭐:

I really loved this story, it always amazes me how much story and personality/ background there is in a short story. Rhett is an interpreter (mostly) for Robbie (Deaf Professor), Rhett mostly understands when to help/step in as an interpreter in a situation but sometimes he's wrong. Mellie (deaf chef) just didn't like him because he didn't ask for help. The Author did a great job explaining both sides of the story and showing that people make mistakes and can talk about them. This is an author that I want to read more from in the future.
2,042 reviews8 followers
November 18, 2025
Short and sweet prequel

I read Kiss-Fist, the first book in the series, before reading this prequel but it didn't make any difference to my enjoyment of either story.
Rhett is the interpreter for Robbie, a Deaf college professor and one of the MCs in Kiss-Fist. Mellie is a Deaf chef who has his own food truck.
Rhett and Mellie didn't have the best of starts but that didn't matter because the attraction between them was red hot. Their romance happened very quickly because this was a short prequel but I enjoyed it anyway.
I always enjoy E.M.'s disability rep and how sensitively they portray their characters, and Mellie and his brother Otto were great examples of their skill. In fact, Otto was fabulous and I seriously need his story.
Profile Image for Emma.
664 reviews3 followers
Read
September 13, 2025
Read on September 13, 2025.

I spent more time than I would have liked being annoyed at how rude Mellie was. That attitude though? Yes, as a hearing person I don’t know anything about what life is like for a Deaf person. But like, most people don’t. Including most people who will read this book. So it might have been a good idea to spend a little time making sure the Deaf MC wouldn’t appear as a rude asshole for seemingly no reason. Because we don’t KNOW why these things are offensive.

I, at least, think a better explanation was in order. That would have made me like the guy more and be on his side rather than sitting there wondering why he decided to hate someone who just wanted to help.
Profile Image for Sabrina.
1,598 reviews123 followers
September 22, 2025
This short novella follows Rhett and Mellie and opens this series up very nicely! So nicely, I wish I realized it was there and read it before book 1! It gives us a nice introduction to the characters and the world. Rhett is an interpreter at a college and can’t help but be interested in the chef at the new food truck. But getting off on the wrong foot isn’t what Rhett had in mind. Lucky for him Mellie is equally interested. Though it takes a minute for it to be willing to admit it. Having met them when I read book 1, it was nice to get more of their story on how they meet and ended up a couple. A very short and sweet novella that you don’t want to miss if you are interested in this series!
Profile Image for Spice Fan.
238 reviews
February 26, 2026
I hadn’t realised this was a prequel to a book I have on my TBR (Deaf Hearts series) - I’m glad I read this first. And I’d just finished another E.M. Lindsey book so it was good to stay with their writing.

I really enjoyed this. Both Rhett and Mellie seemed quite dissatisfied with their current situations and were both negative in their own ways until a wasp changed it all and they allowed each other in! There’s a bit of tension and humour and also some spice towards the end as well as some interesting work mates and family members.

A bit of a weird way to end the story, but a good introduction to other characters in the series.
Profile Image for lmreadsromance.
446 reviews5 followers
September 3, 2025
This was a great introduction to the series and the characters that will feature in kiss fist. It was also a great introduction to the deaf community and the representation throughout these books.
This was the story of Rhett, who works as an interpreter and Mellie, the deaf chef, who has a food truck. I enjoyed learning so much about the characters, despite being a novella and I liked the hate to love aspects of the story. Rhett was just so thoughtful and sweet and Mellie was so headstrong and when the gave in they were done for, very cute!
I cannot wait to read Kiss Fist and I highly recommend beginning with this novella!
Profile Image for Leanne.
1,512 reviews39 followers
October 7, 2025
A nice quick read that is a complete standalone in this series world.

Not gonna lie, a deaf chef and an ASL interpreter is a dynamic I have never read before. It’s short, fun, and a great ways to pass an hour or two.

It’s not instalove by any means, but it’s definitely fast burn. Burn it does too. The chemistry is off the charts and this isn’t even a smutty read.

This book also introduces a cast of characters that will likely have their own story in the series. Worth the time if you enjoy stories that feature hearing impaired characters.
Profile Image for Brittney Kane.
144 reviews7 followers
February 2, 2026
This was a super cute and quick intro into the Deaf Hearts world!

This novella follows Rhett and Mellie - an ASL interpreter and a food truck owner, respectively. Rhett offers to interpret without being asked and Mellie takes offense - but then quickly realizes he was an ass and grovels in the best way to win Rhett over.

I wish this had been a little longer because I feel like some of the moments were abruptly cut short in very odd spots and they could have been expanded on. But overall these two were cute and I liked getting to see Thom and Robbie before they were a couple!
Profile Image for Kimma.
192 reviews1 follower
September 1, 2025
I first read this short story in the Delicious charity anthology and knew I needed more.

I enjoyed all these characters so much! Seeing this world expanded into a series, with Kiss-Fist (book 1), made me so excited.

It’s nice to see this prequel available by itself so it can be enjoyed with the rest of this series. Because Mellie and Rhett need to be experienced.

Looking forward to seeing more of these characters get their HEAs in this series.
Profile Image for Winnie Quick.
255 reviews6 followers
September 9, 2025
This is a really cute and spicy novella that got me even more excited for my ARC of Kiss-Fist. I love seeing the characters I know will have their own book, but I also enjoyed this one on its own. Particularly adorable was Mellie’s determination to hate Rhett and how he struggled to hold on to said hate. As the song says, it’s a thin line lol. I received a copy of this book directly from the author’s email newsletter to read before Kiss-Fist and this is my honest review. 4.5 stars.
Profile Image for Helen Smith.
554 reviews5 followers
September 19, 2025
This was an enjoyable story and a good introduction to the Deaf Hearts series. I only wish it had been a bit longer and fleshed out a few more details. Mellie was a grump who got offended by Rhett's behavior far too easily, but their mutual attraction overcame their rocky start. I noticed that side character Salem was the same person called Leaf in Kiss-Fist, and wonder if that difference will be explained in future stories. Well worth the read!
Profile Image for Maggie May.
931 reviews12 followers
March 27, 2026
The author made this a novella by skipping over the relationship part of the story. The characters meet, struggle a little with deciding they like each other (mostly through interactions with other characters), and have an orgasm. Then it jumps straight to an epilogue of one year later, that is just a couple pages to say they have gotten serious. I am sure it worked great as a teaser for the series, but it doesn’t work as an actual story.
1,373 reviews2 followers
September 12, 2025
Rhett & Mellie: I met these two in Robbie’s book, Kiss-Fist, and thought they were great. It was nice to read their story. Mellie has an instant dislike towards Rhett and Rhett still finds him hot. Rhett knows he doesn’t have a chance with him but wants him to like him. It doesn’t take Mellie long to change his mind about the Interpreter and sparks fly. Enjoyed this short.
Profile Image for Crystal.
106 reviews4 followers
December 29, 2025
Qué bonitoooo🥹. El único "pero" que le pondría es que me hubiera gustado ver un poquito más de Rhett y Mellie después de esa primera cita. No lo sé, esperaba verlos siendo felices un poco más antes del epílogo aunque de cualquier forma me pareció muy bonita la historia, rápida de leer, sin mucho drama, la recomiendo al 100% si no sabes qué leer y no tienes mucho tiempo.
Profile Image for Bee.
1,179 reviews225 followers
August 31, 2025
3.5 stars, rounded up

It was... fine? It's a cute, light-hearted novella that has the same issues as most novella's out there. Too short to have the same depth and character development that a full-length novel provides. But it was sweet, so give it a shot, I'd say.
Profile Image for Pauline - Formidablebooks .
286 reviews32 followers
September 1, 2025
3.5⭐️
This was pretty cute but somehow too short? I would have loved more moments between Rhett and Mellie. it feels like the author took the time to explain the character’s background and families (which I love) but it took away moments of the romance….
856 reviews12 followers
September 5, 2025
Great introduction to this new series! Sweet, funny, and full of heart. Rhett & Mellie’s romance is all about banter, patience, sizzling chemistry, and a food truck backdrop you’ll adore. EM Lindsey nailed the Deaf rep and the spice
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews