Hi guys, we have A.M. Arthur stopping by today with her new release The Heart As He Hears It, we have a great excerpt, a brilliant giveaway and Aerin’s review. So enjoy the post and click that giveaway link <3 ~Pixie~

The Heart As He Hears It

A.M. Arthur

While most of his friends have moved on to “real” careers, Jon Buchanan is content skating through life as a part-time waiter and gay porn star. Firmly single thanks to a previous relationship disaster, he focuses his spare time on Henry, a dear friend dying of cancer.

And with Henry’s happiness paramount, Jon is on a mission to help Henry meet his recently discovered grandson.

Isaac Gregory hasn’t set foot outside for the past year. He has everything he needs delivered, and his remaining family knows better than to visit. When a complete stranger shows up claiming to be his grandfather—with a distractingly handsome younger man in tow—his carefully structured routines are shaken.

Despite his instant attraction, Jon senses Isaac is too fragile for a relationship. Yet tentative friendship grows into genuine companionship. And when Henry’s health begins to fail, they realize Fate brought them together for a reason.

Excerpt

 

Jon studied him, his gaze taking in…something. “May I ask you something?”

“Of course.” His chest flushed with anticipation.

“How do you feel when you’re with me?”

Isaac tried to push aside the anxiety still attempting to blur his thoughts, an old friend that wanted to be part of the conversation. Only anxiety wasn’t allowed in, not this time. He shuffled through different words, emotions and adjectives, searching for the one that best described how he felt about Jon. How Jon made him feel, despite being a near-stranger, bigger, stronger and far more experienced in pretty much everything. Jon still made him feel… “Safe,” Isaac said.

Jon’s eyebrows crept up. The corners of his mouth quirked into something not quite a smile. “Really?”

“Yes. The first time I saw you on my security feed, I noticed how beautiful you were.” His cheeks warmed.

Jon flat out grinned. “Yeah?”

“You’re kind and patient, and I feel safe because you don’t try to fix me, and you don’t act like I’m broken. My family thinks I’m broken, and I don’t want them to fix me. I just…” Something in Isaac shifted, accepting this new truth. “I need to feel safe, Jon. That’s why I hide. But you make me not want to hide.”

Jon’s eyes glittered. His expression melted into something so warm, so sweet, that it burned in Isaac’s blood in a way he didn’t understand at all. The strange sensation urged him to reach out, to initiate contact of some kind. Deep-rooted fear kept Isaac still, unable to make that first move. Unable to do anything except soak in the wonderment on Jon’s face.

“I think that’s the greatest compliment I’ve ever gotten,” Jon said. His voice was hoarse, strange. Almost difficult to hear, so Isaac paid more attention to his lips. “Is it cheesy to say your strength makes me want to be better too?”

Isaac shook his head. “I’m not strong.”

“You’re stronger than you think. You proved that by letting me and Henry in two weeks ago. You proved it again by going out to rescue a kitten. Twice, by the way. You told me you want to get better, get into the world, and that takes a fuck-ton of courage when you’ve lost as much as you have. I know it won’t be easy, but I still want to help you do that.”

“I know you do. I want that too.”

About A.M.

A.M. Arthur was born and raised in the same kind of small town that she likes to write about, a stone’s throw from both beach resorts and generational farmland.  She’s been creating stories in her head since she was a child and scribbling them down nearly as long, in a losing battle to make the fictional voices stop.  She credits an early fascination with male friendships (bromance hadn’t been coined yet back then) with her later discovery of and subsequent love affair with m/m romance stories. 

When not exorcising the voices in her head, she toils away in a retail job that tests her patience and gives her lots of story fodder.  She can also be found in her kitchen, pretending she’s an amateur chef and trying to not poison herself or others with her cuisine experiments. 

Contact her at am_arthur@yahoo.com with your cooking tips (or book comments).

Where to find the author:

Facebook Author Page |  Twitter |  Pinterest |  Tumblr | Blog

Giveaway!

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Review

Title: The Heart As He Hears It

Series: Perspectives 03

Author: A.M. Arthur

Genre: Disability, Contemporary

Length: Novel (283 pages)

ISBN: 9781619233898

Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.  (April 19th 2016)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 3.75 hearts

Reviewer: Aerin

Blurb: Love can slip through the smallest crack in the door.

While most of his friends have moved on to “real” careers, Jon Buchanan is content skating through life as a part-time waiter and gay porn star. Firmly single thanks to a previous relationship disaster, he focuses his spare time on Henry, a dear friend dying of cancer.

And with Henry’s happiness paramount, Jon is on a mission to help Henry meet his recently discovered grandson.

Isaac Gregory hasn’t set foot outside for the past year. He has everything he needs delivered, and his remaining family knows better than to visit. When a complete stranger shows up claiming to be his grandfather—with a distractingly handsome younger man in tow—his carefully structured routines are shaken.

Despite his instant attraction, Jon senses Isaac is too fragile for a relationship. Yet tentative friendship grows into genuine companionship. And when Henry’s health begins to fail, they realize Fate brought them together for a reason.

Warning: Product contains a neurotic porn star with body image issues, a virgin hero with severe agoraphobia, and a fluffy ball of gray cuteness you’ll want to take home and cuddle. Also contains references to past abuse some readers might find disturbing.

Product Link: https://www.samhainpublishing.com/book/5775/the-heart-as-he-hears-it | http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017XDICZG

Review: This is book #3 in this series and it can be read as a standalone. Although, I recommend reading the previous books as well, since some of the characters are mentioned quite a few times. Especially the ones from book #2.

I was excited to read this book and it was almost 5 stars from the beginning because I loved most of it. Jon is a porn star (Gabe’s best friend, if you read book #2) who enjoys his job thoroughly because what’s not to like? Safe sex in a nice environment, no judgement from the other partners and getting paid to have fun!

The only thing missing is someone to fall in love with and thank god for that, because Jon definitely isn’t looking for a boyfriend. You’d think a porn star is someone completely happy and confident in their body, with a lot of confidence and self-esteem. That’s not the case with Jon. Jon has serious body issues and has been battling anorexia for some time now. An emotionally abusive ex-boyfriend left Jon with no confidence and no love for his body, never really happy with how he looks.

Isaac is the new-found nephew of Henry, Jon’s father figure and person he would do anything for. Isaac has been an agoraphobic for the past year, and an unhappy childhood at the hands of an aggressive drunk/druggie father left him with limited hearing and plenty of issues. Isaac is basically afraid of his own shadow and he isolated himself from the rest of his family.

When Jon and his dying grandfather show up on his doorstep, Isaac takes a huge effort to get to know them. His effort pays off, because he gains a great friend and a loving grandfather. Nothing heals a heart better than love (well maybe some kitten cuddles do make everything that much better).

Jon and Isaac are instantly taken with each other and there’s nothing more endearing than an experienced porn star and an innocent Isaac helping each other become stronger and figuring their way to a beautiful relationship. I really liked (and though was very appropriate) how slow their relationship progressed considering Isaac’s serious and crippling issues. But there’s strength and perseverance within them both and it was beautiful to see how they made each other better.

I can’t say much without giving away the entire plot, but towards the end of the book there’s this totally cliché moment when thing come to a blow and it sort of disappointed me. I didn’t need the extra drama because this book was full of feels and emotions. It truly was beautiful until that point. (it’s what brought my rating down from 4.5 Hearts to 3.75)

Overall this was pretty great, a beautiful and emotional book full of feelz. My final rating is 3.75 Hearts.

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