The Heart as He Hears It by A.M. Arthur

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.

Book 3
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
Samhain  Publishing

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
A.M. Arthur's writing style is always filled with a slow-burn romance between fully fleshed-out, developed characters, mixed with the reality of tragedy and disabilities. The Heart as He Hears It is no different.

The third book in the Perspectives series is a great addition, following in the footsteps of its predecessors. The past narrators are shown, allowing the readers to stay connected, and no doubt we've met the narrators for future books.

Jon is a complex character, who is going through a painful time as he watches his best friend, Henry, waste away from cancer. The ties that bind the series together, Jon is a porn actor battling emotional demons – an abusive, past relationship which left his confidence in the negatives, as well as helped exacerbate his anorexia. Shifting his focus onto Henry, he'd do anything to make his final days happy ones.

In walks Henry's long-lost grandson, Isaac, a young man fighting his own demons. Demons which left him deaf in one ear, and partially deaf in the other. Agoraphobic, socially inept, innocent in the ways of the world, home-schooled and highly intelligent, the comic book creator is Jon's perfect balance.

Without writing the entire plot out, The Heart as He Hears It runs the gamut of emotions. I laughed, smiled, and cried with the characters who felt so very real for me. No fear of insta-love, insta-lust, or even an over-abundance of between-the-sheets action. The novel is most certainly story-driven, but there is a true sense of intimacy between Jon and Isaac.

Sad yet endearing, throw a cuddly kitten in the mix and you've got yourself a comfort read.

Recommended to MM Contemporary Romance fans, with a depth of the darker sides of reality mixed with the warm and fuzzy. However, those who are looking for a romp need to understand while the book is highly sensual, it's not a smexy fest.

I look forward to the next in the series. Actually, I wish I had it right now. I'd gobble it right up.


Angie – ☆☆☆☆☆
OMG, I loved this book. I have loved every book in this series actually. We met Jon previously and I couldn’t wait to read his story. This book just made my heart melt and break all at the same time. With Henry and his health issues, then finding out about Isaac, oh my god! The friendship between Jon and Henry was more like family, and you felt every emotion that Jon was going through first with Henry and then with Isaac. Isaac had no clue who Henry was until he showed up on his doorstep. Isaac had a rough childhood and shut himself away and liked it that way...until he met Jon. The budding friendship between Jon and Isaac was so good. I loved how they took things slow, and how patient Jon was with Isaac. This book was sweet, heartbreaking and had so much love, I honestly didn’t want it to end. There was some drama as well, which actually fit in the story line and didn’t seem to just been thrown in for filler. I can’t wait to see whose book is next, great series.

Characters: Well written and believable
Sex: Yes
Religious: No
Would I recommend to others: Yes
More than one book in the series: Yes
Genre: M/M Romance
Would I read more by this author: Yes


Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆☆
I enjoyed the first two books in this series – and think this one is even better. Whilst I think that the blurb is accurate, it underplays how beautifully and patiently the love story unfolds. We also get to meet up with some of the couples previously featured.

Ms. Arthur has an ability to get into the mind of her characters and tell us the story seamlessly, even when told from different points of view. She has a sweet, yet realistic take on life, and manages to mix up the huge and significant with the detail and nuances of life. I read it in one sitting, so keen I was to know how it would all work out. Through a run of coincidences these two men meet, and in spite of their different backgrounds, they find common ground. Jon's patience and caring was consistent and believable. Isaac's voyage of discovery is delicious.

Highly recommend this to you.

Also Available in the Perspectives Series

Book 1
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
Samhain Publishing

For reviews & more info, check out our The Truth As He Knows It post.

Book 2
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
Samhain Publishing

For reviews & more info, check out our The World As He Sees It post.

No stranger to the writing world, A.M. Arthur has been creating stories in her head since she was a child and scribbling them down nearly as long. She credits an early fascination with male friendships and "bromance" (and "The Young Riders") with her later discovery of and subsequent affair with m/m romance stories. When not writing, she can be found in her kitchen, pretending she's an amateur chef and trying to not poison herself or others with her cuisine experiments.

Connect with A.M.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Heart as He Hears It (Perspectives #3) by A.M. Arthur to read and review.