Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: The Heart as He Hears It 
SERIES: Perspectives #3
AUTHOR: A.M. Arthur
NARRATOR: Guy Locke
PUBLISHER: Tantor
RELEASE DATE: April 19, 2016
LENGTH: 10 hours, 57 minutes
BLURB:
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 that Isaac is too fragile for a relationship. Yet tentative friendship grows into genuine companionship. And when Henry’s health begins to fail, they realize that fate brought them together for a reason.
REVIEW:
The Heart as He Hears It is the third book in the Perspectives series. It can be read as a standalone as each book focuses on a new couple. They do appear as minor characters, but you won’t feel lost when they do.
Sadly, I just wasn’t feeling the magic this time around and I can’t really tell you why. I mean the story is a good one. I love dented characters and we got that here, there are plenty of issues going around with everything from eating disorders, anxiety and agoraphobia. I love to read about overcoming adversity and we got that here. We follow Isaac’s journey letting John and Henry in, first in his apartment and then into his life. Developing a friendship, learning about attraction and even venturing outside for a moment. So the story is there. The narration is there (more on that later), so why I just didn’t connect I sadly can’t answer. I do know that it’s all on me and not the book.
Guy Locke performed this book really well. The different voices made it easy to separate the characters and following along. He also captured the nuances of their personalities. Isaac’s fear and anxiety for almost everything. His fascination with new knowledge. The friendship between John and Henry also came through so clearly, as was the loss when he “finally” passed. He added a lot of feeling and emotions to the narration and brought the story to another level.
While I didn’t connect to the audio as I’d hoped I do recognise that’s all on me. The writing and story is there and the narration is a good one. So if you are looking for a new beginnings story with a lot of emotions this might be the book for you.
RATING: 
Story: 3 hearts
Narration: 4,5 hearts
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