The Half of Us

By: Cardeno C.

Narrated by: Ezekiel Robison

Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's Summary

Short-tempered, arrogant heart surgeon Jason Garcia grew up wanting a close-knit family, but believes he ruined those dreams when he broke up his marriage. The benefit of divorce is having as much random sex as he wants, and it's a benefit Jason is exploiting when he meets a sweet, shy man at a bar and convinces him to go home for a no-strings-attached night of fun.

Eight years living in Las Vegas hasn't dimmed Abe Green's optimism, earnestness, or desire to find the one. When a sexy man with lonely eyes propositions him, Abe decides to give himself a birthday present - one night of spontaneous fun with no thoughts of the future. But one night turns into two and then three, and Abe realizes his heart is involved.

For the first time, Abe feels safe enough with someone he respects and adores to let go of his inhibitions in the bedroom. If Jason can get past his own inhibitions and open his heart and his life to Abe, he might finally find the family he craves.

©2014 Cardeno C (P)2015 Cardeno C

I'm in love with this audio!!

I'm in love and his name is Ezekiel Robison. This new (to me) narrator blew me out of the water. HE IS AWESOME. Robison takes all of the awesome hot dirty talk and the smoking' hot sexy times and turns it all up to eleven!

Jason, a 36-year-old surgeon, is looking for a one-off to help him forget his bad day. He walks into a bar and immediately hears 26-year-old math teacher Abe laugh and is instantly drawn to him. Even though Abe never does one night stands he decides there’s something about Jason and takes him home for a night of explosively hot sex. A couple of months later Jason goes to another bar for a hook-up and hears Abe laugh and, again, he’s immediately drawn again to Abe.

I absolutely love that Jason and Abe's relationship develops naturally over time and how perfectly Robison narrates every stage of their relationship. Not to mention how fantastically hot he makes the sex scenes. 

Stories like this are why Cardeno is my crack. I cannot get enough!

Bottom Line: Lightly sprinkled with just a soupçon of angst this story has it all: humor, romance, amazing characters, character growth, and then you also get hot sex and dirty talk!

This audio is perfection. 5+ Stars!! It is immediately on my favorites shelf, and, more importantly, in my monthly rotation. Robison is also on my favorite narrator list.

Highly Recommended!

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

A great narrator for a great book.

Would you listen to The Half of Us again? Why?

Absolutely! I have read the story a few times, but Robison brought a whole new life and dimension to the book and characters.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Without a doubt, Abe. He is such a sweet, kind, and understanding guy (perhaps too kind and understanding...)

Have you listened to any of Ezekiel Robison’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, this was the first, and it won't be the last.

If you could take any character from The Half of Us out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Abe, of course!

Any additional comments?

I highly recommend The Half Of Us narrated by Ezekiel Robison, buy it and see for yourself why he is a new fave narrator of mine.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

awesome!

Any additional comments?

I purchased the ebook copy of this book, but was gifted the audio copy for review.

Jason is a In-Out-done sort of guy. He never has sex with the same man twice, and he is okay with that. Until he meets Abe. Abe is a forever kinda guy, that is, until he takes Jason home as a birthday treat to himself. It was only supposed to be one time, but when once becomes twice, and three times, neither of them are quite sure where this is going, or how it will end.

I absolutely ADORE Cardeno C's work. ADORE it, its the only word I can use to describe how I feel about this author's work. Ive listened to some, read many, and not one has been below four stars, not even the itty bitty 30odd page ones.

THIS IS MY NEW FAVOURITE! I say that, each and every time I read a new book, but I mean it, the characters are awesome, in their normal-ness. The plot is sweet, and has the very CC trait of no major break-up/make-up, no misunderstandings, no psycho ex coming to cause trouble. Its just plain AWESOME!

I'm waffling, I know. So, deep breath, and lets try again.

I loved both Abe and Jason. Jason is a bit of a hot headed dude, who likes things his way, and Abe is so very laid back, any more and he'd be horizontal. And he is, frequently, in this book! I loved that Abe sort of instills himself into Jason's life, and Jason doesn't really see it coming. I love LOVE Angela and the kids. Angela was such a wonderful ex-wife, she knew about Jason being gay, long before he did himself.BUT she didn't hold it against him, she really didn't. The kids were NOT perfect, okay, so maybe one was and the other was just a teenaged boy rebelling as only teenage boys can, but I loved them for their normal-ness. They weren't spoilt, they knew about their dad's sexual preferences, and didn't hate him for it. CC could easily have gone down that route, with nutty ex's and even nuttier kids, but nope....and the result is a stunning five star read that will make you fall in love with Jason, short temper and all, and with Abe, sweet gorgeous man forever.

The only thing that I did not like.... I love you was missing. neither of them said it, but they both had the thought. It would have just finished it off perfectly, I reckon.

This is the fourth book in the Family Series, and you don't need to have read the rest, I have, and Asher from Something In the Way He Needs pops up, and Abe is in Strong Enough. I just need to read book three, More Than Everything.

**AUDIO REVIEW**

Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted the audio file to review.

Ezekiel Robison narrates. This is the first I've listened to of his work, and I will give him another chance, because I did struggle at points along the way with his narration. The characters are clearly defined, and his reading voice is clear and even. What I struggled with was, at points, the sound dipped. NOW, I don't know if this was my file or the narration, hence why I will give him another chance, because there was nothing to indicate which parts dipped. For example, in another audio review, I said that when the characters were thinking, the sound dipped, almost to a whisper. There wasn't that here. It affected my listening, enough for me to mention it, but not enough for me to adjust me original rating of 5 stars.

Robison gave Jason and Abe just the right voices, they fit perfectly to the image I had when reading, even if it was over a year ago. He portrayed Abe instilling himself into Jason life beautifully, and Jason, well he was just Jason!

5 stars for the book
4 for the narration (but only because of the sound dipping thing!)

**same worded review will appear on Goodreads, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, BArnes and Noble and Audible.com**

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

1/2 + 1/2 = A Whole!

What made the experience of listening to The Half of Us the most enjoyable?

The narration was amazing, but I loved the way the story was written and the character development.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Half of Us?

When Jason realized he was in love. The way that was described was perfect!

What does Ezekiel Robison bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He brought Jason to life. Seriously, I could actually visualize Jason and the expression he would have on his face while listening.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It was, sadly it took a couple days. I'll be listening to this one again for sure.

Any additional comments?

Jason Garcia is a brilliant physician and surgeon, but the man is terrible when it comes to intimacy and relationships. Divorced from his wife and estranged from his two teenage children, Jason enjoys random hook-ups with virtual strangers to take the edge off. Until he meets Abe, the one night stand that Jason can’t stop thinking about.

Abe Green is patient, loyal and steadfast, which is a plus for his job as a teacher. He’s worn out with the bar scene and never does random hook-ups. Abe wants the real thing. Love, family, stability and endurance; and as much as he wants that to be with Jason, he recognizes the hesitancy in Jason’s eyes. The man is persistent, and though Jason refuses to commit, the two can’t help breaking all their rules with each other.

What to say about this book other than I loved it. Jason was probably one of the most developed characters I’ve read in a while. He went from a serial sleeper to a committed family man that was happy and content with his life. His transformation was slow and gradual, just like his love story with Abe. They totally completed each other and it was so much fun to watch! Jason was a bear at times, brash and loud. Abe was patient with him and was able to get through to Jason every time, eventually. It was Jason’s growing relationship with Abe that brought Jason and his teenage children closer as well.

A few key points for me… when Jason gets off a seven day stretch, he’s exhausted and frazzled and takes it out on Abe. Ever patient, Abe just complies with Jason’s request and then after, when they talk about it, Jason sees what he did and apologizes. Before Abe he would have told the guy to fuck off and wrote him off. Then there is the point in the story when he realizes he is in love with Abe. The way it was described, Jason mentally working out his feelings, it was perfect and so well conveyed.

Ezekial Robinson is a new narrator to me, but I absolutely loved his approach. He had this tone for Jason that bent and flowed with the character, his mood and his ever changing attitude. The tone was deep and sensual when appropriate, growling when needed and loud when he was pissed. Abe’s tone rarely changed, which fit his character perfectly. He rarely lost control of any situation, only coming out of his shell fully when he and Jason were in bed. Speaking of bed, these two were like rabbits. And Robinson nailed those scenes flawlessly right down to every moan, groan, sigh and scream.

Definitely a must listen, or read I’m sure. The storyline was steadily paced, the characters well developed and explored, it was sexy, passionate, emotional and completely engrossing.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Immensely enjoyable

This was a good story which was enhanced greatly by the narrator. It was warm and entertaining as well as funny. Did not need so much sex.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

nice collection

The narration brought the stories to life. I enjoyed that they were all different. You may anticipate the storyline but then it takes off in a different direction. Great job.

it was great

i love this book it is so good that I didn't want it to end it is so worth it

Funny

I like this book it was sweet and funny I well listen to it again

Abe

I liked the book. it was light with a happy ending. wished abe's friends were more involved in the story

Sexy!

I read this previously, but listened to the audiobook while reading it. I really loved this book and reminds me why I love Cardeno C books. There could have been a lot of angst and Jason acting like an ass to Abe, but it never happened. Abe just slowly took over Jason's world until he just gave into the inevitable.

re: narration: I absolutely loved Ezekial Robison's voice for Jason. Jason was a dirty talker and hearing his deep, sexy voice just added to my enjoyment of the audiobook. I highly recommend this one!

Derivative

Tacky and predictable. Sex too frequent. Writing adequate but dull. Reader fine but annoying when tries to make lead man butch. Regret purchased.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Only 2 chapters?!?!

Despite the running time stating 6hrs 30mins , this audio only consists of the first two chapters! Money back please.

Great Story

Well up to Cardeno C standards. The narration was good. The story made me laugh and cry. And for me the story is complete no loose ends. And a good ending.

Outstanding story: Love, Need, Hope & Family.

What made the experience of listening to The Half of Us the most enjoyable?

Ezekiel's narration is outstanding. The voices wonderful. Just as I imagined them when I first read the book.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I loved Abe. He's such a sweetheart with his desire to love Jason despite his faults and to take on challenging teen children. Jason himself is wonderfully strong and driven, and chastened by the mistakes he felt he'd made in the past. The desire of both men for a family is tangible.

Have you listened to any of Ezekiel Robison’s other performances? How does this one compare?

This is my first Ezekiel Robinson story, I'll be sure to look him up in future.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Definitely! I laughed and cried! Cardeno C's writing is so beautifully sensitive and funny, but the characters are genuinely developed and drive the story too, so it's moving.

Any additional comments?

This is a must read/listen for fans of gay romance. A classic!