The Truth as He Knows It

Perspectives, Book 1

By: A. M. Arthur

Narrated by: Guy Locke

Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Officer Noel Carlson isn't out to anyone in small-town Stratton, Pennsylvania, so a relationship is out of the question. That doesn't stop him from wanting one, though.

When a night-shift call brings him face-to-thonged-butt with a hired stripper whose girl-party gig went terribly wrong, Noel takes pity on the guy and lets him go. But he can't get the encounter out of his mind.

Shane has big-time debts to repay, especially to the brother who sacrificed nearly everything for him. His two jobs, in a deli and as a stripper, leave him no time for a social life. But a non-date of hot sex and takeout food with Noel? He can squeeze that in.

The bond they form is stronger than either expected or wanted. Especially since the step Shane's about to take to put his brother - and his soul - back in the black isn't quite legal. And he never calculated just how much his determination to make things right will cost him in the end.

Contains mature themes.

©2015 A. M. Arthur (P)2016 Tantor

Affecting rollercoaster of emotions

This book is an emotional rollercoaster. In the end, I’m glad I stuck with it. About 2/3 of the way through, I wandered off to read other books but came back after a while & the pace picked up again. The book really hit me in the the feels.

There are currently 3 books in this series, which I read in the order 2,3,1. I’m glad I didn’t read this book first because of how upset doing porn made Shane. Also, because I liked the finale of this book better than that of book 3.

Digression related to future books: One recurrent event seems to be people asking others to leave, multiple times, only to have those people not leave. What’s up with that? Once might take you by surprise, but if someone repeats a request to get out of their space? Get out. Resolve your issues later. It shouldn’t require a punch to get the message, if you’re actually a good guy. (deep breath) Also, I loved book 2 but took real issue with book 3. Partway into this book, I wondered if the same thing - one partner stomping on the others’ worst fears - was happening, but the scenes are not equivalent. In this book, Noel pushes Shane’s fear button unwittingly, leading to him learning more about Shane and a discussion about when Cop Noel would override Partner Noel when Shane tells him a bad secret. They both agree to move forward with those terms and stick to it, where in book 3, John already knows Isaac’s fears and uses them to hurt his partner. This book was so much better for how the partners dealt with each other during times of high stress. Shane ran off, yes, but neither partner took serious digs at each other. They supported each other the way a good romantic pair should.

Steam: medium hot m/m. A few explicit scenes but pretty normal.

Narrator: I enjoyed Guy Locke’s narration even though I think he pronounced “Noel” weird. As a name, I expect /Know-L/ instead of /no-EL/ like the holiday spirit. I wish audio producers would confirm name pronunciations with authors before recording.

WOW!

Really loved this whole story. Very believable characters and storyline. Love, grief, tension, resolution. Everything was there. Congrats to the author for a great book. Narrator's voice was perfect for all characters. You will enjoy this tale.

Wonderful

This book made me laugh and cry I absolutely love it. I recommend it to everyone

Review for Audible Edition

I really enjoyed the narration. Guy Locke has a really nice voice. My issue is the way he pronounced Noel. He pronounces it like the feminine name No-el, instead of the masculine Nole (knoll). Through. the. entire. book. It really got on my nerves and prevented me from being able to get into the story. Also, there were other words that were incorrect (ie: lose instead of loose), I don't know if it's acceptable for a narrator to make this kind of correction as they read, but it seems strange that he wouldn't. Or maybe he misspoke as he read?

great story, not so great narration

I loved this story so much. I laughed and cried along with the characters. my one critique, the narration sounded so forced and uninspired. I wish Guy's voice sounded more natural and had a better flow.

✫✫ 4 Stars ✫✫

I love a good MM book when both men are not trying to fight their preferences. This was a good story with a lot of ups and downs and a happy ending! Noel & Shane were sweet, I loved Noel because he didn't freak out about all of Shane's secrets, he just took him as he was.

The narration was good.

The storyline was okay.

The storyline was okay. It attempted to build some depth to the characters, but you can't have everything. The "hot and steamy" scenes seemed canned and a bit cut and paste. Most enjoyable part? Trying to figure out the strange accent of the narrator. Having lived in both PA and AR I can definitely say that I have never heard anyone say "Stratton" quite like that. It was interesting, truly. The narrator almost came off as British doing an American accent and trying for regional accents. It was very entertaining. I would listen to more books with this narrator.

so much more

This book was so much more than I expected. More powerful, more sexy, more disturbing, more heart breaking, more intriguing, more real, more raw and gritty.... just more. This is not a light hearted rom-com. This is a story that sticks with you. 5 stars.

Yet another story ruined by negative stigmas...

Use of the derogatory term "Clean" to denote HIV status is demoralizing to people living with HIV and further perpetuates a ignorant stigma.

Other than that, the story was good and delved into some pretty tough subject matter and situations. I was hoping more would happen to the woman who assaulted Jody, but that story arc was left unfinished. Hopefully, she'll get what's coming to her in Book 2...

Brought me to tears

It's been a hundred books or more since I've cried over a story in a book. I'm not going to give it away but it was shocking and so well written I felt like I was in the scene.

The characters were written in depth, even a couple that aren't MC's and I like that. The book is all about emotions and relationships, doesn't go into a lot about surroundings and or stuff that create visual pictures. It creates emotional ones and AM Arthur did that well.

I am so looking forward to a HEA for Tristan in the next book.

Wasn't impressed with narrator but he didn't ruin the book either. Average.