Sweet story

A.M. Johnson is new to me and I like the wonderful writing style. The story is short, but the two protagonists were well developed on the few lines.
Clay is an author who gave up writing to continue running his parents' bookstore. He has an open and honest manner that I like. He meets Syrus, the audiobook narrator, at the bookstore and the attraction between them is immediate. Syrus is different, but likable as well.
The story is heartwarming and I enjoyed it.

The two narrators, Kirt Graves and Aaron Shedlock, harmonize so well together and voice their characters perfectly. It was a pleasure to listen to them both.

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Lovely listen

I’m new to this series and so wasn’t sure to expect. The blurb says it is a stand-alone and that’s true. Other pairs of men appear, but I was never lost with my two main guys. Syrus and Clay make an adorable couple. Syrus, the shy and introvert who narrates books and Clay, the bookstore owner and writer who brings words to life. As an author, I have a special relationship with my narrators. Nothing like this, of course, but they are people I consider important in my life.

When Syrus reaches out to Clay to ask if he can narrate one of Clay’s gay romance books, the relationship develops quickly. In a way, Syrus already knows Clay – through his words – and he lets down his guard perhaps faster than he might have otherwise. Although the story is short, it packs a lot of punch. And I loved how Clay respected Syrus’s limits and abilities, never pushing. Never testing boundaries.

Finally, of course, I can’t rave about the book without mentioning the narrators Aaron Shedlock and Kirt Graves. I’ve heard quite a few of Kirt’s books in the past and so was thrilled to have him on the project. Aaron was perfect as the down-to-earth out in the world Clay. Kirt was amazing as the introvert and shy Syrus who obviously was far more comfortable in the booth than with people. This is just a lovely novella and I’m so glad I listened.

Great performances and story

It doesn’t get more perfect than an author running a bookstore and a shy audiobook narrator meeting said favorite author in that bookstore and them falling in love. If you are like me, that will be enough to ensure you’ll grab that book in one click and immediately devour it. Johnson meets the challenge of creating two wonderful characters in Clay and Syrus to carry this plot. I loved it from first word to sweet HEA. Kirt Graves is a long-time favorite and his performance here is spot on in capturing all the emotions perfectly. Aaron Shedlock is right there with him making this a superbly done dual narration.

Novella

Very cute and deliciously smexy novella. This makes me wanna read the whole series! I think it's my first time reading something by A.M. Johnson, I really enjoyed.

Kirt Graves is always a pleasure to liste to, but it's even better with Aaron Shedlock as his duo. Both are fantastic on this!

Charming & Romantic, Beautifully Performed

To Whom It May Concern is my first experience with the writing of A.M. Johnson, and I’m thrilled to have discovered them! I’m amazed by how beautifully Johnson develops these characters in just one hundred pages, and it’s been a long time since I’ve five starred something so short.

Clay is a marvelous character, I love how open and upfront he is. And the way he is able to draw Syrus out is fascinating.

Syrus, so delightfully quirky, and simply embraces the oddness that makes him who he is… I loved it!

I adore Kirt Graves’ narration, and he makes a spectacular Syrus, and Aaron Shedlock’s warm and soothing voice is perfect for Clay. Marvelous performances by both narrators.

I received an audiobook copy of To Whom It May Concern for the purpose of my honest review, all opinions are my own

good

very good.. the story was well written and yummy... so much fun to read and listen to.. the narrator did a good job with the characters personalities and emotions.. it was fun to listen to and be part of their lives.

Short, sweet, sexy story

I loved this short, sweet, sexy story about two guys (an author and an audiobook narrator) who meet by accident and bond over the author's book, which the audio narrator loved (when apparently no one else did). Their meet-cute as strangers was adorable, and the attraction was instantaneous, though unspoken at the time. I loved Syrus' nerdiness and knowledge of miniscule facts and statistics about EVERYTHING. (It seemed he might be on the autistic scale, especially with his aversion to social situations and people, although this isn't addressed by the story.) And the way they - ahem - 'bonded' during Syrus' recording of Clay's novel was super hot. I loved the low-angst nature of the story and Clay's complete acceptance of Syrus as he was, quirks and all. Fantastic, fell-good story. I would love to read (or listen) to more about these two. And the sneak-peak of another story at the end...man do I want to listen to that one, too.

The narration was great and really highlighted the differences between the two MCs. Aaron Shedlock was a new narrator to me, and I thought he and Kirt did a great job on this story.

I received a free copy of this audiobook at my request and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

Stirring

This is a heartwarming story. Two guys at a point in their life needing more. Clay is an author who has set aside his writing to run the bookstore his parents left. I don’t remember the author identifying Syrus’s personality and emotional sensitivities gut he really lacks the ability for a comfortable social life. He is an audio book narrator which gives him the ability to do his work privately. When these two meet it’s almost instant attraction. Clay is able to look past Syrus’s issues and Syrus has this fan attraction to Clay without really knowing who he is. Their journey is touching. I think this author has a unique ability to develop characters and situations in a novella that made this an enjoyable story to me. The only part I disliked is that I feel it is a HFN more than an ending. I had read the book before getting the audio and have to say it took my a little to get used to these narrations but it also made the story easier to visualize.

short and sweet with all the feels!

Independent reviewer for gay Romance Reviews, I was gifted the audio version of this book.

To Whom It May Concern,

This is book 3.5 in the For Him series. I didn't read/listen to the others, but they are all stand alone books, so I didn't miss anything by not doing. I WILL, at some point, either read or listen to those books though!

This is a delightfully sweet, cute and quick read/listen.

I loved the meeting, the instant attaction, but slow burn to get more physical. I loved that Clay made Syrus push his self infliction boundaries and strict rules. I loved that Syrus made Clay feel again after so long.

I did not love the ending. It does say, "the end, for now" at the end but I still found it kinda cut off mid scene, almost!

I loved the dual narration by Aaron Shedlock and Kirt Graves. I don't think I've listened to Shedlock before. I don't know who voiced which character here, but I did have to slow my narration speed when listening to Clay. But that's not a fault on the narration, more a production. Once I'd settled on a slightly slower speed, things were better for me.

But the thing I'm left with, the thing that I NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED is this: I want to read the book Clay wrote! I want to read The Branches Between Us! And it pains me, deeply, because I know I can't!

So, all in all, a short, sweet, cute read/listen, that I hope and pray will be given a follow up!

4 stars overall

much love,

me.

*same worded review will appear elsewhere

Should have stuck to one narrator in this case

I enjoyed this. It was very sweet. I really like the characters. It's nice to see 2 nerdier types bond for a change in what I normally read. I do think there were hints of Autism rep but it wasn't flat out said so I'm not sure if the author was going for that or not. Even though I really like this I got to give it 3 stars cause it wasn't even a complete novella. This reads more like a preview. It's for a book in a new series to come later, that I would have expected to see in an authors newsletter and not in a published piece, especially not audio.

The last chapter is a preview of book 4 and it seems really interesting.

The narrator reading Clay talked way too fast and I had to drastically slow down the pace to 1.0x. He did have a pleasant voice and he expressed the emotions well enough. He differentiated the voices enough to easily follow. Overall I enjoyed his parts. The narrator reading Syrus read much more slower so I increased the speed again. I wasn't overly found of this narrators voice. He didn't really express any emotion or differentiate the voices and he read in a tone that made me want to zone out.