Drew's dual life as a dom at a decadent club and a devoted single father is not exactly the kind of character study I assign my juniors. But here's the thing — I finished this in one sitting on a Sunday afternoon while Denise was at her sister's, and I'm not even a little sorry about it.
Jodi Ellen Malpas has built a whole universe around Jesse Ward and his circle, and All I Am is a spinoff that focuses on Drew, a character fans already know. I came in cold — never listened to the This Man series — and the book works fine as a standalone, though there are clearly Easter eggs I missed. For listeners who want the full backstory before diving into Drew's spinoff, Beneath This Man gives you Jesse Ward in all his complicated glory — and Anthony Mark Barrow narrates that one too, which makes the transition seamless. When Jesse Ward shows up to give Drew relationship advice, I could feel the weight of backstory I didn't have. It's like walking into a Shakespeare sequel and realizing there are callbacks to a play you skipped. That said, Malpas writes Drew's internal conflict with enough clarity that you don't need the footnotes.
A Man Split Down the Middle
What kept me listening wasn't the spice — and look, there is plenty of spice, so if that's not your genre, keep scrolling — it was the structural tension of Drew's two selves. By day he's changing diapers, making breakfast for his little girl, doing the whole tender-dad routine. By night he's at Hux, operating under a completely different identity. The moment Raya Rivers walks in asking for someone "cold, emotionless, and filthy," Drew thinks he's found another easy transaction. He's wrong. And the way Malpas slowly dismantles his control, scene by scene, as Raya's vulnerability gets under his skin — that's actual character work.
The central question — can Raya accept all of who Drew is once his worlds collide — is predictable in the way romance arcs tend to be. One Night: Unveiled by the same author plays with a similar tension — characters hiding parts of themselves until the truth forces a reckoning — and Malpas handles that slow unraveling just as well there. You know where it's going. But the journey matters. This reminds me of what Hemingway said about writing: it's not about what happens, it's about how it feels while it's happening. And the emotional beats here land. Drew falling in love against his own will, resisting it, bargaining with himself — that internal wrestling match is genuinely engaging.
Anthony Mark Barrow Knows Exactly What He's Doing
At four hours, this is a quick listen, practically a novella by audiobook standards. I had a similar experience with Restless Slumber — another genre title that doesn't overstay its welcome but still manages to build a world you don't want to leave. And Barrow makes every minute count. His voice has this low, warm quality that fits Drew's first-person narration perfectly — confident on the surface, cracking underneath when things get emotionally complicated. His comedic timing is surprisingly sharp; there are moments of dry humor where Drew's internal monologue gets self-aware, and Barrow plays them with just the right lightness. He doesn't oversell the sexy scenes or underplay the tender ones.
Here's what I noticed: when Drew is at Hux, Barrow's delivery is controlled, almost clipped. When Drew is with his daughter, the voice softens — not in some exaggerated way, but enough that you feel the shift in who Drew is in that space. It's subtle work. The narrator understands that pause is punctuation, and Barrow uses silence well during the moments where Drew is realizing he's in deeper than he planned. Single narrator, clean production, no distracting effects. Just a voice and a story. Sometimes that's all you need.
My one reservation is that four hours doesn't give the relationship quite enough room to breathe. The falling-in-love arc moves fast — almost too fast — and I found myself wanting more scenes between Drew and Raya in their quieter moments before the big revelation. Several listeners echoed this: the story deserved more pages. More hours. More space for Raya especially, who carries deep sorrow that we learn about but don't fully sit with.
Who's Going to Love This (And Who Won't)
If you're already in the This Man universe, this is apparently a gift — Drew's backstory filled in, Jesse Ward popping up with advice, familiar characters getting new context. If you're coming in fresh like me, it still works, but you'll feel like the new kid at school during certain scenes. Fans of contemporary romance with a dom/sub element will feel right at home. If you need 15 hours of slow-burn buildup, this isn't it — it moves fast and knows it.
My students would hate this. I love it. (Okay, my students would probably love this more than Middlemarch, but I'll never admit that publicly.)
Worth Pausing the Faculty Meeting For
Is this the kind of literature I break down on my podcast? No. My 47 listeners would be confused. But good storytelling is good storytelling, and a narrator who understands his material is always worth your time. At four hours, it's the length of a long walk along the lakefront — and honestly, that's not a bad way to spend it. Just maybe use earbuds. Denise gave me a look when she came home and caught the last chapter playing through the kitchen speaker. Fair enough.
