Drawn Together

By: Juliana Smith

Narrated by: Ava Erickson, Connor Crais

A rival children’s book author and illustrator become reluctant friends over their mutual need to advance in their careers in this heartwarming, character-driven, slow-burn romcom set in fall NYC.

In a city that never sleeps, Flora is desperate to wake up and finally land her first big break. But if your twenties are supposed to be the best years of your life, Flora’s off to a terrible start. Five months into her move, she's barely scraping by—her closest companion a silent roommate, and her first major freelance job slipping through her fingers. Her best chance at making it is surviving the one commission no illustrator before her could: a notoriously impossible-to-please author who (quite rudely) rejects every single draft she submits. Flora’s timeline is short—and she's running out of chances.

To nail this project, she’ll have to lean into the dark, moody themes of his writing—no small task for someone known for illustrating woodland creatures in top hats. When she’s on the brink of giving up, a chance encounter with a surly stranger changes everything. Fletcher Harding, neighbor, a friend of her roommate, and a dark literature connoisseur, needs help writing a column on romance novels to achieve an advance in his career. Flora, a firm believer in happily-ever-after's, he decides is the perfect tutor.

On a hazy walk home, the two strike a deal: she’ll teach him about love stories, and he’ll teach her how to embrace the shadows in her work. As their creative boundaries blur, so do the ones between their growing friendship and something far more. But with both of them carrying the weight of their pasts—and the futures of their careers hanging in the balance—can they really trust a story where love is the final chapter?

Especially when Flora realizes the author critiquing her work is the very man she’s falling for.

©2025 Juliana Smith (P)2025 One Night Stand Studios

Heartwarming

I loved the characters the plot and just all in all the whole book! Fabulous must read and perfect for the fall!.

A cozy romance for any season

Drawn Together by Juliana Smith
🎧 Duet narration by Connor Crais & Ava Erickson
Cozy romance, fall leaves, pumpkin spice lattes, blueberry muffins... and wait, it’s May? Yep. But I had to give it a chance and this sweet closed-door romance completely stole my heart.

Drawn Together feels like the kind of comfort movie you curl up with on a rainy afternoon, except in duet audiobook form.
From the adorable blueberry muffin meet-cute to the slow-burn chemistry, this story wrapped me up in cozy NYC autumn vibes from start to finish.
Flora is a lovable and relatable heroine: an insecure children’s book illustrator trying to restart her career in New York City. Fletcher is the perfect grumpy, slightly mysterious counterpart, a writer who hides more than he says.
What starts as creative collaboration slowly becomes something deeper, weaving together themes of found family, grief, trust, and inclusiveness, including hearing-impaired representation that added so much heart to the story.

And the audiobook performances? Outstanding. Connor Crais was absolutely perfect as Fletcher, and Ava Erickson brought so much warmth and vulnerability to Flora.
This is the kind of romance that leaves you smiling long after it ends. Honestly, is there ever a wrong time of year for a cozy feel-good romance? 🍂✨

Sweet and Swoony Dual Narration

Happy sigh…Drawn Together by Juliana Smith was a sweet, swoony, and cozy rivals to lovers romance that warmed my heart in all the best ways. I couldn’t get enough of Flora and Fletcher’s witty conversations, and love of books chemistry had me falling for these two so hard. Their slow burn friends to lovers chemistry was undeniable and meant to be.

Ava Erickson and Connor Crais perform this audiobook in duet-style narration. Ava narrates the majority of this book in Flora’s point of view with Connor adding the male dialogue making this a fun immersive listen. Ava’s soft, decadent voice captured Flora’s romance loving heart and determined spirit to make her new living arrangement work. Connor’s warm, inviting timbre encompassed Fletcher’s observant and thoughtful demeanor perfectly. Both narrators created a light-hearted, magnetic chemistry between Flora and Fletcher that made my heart melt.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. If you are a fan of a fall romance with a passionate children’s book illustrator, an endearing content editor, muffin meet cute mishaps, trivia night, making new friends, truths about the past, dream job books, two person book club, thirty second hugs, closet confessions, floatworthy first kisses, first date fantasies,secrets revealed, love declarations, and a HEA that will melt your heart, then you will love Flora and Fletcher’s story. I am looking forward to more from Juliana Smith.

Perfect Listen For A Cozy Fall Day

This audiobook is absolutely amazing. The book is such a cute fall read, but the audiobook takes it to another level. The duet narration is perfect and exactly how I imagined Flora and Fletcher to sound. Simply put, this audiobook is enchanting. I will definitely be listening to this every fall from now on.

Closed door contemporary romance

This was my first book by the author. I really enjoyed her way of telling a story.
The main part of the story is told first person from the female character. On occasion you'll get a brief third person insight from the male character. I thought the duet audio reading was a little strange at first but grew to really like it as the book went on.
There are a couple of very infrequent curse words and there are relations outside of marriage mentioned but not described.