5 Stars for Rend by Roan Parrish

ARC received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are my own!

This is the second book I have been able to read by Roan Parrish. I am new to the M/M genre - really love her writing style!

There were several things that just blew me away about this book - but above all else it’s just a very well written love story. A few times I just felt like my heart strings were being pulled & moved to tears which never really happens for me.

I loved both of these characters- Rhys & Matt went thru a lot to finally be together & find their HEA! I also loved that Theo & Caleb from her previous book Riven appeared as well ...

What started off as a potential one night stand for Matt - grew into a combustible attraction & within a few months - marriage ... Issues from Matt’s past has him dealing with how to grow & not let his past impact his future with Rhys.

I loved this book - great read !!!

*~~*ARC kindly provided by the author to me in exchange for an honest review *~~*

- Review to come

<a href="">Review</a> originally posted on my blog with added content <a href="https://mikkuchan.wordpress.com/">Mikku-chan / A world full of words</a>

This. Is. Heavy. Be prepared with tissue and ice cream because this is probably one of the worst ugly cry books I've read....and it's perfect!

A little disclaimer first though...I'm not giving anything away, but it totally took me a while to realize that this actually overlaps the first book a bit. Not a lot, but you'll notice once you start reading. In the first book, when we meet Rhys, he's already married. But this is prior to Theo and Caleb even meeting. Buckle up and enjoy!

Rhys. Sweet, caring, alpha Rhys. I knew I liked you when I first met you in the first book, but I have fallen in love with you. Your heart is larger than life and your drive to take care of everyone is profound. There is no one better suited to be a husband to Matt than you.

Matt. My broken, scared, submissive Matt. Although your story is sad and unfortunately not uncommon, your psyche touched too close. Your fragile heart and painful past couldn't have been more perfect for your career choice. And now that the "clop clop" has stopped, you're safe.

I'm crying all over again just writing this. It's a hard read for those who grew up in the system or know others who have. It's a hard read if you've ever felt unloved or unwanted. But it's a perfect read for overcoming those exact things as well.

Although you could probably read this as a standalone, I don't recommend it. Theo and Caleb are still key characters in this story and I feel as though very important to this story line.

reviewed by Chris

I’m not sure I can do justice to reviewing this book. My heart was breaking from the beginning for both the guy who had it all and the guy who came from nothing. Matt makes you think of so much that hopefully isn’t part of your daily focus. Where he comes from and the situation he is stuck in most of the book makes you think about all the children who have the same issues or worse. Every step of the way I just wanted Matt to be okay. Rhys, even though mostly sailing smoothly through life faces more than a few problems with Matt. I was on edge through most of the story waiting for something awful to happen since most romances tend to have drama somewhere but the way this author brought in the angst was masterful. No mostly known issues appeared but rather the author brought out the heart ache and the hope in the story. The story flows right along and I could hardly set it down. The characters are all likable and are made to feel familiar. This is one of those stories that I will keep to read again and again. The author provided a great ending while keeping all the characters involved so I feel I just want more. I have this author on my watch lists and can’t wait for the next story she comes up with. I received a free copy from NetGalley and this is a voluntary review.

Rend
By: Roan Parrish

📚💕⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💕📚

After a whirlwind romance, a man with a painful past learns to trust the musician who makes him believe in happy endings.

This book is very emotional at times gut wrenching at others. Matt Argento knows what it feels like to be alone. After a childhood of abandonment, he never imagined someone might love him—much less someone like Rhys Nyland, who has the voice of an angel, the looks of a god, and the worship of his fans.Authors Blurb: Matt Argento knows what it feels like to be alone. After a childhood of abandonment, he never imagined someone might love him—much less someone like Rhys Nyland, who has the voice of an angel, the looks of a god, and the worship of his fans.

Authors Blurb: Matt and Rhys come from different worlds, but when they meet, their chemistry is incendiary. Their romance is unexpected, intense, and forever—at least, that’s what their vows promise. Suddenly, Matt finds himself living a life he never thought possible: safe and secure in the arms of a man who feels like home. But when Rhys leaves to go on tour for his new album, Matt finds himself haunted by the ghosts of his past.

When Rhys returns, he finds Matt twisted by doubt. But Rhys loves Matt fiercely, and he’ll go to hell and back to triumph over Matt’s fears. After secrets are revealed and desires are confessed, Rhys and Matt must learn to trust each other if they’re going to make it. That means they have to fall in love all over again—and this time, it really will be forever.

This book has everything I love in a book. Then you add that it's beautifully written and believable. It is easily a five star read. Written in dual POV my personal favorite this story flows so incredibly well that the next thing you know your 80% into the book and loving every second of it. The believable way the characters interact is perfect. Run, Hop, Jump or use your (1 click) finger to do whatever you have to do and get this amazing book. It'll break your heart, you'll want to scream with frustration and it'll let you discover that love just might conquer all. The chemistry is steamy and sweet and oh so romantic.

Thanks Netgally for letting me read and review.📚💕

Rend is an exquisitely written story that deals with abandonment, anxiety and disillusionment. I loved the concept of how the romance between Rhys and Matt, while established, needed work. I loved that some moments made me feel so emotional and choked up with Matt's feelings. Rend isn't like the rest of what I read by Roan Parrish and I'm glad and happy that it isn't. It provided me with just the kind of comfort that I required. This book is a gem.

Roan Parrish knows how to tug a reader's heartstrings! I LOVED this book through the laughs and tears, gasps and shouts. A must-read!

This book is an emotional at times gut wrenching story two flawed but beautiful characters who love fully but have to figure out how to navigate marriage and forever when one of them doesn't know how to believe in forever. It was beautiful and I cried a lot but at the end it was so worth it to get to see it all work out.

This is the second book in the series but you could definitely read this one without having read the first book. If you've read the first book don't expect this one to be anything like the first one (which I also loved but in a completely different way). The two MCs do pop up quite a bit in this book but they are in this book as the support system and friendship that Matt and Rhys need.

This book begins about 18 months after Rhys and Matt have been married. We get a quick flash back to how they meet and than fast forward to 18 months after they've been married. Matt is a complex character with a heartbreaking background of an abandoned child who grew up in several foster homes and a group home feeling unwanted and unloved. Other than a best friend who moved away years ago Matt hasn't had any real relationships and he's learned not to expect anything or even want anything for himself until Rhys sweeps into his life. Rhys bursts into Matt's life and the two fall in love quickly and get married within two months and although there is never any doubt the two love each other Matt doesn't really believe it will last forever but he hides his insecurities well. Rhys comes from a loving family, close friendships and is unaware of Matt's struggles. It isn't that he doesn't want to know all of Matt it's just that in the different world he grew up issues like Matt's aren't even on his radar. Things actually go well until Rhys gets an opportunity to go on tour as a solo artist. He's looking forward to stepping into the spotlight after having spent years as a backup artist writing songs for other bands/singers. Matt stays behind because he doesn't feel he should leave his job working at a non profit agency helping kids transition from foster homes into society when they turn 18. It's a fulfilling job and important and he thinks he'll be okay but when Rhys goes on tour Matt starts to fall apart. He desperately tries to hold it together and hide it from Rhys but he spirals into depression and anxiety. He knows Rhys hasn't abandoned him but he feels like he has and doesn't know how to deal with those emotions.

When Rhys returns he finds Matt back where they started not really trusting the relationship and this is when we get to see the true beauty of the story in how both characters react and work to stay together. Most of the book is about Matt's abandonment issues but Rhys isn't perfect either and I loved that his best friend Caleb wasn't afraid to speak up about it and help him see that it wasn't about him and that he could support Matt but he couldn't fix him.

There is a lot of angst in this book and I don't always like that. I also don't usually like books where we don't see the progression of the beginning of a relationship but with this book it really wasn't necessary. The whirlwind romance happens quickly but it's watching Matt and Rhys learn the reality of marriage and how to be together and honest that's the real story and the angst is necessary and fitting. This book is full of emotion and you should definitely have a box of kleenex handy but along with the sadness there is also happiness and a ton of love. This is a book that will suck you in and take you through a journey that you can't help but feel along the way.

This is a book that will stick with me for a long time and I highly recommend this to all M/M romance fans.

Fantastic sequel to Riven. I really enjoyed this book even though it made me so sad and emotional while reading. Rhys has such a big heart and Matt is so broken but they fit so well together. I'm glad this is a HEA. I was rooting for them from the start.

REND is a touching and flawless second instalment of the Riven series. Beautifully written and delivering some remarkable characters. It was a fascinating experience.

Matt and Rhys are in love. They are perfect together and with so much love that it's easy to believe they will stay that way forever. But when Rhys' career needs him to go on tour, Matt has to face being alone. After feeling safe and at home at Rhys' side, this new situation brings Matt's fears to the surface and risk to damage what, so far, was a perfect relationship.

It was a beautiful and bittersweet book. Exactly the kind of book I love to read. There were so much sweet and tender moments that alternate perfectly with the raw and heartbreaking ones. It was interesting to see how the book would work, since we get very few moments of Rhys and Matt falling in love, which is generally the main focus on romances, and more time of them as an already in love couple, trying to deal with the everyday struggles of their relationship.

One of the things that I loved the most about it was the characters. Most of all Matt, whose internal struggle to cope with his emotions was brilliant. It was so clear there was so much love between Rhys and Matt that made the story so hopeful. They had problems, they fight, they hesitate, but there was always this big love between them that make me believe they would be able to conquer any problem they were facing.

The book is flawlessly written. It has a steady paced and had a plot that was able to keep my attention. Its strength is in the writer's ability to make us connect emotions with the characters. It deals with a lot of angst, but there was always hope. It had some nice supporting characters, some already known to anyone who has read Riven, the first book in the series. But even being a part of a series, this would work fine as a stand-alone. Recommend it to any reader who enjoys M/M pairing.

I absolutely loved this book. It was definitely not like "insta-love" in the normal sense because further down the road, the insta-love vanishes when reality settles in and it changes into a new kind of love. One based on truth and full transparency.

Matt is all kinds of messed up with abandonment issues out the whazoo. Rhys is so much a good guy, but behind that, he has a strong and overwhelming need to be possessive. Not exactly in a BDSM manner, but in a way that Matt, or any person know undoubtedly and irrevocably who he, or they belong to. This was astoundingly hot and so well written. I devoured it completely. Roan Parrish doesn't write stories that are shallow. The concept might seem repetitive to some, but the writing style and modifications made to how the concept is delivered makes up for it and is quite unique to her style. I loved LOVED this story. I can't wait for book 3.

4.5 <b> Don’t leave me</b> stars
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I am so glad I gave this author and the MM world another chance. I feel the author really matured in this story. I liked the refreshing portrayal of this story. Not every story needs to be day one of meeting. We still get the initial story which is adorable. I love Rhys because he is just the perfect person. He is strong, sweet, understanding and loving. He is exactly who Matt needed all along. I connected so deeply with Matt’s backstory which made the book quite the emotional read for me. I hurt for him and I hurt for me. I feel the story was better than Riven since I didn’t really connect with their story but the Riven characters pop back in and guess what Caleb still can only make hash hahhahahaha . this story was about being strong, being weak and learning that love is not just the easy parts.

Also .. the sex scenes are scorching hot.

This is a very deep emotional journey of love, for both Rhys and Matt. Scars, and a haunted past being a constant threat. I liked this book, it's a good story and it's written very well, for me it was a little slow and drawn out at times as I kept waiting for something bigger to happen that never did. Matt's past was sad yes and I really felt for him but his reactions we're so dramatic at times. It was as if he had so much more of a really traumatic over the top childhood. I did love seeing Caleb and Theo from Riven and how they are both doing these days.

When Matt leaves with Rhys, the hot guy he meets at a bar one night, little does he know his life was going to change—drastically.

Readers should know that this story can stand alone from the previous book, Riven. And though characters from Riven appear fairly often, the content and context of their interactions is not to the extent that one has to have read their story to understand their role here. They offer emotional support and friendship to the MCs—Rhys has a long-term friendship with Caleb, and Theo, his life partner, befriends Matt in this story.

Much of this story is a psychological study of Matt’s reactions to being with someone who apparently really wants him and doesn’t plan to abandon him in the future. Matt spent most of his life, after his mother failed to come home one day, living with people who weren’t invested in him. First, his aunt, who turned out to be unrelated, and then a series of foster families. His sexual history has been a series of one-night stands so how can he trust in Rhys, a man he meets at a bar, falls in love with, and ends up marrying him two months later?

Rhys, on the other hand, is blithely unaware of Matt’s emotional struggles. Granted, Matt has hidden his insecurities well, but Rhys comes from a totally different world—one of loving parents and family members, and a long-term friendship and on again off again friends-with-benefits standing with his best friend, Caleb. It’s not that he doesn’t want to understand Matt; it’s that Matt’s issues aren’t even on Rhys’s radar.

All is well until Rhys goes on his first tour as a solo artist. After spending years as a backup musician and songwriter, Rhys is finally in the spotlight and eagerly looking forward to the trip. Matt chooses to stay behind because his work at a nonprofit that helps foster kids transition into society after high school graduation is important and fulfilling. And that’s when Matt falls apart. Knowing he’s not really abandoned and yet emotionally crippled from his upbringing, he can’t cope. It’s during this time that Theo provides friendship and support and shows Matt the meaning of having a best friend.

What happens next is the core of the story and the author managed both characters’ emotional reactions, the highs and the lows, beautifully. There were times I wanted to smack each of them—for very different reasons. And there were times I wanted to hug Matt and show him his worth. Getting involved in a character’s life is one of the best things about reading a great story. There’s no way to stand back and watch the action. Roan Parrish sucks us in and we participate in the angst, sorrow, joy, love, and more. This is that kind of story.

By the end, I was hoping for another hundred pages. I can very definitely highly recommend this to all lovers of MM romance.

Book Two in the Riven series (easily read as a stand alone) is nothing like what I expected. Yes, Theo and Caleb are back but in minor roles, supporting the story focused on Matt and Rhys. I really enjoyed Riven so I was excited to continue the series with Rend.

What happens after happily-ever-after? Reality. And author Roan Parrish hits us with a harsh dose of reality, hard and fast. This is a really insightful, deep look in to what really goes on behind the scenes of a fairy tale romance. So, not all marriages have such deep issues but some do. Here, Parrish shows how two people struggle but don't give up-- like way too many people tend to do in today's society. Rhys and Matt are in this together and ready to fight with all they have. So much baggage left unopened-- finally gets unpacked.

As hard as a lot of it was to read-- painful, and maybe the realities hitting too close to home-- I love this book. There is love, there is romance and there is the unpleasant truth that life and relationships aren't all perfect. I think as we grow older and wiser we begin to realize and accept the true beauty in life's imperfections and challenges. I think unless you can completely disconnect from the hard emotions in Rend, you will be moved and challenged by this incredibly heartfelt story.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was so in the mood for an established couple romance!

I hadn’t really put it all together when I was reading Riven, but Caleb‘s ex-partner and best friend, Rhys, is married to Matt. I remember Theo being kinda uncomfortable reaching out to Rhys when he needed help with Caleb and Matt was there...

Anyway, don’t worry about any of that, Rend can be read as a standalone. We see Theo and Caleb a fair bit, but none of their story will be spoiled if you read this one first.

There were so many things that made this novel incredible. Matt’s narration of his life story is a heart breaker, and beautifully done. Thinking of everything this young man went through and how he’s processed it, it's humbling to see where he is at the start of this novel.

I enjoyed watching Rhys come to understand Matt’s story, and reevaluate his own life. What it adds to him as a person, and what it does for their relationship is powerfully moving.

Of course Rend is full of all the gorgeous prose I expect from Roan Parrish. I highlighted so many meaningful statements and poetic thoughts… reading over them now, it’s too hard to pick just one to share here. I’ll take the easy way out and simply encourage everyone to read this truly stunning novel.

It was some of the most beautiful angst I’ve ever read, and it was a journey I’d happily take again.

Rend is one of the best books I've read all year!!! So well written, amazing character development, I felt connected to Matt and Rhys with every word. Most romance books are very predictable, lovers meet, they fall in love and live happily ever after. But the reality of love is so much more complex than that, we have to fight to go beyond the intial whirlwind of lust to get to the lasting connection that will see you through the toughest times. The chemistry and the connection between Matt and Rhys makes this book the perfect blend meaningful and sexy!!! Couldn't put it down, five chilli peppers of hotness!!

Matt & Rhys are married. Rhys goes on tour and Matt's insecurities take over. It was tough being in Matt's head. I was more sympathetic to Rhys.

This book was heart wrenching and perfect. I love the way this author spins a tale and I absolutely am completely enamored with this series. Rend is the next book in the series after Riven and this is the story of Rhys and Matt. The perfect person and the foster kid. I can't give away too much plot wise or else it's spoilery, but this book had me crying, laughing and fanning myself.

Absolutely EXCELLENT read!

Reading a Roan Parrish book is always an emotional, gut-wrenching experience . . . one where you know going in you'll need tissues and enough alone time to finish the book in one sitting - and then recovery time before facing real life again. Once you begin, there's no turning back. Parrish runs her characters and readers threw the high angst wringer every single time. Love it or hate it - there's no denying this author's gift for writing character relationships that are pushed to the limit . . . and then shoved over the edge. No one does it better.

Two hearts, souls, and worlds collide in Rend. Will anyone survive the fallout? Matt Argento is a product of the foster system - a man haunted by his past, heavily laden with insecurities elevated by an unhealthy dose of trust and abandonment issues. Rend is told from Matt's pov, putting readers at high risk of emotional overload. I was giddy with joy when Matt was happy and lost in dark despair when he was low. After a whirlwind romance (all in the Prologue), musician Rhys Nyland offers Matt forever when he asks for his hand in marriage. Rhys is everything good - a rainbow on a stormy day, a safe harbor for a sinking ship (or man), a gorgeous man from a loving home and family. Matt can't believe Rhys chose him to spend the rest of his life with . . . and therein lies part of the problem. The issues escalate when Rhys leaves on a two month tour, and the ghosts of Matt's past move in - invading his nightmares and infiltrating the harsh light of day until Matt's no longer sure what's real and what's not and is in grave danger of crashing and burning. His angst, pain, and depression are so realistically portrayed that I found it hard to breath at times. Can Matt slay the ghosts of his past and build a true partnership with Rhys? Or did Rhys make the biggest mistake of his life leaving Matt alone with his demons?

Darkness settles over this couple as they struggle to hold onto an illusive happy-ever-after based on dreams and ideals. The overall plot line is not overly complicated, but the story is masterfully woven and beautifully delivered through complex, emotionally charged, well-developed characters. As heartbreaking as this story is at times, the mood and heart are set aflame by sinfully sexy, passionate love scenes. Fans will love the appearance of Theo and Caleb as they interact in strong, supportive roles. The only reason this is a 4 instead of 5 star read for me is that I reached a saturation point and started feeling a little inundated with all the repetitive heavy scenes of angst as well as with the explosive, off-the-charts, heat-generating, fan-yourself sex scenes that I love. Gasp! I know, right? What can I say? They're fantastic, but sometimes less is more . . . if you know what I mean. Having said that, readers will gobble this up and beg for more! I know I am so stoked for the next one! A Sinful, Sensuous Must Read!