Once upon a time, I was an avid reader of Ms Singh’s work, but I got burned out on her abundant writing ticks in the Psy/Changeling series, so I didn’t get around to reading this last book in the Rock Kiss series. (It didn’t help that it involves a second chance romance for a previously divorced couple–baggage, I haz it)

However, it has always bothered me that I left the series ‘incomplete’, review-wise, especially because I liked the first couple of books so much, so here we are.

This NetGalley ARC has been sitting unread in my kindle since mid-2016.

Beware: swearing; explicit sex on page; alcoholism; drug addiction; second chance; death of a child (sibling); death of parents; cancer; miscarriage; stillbirth; emotional abuse/manipulation; intimate partner violence; relentless heteronormativity.

This story can be read as a stand alone, since the backstories for the (many) secondary characters are given, but I believe readers would enjoy this book more as the conclusion of the series rather than as the introduction to it. Plus, we get to see the main characters (mostly Abe, but also a bit of Sarah) from the other characters’ point of view.

The novel is narrated in third person, past tense, from the alternating points of view of the two protagonists. It starts a couple of years in the past, back when they were still married, and the author does a good job in showing the reader the problems in their relationship, the main one being:

“Sarah loved Abe with a devotion that terrified her. She knew that he didn’t loved her back. that was okay. She could accept that–she’d never expected someone so magnificent to love her. But he wanted her and he needed her and he was wonderful to her when he wasn’t poisoning his body with drugs and alcohol.” (Chapter 1)

That same night there’s a scene between them–can’t call it a fight when one party is helpless and essentially silent–where Abe is emotionally abusive towards Sarah to such a degree that he finally breaks her; she leaves him and, eventually, files for divorce. And an ugly, protracted, very public divorce it ends up being!

We learn later that Abe’s much younger sister died of cancer when she was just eight years old and he barely twenty one, which affected him deeply. Shortly after, his apparently-healthy father died of a stroke, leaving only Abe and his mother. By this point, the Schoolboys Choir band was already on its way up, and both alcohol and drugs readily available, which make it easy for our grief-stricken, very angry-at-the-Fates hero to get hooked.

By the time he met Sarah a few short years later, he was already an alcoholic and drug addict; when they had a one night stand that resulted in pregnancy (because of course), he “did the right thing” by marrying her. Then, shortly after the wedding, she miscarried, and he was very understanding and kind to her. However, that foundational crack in the marriage was still there: Abe didn’t love her.

Sarah’s backstory is pretty harrowing; the unwanted result of a teen pregnancy, she is eventually fully orphaned and ends in foster care; fleeing further abuse there at fifteen, she ends up homeless and alone in L.A. shortly thereafter. Through a stroke of luck, she ends up at a “wayward youth” type program where she feels safe, so she stays until she’s of age; then, armed with her GED, proceeds to work minimum wage gigs for the next three years, until she meets Abe.

Once married, Sarah does what, in her limited world view, is expected of her: she stays home and tries her best to get Abe to quit both drugs and alcohol. But, as he has yet to address the root cause of his addictions, what happens is that he gets worse, and becomes more emotionally abusive towards her as time passes.

As he’s the hero of the story, the author hammers it in that Abe never actually hit Sarah, but anyone who’s been on the receiving end of emotional abuse knows that’s cold comfort and a bullshit excuse.

A couple of years after their divorce, Sarah gets pregnant while in another relationship, but her baby is stillborn, and things with that man go very sour, very fast thereafter. It all comes to a head during a music festival, with the man hitting Sarah in the face, and Abe witnessing the attack, rescuing her, and beating the snot out of the offender.

This incident open the door for Sarah to reenter Abe’s circle of friends; Molly, the fiancée of one of his bandmates, offers their house for Sarah to say while the ex’s stuff is cleared out of her house, the locks changed, and her security beefed up. Thea, the band’s publicist, gathers dirt on the ex so that Sarah has leverage to yeet him out of her life, should he try to put pressure on her for any reason. All of them, in fact, help Sarah at one point or another; for her own sake, and to assist Abe in taking her of her.

By this point, Sarah is in her mid-twenties, and has a small but exclusive company that caters to the wealthy and famous; she’s generally much better adjusted, having learned to make friends outside her relationships. So while the loss of her baby nigh flattens her emotionally, she’s otherwise stronger and more sure of herself, than she had been when leaving Abe.

But of course, this is a romance, so they eventually “connect” again, with Sarah still very much in love with Abe–self-preservation, what’s that?–whereupon, she gets pregnant, because of course.

“Sober, Abe was an amazing man, but that man had never loved Sarah. She couldn’t forget that–he’d almost broken her the last time they’d danced.” (Sarah, right after they have unprotected sex, chapter 7)

Here I have to call out something that bugs the everliving soul out of me whenever the trope shows up in my genre romance reading: “I’m on the pill” is never the be-all of pregnancy prevention (condoms break! other medication screws up with oral contraceptives!), and it will not protect either party from an STD, from chlamydia to herpes. /rant

By now, the reader knows that Abe is sober and clean, and getting therapy to both stay clean and address his unresolved anger and grief; that he deeply regrets his abusive behavior towards Sarah; that he did love her when they married, and that he has loved her every day since.

Most importantly: when he gets her pregnant for the second time, he was already trying to figure out how to atone for his trespasses against her, and how to restart their relationship, so he’s very much onboard with co-parenting. It’s nowhere near all he wants with Sarah, but Abe will take what he can get, and work on earning her forgiveness and regaining her trust.

The book covers the next several months, as Abe atones for his past behavior and shows Sarah that he has truly changed; he supports her, encourages her, and loves her openly for the first time. He is, also for the first time, honest about his own struggles and what he does to face down his demons–therapy, exercise, asking his friends for help.

It is important to note that Sarah is absolutely terrified of something going wrong with the pregnancy or the baby; most pregnant people get scared at some point, but she has known that kind of loss twice in just a few years. Add in the traumas of her childhood, and she’s kind of a mess.

“Back at the start, when she’d still been hopeful of winning a small piece of his heart, Abe had held her, teased her, made her believe she, too, could have her own happy ending. That such endings weren’t just for beautiful people with perfect lives, but for the broken and scarred too.” (Sarah, chapter 12)

Abe’s unstinting support, which includes accompanying her to every doctor’s appointment and check up; involving his friends and the band’s publicist to deflect media interest (and harassment) from Sarah; cheering up her every professional accomplishment; holding her head through bouts of morning sickness, and so on, all goes a long way in keeping her centered.

It must be said: the narrative is sappy and super manipulative, and yet, it works.

Because it shows how much they’ve grown while apart, and how much more work they’re willing to put in to stay together–especially Abe, who was a complete trash human the first time around. I wouldn’t touch that man with a 40 meter pole, but Sarah has never gotten over him, and she’s a much kinder person at heart than yours truly, so Abe’s willingness to do whatever it takes to stay clean, to make Sarah happy, and to be a good father to their “peanut”, made me believe they had a chance long term.

I also have to give general kudos for the treatment of body image issues; Sarah is tall and big, and has always been very self-conscious about it, almost to the point of body dysphoria. It has taken her several years to feel comfortable in her body, especially when she lives and works amongst the wealthy “thin and beautiful”; she still has moments of insecurity, but is mostly comfortable with herself as she approaches the end of her pregnancy. Abe being very much into her from beginning to end doesn’t hurt her self-image any, which is a common genre romance trope but also true of real life.

So, the love story works so long as the reader sees Abe through Sarah’s eyes, but there are other aspects of the book that nagged at me.

Some of the author’s writing ticks, for example–characters don’t walk, they “pad”; they don’t wear clothing, they’re “covered” by it, and so forth. The author’s voice not for everyone–sentences like “unable to speak past the sudden knot in his stomach” and “the realization was a gut punch that crushed all the air out of him” (Abe, chapter 7) can give a reader pause.

There’s also some tiresome repetition of facts when changing point of view; I understand showing how different characters interpret the same exchange or remember an incident, but here I’m talking about hard facts, not subjective interpretations.

This is especially bothersome in cases where, despite the repetition, key aspects are still left out; for example, the timing of Abe’s father’s death is not clear until well into the last third of the book, despite it having been mentioned much earlier, within the first couple of chapters.

Sarah having unprotected sex with Abe, despite her being supposedly terrified at the mere idea of becoming pregnant again, is jarring; especially when this happens at the same time that we are being hit over the head with how much she has grown into a strong and independent woman since their divorce.

The world these characters inhabit is a sanitized version of wealth, race and privilege, all in service to the fantasy. At one point, Abe–a very large Black man–is driving above the speed limit and is stopped by a cop; Sarah yells that she’s in labor, and the cop clears a path for them all the way to the ER door. We all know that in actual LA, that traffic stop would have had a much different ending.

Finally, while Sarah’s other ex deserves the beatdown for hitting her, it made me cringe that the narrative demonized him for wanting to try for another child with her. Yes, I understand that after one miscarriage and one stillbirth she wasn’t eager to try again, but his wanting another child *on its face* doesn’t make him an unfeeling monster. Different people cope in different ways.

Still, on the whole the book works, to the point that I read it in one sitting.

Rock Wedding gets 8.75 out of 10

It the last book of the series we get to see why and how Abe and Sarah broke up and the feelings behind it all.

Both still deeply love each other, but Abe hurt Sarah intentionally, but her was on a cocktail of drugs unbeknownst to her.

From there the both spiralled with Sarah almost preyed upon by a man who likes weak women, but as she got stronger he wanted a stronger hold on him. It is at the festival that things come to a head in the last week and Sarah knows that she will never take him back. But it is Abe that is the man that saves her, his friends that band around her to keep her standing and to carry on.

Abe can never forget the woman who he drove away. The only woman that he has ever loved. Now as he battles with sobriety, he opens his heart to her and show him the true him and stands by and encourages her then needed. He supports her new journey and together they forge ahead with family and friends by their side.

A lovely ending to the series, all members married and in wedded bliss.

3.5 stars!

I struggled with this book. I love this series, but the first half was really slow for me. It felt like too much everyone else in Schoolboy Choir and not enough of Abe and Sarah in particular. I also noticed how Sarah's first pregnancy was only mentioned in the first quarter of the book and then almost completely ignored for the rest of the book.

I also think I waited too long to read this. There is a 5 year gap in between the time I read Rock Redemption and Rock Wedding. Also the title lives up to it's name with a number of weddings so if you love them, this book is for you! I really loved seeing the band members and their significant others again and to see them thriving.

The second half was redeeming for me. I felt like it focused more on Sarah and Abe and there were a number of moments that really got me in the feels.

I love Sarah, she's strong and resilient. And Abe, it was hard to dislike him for long. His redemption wasn't easy, but I loved seeing how self-actualized he was, and how he came to open up to Sarah.

Nalini is an amazing writer and even when I was struggling, I was still able to feel so much. I am due for a re-read of this series soon. I know Abe and Sarah's story was told in the other books, so by re-reading them, I'll be able to get a much better and fuller feeling of their relationship.

I love that there is a happily ever after in the end. I cried, I laughed, I smiled, I loved reading this book.

I honestly don't know where to start with this one...  I really don't.  Nalini is a masterful wordsmith that wrings the emotions out of the smallest things.  She made me cry repeatedly in this book and yet all I wanted to do was read more..  cry more..  blubber more...

Abe and Sarah were amazing to follow as we saw a woman in love with a man who was at a point in his life where nothing mattered.  He was so wrapped up in his own pain and journey that he didn't see (didn't want to see) the path of destruction he was creating.  Sarah isn't perfect in this story but as you get to know her you see what caused her to be the way she was and how much sheer strength she has.  I felt for her as some of her story called out to me as she navigated breaking free from her past to finally stand on her own two feet.  She develops such an amazing backbone that you cheer for her as she finally sees that she matters and has friends.  While I did get upset at her for taking so long to finally trust Abe again, I got it...  I really did get it.  She was trying to protect herself from the only person who could (and did) truly hurt her.  You'll love watching her admit her own failings while not excusing his part in encouraging her to withdraw even farther in to her inner demons.  I loved her acceptance of him even as she struggled to protect her heart.

Abe.... my dear, dear man... He's someone that loves so deeply that he cannot bear when something happens to take the object of his love away from him, he self destructs.  I loved how he owned up to his mistakes.  He didn't make excuses.  He didn't expect that she forgive him.  He desperately wanted her to let him in but knew it was something she had to do.  He couldn't make her but he hoped beyond hope that he would be able to win her back.  I loved how supportive he was of her independence in so many ways.  His first big present to her made me melt as it showed how much he paid attention to her.  He also shows her his demons without any embellishment or shame which honestly made me cry.  He really made such huge strides in his life that I finished the book smiling from ear-to-ear as we got to see what happens when two people really do the work to make something beautiful out of the wreckage.

The glimpses of the other couples was fun but the focus really was on two people who were just meant to be.  They both weren't perfect but no one is.

So thanks Nalini for making me cry while on my lunch at work, I really did love these two.

This is the book most people have been waiting for in the Rock Kiss series and it is a jam packed book that’s for sure. Rock Wedding was possibly my least favourite of the series. I just didn’t and couldn’t connect with Abe or Sarah.
However, I felt like a lot of this book was about everyone else and not as much about Abe and Sarah which is partly why I just couldn’t connect with them. Even though parts of Abe and Sarah’s relationship had been in the other books, I think, because of that I expected more. So much more from their story and I didn’t feel like I got it.
Yes, it’s great that Abe and Sarah finally got back together and found a way to make it work now they were different and better people but at times I just found it too angsty and disconnected because the focus wasn’t just on Abe and Sarah. I understand why this was because it was the last book in the series and everyone has reached their happy ever after but because each couple had already gotten their happy ever after in their own books I then didnt need them to be wrapped in a tidy bow to end the series, because there will be a spin off series featuring the siblings from Gabriel’s book Rock Hard and I’d guess we’ll see some, if not all of these characters in the spin off.
My favourite scene in the book, had to be when Abe rebuys Sarah her beloved books, because book girl at heart here! Also I really cringed when it was revealed what Abe did to Sarah’s books for him to have to rebuy them. It was a sweet gesture that this booknerd really enjoyed.
Overall, I didn’t love or hate Rock Wedding. It was an ok book with a nice ending to the entire series. But I am looking forward to the spin-off series that is meant to be coming.

When Sarah met Abe she thought she had been swept of her feet by Prince Charming, all she ever wanted was to be part of a family, to have someone to love and who loved her in return. She never felt worthy of his attention and she never felt that he loved her as much as she loved him but she was sure that her love would be enough to see them through anything. That all changed after her miscarriage when Abe wasn't there for her when she needed him desperately, in fact he pushed her away in his grief and said some terrible hurtful things that left her heart completely shattered. Since then Sarah has built up a successful business but she went from a disastrous relationship with Abe to an even worse one with someone else and now she's in trouble.

It was Abe's friends who helped her when she's at her lowest point and now her growing friendship Molly and the other band member's girlfriends put her back in contact with Abe again too. Abe has spent years struggling with grief since the death of his sister and he know he lost the best thing that ever happened to him when he pushed Sarah away in a drug and drink fueled rage. He desperately wants to make amends and prove that he can be the man she always wanted, the man she deserves, but Sarah has had her heart broken already and it's going to take a lot for her to open back up to him again.

There were times when Rock Wedding wasn't an easy read, Sarah and Abe have both been through a lot of heartbreak and they're both still grieving for people they've loved and lost but it just shows how amazing Nalini Singh's writing is that you're right there with them both sharing their pain. I love a good second chance romance but only when it's done right and this book hit the spot perfectly, the couple both made mistakes in their relationship, although Abe's drug use was certainly the biggest cause of their problems, but they've come through the other side stronger than ever. I was a little worried that it would be hard to believe Abe has overcome his addictions but we've seen him sober for a long time now and the way he was able to open up to Sarah about things that he'd always bottled up in the past proves how much he has changed.

If there was ever a couple that deserved to find happiness it has to be these two and it was so beautiful seeing them finally get a chance to put things behind them and move on with their lives. I also loved seeing how all the other couples are doing, there are some really sweet and funny moments between the whole gang that left me with a huge smile on my face. This series has been such a fantastic one and I'm sure it'll be one I reread in the future but in the meantime I'm excited to get to know the rest of Gabe's brothers when Nalini starts publishing the spin off series!

Source: Received from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review