This is the second in this rocker (?) series, told from the perspective of Matt Argento about his marriage to musician Rhys Nyland. I read Riven and thought Matt and Rhys had a fairly great thing going on, at least through the perspective of Caleb and Theo. You never know what's going on behind closed doors. Rhys is craving a husband and family like he grew up with and Matt doesn't believe he deserves anything. A whirlwind courtship and quick marriage didn't get them the happily ever after they were looking for until things fell apart and they started telling the truth and really getting to know each other.

My heart broke for Matty and his horrible past. Am I naive to think that some caseworker during his eleven years in the system should have noticed he needed to talk to a shrink? He goes by Grim through his entire youth, that's a clue right there. Do they really not care at all? Parrish does a wonderful job with his deteriorating grasp on daily life during Rhys' two month tour. I was sad to see how often the pair turn to sex to avoid difficult feelings.

I loved Theo reaching out in his completely awkward way to make friends with Matt. I had to chuckle to myself each time the four had to call/text and explain their significant others particular brand of crazy to their friend. Friends are our chosen family is never more more clear than in this book, from Grin to Huey and Theo and Caleb.

I was expecting a very different book when I got this one, that'll teach me not to read the blurb, but I was pleasantly surprised by the good storytelling and deep feelings is gave me about a subject I never really understood.

3.5 stars

I had the pleasure of reviewing Rend and it was wonderful. I am new to Roan Parrish's writing and I will be looking for more from this author. Rend takes you on an emotional journey with Matt and Rhys and lets you see what working at love is like.

Roan Parrish is so incredibly talented. Rend is very powerful and so moving; you are IN this story with the main characters, right from the beginning. Warning: Make sure you have a box of kleenex nearby--You're going to need it. Rend is the story of Rhys and Matt. If you read Parrish's excellent novel Riven, you've already met Rhys. Rend is a standalone story, but you do see Caleb and Theo again (the main characters from Riven), which was wonderful. I like checking in with characters I liked in previous books, but it's also important to me that I can pick up a book without having read a previous book in a series, and not feel lost--perfectly done here. Like Riven, Rend is a very passionate love story between two well developed characters with amazing and very hot chemistry. But it's so much more than that! Matt is a very troubled man--his childhood is full of sorrow, and he spent much of it in the foster system. He carries a lot of emotional scars, and he can't quite believe that he has found someone like Rhys. Rhys is big and beautiful and full of life, and has had a very different upbringing than Matt's. Rhys is a songwriter and musician, and his career is taking off. They both believe they have a strong foundation, but those beliefs are tested when Rhys goes on tour for a few weeks, and Matt begins to unravel. Rend deals with anxiety, depression, self-doubt, self-loathing--really challenging emotions, and the author addresses them very realistically and sensitively. Rhys and Matt have such different perspectives on things, it's very interesting watching them trying to work through the challenges that Matt's anxiety and self loathing issues bring to the relationship. In a really strong subplot, Matt works for a non-profit that helps young people trying to learn skills and find work, and he's finding a lot of value and self esteem in helping people that come from backgrounds like his own. I think it's important that we see that Matt ISN'T just his pain and his past, he is his present, and he does a lot of good in the world, and he's really good in his relationship (most of the time)--but he has some issues he needs to work through. I really felt for these characters. My heart broke for both of them at different moments in the book, and I cried more than I expected to. Matt especially really got to me. I really loved him, and wanted him so badly to reach for his happiness. This is an excellent read. The love scenes are very well written, very steamy, and I found they stayed with me. Each love scene felt very in character for this pair, and really added to the book.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Rend, in its way, it even better than Riven, which was so good. But it's not a fair comparison. They are very different romances. Riven is meet-cute, getting to know one another, struggles and division and eventually such a great HEA.

Rend is a story of after. After a quick marriage, before Matt and Rhys know each other as well as they think they do. It's told from Matt's point of view, and Matt had a rough childhood. Parrish eases the reader in. ...By the time I reached the middle, more or less, the point at which Matt's Big Bad Past really hits him hard, I KNEW why he did what he did and hid what he hid. I knew what his silence was for. I just about used up an entire box of tissues from there to the end, despite some laughs. I adored how Theo and Caleb played such important parts.

But it's more than that. In a very real sense, this novel illustrates what privilege looks like from the outside. From underneath, looking up. It's heartbreaking. Reaching their real HEA is not simple, not easy, but it is all heart.

3.5 stars. I give Roan Parrish credit for writing a book about the real work that happens after two people get married, especially when they have said "I Do" after only knowing each other for a short time. I also give her points for eschewing the typical romance novel arc: couple falls in love, bad stuff happens, couple breaks up, and then reunites for the happy ending. Having worked in the child welfare field, I absolutely appreciate her highlighting the challenges faced by the youth who age out of the foster care system.

All this good stuff, but I can't quite give Rend an unqualified recommendation. It felt like the plot was a little thin, and was padded with NUMEROUS sex scenes that didn't necessarily do anything to move the story along. It was satisfying to see Matt and Rhys achieve a deeper understanding about themselves and each other, but banging each other silly didn't seem to be the key to reaching that point. Also, the character development was a little too one-sided; Matt had to do all of the heavy lifting, while Rhys' slightly unnatural possessive streak was shrugged off as an endearing trait.

Very happy to see Theo and Caleb from Riven, and it was especially cute to see Matt and Theo strike up an awkward but sincere friendship.

ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for honest review.

Emotional and poignant. What a captivating love story! I loved the insecurities and vulnerabilities in both men. It made them even more endearing. I loved the emotional verbal vomit Rhys texted Matt after their first coupling. It was raw open honest and heartfelt. I agonized and empathized with Matt for his past experiences and their effects on his present and his happiness. I liked that Rhys wanted "all" Matt's truths-ugly and raw, and he was there to support and help Matt. I liked how Caleb became the voice of reason and support when Rhys needed it most. Mona was a beacon of support and never forced or pushed and I appreciated that approach. Great read I highly recommend.

I tend to either wildly love Roan Parrish’s books or dislike them intensely, and Rend, my friends, falls squarely in the ‘wildly love’ category.  Although much of its subject matter is somber and heavy, the author deftly balances the darkness with a passionate romance that’s heartbreakingly tender, romantic and moving.  Rend takes the second chance at love trope and twists it, putting its characters (and readers) through the proverbial wringer on the road to happily ever after.  Our principal pair is a study in contrasts, and I was totally invested in each of these characters, their issues, and their love for each other from beginning to end.  Rend, Ms. Parrish’s ode to a gothic love story, is alternately painful and lovely, and ends with a hard earned, satisfying and hopeful happily ever after.

Unlike Riven (which you don’t have to read in order to enjoy this story) which is told in dual PoVs, Rend takes place entirely in the PoV of Matt Argento, a minor secondary character in the previous novel.  After a childhood of abandonment and deprivation, Matt falls desperately and totally in love with Rhys Nyland - a handsome, wholesome and happy stranger - who picks him up in a bar.  In the prelude, which we later discover is a flashback, the pair meet, and instead of the hook-up Matt expected, they wind up sharing a late night meal, talking and getting to know one another, and forging a surprisingly intense connection.

Matt, who originally hoped for distractingly good sex and maybe a good night’s sleep on a comfy mattress (he shares a crowded apartment and sleeps on the couch), is charmed and irresistibly drawn to Rhys.  Rhys is sweet and funny, charming and kind, and obviously delighted with life and Matt, and doesn’t seem in any hurry to get him into bed. It’s new and different from what Matt’s accustomed to, but he can’t resist the big man.  When Rhys says goodnight after only a heated kiss and request for his phone number, Matt’s confused - he thought they had great chemistry, but Rhys doesn’t push for anything more.  Instead, he arranges for them to meet up several times over the next few days, further endearing himself to Matt, but frustrating him.  Smitten, wracked by the lust he feels whenever Rhys is near, and bewildered by Rhys’s interest, Matt finally just asks Rhys what they’re doing:

...I texted him, Do you have sex?

He wrote back immediately:  Yes.

I responded:  Great.  Wanna have it with me?

Rhys:  More than anything.

And I was left speechless yet again, completely undone by his endearing brand of deep impact honesty.

OK I’m coming over, I wrote finally, suddenly convinced the whole thing would fall apart if I waited.

Yay!  Rhys responded, and I found myself grinning despite myself.

The ensuing liaison and Rhys’s confession about what he wants from Matt and why, thrill and scare Matt in equal measure.  He sneaks away while he thinks Rhys is asleep, but moments later, a love note (in the form of a text) shocks him into returning.  When the prelude ends, Matt is hopeful for the first time in years, but doubtful it can last.  After all, everyone he’s ever loved has abandoned him... eventually.

From this completely absorbing prelude, the story jumps forward two years, and we find Matt and Rhys happily married and living in Sleepy Hollow, New York.  The relationship is idyllic - they’re besotted, can’t keep their hands off each other, and are committed to being together forever.  Matt represses any worries he has and he thinks he’s fine until Rhys leaves to go on tour in support of his new solo album, when doubts and fears from Matt’s past overwhelm him.

Rend unfolds as Matt unravels.  Interspersed with vignettes of Rhys and Matt’s whirlwind romance and impetuous marriage, we watch Matt slowly fall apart while Rhys goes on the road and lives out his musical dreams.  Matt tries and mostly succeeds in hiding his struggles from Rhys, but as the days go by he finds it harder and harder to cope on his own in Sleepy Hollow.  Plagued by darkly pessimistic thoughts telling him he isn’t good for Rhys and that he can find someone else, he can’t sleep and doesn’t eat, and he finds himself returning - over and over again - to the last ‘home’ he knew, before he was passed from foster home to foster home.  He’s haunted by the ghosts of his past and the fear that Rhys will reject him once he knows his darkest secrets.  Rhys suspects something is off about Matt, but when he finally returns home to his husband, it’s nearly too late.

Although Rend largely focuses on Matt’s physical and emotional breakdown, the author (wisely) frames them within the context of his marriage and relationship with the love of his life, Rhys.  Rhys is Matt’s heart; his enormous capacity to love and be loved holds the disparate parts of the novel together.  He’s joyful and loveable and kind and honourable as well as fiercely protective and possessive of Matt.  I loved every scene with Rhys; his deep and abiding faith in Matt and their marriage, and his unwillingness to give in to Matt’s doubts and fears, his big heart... it’s just... wow.  Ms. Parrish’s characterization of these two men is supremely well realized; I understood them, their struggles, their hopes and dreams, and I was completely engrossed in their love story.  Rhys helps Matt confront his demons and rewards his trust with a possessive and all-consuming love - the kind Matt craves and needs.  Rend doesn’t flinch from the pain and damage of Matt’s childhood or its long term effects on every facet of his life; this is a starkly beautiful portrayal of a marriage in trouble and the lengths two men will go to in order to find happiness together, forever.

When I finished the terrific first book in the Riven series, which featured a famous musician eager to escape the limelight (Theo Decker) and a musician/recovering addict (Caleb Whitman) hiding himself away, I was curious where Ms. Parrish might go in book two.  Riven seemed a bit of a closed loop - the principal pair found their happily ever after, and the only significant secondary character, their extremely likeable/loveable friend Rhys Nyland, was happily married.  Rend was an unexpected and marvelous surprise.  I enjoyed revisiting Riven’s characters, and Theo and Caleb both have terrific cameos in Rend, but this novel more than stands on its own.  Rhys, a classic beta hero, is a wonderful contrast to Matt.  Their poignant and heartbreaking journey to happily ever after feels real and authentic, and fans will root hard for them.  This is one second-chance love story that will twist you up, wring you out, and then leave you wanting more.

Buy it at: Amazon/Barnes & Noble/iBooks/Kobo

This amazing addition to this series put me through the emotional wringer! Yes there were some very ugly tears here. Matt tore my heart out. I just want to take him and bundle him up and tell him, from a mom standpoint, that he is loved. Matt’s childhood was horrible. His mom leaves without telling anyone and Matt spends all of his childhood waiting for her to come back. Thrown into the system, he doesn’t find a family of his own, just a string of fosters homes and then he winds in an orphanage type facility. So to say the least that Matt doesn’t feel like he is worthy of love is a huge understatement. I loved Rhys and he does try to show Matt that he is loved but Matt’s demons won’t let him fully believe him, even though they are married. This story is about the struggles that Matt goes through to see that he finally has a family with Rhys. We also get to see Theo and Caleb through this story as well which made me very happy. I hope there will be more books in this series.

This was an amazing novel with developed characters that just made you feel all the things. Loved this one and I can't wait for more.

You know what my least favourite feeling while reading a book is? Lukewarm.

This is the companion to the book Riven which I DNF’d (if I remember, it was because it had things in age gap romances I don’t like). I think this author does have some strong writing but it was writing I, for whatever reason, cannot click with. Which resulted in these lukewarm feelings.

I can’t say I didn’t like Matt or even Rhys. They both did have a lot of depth to them. But I didn’t understand why they decided to marry so quickly. I can only buy the whirlwind romance so much. And I get it, whirlwind romances happen but honestly? I didn’t really believe they were in love. They got married two months after meeting. Even after they’d been married for over a year I didn’t believe it. I believe they cared about each other, but not enough that they would get married.

I did like how Matt’s past as a foster kid was shown. I also like how it motivated him to work with foster kids. I love portrayals of empathy like this.

I don’t usually comment on sex scenes because I skim them most of the time. However, I tend to comment on things that I found odd or weird or just strange. And they did this thing where they’d have sex and then fall asleep without pulling out. I mean, that just sounds uncomfortable and a weird way to show their emotional intimacy.

There was also portrayals of Matt’s anxiety which I liked. And also how it affected his relationship with Rhys. It did affect him a lot later in the book and I really liked seeing that.

Despite my mixed feelings, I can see why people like this. It just didn’t click with me specifically.

After the absolutely beautiful love story that was Riven, I thought I knew what I was getting into with Rend but wow was I wrong. This book put me through an emotional wringer and I have truly forgotten how much I cried. This is not the story of two people falling in love, but about how two married people deeply in love have to fight for their relationship when there are unresolved issues.

The story is through the single POV of Matt, who we realize from the get go has lot of issues to work through. Being a product of the foster care system, he has serious abandonment issues – first by his mother, then his aunt and then by the other foster parents before he ended up in a group home. He has really never learned how to want for anything, because he would never get it. He gets overwhelmed by even having to make the simplest of choices, can’t believe why Rhys chose him and never trusts that their happiness will last. It’s a very melancholic narration and being in his head is very sad and exhausting but it did make me feel satisfied when he decides to work on his issues.

Rhys is almost the exact opposite of Matt. He has a very larger than life personality, always lively and active and and only wants Matt to be happy. But being from a very happy family and having led an almost privileged life, he doesn’t always understand what Matt is going through or why he wants to keep his past a secret. He is also possessive by nature and wants to fix everything by himself. However, the second half of the book revolves around both of them deciding to try to be more honest and more open with each other. It was wonderful to see that despite Matt almost falling apart and Rhys hurting due to it, they never leave each other and their unconditional love is never in question. They really are each other’s partners and support systems and even though, sometimes it felt like they were too dependent on each other, I think it worked for them and also made me believe that it would only get better.

The writing in this book is truly magical. It made me sad, cry, laugh and fall in love with their love and adoration for each other. It shows us that marriage is not the end but the beginning, and I thought the author explored the highs and lows of the couple very well. The setting of their home in Sleepy Hollow, their late night walks to the cemetery and Matt’s pensive sadness or even his nightmares made for quite an eerie ambiance and I don’t think I could have chosen a more atmospheric book for the month of Halloween. It was also nice to see a little more of Theo and Caleb and they played important roles in helping our main characters – Theo’s wanting to be friends with Matt and Caleb trying his best to help Rhys keep his sanity were definitely turning points in the story.

If you want to read a love story like Riven, then this is not that book. But if you want something that explores the deep issues of a man who has seen so much unfairness in his life but still wants to do good and hopefully, live a life of peace with the man he loves – then you will love this one. Its emotional, you’ll end up crying buckets, but it’ll ultimately make you happy because theirs is a love for the ages.

"That's what we were—two hearts, straining ever toward each other."

It was the music that led me to this series and this author, making me fall in love with Theo and Caleb along the way. However, while Rhys is a musician, music does not feature in this story. Rend focuses on the relationship between Matt & Rhys and the challenges they face. Is their love strong enough to keep them together.

Matt has had a hard life and hope is not a luxury that he indulges in very often. Self-protection demands that he keep his expectations low. Rhys is the best thing that's ever happened to him and he is struggling to accept his good fortune. As long as he is safe in his lover's arms he feels secure. But when Rhys leaves to go on tour he's left alone with his demons.

Rhys adores Matt and would do anything for him. Unfortunately, he doesn't always get the opportunity because secrets and miles separate them. Will there be anything left of his heart by the time he makes it back home to where he left it?

The author does a beautiful job of expressing the emotional turmoil the characters go through as they fight for their relationship. It's a heartbreaking story that brings a tough subject to light.

To really make love last it requires work and OMG do Matt and Rhys have to work. These characters were so real, complex, and messy and I loved every minute of their story. Rhys is just what Matt needed to help him realize that he is worth loving, Matt really hurt my heart and I was so glad when he got the help he needed to be happy. This was a great follow up to Riven, the author really knows how to bring her characters to life and get her readers invested in their story.

Take me apart and put me together, will you?



Riven was my first Roan Parrish novel, and I was immediately struck with how powerful and emotional Caleb and Theo’s story was, but I was not prepared at all, was I?


In Riven, we’re introduced to Rhys, Caleb’s longtime friend, workmate, and lover. Rhys and Matt are already married, before Theo and Caleb get together, but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember that. Nonetheless, this book doesn’t stop with the gut-wrenching feels.



If I thought Riven had been gut-wrenching, then Rend is in a level of heart-rendering of its own.



Rend is told from the point of view of Matt, a product of the foster system. He’s withdrawn, sad and jaded. He’s used to not getting attached to anything—not to objects, not to places, and much less to people. When Rhys enters his life, it’s whirlwind of emotions and events. Rhys is like sunshine personified—bright, warm and all-encompassing. Rhys is as straightforward as they come, making it clear to Matt that he wants that special someone. He wants more than just one night. He wants Matty more than one night.



After two months, Rhys knows that Matt is the one for him, and they get married just hours after proposing. Yet, Matt has a darkness within him, that although Rhys brightens him up with his love of life and love of Matty, it doesn’t just go away because someone loves him and marries him.



The reality of life is like a gut punch that never lets up in Rend. Parrish knows how to write the real, raw and gritty hardships of life. She exemplifies how trauma affects people. How people have to deal with those events that shape people. That although people might love you, the darkness doesn’t just go away by declarations of love.



The happy moments are beautiful. Rhys and Matty’s connection is beautiful, plain and simple. The real, hard moments were also beautiful. Painful and sad, but they were beauty and the honesty of those moments.



I love how Parrish wrote a book about an established couple, but said, “it’s not boring to write about couples. It’s not as simple as them getting together and marrying.”



It really wasn’t. Rhys and Matt truly love each other. It bursts in how they think about one another, in their actions. But, there’s always the individual—in that we’re all battling our battles, and sometimes having someone with you really helps.



If you loved Riven, then there’s no doubt that Rend will capture your heart.

This has got to be one of the oddest set ups for a romance novel-- it starts with marriage and then spends a good chunk of its time in one character's anxiety-ridden head while his husband is out on tour-- but I'll be damned if it didn't love it. I love that it gets all up in the messy stuff and never flinches. I love that it doesn't take take shortcuts and doesn't heal everything with only the Power of Love.

I just.. My HEART. I am dead. I just died of all the feels.

This review will appear at All About Romance closer to the release date.

I tend to either wildly love Ms. Parrish’s books or dislike them intensely, and Rend, my friends, falls squarely in the ‘wildly love’ category. Although much of its subject matter is somber and heavy, the author deftly balances the darkness with a passionate romance that’s heartbreakingly tender, romantic and moving. Rend takes the second chance love trope and twists it, putting its characters (and readers) through the proverbial wringer on the road to happily ever after. Our principal pair is a study in contrasts, and I was totally invested in each of these characters, their ‘issues,’ and their love for each other from beginning to end. Rend, Ms. Parrish’s ode to a gothic love story, is alternately painful and lovely, and ends with a hard earned, satisfying and hopeful happily ever after.

Unlike Riven (which you don’t have to read in order to enjoy this story) and it’s dual PoV’s, Rend takes place entirely in the PoV of Matt Argento, a minor secondary character in the first novel. Matt, after a childhood of abandonment and deprivation, falls desperately and totally in love with Rhys Nyland - a handsome, wholesome and happy stranger, who picks him up in a bar. In the prelude, which we later discover is a flashback, the pair meet - and instead of the hook-up Matt expected, they wind up sharing a late night meal, talking and getting to know one another for hours, and forging a surprisingly intense connection.

Matt, who originally hoped for distractingly good sex and maybe a good night’s sleep on a comfy mattress (he shares a crowded apartment and sleeps on the couch), is charmed and irresistibly drawn to Rhys. Rhys is sweet and funny, charming and kind, and obviously delighted with life and Matt, and doesn’t seem in any hurry to get him into bed...it’s new and different from what Matt’s accustomed to, but he can’t resist the big man. When Rhys says good night after only a heated kiss and request for his phone number, Matt’s confused - he thought they had great chemistry, but Rhys doesn’t push for anything more. Instead, he arranges for them to meet up several times over the next few days, further endearing himself to Matt, but frustrating him. Smitten, wracked by the lust he feels whenever Rhys is near, and bewildered by Rhys’s interest, Matt finally just asks Rhys what they’re doing,

...I texted him, Do you have sex?
He wrote back immediately: Yes.
I responded: Great. Wanna have it with me?
Rhys: More than anything.
And I was left speechless yet again, completely undone by his endearing brand of deep impact honesty.
OK I’m coming over, I wrote finally, suddenly convinced the whole thing would fall apart if I waited.
Yay! Rhys responded, and I found myself grinning despite myself.

The ensuing liaison, and Rhys’s confession about what he wants from Matt and why, thrill and scare him in equal measure. He sneaks away while he thinks Rhys is asleep...but moments later, a love note (in the form of a text) shocks him into returning. When the prelude ends, Matt is hopeful for the first time in years, but doubtful it can last. After all, everyone he’s ever loved has abandoned him...eventually.

From this completely absorbing prelude, the story jumps forward two years: Matt and Rhys are happily married and living in Sleepy Hollow, New York. The relationship is idyllic - they’re besotted, can’t keep their hands off each other, and are committed to being together forever. Matt represses any worries he has and he thinks he’s fine until Rhys leaves to go on tour in support of his new solo album. Doubts and fears from Matt’s past - his belief that everyone he loves eventually leaves him behind - overwhelm him.

Rend unfolds as Matt’s unravels. Interspersed with vignettes of Rhys and Matt’s whirlwind romance and impetuous marriage, we watch Matt slowly fall apart while Rhys goes on the road and lives out his musical dreams. He tries and mostly succeeds at hiding his struggles from Rhys, but as the days go by he finds it harder and harder to cope on his own in Sleepy Hollow. Plagued by darkly pessimistic thoughts telling him he isn’t good for Rhys and that he can find someone else, he can’t sleep and doesn’t eat, and he finds himself returning - over and over again - to the last ‘home’ he knew...before he was passed from foster home to foster home. He’s haunted by the ghosts of his past and the fear that Rhys will reject him once he knows his darkest secrets. Rhys suspects something is off about Matt, but when he finally returns home to his husband, it’s nearly too late.

Although Rend largely focuses on Matt’s physical and emotional break-down, the author (wisely) frames them within the context of his marriage and relationship to the love of his life, Rhys. Rhys is Matt’s heart; his enormous capacity to love and be loved holds holds the disparate parts of the novel together. He’s joyful and loveable and kind and honorable...and fiercely protective and possessive of Matt. I loved every scene with Rhys; his deep and abiding faith in Matt and their marriage, and his unwillingness to give in to Matt’s doubts and fears, his big heart...it’s just...wow. Ms. Parrish’s characterization of these two men is supremely well realized - I understood them, their struggles, their hopes and dreams...and I was completely engrossed in their love story. Rhys helps Matt confront his demons and rewards his trust with a possessive and all consuming love - the kind Matt craves and needs. Rend doesn’t flinch from the pain and damage of Matt’s childhood or its long term effects on every facet of his life; this is a starkly beautiful portrayal of a marriage in trouble and the lengths two men will go to in order to find happiness together, forever.

When I finished the terrific first book in the Riven series, which featured a famous musician eager to escape the limelight (Theo Decker) and a musician/recovering addict (Caleb Whitman) hiding himself away, I was curious where Ms. Parrish might go in book two. Riven seemed a bit of a closed loop - the principal pair found their happily ever after, and the only significant secondary character, their extremely likeable/loveable friend Rhys Nyland, was happily married. Rend was an expected and marvelous surprise. I enjoyed revisiting Riven’s characters, and Theo and Caleb both make terrific cameos in Rend, but this novel more than stands on its own. Rhys, a classic beta hero, is a wonderful contrast to the love of his life, Matt. Their poignant and heartbreaking journey to happily ever after feels real and authentic, and fans will root hard for them. This is one second-chance love story that will twist you up, wring you out, and then leave you wanting more.

5* I loved everything about this tale, reading it blurb-blind, because hey, it's a RP novel.

There are some books that don't live up to their excellent blurb and leave a cheated feeling behind, and then there are books that you grab because of the author's name, knowing you're going to get a decent read. Some RP novels I've liked, some I've appreciated for the quality of the writing, but haven't loved due to the tale, but this delivered in every way.

This was one of the best books I've read this year. It wasn't overly heavy with Matt's background, just exactly right, with the right timing and right events for his explanation to Rhys. I loved how Rhys's friends were there as the voice of reason at times, having gone through their own learning process (they may be the leads to book 1, I think) and how they didn't take sides. I loved, and yet hated, how Matt's past impacted on him, as that made him human, made him fallible, made him a person with frailties and not some caricature and not some stereotype as is often seem in someone who's had it tough.

Some books will do angst to the nth degree, and some will be verbose to drag out a tale and make it seem value for money, but this hit everything for me: romance, a good back story, an actual storyline that worked, a couple of leads I liked very much from the start, and a love from Rhys that I could feel, read and see. Matt's love was a little less prominent, but it was there in his courage in trying to just live day to day, with the gift of Rhys in his life. These guys felt real, and they touched my heart without the need to use any tropes, artifice or anything pop. Oh, and these days I tend to skip a lot of the sex in MM novels. Not here. Here, it was sexy, loving, healing and just a little dirty sex of the very best kind!

ARC courtesy of Random House Publishing/Loveswept and NetGalley, for my reading pleasure.

I absolutely loved this installment. It was even better than the first one for me.

Roan Parrish's characters always break my heart and put it back together, which is why she's one of my favorite authors.

I highly recommend this book, and this series!

Rend is told through the perspective of Matt Argento, an Italian-Mexican American who grew up in the foster system. He’s not used to being loved and is always waiting for the other shoe to drop. One night, he meets Rhys Nyland, a studio musician who is often described as looking like Thor and always seems to sparkle with sunshine. Matt and Rhys had a short relationship, only a couple months, before getting married at the courthouse. Rend takes place almost two years later when Rhys has started a solo career and Matt has to cope with feelings of abandonment when he goes on tour.

This book works through several different aspects of trauma and looks at how one’s past can shape their future. Matt is used to the foster system where he takes what he’s given and is always prepared to lose it, while Rhys comes from a loving family with parents who emulated the relationship he dreamed of. Matt is trying so hard to be okay, to move past his history, because he doesn’t want to taint Rhys’ world-view, but by doing so he only hurts both of them.

We also see how Rhys always trying to be protector and savior can be a bad thing. He tries to lay blame without being able to accept that sometimes someone has a bad history.

I loved seeing Matt and Rhys work through their issues to find their way back to each other. They’re established and love each other deeply, but have to work on several facets of their relationship. In some ways they’re in this half-submerged dream because communication is something Matt struggles with and because Rhys wants to fix everything. When he goes on tour, it showed how much they really needed to work on.

I love Matt and how much he cares. He works for a company that helps transition foster kids out of the system and he cares so deeply. He starts to have big dreams, and it was wonderful seeing his dreams become reality and help those around him.

I think my biggest complaint is how possessive Matt and Rhys tended to be. It worked for them and was what they both needed, but it was just a bit Much for me at times. They are very obviously individual people with their own life and goals and dreams, but there’s also a lot of “mine” and the way they would use “husband” to lay their claim on one another. It had some cute moments and elements, and some of that possessiveness tied to Matt’s need to feel wanted and loved, and Rhys wanting to make sure Matt knew he wouldn’t leave one day.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I hope there’ll be more in this universe, maybe Huey will get a book. There’s great friendships and found family elements in this book, as well as showing healing and fighting for what you want.

This wasn't as god as the first book in this series, but it was still romantic and enjoyable! It was hard for me, because the MC never felt truly invested in the love interest. They were even MARRIED but he still felt cagey. Hence it was hard for me to get into the story. A good idea for a plot device, to allow them to fall in love a second time and get it right?? But there didn't even seem to be a FIRST time for falling in love. I felt disconnected from this whole thing.