Parrish continues to write deeply moving, beautifully crafted romances centered not around melodramatic misunderstandings, but the everyday differences between actual human beings who are struggling with their own hefty baggage as they try to love not just each other, but also themselves. Bar-owner and former drug addict Huey, who readers of earlier books in the series will remember as Caleb's straight-talking sobriety sponsor, has spent the years since kicking his habit working to quietly take care of others. He's got a routine down that keeps him in control (grocery shopping/gym/bartend/listen to podcast); he's always on call for any sponsee who's feeling unsteady; and he's got all his emotions locked down tight. Until a much younger guy at the bar on karaoke night opens his mouth and Huey finds himself looking, and listening, and looking again.

Felix, like Huey, is a caretaker; the eldest of five, he's spent all his life looking after his younger siblings, putting them and their needs before anything else. But now that his sister and roommate is on the verge of realizing her dreams to join a rock band, and his younger siblings are all well on their way to adulthood, Felix is feeling panicked. What is a caretaker to do when there's no one left to care for?

What's so fascinating here is that despite both having caretaker personalities, Huey and Felix couldn't be more different. Huey (whose actual name is Dane Hughes, something he confides in no one but Felix) is a big, burly guy, shaved head, tough, quiet, self-contained, prone to one-word answers to anyone daring enough to ask him a question. He's effective as an NA sponsor because, as Caleb says, "you didn't let your sponsees' feelings touch you. I'm not saying you don't have feelings. Just because you don't show them doesn't mean I think you don't have them. But you were a wall, man. All the slimy, grimy, twisty shit we vomited up in front of you just slide to the ground and slithered away. It worked so well because it meant I never had to feel guilty for burdening you, because it didn't stick to you." But now that he's met Felix, Dane's starting to feel a lot. And that's not just amazing; it's terrifying.

In contrast, slight, short, pretty Felix is a sweet, burbling word-stream, unable to hide any of his thoughts or feelings. He's far from stoic, and is prone to the occasional pity party and hissy fit. And he's all about touching—a hug, a hand on a leg, a quick kiss, an earth-shattering fuck. And he asks questions, so many questions, when Dane is the one used to doing the asking, not the answering...

There's some disagreements and misunderstandings as Dane and Felix's relationship unfolds, which stem not from plot contrivance but from the characters' own insecurities and fears of being unworthy, a theme that Parrish has explored in the previous books in this series. Yet approaching this theme from the point of view of the caretakers, rather than the ones who seem most in need of care, gives that theme a freshness and relevancy that makes it well worth revisiting. Because sometimes caretakers care too much, and have to learn to take a step back and think about how best to care for themselves.

I have very much been enjoying this series, and I thought Raze was an excellent addition and a chance to get to know one of the more enigmatic characters in this world, Huey. Parrish has a knack for tackling intense emotional and psychological issues and tying multiple books in a series together, and this was no exception. The relationship between Huey and Felix had depth, feeling, and a believable progression as two struggling individuals find their way through the darkness and to each other. Huey, especially, was an intense read as we delve into his struggle with addiction and control, but the ending was really satisfying and lovely. My only caveat is I found the editing subpar, with typos, repetition, and less tightness than I would expect from a professionally published novel. This seems to be an issue that Parrish's last couple of books have struggled with, and that I hope the publisher strives to correct.

I got an ARC of this book.

I have read the first two books in this series and LOVED them. I was beyond excited when I saw there was going to be a third book, especially when I found out it was supposed to be Huey. Huey has been this mysterious rock in the background. He has been there for his friends and he has been strong enough to battle addiction in a bar. I needed to know more.

I was let down by the book. I don't enjoy stories about addiction or drug addicts. I don't get the appeal. Maybe that is because I grew up in a town that has such a bad heroin problem that I learned in school what to do about needles when I was in kindergarten. I had to chase my dog down to get a crack pipe out of her mouth once. Drugs hold no interest to me at all. The other stories in the series focused more on current pain and things outside of addiction. Addiction was just one facet. In this one, that is really all there is to it. Huey's story is he is an addict period. He has been sober for years, but his life revolves around how he needs to stay sober. It became repetitive and less than enjoyable pretty quickly.

There wasn't a whole lot I like about Felix either. He read as so much younger than his age. It was weird how the dynamic worked. Felix was young, emotional, and needy. Huey/Dane (I am still mad that his name is really Dane Hughes) was strong, silent, and dependable. Then when you get into the idea that Huey/Dane likes to be bossed around during sex, it started to actually prove worth reading the sex scenes. Though, yet again, condoms were nonexistent. The communication was literally "you haven't had sex in seven years, bareback me". Not once did either of them say they didn't have something like herpes (you know one of the STI/STDs that can't be cured yet). So off they went into super risky sex only knowing each other for a total of a few hours.

I didn't hate this book, but I just needed characters I could enjoy. I love Parrish's writing and her world. This was just not the book for me in that world. The book could be a stand alone, but there would be some dynamic missing between the leads of the last two books and how they played into this story. There was less outside characters than in book two, but I would still suggest reading the first two books first to really get what is happening fully.

I did really like how Parrish made it clear that working in a bagel shop wasn't the end of the world. She made it clear that being poor wasn't something to be ashamed of. There was a lot of talk of class and what that actually means. There were some wonderfully touching moments about this and about emotional intimacy that really drove the story for me. I humbly request the next book be about Sue. Sue might just be the best side character I have seen in a romance in year.

Prepare to re-read Raze again because it’s that good!

Dane (Huey) Hughes has a extremely regimented life because he did everything as marking off the next step after he attended Narcotics Anonymous and became sober but when he meets Felix Rainey when he sang at a karaoke night at the bar he owns, things start to change. Felix ends up asking Huey out but Huey hasn’t dated or anything for many years because he puts most of his energy into the people he is sponsor for NA. Felix hadn’t dated much so he wasn’t sure about Huey but the attraction was there. Huey and Felix had to breakup for a bit so they could figure out what they wanted but that took some time which Roan Parish has done so well.

The entire Riven series is so well written that it will give the reader a book hangover because all the stories make me go back and re-read the parts that stay with me after I finish.

My favorite quote in the book is “Just because people have opinions doesn’t mean their opinions matter” and more people need to remember that.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is the last installment from Roan Parish and my favorite so far. This is Huey and Felix story. Huey is the owner of a bar and is living a life of existence. He's built a life of rules. It's the rules that have kept him clean but have left him just existing. He follows these steps day after day. He's forgotten how to hope, how to dream.
Felix is the oldest of four children. His single mom struggles to keep the family clothed and fed. Felix has been the one that took over being the caretaker of his family. Every need of his siblings was his responsibility and one he took seriously. So seriously, that he forgot to have his own dreams.
These two M/M both struggle to find what is they both are yearning for.
Their journey is one if discovery. One where they learn how to have dreams again. One where they learn how to incorporate one another into their lives. One where they learn how to love themselves and each other.
This is probably my favorite of this series. Huey/Dane and Felix grabbed ahold of me and wouldn't let go.

I received an ARC from Netgalley and I am happy to give my honest review.

This is my second book by this author and I requested this book because I’ve heard so much about the author’s inclusive characters in books. This was no different. It starred Felix as a gay older brother who cared for his younger siblings all of his life and Huey/Dane an older bar owner and former narcotic addict.

I liked the trope. I liked the characters, to a point. Felix definitely had some immaturity and I did like Dane except he had some emotional blockage moments that frustrated me. The two together were a good match.

There are two things that I am not a huge fan of and this author does them. One: pulling in characters from all of the other books to an extreme. Yeah, it’s nice to catch up with people you may have read about already, but you get lost in the names and backstories and relationships if you’re reading this as a stand-alone. Two: the dialogue is immature, in that a lot of colloquialisms are used. I’ve listened to an audiobook by this author and it made sense like hearing a normal person in an informal conversation. Reading the dialogue written like that was offputting.

In the end I do recommend this book and this author. I think I’ll take a break from other books due to the dialogue writing style and try some more again in the future.

An nice read on the whole but I just struggled to connect with the characters or feel anything for them. Likeable enough this wasn’t a stand out read or anything I would rave or write home about.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

This book had lovely, layered, utterly relatable characters that are the heart and core of this story. Felix is sweet and vulnerable and has an emotional honesty that borders on reckless. It was Huey/Dane who utterly melted my heart though. I loved how he wrote quotes on his body every day to keep him grounded in reality, how he struggled so hard to retain control and how the need to atone for his past wrongdoings as an addict nearly rent him apart. I thought it was a genius dichotomy to make slight, gentle, sweet Felix emotionally fearless; while intimidating, rigidly controlled Huey was constricting every aspect of his life out of crippling fear. His character arc was an emotional gut-punch that was supremely satisfying to see finally resolved.

This is a character-driven story and was therefore somewhat light on plot. I usually prefer a little more action in my reading, and so I somewhat trudged through the first half of the book which reflects more my personal tastes than the writing which was wonderful. The author managed to give each first-person narrator a distinct voice that perfectly reflected who they are and where they were at in their lives. I also adored the respective communities of which they were a part. Huey in all his aloofness had a cast of loyal friends who called him out when needed and were unwaveringly supportive nonetheless, and Felix has a large, boisterous family who both anchor him and for the longest time hindered him from progressing in his personal life. I loved how this cast of fleshed-out side characters were woven into the main story. Lastly, I loved how the main characters being gay was just naturally a part of the story instead of being made an issue. Nobody ever even blinked an eye and that's how I wish all books on the subject were written.

I’m normally a bit anal about reading books in a series in order but I got this ARC and I was approaching the pub date so I just went for it. I haven’t read the other books in this series and it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of this one at all. Huey is a cinnamon roll and I completely fell for him early in the story. I love how Felix provided a perfect compliment to him. While the story may not be action packed in the traditional sense, it is definitely emotionally packed. The storyline plus the writing just kept me flipping the pages.

Thank you LoveSwept and NetGalley for the ARC!

Roan Parrish used to be one of my favorite authors, and my absolute favorite romance author. This trilogy, though, has been my least favorite of her work, and each title finds me less enthusiastic. Her romances used to overcome the clichés of cis women writing m/m: Her protagonists felt authentic, sex scenes were unique and character-driven, and she added in little details that jived with me perfectly (like Daniel’s favorite book being <i>The Secret History</i> in <i>The Middle of Somewhere<i/>—this was also my favorite book at the time).

I think her working with a more mainstream press and also her evolved attitude toward writing has led to me not enjoying her books. In this one, she embraces the m/m clichés: Huey is Big Strong Man, Felix is Tiny Bottom Twink. I’ve read it a thousand times; it’s uninteresting, inauthentic, and not as genuinely <i>queer</i> as her other books. The age different is gross and isn’t addressed realistically. This isn’t gay lit territory; this is women-writing-porny-m/m territory. I guess it was a thin line to cross, and she crossed it. It’ll appeal to a lot of readers; it didn’t appeal to me.

Regarding her “evolved attitude toward writing”: Roan Parrish wrote somewhere—maybe in her newsletter or on her Facebook page—that she doesn’t want to describe music specifically in case something she writes doesn’t agree with her reader. For example, she won’t compare Theo’s band to any real life bands, she won’t write many lyrics, and she won’t use any concrete descriptions of what the music sounds like.

This is…not an approach I like. Actually, working through an entire trilogy while still having no idea what the characters’ music sounds like drives me really crazy. Who cares if some readers don’t like the music that’s described? They probably won’t mind particularly themselves—but if the music <i>is</i> described, then there’s a chance it’ll really resonate with someone, in the way that Daniel loving <i>The Secret History</i> resonated with me (a detail she’s stated she now regrets including in her debut novel).

When I was a kid, K.L. Going’s <i>Fat Kid Rules the World</i> was my absolute favorite book. That story is also about music, and Going compared real life bands that most people haven’t heard of, like Leftover Crack, to her characters’ punk group. But <i>I</i> had heard of those bands, and that book felt like such a gem. When you deliberately make your prose vague so that it’s agreeable to everyone, it’s harder for it to deeply resonate with anyone.

I just didn’t care about Felix and Huey. <i>Raze</i> was yet another formulaic m/m romance, and I’m sad to say that about Roan Parrish’s work. She’s made conscious decisions to change her writing style, and it’s just not up my alley anymore.

I love Roan Parrish, amazing author! The way she tells a story, I was just drawn in and the words take over. I get lost in the pages, it is always a joy to read. The two men in this tale were great characters with a lot going on in their lives. Huey and Felix will stay with me for a long time. Very enjoyable book, a great summer read!!

I'm absolutely in love with Roan Parrish books. These are books that are written with care and love for the characters, bringing raw and intense emotions and keeping you engaged the entire time you're reading it. It focused on two male main characters. Huey is the bartender and Caleb's (who we've followed and got to know in the first two books) friend and past NA sponsor who is a past addict himself. He meets Felix when he walks into his bar, ten years younger than Huey and everything that he isn't prepared to have in his life. I adored how easy their relationship felt at first, but at the same time they both had to go through so many things to get to a healing and stable place. The writing in this book is luscious and well constructed from the beginning. It tells a story about life post addiction, dependence, friendship and complex relationships and talks about important topics that are brought up in a thought-provoking and deep way. I loved every minute of this.

Huey's story wasn't at all like I was expecting. The previous two books were angst filled while Raze had a more slowed down approach. There was angst but not over the top.

The story center's around Huey living his life post-addiction. I felt that aspect of the story was nicely written. He had always come across as strong and steady, but in reality, he was being held prisoner by fear.

Felix, on his end, was going through many changes. From a young age, he became "the man of the house." As he got older, his sister Sofia helped carry the weight, and suddenly she found her life taking off without him. He felt alone and at a loss as to do with his future.

Huey and Felix together were each other's missing piece despite their age difference.

There was a lot to love:

-Romantic (swoon-worthy!)
-Some angst
-Smoking hot chemistry
-Dual POVs
-And a strong HEA.

Why not 5 Stars? There was a point in the story where Felix was needy, and it did begin to irk me. There was a scene in particular where his actions bothered me. He came across as selfish and immature. He did redeem himself, though.

All in all, Raze is an excellent addition to the Riven series. I have fingers, toes, and legs crossed that we get a book for Coco and Sofia.

4 Stars

I've been a big fan of this series since the beginning and this installment was no different. Huey especially grabbed me and broke my heart several times. His struggles were so real and honest and showed that sometimes it's easy to fake it even when you're still torn up inside. The gradual way we got to see behind Huey's defenses made the story unfold in such a smooth way that I didn't even realize Huey was falling apart until it became unavoidable.

That's not to say that Felix's story is any less real or meaningful. As a caretaker, it's so easy to lose yourself in the role and the way Felix navigated his emotions about his changing role was very honest.

Of course, I loved spending time with the characters from the first two books again. I especially adored seeing behind the curtain of Huey's relationship with Rhys and how it has changed and grown. As always, Theo holds my heart and his appearances made me rememeber why I fell in love with him (and these books) in the first place.

This book was amazing. Very rarely do authors get certain things right and Roan just absolutely floors me every with every new book that comes out. Raze had me laughing, and crying, and longing, and relating. I understood so much about what these guys were going through.

[b]A perfect end to a glorious trilogy.[/b]

Raze is the third book in the Riven trilogy (the other two books are titled Riven and Rend) by Roan Parrish, who is absolutely my go-to author when I want to feel all the feelings while reading romance. This book (this trilogy, really) does not disappoint. The main characters are Huey and Felix, so it’s a M/M romance (as are the two previous books) with a bi/pan (Huey never says explicitly that I can remember) + G pairing.

For those who have read the first two books, Huey is a familiar face. He is Caleb (one of Riven’s MCs)’s NA sponsor, and runs a bar in Brooklyn, NY. In the first two books of the trilogy he is very silent, very wise, always there at the right moment, and I actually [i]longed[/i] to hear his voice, his story. Felix is a completely new addition to the Riven-universe. He is very [i]fuchsia[/i], as is the gorgeous cover of this book. OMG, how much I LOVE THIS COVER. The color is amazing and the model chosen has such a stunning face; so interesting, so expressive. Anyway, Felix is younger than Huey, louder, somewhat bolder. But the two have something in common: they both lived so long to help others they almost forgot they deserve to take some happiness for themselves. They are both like Atlas - a classical comparison cited in the book -, the titan who is condemned by others (and this is the key point) to carry the world on his shoulders. But unlike Atlas, since we are not, we are never, like the Greek mythological figures we liken ourselves to, trapped in the eternal repetition of the same action, the same pattern of behavior, they do not have to. And at the beginning they both don’t realize this.

Their journey as they learn to live the life they want to leave, as they carve space for each other in their respective lives, as they fall in love was a wonderful one. It left me with a warm feeling in my heart, I could not stop smiling and crying at the same time - because this is a Roan Parrish’s book and she knows exactly which strings to pull to release the Niagara behind my eyes. The depth of Huey’s ability to love is astounding. The tenderness of his soul… I do not have words to explain.

Looking again at the covers of the three books in the trilogy, I finally understand the meaning of the colors chosen as background. If Riven was a fundamentally black story, so full of darkness - Caleb’s own darkness inside, Theo’s hair, their love so much in your [i]face[/i], as black paint thrown on a blank wall - and Rend is so white - pure like Matt’s soul, simple, like Rhys’ way of viewing the world, white as the cloth given after a baptism, symbolizing regeneration and rebirth -, Raze is a story that’s the color of the brightest flowers of summer. Because Raze is about moving from simple rebirth - from Spring - to summer, when nature shines the brightest and gives its best. It’s about living life to the fullest, not just surviving. So Raze is somewhat calmer than the first two books - which frankly came as a surprise: Caleb&Theo had to fight the darkness of their winter, plant the seeds of their love and betting on the fact that they would grow; Matt&Rhys were in the Spring, their love had grown, but a sudden recrudescence of the cold threatened it. Bur Raze… Raze is brightness, it’s light. It’s hot summer days in the countryside, when you take a walk and all around you there’s life just [i]buzzing[/i] and a light breeze hits your face and all you can smell is grass freshly cut and wheat. I loved it. I loved the trilogy. The struggle, the pain, the euphoric happiness of its ending. These characters are scored in my heart. Once again, Roan Parrish has outdone herself.

"Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review."

Loved this book very much. It had just enough sweet, sexy romance and the storyline was great! I highly recommend!

It looks like Raze is shaping up to be a love it or leave it book, but I for one loved this slow burn, May-December romance. For those familiar with the Riven series, this is Huey’s story in all its messy, sharp-edged glory. For those who haven’t read the previous two books, don’t be scared to dive right in with Raze because, though there is character overlap, it’s a whole new couple and can be enjoyed as a standalone. Raze definitely packed a punch, but it isn’t delivered as a quick fire barrage of hits. Instead, this book slowly unveils the truths both heroes try to hide while they shore up all those around them by giving whole chunks of themselves.

Although the magic of a slow build can sometimes be killed by a frustratingly languorous pace, that didn’t happen for me with Raze. I immediately liked Huey and Felix and found them to be characters I was desperate to know more about. While it took time to do that, the delivery of little tidbits along the way kept my attention and prevented me from feeling like I was turning in circles. Add to that the way this author can bring emotions to the surface, making them palpable for the reader, and I was completely hooked. In fact, I found it exceedingly hard to step away from this book. I loved watching Felix and Huey realize their own value and grow over the course of the book as individuals and a couple, and found many of their struggles relatable on in way or the other. This is definitely one of those hard-fought happy endings, but the resolution left me happy and warmed. If you like a good, emotional romance and are in for the slow build, I’d not hesitate to recommend Raze.

Raze is a sweetly emotional book that is very much in the style of other Roan Parrish books. The love story between Felix and Huey was well developed and written. The chemistry between them was very sexy and kept you rooting for them to sort through their emotional immaturity. The reason I'm only giving this book 4 stars is because the ending was very sudden abrupt. I almost wish that the epilogue had been shorter in lieu of a better ending to the last chapter. But overall, this is definitely a beach read this summer! 4 chilli peppers of hotness.

I received a free ARC from the publisher in exchange for my unbiased opinion. All thoughts are my own, thanks NetGalley and Loveswept for the ARC.

Dane "Huey" & Felix really are a pair of mismatched men that are made for one another. They have the ability to nurture and guide each other in just the way one other needs, whether they realize it or not. The chemistry is there, who will take the first step? The beginning of the book was off to a great start with the character introductions, and piqued my interest to see how it would all unfold. Huey came off as little too stilted and stiff for me. Felix was the exact opposite and was an emotional seesaw. Each of them possessed a trait that the other really needed to balance them out. The story moved along well enough, with the details of each of their lives being told, but there wasn't anything that was super stellar about it overall.