Viper

NSB, Book 3

De: Aly Stiles

Narrado por: Joe Arden

They call me the villain. The screw up. The rock cliche that broke up the band.

My nights are whiskey, women, repeat. My days are tabloid headlines.

I’m on a crash course to nowhere.

Now my best friend's little sister is standing on my doorstep, begging for my spare bed and my secrecy.

But the Hannah staring back at me is far from the little girl I remember.

She's got ghosts. I've got demons. We both know her big sister's the reason I'm sitting at rock bottom.

Letting Hannah stay is a terrible idea. But aren't those my specialty?

Viper is an emotional friends to lovers rockstar romance that can be listened to as a standalone.

©2017, 2023 Aly Stiles (P)2019 Aly Stiles

Rockstar Holland's Little Sister Hannah and Guitar

Viper by Aly Stiles is quite a rockstar romance about a crushed guitarist, Wes, and Hannah, his former best friend Holland’s little sister. Wes had been in love with Holland since they were children; she was his best friend. Wes and Holland began the band Tracing Holland and co-wrote the songs together. A band falling out included a brawl between Wes and Holland’s new man, resulting in Wes walking out on the band. He holed up nursing his wounds in booze and self-pity when Hannah showed up broken in her way, needing a place to live. Hannah is dealing with her demons after losing her attorney job. Wes and Hannah’s connection to each other initially is self-medication for their internal wounds until it becomes much more for both. Wes and Hannah must address their issues before healing enough to pursue the other. Aly Stiles writes about emotional dysfunction and mental illness with sensitivity. She allows her characters to act out and seek help so healing can happen. It is a rockstar story that hits all the emotions exposed in the audiobook with the narration by Joe Arden.

Rockstar Joe!

Love me some rockstar joe! This was a great story with the MMC falling in love with his ex girlfriend’s sister….and who doesn’t love that in a book! Angsty for certain, as Hannah isn’t quite sure he’s the one for her….ends with a good fade to black that wasn’t a terrible way to end it! Overall Joe did what Joe does and narrated the entire story and did a phenomenal job and male and female! He has a great range. Not a super spicy read, but good all the same!

Award Winner!

This was a new author for me and I am beyond thrilled to consider myself a fan now! This is not a quick listen or a sex in the second paragraph book. This is an in depth analysis of the hero's mind, slow burn. Written to engage the reader or listener, it opened a world of emotions in me: angst, happiness, despair , love. I am in awe of Aly Stiles' words and mind. Here ability to draw me in was immediate. Her style of exploring characters with depth is 5 stars. I was totally immersed in this story and continue to think about it! Of course now I am backtracking to listen to the whole series! I love the fact that her writing is not one-liners, but descriptive in a phenomenal way!

Joe Arden: Definitely one of his best narrations ever! The fact that this book was solely narrated by him just made the tale believable and lovable. I am in awe of this man, he is not just a narrator but an actor with talent that has no bounds.

I simply love this book and narration. My words of adoration do not do it enough justice, this deserves multiple awards in my opinion!

Rockstar redemption romance

The bad boy of rock finally finds his happy ending with the younger sister of his former band mate. They each have trauma they have to work through. Her with life choices that she regrets, him with a family that never accepted him as the artist he was.

It’s not super spicy, but there is heat. And Joe Arden’s gravelly voice brings life to the entire cast of characters.

Badboy rockstar

Loved the bad boy rockstar getting the girl! They are so good together! Bonus Joe narrated!

Got me invested

I listened to this story because of Joe Arden. It was a first for me from this author. It's a little less smutty than my usual read but the character build was excellent. I became really invested in their lives. I yelled at Wes multiple times, teared up at times, even laughed out loud a couple times. Getting a story completely from the male POV was a first but definitely didn't hate it. Joe was stellar as I knew he'd be. I would have no problem recommending this to others.

Rockstar slow burn

While I ended up enjoying this book, it really did take me until the very last 1/4 of the book to love it. I love that though the chaos Wes and Hannah can stand up to the storm. That they can make eachother better. Wes and Han are both bullheaded at times, but together they make the other see a more rational sides and brought out the best of the other. I don’t understand everyone’s hype of the Mary Sue that is Holland, but maybe that’s because I’ve never met someone who was so perfect and understanding. All in all, the storyline was great and cohesive, and a great reminder that the right person for you may seem like the wrong one at first. What was missing for me was actual spice. There were hints of it happening but not actual spice if you’re looking for that. Joe Arden did a fantastic job bringing life and emotion to all of the characters.

Love to love the villain

🎸 Viper 🎸

Do you love a good redemption story? I have been breezing through the Night Shifts Black series and am so in love with this world that Aly has created. Viper picks up after the events of NSB and Tracing Holland, but don’t fret.. this book can easily be read as a standalone romance. I would suggest reading them in order, because these are some of the greatest books I have ever read, and you’ll be missing out. 😉

Viper follows fellow band mate Wes Alton of the band Tracing Holland. There’s a lot of history that goes back between Holland and Wes. These two have always had each others back, wrote their main hits together, and experienced a whole lot more. When Wes decides to suddenly quit, everything starts to spiral downward in his life until Hannah, Holland’s younger sister, moves in temporarily.

Wes and Hannah’s love story starts off problematic, but their relationship just makes sense. These two work beautifully together and I love the twist of events that had to occur for them to get where they needed to be. The author’s work has always taken me for an entertaining and heartfelt ride. She also knows how to evoke every single emotion from me. Her words speak to me on so many levels. So grab yourself a copy to read or listen to the audiobook narrated by Joe Arden. If you’re familiar with his work, then you know this man has an air of gravitas that commands all your attention. He’s one of my favorite narrators to listen to and I almost feel sorry for those who have yet to experience his work. 😁

New to me author is now a must listen author!

First of all, as a listener well versed in listening to Joe Arden, the answer to Rockstar Joe Arden is an easy and eager yes, please and thank you. He nails his performance as Wes, a former original band member and best friend, looking to navigate his life. He and Hannah deal with mental illness, emotional struggles, feelings of inadequacies all while lifting the other up. While this book is all in Joe Arden's voice, he gives Hannah a voice just as real. This is part of a series. but can be listened or read as a standalone. I'm excited to read and listen to more from Aly Stiles.

All male POV and all Joe 🖤

Story:8/10
Spice:1/5
Spice Hierarchy: Closed Door/Cracked Door
Narration: 4/5

Release Tour-available now

Wes is now on a collision course after issues with his band and his ex-girlfriend leave him alone. It’s one destructive habit after another until his best friend’s (also his ex) sister shows up at his door looking for a place to crash. They both build each other up but it comes at some heavy costs.

Wes has some demons. And he doesn’t always approach them in the most constructive or healthy manners. He drinks away his problems, picks fights, and sometimes struggles with setting his own boundaries or appreciating others’ boundaries. So he’s human. Hannah has ghosts and questions her own value and what she is doing with her life. So she’s human too.

It’s Joe. All Joe. What’s not to love. But what I really enjoyed was it being all Joe’s narration was the whole story was told from Wes’ POV.

This is book 3 in a series. I read it as a standalone but I do think reading at least the previous book would have helped understand some of the other character dynamics.