Rend

By: Roan Parrish

Narrated by: Greg Boudreaux

Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's Summary

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

Matt Argento knows what it feels like to be alone. After a childhood of abandonment, he never imagined someone might love him - much less someone like Rhys Nyland, who has the voice of an angel, the looks of a god, and the worship of his fans.

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

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

Contains mature themes.

©2018 Roan Parrish (P)2019 Tantor

Not for Me

I have two problems with this book:
#1...gay men just don't talk the way the main characters do. "Baby" again and again is ridiculous.

#2...the main character (Matty) whines and whines and whines...and then whines some more. I had about 3.5 hours left when I pulled out my earbuds and gave up. I could care less how the story ended; I totally lost interest. Even the sex scenes became repetitive...and, of course, were usually introduced by, you guessed it, some whiny story.

The author definitely has talent, but this story was just meh!

Another Gem From Roan Parrish

The concept of writing a love story about a couple that’s already married is unique, but challenging. When I first heard that Rend would be about Rhys and Matt, a couple that is already established in Riven, I wondered if perhaps Roan Parrish was backtracking and telling the story of how they met and fell in love. Then, as I began reading Rend, I realized there were some flashbacks to their beginning, but this is a story of a couple almost two years into their relationship. So I wondered where Roan was taking them in this story. How do you make a love story interesting when the couple is already together? I was a little worried that outside influences might emerge to cause trouble for Matt and Rhys, but I should’ve known better where Roan Parrish is concerned. Inner conflict. The inner conflict that Roan Parrish writes so beautifully was enough to turn Matt and Rhys’s world on its axis. She’s so damn good at taking you into a character’s psyche and making you ache right along with them though their struggle. Rend is a story about two souls so deeply in love that they want to spare the other from sadness and pain.

Greg Boudreaux’s narration is superb! I like how he changed his voice to suit each character. He tells the story so beautifully and captures every emotion from joy to pain so fluidly. The ache in his voice during some of Matt’s more painful moments brought tears to my eyes.

I'll be short about this, in the best possible way

The book is great. Greg Boudreaux did a stellar job in narrating it. He is one of the few narrators who really add a dimension to a story, who makes the characters come alive. Five stars, all around.

endless emo

fan of roan parrish, but very disappointed in this story. it's endless, plotless whining about the same thing for hours and hours without end. yes he was in foster care, but it is not explored with any depth, just presented as repetitive angst regardless of the setting with the same lines and same examples. yes, we know! you eat cold chef boyarde out of the can even in you 20s, even though your husband for years offers you other food, even when you've had a full time job for years. How many times can you hear about the stinking cold chef boyardee before you say, "enough! you're a grown man. buy some other food or put it in the dang microwave."
i'm ashamed to say i listened to this for hours before trying to skip forward and realizing the story went nowhere.

NO, no, no, no.

If one could strip away all nonsense in this book, it would be a slim, thoughtful volume. For everything Roan Parrish understood about recovery and addiction in Riven, it doesn’t seem to translate to mental health, mental abuse and grooming. If you want a story about a guy who desperately needs help but instead gets a misguided control freak, this book is for you. Please note, I have been a Roan fan - I really enjoyed the three books I read in the Somewhere series, and also the first book in this series, Riven. I gave that book high mark across the board.

From here on there could be spoilers, which I normally try to avoid, but in this case, sorry.

What’s good? Greg’s narration is amazing, the pacing, the characterizations are really enjoyable. There are some good elements in this book, and Greg makes the most of them. As for the story, it’s told strictly from Matt’s perspective, we don't lose the focus and stay present in his realm. Matt is generally believable in his struggle, I readily accept that he would have trust issues. His later connection with Theo also makes sense. I will even concede that Matt might gravitate towards sexual encounters as the easiest means of human interaction, and that Rhys, as a object of perceived strength and physical beauty, would be appealing.

What doesn’t work? Setting aside some meandering plot points, Rhys is a nightmare, part simpleton, part control freak with a savior complex. I did not see this coming after how he was presented in Riven. One of my main questions when reading many of these MM romance is who is the intended audience? Who does Rhys, as presented here appeal to? The relentless “you’re mine, only mine”, “no one else can touch you like this”, I will always find you”, in a story that hangs on a main character who’s been abused reads as, well, abusive.

As the story gets going, I found him smothering and self absorbed, like a stalker. Then by the time the reader gets to Matt saying “I wish I had only been with you”, and Rhys wants to consider that “now” is Matt’s first time, the story crosses into something so unrealistic - like re-virginization. It doesn't work that way. I don’t know these people. instead of being relatable, they become caricatures of old school MF romances with hyper masculine stereotypes and women with a need to be led by a strong man because they aren’t capable of doing anything for themselves. The fact it takes approximately 8 hours of listening before Matt is set to get help is unbearably long. The story could have been served better by Matt struggling in therapy much soone, putting his relationship with Rhys in question and Theo being Matt’s support and safe tether to a life with Rhys.

Speaking of, let’s also look how badly Matt was failed by Theo. Theo eventually identifies there’s a serious problem with Matt, and does nothing! He doesn’t push to help Matt, or visit more often, or share what he’s seen with Rhys. It seems out of character for Theo. Then when everything blows up after Rhys returns, none of what Theo witnessed gets back to Rhys. It makes no sense.

Then there’s the sex. Way too much, unless as a plot point for Matt using it as the only way he could feel close to Rhys, even then, too much. I tend to look to Diana Gabaldon who writes some very explicit sex scenes and plenty of physical descriptions, as good measure of how to incorporate sex into a romance story. Or even Jay Bell - a gay writer who writes descriptive sex between men. The sex in this book was laughably bad. I rolled my eyes so many times and wondered if some of the scenes were simply adapted from MF storylines. Btw, waking up because of you’re then recipient of intercourse, with the permission sort of asked after the fact is not ok, just because they are men doesn’t mean consent doesn’t matter.

I wish the good bits were in better balance to all the detritus to be able to say; “while not the best there are some really nice moments.” But I really don’t feel comfortable doing that, as presented in this book. Rhys is not a character who should be held on a pedestal, its not ok to say he’s just human - that shouldn’t be an excuse for his controlling behavior. The author should be taken to task for propping up this trope, especially after the care given in the prior book to addiction.

WORST BOOK EVER !!!!! I LOVE ROAN PARRISH BUT !!!!

THIS BOOK SHOULD COME WITH TONS OF TRIGGER WARNINGS !!! IT NOT FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE BAD MEMORIES OF THE FOSTER CARE SYSTEM AND TONS OF OTHER THING I HAVE NEVER DISLIKED A CHARACTER AS MUCH AS MATTIE.IT WAS JUST BAD THE FIRST BOOK BY ROAN PARRISH I AM RETURNING

3.5 stars rounding down

Roan Parrish writes damaged and/or flawed heroes and I love that about her but she rarely sends them to talk to someone even when they absolutely need to. Here though that wasn't the case thankfully. Matt needed therapy like nobody's business.

So this is my 2nd listen of this but first time leaving a review and I have to say that I didn't love it as much as the first time. Matt wasn't am easy character to like because he knew he had issues but wasn't inclined to do something about them apart than taking the easy way out and leaving. He loved Rhys and didn't want to lose him nor burden him with his past and how that had shaped him, he lived a breath away from panic attacks just by thinking that Rhys might get tired of him and dealing with him etc but doing something about before Rhys was having his own melt down... nope.

Rhys was everything Matt said, tall, blond, rambunctious and a ray of sunshine but as Caleb said the dude had major superhero syndrome that needed to be toned down to be able to see Matt's situation.

The story for all the established couple was gritty and sweet and heartbreaking. And thank Heavens Matt's and Rhys's kind of possessiveness aligned caused in any other pairing Rhys's possessiveness boarded unhealthy and abusive.

Greg is an excellent narrator and a joy to hear and really brought forth every emotion.

Tragically beautiful

My God! It was just so tragically BEAUTIFUL!!!!! Roan Parrish, new favorite author!!! Like, EFF!!!! Greg Boudreaux, new narrator for me, excellent acting my dude!!!! Loved every minute of this amazing story!!!!

Deep story, AMAZING performance

This story is very heavy on depression, anxiety, abandonment, and other mental health issues. If you're not in a good mind space for that, wait on listening to this one.

That being said, this book was SO good. Matt's demons sounded so familiar to mine and it was gut wrenching to see him go through his pain. It was like the author reached into my brain and plucked out the heart of the feelings of my depression and put them all into Matt so I could know exactly what he was feeling. As hard as it was to watch him struggle, it was cathartic to see someone else feel things I've always struggled with. I know if I hadn't been in a good space right now this could have really broke me with its familiarity.

And as good as the story was, it was made so perfect by the narration. Boudreaux didn't just narrate this book, he ACTED it. Honestly it was one of the best performances I've ever heard. He was completely Matt and portrayed him so perfectly as the broken and hopeful man. You could hear how he felt it. There was emotion and laughter and it all sounded so natural and genuine... it was amazing. After hearing a book acted out like this I don't think I will look at narration the same.

What a disappointment!

I usually enjoy books by Roan Parrish - but I honestly couldn't get past the whiny nature of the character of Matt. I tried three times to get into the story but finally had to give up and move on to her next book.

3,5 stars rounding down

Roan Parrish writes damaged and/or flawed heroes and I love that about her but she rarely sends them to talk to someone even when they absolutely need to. Here though that wasn't the case thankfully. Matt needed therapy like nobody's business.

So this is my 2nd listen of this but first time leaving a review and I have to say that I didn't love it as much as the first time. Matt wasn't am easy character to like because he knew he had issues but wasn't inclined to do something about them apart than taking the easy way out and leaving. He loved Rhys and didn't want to lose him nor burden him with his past and how that had shaped him, he lived a breath away from panic attacks just by thinking that Rhys might get tired of him and dealing with him etc but doing something about before Rhys was having his own melt down... nope.

Rhys was everything Matt said, tall, blond, rambunctious and a ray of sunshine but as Caleb said the dude had major superhero syndrome that needed to be toned down to be able to see Matt's situation.

The story for all the established couple was gritty and sweet and heartbreaking. And thank Heavens Matt's and Rhys's kind of possessiveness aligned caused in any other pairing Rhys's possessiveness boarded unhealthy and abusive.

Greg is an excellent narrator and a joy to hear and really brought forth every emotion.