Reviewed by Susan65
Title: Rend
Author: Roan Parrish
Narrator: Greg Boudreaux
Series: Riven #2
Heroes: Matt Argento & Rhys Nyland
Genre: MM
Length: 9 Hours 21 Minutes
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Release Date: January 29, 2019
Available at: Amazon and Audible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb:
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.
Review:
I loved the first book, Riven, so much that I could not wait to see where the author went with Rend. What I loved was that the characters of the first book, Theo and Caleb, have more than just a passing cameo here, but were integral to the storyline and the salvation of Matt and Rhys. I was a little bummed to see a change in narration. My preference in a series is stability, but I am happy to say that she didn’t lose too much, if anything, in translation with the change of narrators. I believe that is because she chose one of my favorites in Greg Boudreaux. I definitely prefer the two narrator to one ratio, but Greg does a stellar job performing both characters, and past characters, as well.
Matt and Rhys are already married in this one and we see that they are very much in love and on solid ground. What you come to find out as we get into it is that Rhys is struggling internally. He seems to be stable only when Matt is around, but Matt is going on tour, without Rhys, and with Caleb, his ex-boyfriend. Now, reminder, Caleb is firmly and solidly in love with Theo, so there is not a hint of hanky panky between Caleb and Matt. They have a history but they both realize that they were not meant to be a forever couple. But, Rhys has a history of being abandoned, of not being good enough, and his mental play-by-play is taking its toll on him…and their now long distant relationship.
Greg Boudreaux is an amazing narrator that doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to get all the emotions and feels out to the audience. I never had a doubt that Rhys was suffering or how bad his inner demons were tormenting him. At the same time, he was able to easily portray Matt’s concerns and love and confusion with what was really going on at home with Rhys. The saving grace was Theo stepping up and being the solid link to hold Matt and Rhys together when they could not be together physically. I liked Theo in the first book, but I loved him in this one. Highly recommend this audiobook, and this series.
Overall Impression: I Really Liked It
*I purchased my own, personal copy of this book for review.*
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