Rend: A Novel (Riven Series Book 2) Kindle Edition

That Roan. That Roan effing Parrish is a sneaky little B because she did it again. She gave me my favorite book of the year (Riven is still a close second!) and reminded me what I love about romance. Damn, but this book is fresh. She bucks the traditional format and grabs you right from the prologue.I was floating on a cloud. My heart was going to jump right out of my chest with the joy of just how blissfully wonderful Rhys and Matt’s relationship is. I mean, that text that Rhys sends Matt in the beginning may have ruined me for all other books. I’m just happily grinning along as I read, oblivious for what’s to come, and then she drops the bomb. They’re a codependent mess and I freaking love it.Yes, Rhys and Matt may be a bit fleeting early on but we get to see them fall deeper in love as they face the highs and lows of their marriage. These characters really have to work for it but that just makes it all the more rewarding in the end. What really stood out to me is that even when they’re in the thick of it, trying to work out their issues, they take breaks - like going to pick apples together - so as to not exhaust themselves or get so frustrated that they might otherwise want to give up. To me, this kind of patience is what really shows how much they truly care for each other.“You’re mine. And I’m yours.”Seeing what Matt was going through was difficult to read at times because of how real it felt. He’s scared because of his past, he hasn’t quite figured out yet where he belongs and I thought the way his anxiety was depicted was very relatable. I was relieved and proud to see him start to take control of his life, working on his happiness with Rhys and outside of their relationship as well. This was also a great way to include Theo and Caleb from Riven. I always love when a series includes past characters and the ensemble cast becomes a family. This couldn’t have been more appropriate with Matt’s and Rhys’ need to have loved ones nearby to help them get through the bad times and to celebrate the good ones too.It’s glaringly evident how much research goes into Roan’s books. You can picture her visiting the places she writes about because the details are always so vivid. She’s clearly done her homework and the tone of Rend fits well with Riven. It’s a very cohesive work thus far as a whole. And you know it’s good when you’re thinking you can’t wait to get back to it, you can’t wait to see what happens next. When you wish there was a physical copy you could hold in your hands (and maybe hug too).I swooned, I cried, and I laughed. Roan and her books are amazing. I tried to find fault in this story because no book can be perfect, right? I was at a loss in the end because I just can’t say enough good things.

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.

Omg I loved this book so much. I thought I could never love a couple as much as Rex and Daniel. Then I read Riven and thought I could never love a couple as much as Theo and Caleb but Rhys and Matt...wow. Rhys is my dream and Matt is my soul. I ached for them and wanted so badly for them to get their happy ending. I loved every second of their story.

This book got me a serious book-hangover. It was beautiful and bittersweet....Matt was a foster child and is still suffering of his mother abandoning him as a child which left him in the foster system. He never trusts people to stick around but always waits for the other shoe to drop.Rhys is exactly the opposite, loving, caring, and optimistic.And this is exactly the conflict - two people coming from completely different worlds, really.I loved that the conflict wasn't solved by some magical whatever, but that they have to constantly work for their relationship contstantly.One of Roan Parrish's best books in my opinion (next to "The Remaking of Corbin Wale", "Invitation to the Blues" and "In the middle of nowhere"). Her writing is poetic and truly sublime.

I was in awe with Riven, the first book and since I am a huge fan of Roan Parrish's writing (I re-read "In the middle of somewhere"'s books at least 2 times each) I was sure this book would be one of my favs. I felt disappointed. Matt and Rhys's story had everything to appeal me in more than a way. And instead I felt bored at least in two different moments.I loved the 2 together, I loved Rhys tenderness and concern about Matt and I supported Matt's abandonment issues but... it did not click to me, I felt not involved into Matt's struggle and sorrow most of the time. I don't know if this is because the writer was not able to describe his suffering or because the angsty climax arrived only after a long period of lovey-dovey demostrations from Rhys towards Matt and Matt's indecisions. I was enthralled by Matt's enduring Rhys' absence all the way during the first half of the book. Then I lost it along the way starting from the second half. I had problems, I did not understand Rhys's rage towards Matt - ok, Matt did not confess Rhys his whole story but, hey, this is not a sin! One can wish to forget his issues right? One can try and bury them into the deepest corner of his self, no? - and most of all, the distance Rhys takes leaving the poor guy he claims to love more than himself alone, wandering at night towards his old neighborhood, blind by sorrow and non resolved abandonment issues. And then claiming him back like nothing had happened.Maybe I did not understood very well what the author wanted to show or state with this episode. Maybe the episode was necessary to reach the utmost conflict but I guess was handled poorly. I had serious problem in believing the whole second part of the book. I was also disappointed by the role Theo and Caleb had in this story. Caleb, out of everybody should have understood Matt's struggle, not supporting Rhys anger towards him. But hey, maybe it's me that did not get the whole picture in this story. I gave 3 stars just because I love Roan Parrish and I loved the characters, despite their story together. (less)

I've read this book so many times. Matt is such an amazing character, so vulnerable and open to the reader but not others.Having worked with kids with trauma so much of this book rings true. I wish they could all find a supporter like Rhys.I love that the book starts with them already together and is about navigating their relationship

I had a bit of a hard time getting into Rend at first. Matt and Rhys are already married and madly in love, and I tend to read romance more for the relationship building and the falling-in-love part. Perhaps I just wasn't in the mood the first time I picked it up, because once I started reading in earnest, I didn't really want to put the book down. What we have here is the aftermath of their instalove story. Matt and Rhys met and married each other within a matter of months, a neat little tied up fix for Rhys's desperation to be loved and Matt's serious abandonment issues which would have driven me bonkers if I'd read the actual falling-in-love part. Except this story takes place nearly two years into their marriage, when they begin to realize that -- while they are still madly, deeply in love with each other -- love on its own was not enough to fix their problems. It's a lovely story that takes a relatively realistic look at what mental illness can look like (because yes, Matt should have sought counselling long ago, I'd hazard that his childhood experiences have left him with a combo of ptsd and anxiety disorder). While some readers might grow frustrated with Matt's wibbly-wobbly back and forth and his constant need for reassurance, his thought patterns and relapses were quite realistic for someone with his background and probable mental health profile.