Riven (Riven #1)

Title: Riven: A Novel (Riven Series Book 1)
Author: Roan Parrish
Publisher: Loveswept, Random House LLC
Release Date: May 29, 2018
Genre(s): Contemporary Romance, Second Chance
Page Count: 262 pages
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Read book blurb here

I enjoy Roan Parrish's writing style and while it took me a while to truly get into this story, I ended up loving this book.

Theo is a reluctant rock star, essentially hired by Riven to write songs and be the front man, yet never feeling part of the band. Caleb is a blues musician, who on the way to success, gets sidetracked with a serious drug addiction (4 stints in rehab) and now lives in a ramshackle house away from all his triggers, striving each and every day to not succumb.


There is a lot of soul-searching here (we get both POVs throughout), as Caleb comes to care deeply for Theo yet worries that Theo's world will drag him back into addiction. Theo finds in Caleb someone who feels as passionately about music as he does and Caleb gives Theo the unconditional love he has never before had.

“I don’t need the world to love me and I don’t need my parents to love me. I just need you to love me. Because I love you.”

Their incredible chemistry is front and center, and the sex is incredibly steamy right from the start, but the depth of emotion and love between the two takes a while to simmer and season.

I love the way in which Roan Parrish writes of music, of redemption, of love. At times the story seemed very slow, yet the pay-off is so worth it. 4.5 stars.