Riven

By: Roan Parrish

Narrated by: Chris Chambers, Iggy Toma

Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Theo Decker might be the lead singer of Riven, but he hates being a rock star. The paparazzi, the endless tours, being recognized everywhere he goes - it all makes him squirm. The only thing he doesn't hate is the music. Feeling an audience's energy as they lose themselves in Riven's music is a rush unlike anything else...until he meets Caleb Blake Whitman. Caleb is rough and damaged, yet his fingers on his guitar are pure poetry. And his hands on Theo? They're all he can think about. But Caleb's no groupie - and one night with him won't be enough.

Just when Caleb is accepting his new life as a loner, Theo Decker slinks into it and turns his world upside down. Theo's sexy and brilliant and addictively vulnerable, and all Caleb wants is another hit. And another. That's how he knows Theo's trouble. Caleb can't even handle performing these days. How the hell is he going to survive an affair with a tabloid superstar? But after Caleb sees the man behind the rock star, he begins to wonder if Theo might be his chance at a future he thought he'd lost forever.

Contains mature themes.

©2018 Roan Parrish (P)2018 Tantor

sooo good!!!

all the r ight feels...I've been searching for the excitement of a great book and didn't want to stop listening to this one! can't wait for the next....so worth it!

Would have been better as a duet, but...

This is a great audio.

My only complaint about the performance, and it's a small one, is Chris Chambers needs to work on his breath control when using the mic. You can often hear his breath intakes before speaking, which could be annoying. 

Otherwise, Iggy Toma and Chris Chambers both did a wonderful job overall. Their character voices are great, the pacing and timing was aural perfection, and I would have been perfectly happy and content if either one had narrated alone. 

Because while I enjoyed listening to both narrators, the fact that it was dual narration did adversely affect my enjoyment. (See my "I hate having to listen to two different interpretations of the same role in the same book" rants from the past.)

Look, Riven's a good audio. But I'm not going to lie...I truly believe this would have been award-winning awesomeness had it been a duet narration instead. 

If you can't afford duet or ensemble narration, stick to a single narrator. All I'm saying.

**~~**~~**~~**~~**

Riven took my expectations of a rock star romance and completely obliterated them. This is unlike anything I thought it was going to be. I anticipated it being good because I have yet to be disappointed by a Roan Parrish novel, but I didn't realize how invested I would be in these characters.

In sweet, naive, Theo.

In broken, but mending, Caleb..

Upon finishing I could only think, "I'm wrecked." and had a book hangover for a day or two where I couldn't get the story or Theo and Caleb out of my head. The best kind of wrecked.

“If you’re looking for a prize, you ain’t lookin’ for love. Love isn’t a reward. It’s not something you deserve or don’t deserve.”

The writing is almost lyrical, and pulled me in like some of my favorite music that I can listen to and let the world disappear. I got lost in this book. 

I loved so much about Riven, from the dual POV that let me get inside the heads of these two incredible characters, to the way it flowed, to the way it ended, to the way it made me feel. And, man, did it make me feel so much. 

I'm wowed by this story. I just...I loved this so much.

“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.”

Highly recommended!

another great listen

I really loved this story. Roan Parrish always delivers and this book once again brings her characters to life. The narration is superb. I love the rock star vibe and the whole back story of the upside and pitfalls of fame but I also enjoyed feeling like an insider to.these talented musicians creativity and process. I loved Theo and Caleb they were perfect together despite their imperfections. Both are loveable guys and their stories are realistic and they held my interest until the very end.

Beautiful Love Story!

I loved this book! The characters are amazing and grow so much. I loved them both from the start and their meet cute was great! This is rockstar/musician romance, strangers to lovers, and more. It’s romantic, spicy, and full of love and friendship.

Magical Music

One reluctant Rockstar, one recovery blues singer.... both with some personal demons to slay. Their worlds collide and its beautiful, yet rocky. They both have to find a way to deal with their own personal plight, while helping the other. All while trying to navigate falling in love and doing it in a very public setting. Narration was superb!

A rockin good listen

I actually added this book to my library in late November, 2018. I listened in January and just listened a second time over night. Let me first tell you that I love rocker romance. I also love male/male romance. I don’t enjoy romantic comedy, funny or light romance of any sort, the darker the better. While this is not a dark romance, in the truest sense, it is not the happiest of stories. These men are musicians, gorgeous and tatted up, talented and miserable. They stumble into each other in a bar, one night stand material for sure. One is a sad man whose career in music has ended in unhappiness, the other is a young and reluctant misfit. As their lives unfold they hurt one another, heal each other and fall deeply into a forever love. This book is beautifully written, flowery in parts and stark in others. There is a bit of humor a lot of tears and, some very hot and sexy parts. Roan Parrish shows us loneliness, drug addiction and fear and how these things are overcome in heroic and very ordinary ways. Now, a word to the narrators. Chris Chambers and Iggy Toma become these men. They are the perfect choice and pair as beautifully as any couple could. I love them both. Iggy Toma was my “boy crush” last year. I think this will still be his year. I sincerely hope the two of them continue to work together.

ummm, top shelf

I have become an absolute front of the line, can't wait for the next book, FAN of Roan Parrish. His books suck me in from the first page and I don't want to stop till the end.
Iggy Toma , I've been a fan since the first book I heard him narrate, and Chris Chambers was impressive as well. THANKS FOR THE GOOD READ

So beautiful

I loved this story! It was so beautifully written. I always live Iggy Toma’s narration, this is the first I’ve heard from Chris Chambers and I really liked him too!!! Great story, great narration!!

Riven - great audio book

I was so happy to see one of my favorite authors in audio. Several years ago I read the "Middle of Somewhere" series and loved the series. Later, I would checked up on Roan to see if there were any new book, but didn't see any, maybe she switch publishers. Over time I bought a tablet and switched to audio books, then this week low and behold Roan Parrish crossed my screen when I was browsing for a new Audible book. I saw she had several published in audio, so I decided on Riven. Usually, the musician theme is not my thing, but I had to get a new audible book by Roan and I wasn't sorry. I loved the book, story and characters, narration was great too. I really enjoy Roan's writing style, the agnst and the development of the characters, their struggles and relationships as well as the details that frame the story for this one about music and song writing, a topic I am not familar with nor thought much about, but really appreciated it in this story. Iggy Toma is a favorite of mine too he was able to do an excellent job narrating both characters. Other narrator was great too.

MM Rockstar Romance

Theo Decker completely made this book!! He is a wonderful, wonderful character who I want the world for. He is such a sweet person, and so very talented and just wants to find love and acceptance in the people around him. He is such a loyal person, but true to himself, that his family pretty much wrote him off and emotionally abused him for his trouble. Then he elevates a band who treats him like less than, and doesn't want to include him, and yet he feels like he owns them or something and works himself to death for them. Then he hears a beautiful song from Caleb Whitman, and falls for him hard. Only thing is, Caleb is battling some pretty heavy demons of drug addiction and is not ready to love Theo, and give him what he so deserves. Eventually all is well, but it is tough ansty road to get there. It was a 3 star read until the end, and I loved the ending and so 4 stars for me. Also, the powerhouse narration of Iggy Toma & Chris Chambers was the icing on this delicious morsel!!