Review: Riven by Roan Parrish

Title: Riven

Series: Riven: Book One

Author: Roan Parrish

Publisher: LoveSwept

Length: 235 Pages

Category: Contemporary

At a Glance: Riven is a beautiful story of healing, love and music. It takes a tired old rock and roll trope and turns it into a sensitive telling of the hard work it takes to shed the skin you hate and embrace the person you really are.

Reviewed By: Sammy

Blurb: 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.

Review: Let me just say that while this is my first novel by author Roan Parrish, it will definitely not be the last. This author plumbs the depths of her characters’ inner psyche with incredible precision, making them come alive on the page in such a way as to draw the reader right in and capture the attention immediately. I have read many a story depicting recovering addicts who are film or music/rock stars and have come to hate their craft solely because they feel they have lost their true selves due to having to adopt an onstage persona and always “be on”. In Riven, the first in a new series, Roan Parrish digs down and exposes all the fears, regrets and desires that drive Caleb in his recovery, and Theo in his quest to recapture his passion for music and finally be less critical and more accepting of himself.

Theo is the front man and lead singer for the band, Riven. It is on fire and rising to the top of the charts due to Theo’s incredible writing and singing skills. But Theo himself is exhausted, barely able to go onstage each night as he pours every ounce of his energy into giving a good show. Perhaps it’s because he has never really felt a part of the band, an established trio who needed a singer and managed to land Theo, or maybe it’s due to the fact that Theo’s parents always considered his choice to drop out of college to pursue music an embarrassment to them and a huge mistake. Whatever the reasons, Theo struggles with gnawing self-doubt, feelings of worthlessness and a growing dislike for the very music he once loved. While on a short hiatus from the band, Theo stumbles into a bar and hears a voice—a gorgeous, haunting voice whose heart seems to bleed into every lyric sung on the stage. That voice belonged to Caleb Blake Whitman, the same Caleb who had disappeared from a rising and popular music career a year before.

Caleb was his father’s son, an addict to both drugs and drink. Having grown up in an alcoholic home and watched it tear his parents’ marriage apart, it was no wonder that Caleb would slide down that same slippery slope while on tour during his wildly successful run. Four times in rehab and the last was the final straw. Caleb knew he had to survive this one or he would end up dead. After his stint at sobering up, he went to hide at his grandfather’s farm and left music behind him. But Caleb was lonely and itching to create music, even though his barely contained terror at the idea of touring again kept him from doing much about his desires. Then he saw Theo, and his carefully boarded up heart and life started to crack.

Given the age gap between Caleb and Theo, this story could have gone all kinds of wrong. Rather than appear unsure and clueless about the workings of the music industry and fame, the author could have carelessly made Theo immature, pouty and young. Instead, by deftly handling the emotional roller coaster Theo was on, we got a thoughtful young man who was just miserable that his dream had been derailed due to his being both oversensitive and always trying to please everyone, especially his parents. Theo came alive when he was with Caleb, and poor Caleb was pushed to actually consider he should start living again rather than just treading water while maintaining his grasp on sobriety. The two men together were pure magic and deeply emotional. I was riveted by this story, captured by both the inner turmoil of both men and by their deep desire to be seen—really seen—and loved for who they were instead of how the crowd perceived them.

Riven is a beautiful story of healing, love and music. It takes a tired old rock and roll trope and turns it into a sensitive telling of the hard work it takes to shed the skin you hate and embrace the person you really are. It never panders to easy recovery from addiction but instead, shows the daily struggle and emotional toll maintaining sobriety demands. Author Roan Parrish offers up an intensely emotional story that promises the hope for a brighter tomorrow and a love that can go the distance.

You can buy Riven here:
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