Viper

NSB, Book 3

By: Aly Stiles

Narrated by: Joe Arden

They call me the villain. The screw up. The rock cliche that broke up the band.

My nights are whiskey, women, repeat. My days are tabloid headlines.

I’m on a crash course to nowhere.

Now my best friend's little sister is standing on my doorstep, begging for my spare bed and my secrecy.

But the Hannah staring back at me is far from the little girl I remember.

She's got ghosts. I've got demons. We both know her big sister's the reason I'm sitting at rock bottom.

Letting Hannah stay is a terrible idea. But aren't those my specialty?

Viper is an emotional friends to lovers rockstar romance that can be listened to as a standalone.

©2017, 2023 Aly Stiles (P)2019 Aly Stiles

Rockstar Holland's Little Sister Hannah and Guitar

Viper by Aly Stiles is quite a rockstar romance about a crushed guitarist, Wes, and Hannah, his former best friend Holland’s little sister. Wes had been in love with Holland since they were children; she was his best friend. Wes and Holland began the band Tracing Holland and co-wrote the songs together. A band falling out included a brawl between Wes and Holland’s new man, resulting in Wes walking out on the band. He holed up nursing his wounds in booze and self-pity when Hannah showed up broken in her way, needing a place to live. Hannah is dealing with her demons after losing her attorney job. Wes and Hannah’s connection to each other initially is self-medication for their internal wounds until it becomes much more for both. Wes and Hannah must address their issues before healing enough to pursue the other. Aly Stiles writes about emotional dysfunction and mental illness with sensitivity. She allows her characters to act out and seek help so healing can happen. It is a rockstar story that hits all the emotions exposed in the audiobook with the narration by Joe Arden.

Rockstar redemption romance

The bad boy of rock finally finds his happy ending with the younger sister of his former band mate. They each have trauma they have to work through. Her with life choices that she regrets, him with a family that never accepted him as the artist he was.

It’s not super spicy, but there is heat. And Joe Arden’s gravelly voice brings life to the entire cast of characters.

Badboy rockstar

Loved the bad boy rockstar getting the girl! They are so good together! Bonus Joe narrated!

Got me invested

I listened to this story because of Joe Arden. It was a first for me from this author. It's a little less smutty than my usual read but the character build was excellent. I became really invested in their lives. I yelled at Wes multiple times, teared up at times, even laughed out loud a couple times. Getting a story completely from the male POV was a first but definitely didn't hate it. Joe was stellar as I knew he'd be. I would have no problem recommending this to others.

Rockstar slow burn

While I ended up enjoying this book, it really did take me until the very last 1/4 of the book to love it. I love that though the chaos Wes and Hannah can stand up to the storm. That they can make eachother better. Wes and Han are both bullheaded at times, but together they make the other see a more rational sides and brought out the best of the other. I don’t understand everyone’s hype of the Mary Sue that is Holland, but maybe that’s because I’ve never met someone who was so perfect and understanding. All in all, the storyline was great and cohesive, and a great reminder that the right person for you may seem like the wrong one at first. What was missing for me was actual spice. There were hints of it happening but not actual spice if you’re looking for that. Joe Arden did a fantastic job bringing life and emotion to all of the characters.