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Night Vigils
Love shouldn't be the thing that destroys you-
it should be the thing that saves you.
Elias Meyers had it all—until a single moment shattered everything. Fame. Love. The future he thought he was building. After the crash, he disappeared from the spotlight... and from her.
Years later, he returns—not as Elias, but as Vael, the masked voice behind Night Vigils, a band known for haunting lyrics, shadowed performances, and raw emotion that cuts to the bone. Onstage, he sings like he’s still bleeding. Offstage, he’s a ghost. A myth. A man mourning a life he left behind.
Until she walks back into his orbit. Guarded. And very much real.
What follows is a second chance wrapped in music and memory. And for the first time in years… he lets himself believe in more than the pain.
Because some love stories don’t end. They echo.
And if you listen closely, they just might lead you home.
it should be the thing that saves you.
Elias Meyers had it all—until a single moment shattered everything. Fame. Love. The future he thought he was building. After the crash, he disappeared from the spotlight... and from her.
Years later, he returns—not as Elias, but as Vael, the masked voice behind Night Vigils, a band known for haunting lyrics, shadowed performances, and raw emotion that cuts to the bone. Onstage, he sings like he’s still bleeding. Offstage, he’s a ghost. A myth. A man mourning a life he left behind.
Until she walks back into his orbit. Guarded. And very much real.
What follows is a second chance wrapped in music and memory. And for the first time in years… he lets himself believe in more than the pain.
Because some love stories don’t end. They echo.
And if you listen closely, they just might lead you home.
- GenresMusicSecond Chance
454 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 15, 2025
28 people are currently reading
61 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 3, 2025
Have ever mentioned how much I freak love A. Riebold! This book shattered me! I cried so hard. You want an emotional roller coaster, this is it! Very rarely does a book hit like this. I feel like I need therapy now.
Night Vigils is a band that sings through their pain. The lead singer is Elias and he has been through it. Life has not been easy for him. He write songs about his pain, about his loss, about his one and only love Bryn. His bandmates include his sister Cass, Micah and Theo. They have built this band on pain and loss and grief and their music reflects it.
Bryn thought she was over him after everything that happened. But 10 years later he walks into her dance studio and time stops. Everything she thought she buried came roaring back to the surface. And now she has to chose between the live she is building with Jake and the life she could have with Elias.
This story rung me out. I can’t think of another story where I cried as much as i did with this one. Elias and Bryn have so much heavy in their past. Their relationship was so toxic and they just kept hurting each other. But they both still loved each other and never really let go. Elias wrote every song about and for her. Bryn danced until her body gave listening to his songs. These two fought hard to end up where they are. And oh how sweet it is.
I love a good love story. And this one had all the things. Literally rebuilt their love and relationship brick by brick, one day at a time. I love their journeys individually and getting that glimpse into the counseling sessions and feeling the pain with each of them. And then the pain of their families. Oh. My. Gawd. It was everything.
If you've never read anything by A. Riebold before please go grab a copy of literally anything she has written. This author knows how to pull you in and hold you tight while wrecking you in the best possible way.
This will be a story I go back to and read again when I need a good cry. Or just to remember that it’s ok to hurt and not know how to heal. It’s important to feel your way through the pain. There is no short cut.
And most importantly communication is the foundation of everything. Being honest and open. Ugh. I’m telling you, this book is amazing. It’s hard and some of the things they went through I felt in my soul because I’ve been there. But seeing the growth, the healing and the effort gave me hope, not just for Elias and Bryn.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Night Vigils is a band that sings through their pain. The lead singer is Elias and he has been through it. Life has not been easy for him. He write songs about his pain, about his loss, about his one and only love Bryn. His bandmates include his sister Cass, Micah and Theo. They have built this band on pain and loss and grief and their music reflects it.
Bryn thought she was over him after everything that happened. But 10 years later he walks into her dance studio and time stops. Everything she thought she buried came roaring back to the surface. And now she has to chose between the live she is building with Jake and the life she could have with Elias.
This story rung me out. I can’t think of another story where I cried as much as i did with this one. Elias and Bryn have so much heavy in their past. Their relationship was so toxic and they just kept hurting each other. But they both still loved each other and never really let go. Elias wrote every song about and for her. Bryn danced until her body gave listening to his songs. These two fought hard to end up where they are. And oh how sweet it is.
I love a good love story. And this one had all the things. Literally rebuilt their love and relationship brick by brick, one day at a time. I love their journeys individually and getting that glimpse into the counseling sessions and feeling the pain with each of them. And then the pain of their families. Oh. My. Gawd. It was everything.
If you've never read anything by A. Riebold before please go grab a copy of literally anything she has written. This author knows how to pull you in and hold you tight while wrecking you in the best possible way.
This will be a story I go back to and read again when I need a good cry. Or just to remember that it’s ok to hurt and not know how to heal. It’s important to feel your way through the pain. There is no short cut.
And most importantly communication is the foundation of everything. Being honest and open. Ugh. I’m telling you, this book is amazing. It’s hard and some of the things they went through I felt in my soul because I’ve been there. But seeing the growth, the healing and the effort gave me hope, not just for Elias and Bryn.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
September 15, 2025
Night Vigils is a soul-stirring, emotionally layered novel about heartbreak, trauma, and the fragile hope of second chances. With prose as quiet and intense as the story itself, this is a love story born not out of romance, but out of wreckage—both literal and emotional.
Elias and Bryn were once everything to each other—until they weren’t. Years after a painful breakup, a shared car crash that leaves them both physically wounded and emotionally exposed. Their paths cross again, 10 years later when Elias walks into Bryn's dance studio. The trauma that pulled them apart becomes the unlikely thread that begins to stitch them back together after all this time.
Riebold writes with a deep sensitivity to emotional nuance. Night Vigils doesn’t rush healing, nor does it gloss over the hard truths of love lost and grief held too long. Through flickers of memory and raw, one late-night conversations, Elias and Bryn rediscover not just each other, but the parts of themselves they’d abandoned along the way.
This isn’t a grand, sweeping romance—it’s something quieter, more fragile, and far more powerful. A. Riebold reminds us that healing isn’t always about moving on—it’s sometimes about returning, reckoning, and holding space for what still hurts.
Night Vigils is for readers who crave emotional depth, wounded characters, and the kind of love that grows from ruin. Intimate, unflinching, and deeply human—this book will stay with you long after the last vigil ends.
Elias and Bryn were once everything to each other—until they weren’t. Years after a painful breakup, a shared car crash that leaves them both physically wounded and emotionally exposed. Their paths cross again, 10 years later when Elias walks into Bryn's dance studio. The trauma that pulled them apart becomes the unlikely thread that begins to stitch them back together after all this time.
Riebold writes with a deep sensitivity to emotional nuance. Night Vigils doesn’t rush healing, nor does it gloss over the hard truths of love lost and grief held too long. Through flickers of memory and raw, one late-night conversations, Elias and Bryn rediscover not just each other, but the parts of themselves they’d abandoned along the way.
This isn’t a grand, sweeping romance—it’s something quieter, more fragile, and far more powerful. A. Riebold reminds us that healing isn’t always about moving on—it’s sometimes about returning, reckoning, and holding space for what still hurts.
Night Vigils is for readers who crave emotional depth, wounded characters, and the kind of love that grows from ruin. Intimate, unflinching, and deeply human—this book will stay with you long after the last vigil ends.
January 9, 2026
I picked this book up purely for the Sleep Token vibes.
Can I say that officially? Probably not.
But it is what it is.
What I wasn’t expecting was how much this book would actually get under my skin.
Yes, the atmosphere is moody and music-soaked. Yes, the masked frontman energy is very much there. But Night Vigils is so much more than aesthetic. It’s emotional in a way that sneaks up on you. Frustrating, aching, tender—sometimes all at once. Not frustrating in a bad way, but in that very real, why does this hurt so much? kind of way.
Elias/Vael is a character drenched in grief and self-erasure, and it shows in every interaction. His pain isn’t romanticized—it’s heavy, unresolved, and threaded through the music, the silence, and the choices he makes. The second-chance romance doesn’t feel easy or neat, which made it hit harder. There’s history here. Regret. Long pauses where too much is left unsaid.
I was honestly surprised by how much I felt while reading this. I went in expecting vibes and came out emotionally invested. By the end, I found myself sitting with the story instead of rushing away from it—and that says a lot.
This book made me curious in the best way. I’ll absolutely be checking out more of this author’s work, because if this is what they can do with grief, music, and love, I want to see what else they bring to the page.
Can I say that officially? Probably not.
But it is what it is.
What I wasn’t expecting was how much this book would actually get under my skin.
Yes, the atmosphere is moody and music-soaked. Yes, the masked frontman energy is very much there. But Night Vigils is so much more than aesthetic. It’s emotional in a way that sneaks up on you. Frustrating, aching, tender—sometimes all at once. Not frustrating in a bad way, but in that very real, why does this hurt so much? kind of way.
Elias/Vael is a character drenched in grief and self-erasure, and it shows in every interaction. His pain isn’t romanticized—it’s heavy, unresolved, and threaded through the music, the silence, and the choices he makes. The second-chance romance doesn’t feel easy or neat, which made it hit harder. There’s history here. Regret. Long pauses where too much is left unsaid.
I was honestly surprised by how much I felt while reading this. I went in expecting vibes and came out emotionally invested. By the end, I found myself sitting with the story instead of rushing away from it—and that says a lot.
This book made me curious in the best way. I’ll absolutely be checking out more of this author’s work, because if this is what they can do with grief, music, and love, I want to see what else they bring to the page.
September 8, 2025
This book was so emotional and gutwrenchingly beautiful. I've always used music as a way to help me identify and work through my emotions. Night Vigils told a story of love, loss, toxicity, and change. Vael hid himself away after he lost his high school love. He made music about sorrow and losing love. The fans loved the music, the messages and how personal it all felt. 10 years after they tore each other apart, he ends up in the city she lives in. He shows up at her dance studio and everything changes. Illusions shatter, love is tested and the past is brought up in agonizing detail. Can Vael (Elias) and Byrn, his lost love, survive what life is about to hand them? Can they find their way back to each other or will they destoy each other again. An absolute must read.
September 16, 2025
I'm not crying, you're crying...
This second-chance rockstar romance was an emotional roller-coaster. With a heartwrenching story that made me cry big time.
I knew I was going to love this book from the first chapter.
I had all the feels with this one. A. Riebold you put my heart through some break only to piece me back together again in the end. It hurt so good though.
This story was unexpected in the best way, it gripped me and had me devouring pages till the end.
Elias, Bryn, and their story will forever have a place in my memory and heart. I felt like I went on a journey with them through they're healing and love for one another. Absolutely beautiful. I'll never be over it.
Tropes:
Rockstar
Second chance
Masked band
Angst
Mental health rep
Dual POV
This second-chance rockstar romance was an emotional roller-coaster. With a heartwrenching story that made me cry big time.
I knew I was going to love this book from the first chapter.
I had all the feels with this one. A. Riebold you put my heart through some break only to piece me back together again in the end. It hurt so good though.
This story was unexpected in the best way, it gripped me and had me devouring pages till the end.
Elias, Bryn, and their story will forever have a place in my memory and heart. I felt like I went on a journey with them through they're healing and love for one another. Absolutely beautiful. I'll never be over it.
Tropes:
Rockstar
Second chance
Masked band
Angst
Mental health rep
Dual POV
September 15, 2025
A rockstar romance with second chances and a Sleep Token vibe. Night Vigils is an 🖤 emotional twist in heartbreak and loss. Elias, who now goes by Vael after an accident ten years ago, now sings about the pain and grief from that time. Now he’s walking back into Bryn’s life, and she’s not quite sure how she should feel about it. This story definitely puts you through the wringer with its heartbreak and redemption. They have overcome so much to get where they are.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
September 15, 2025
5/5 ⭐️ • 2/5 🌶️
• tropes + themes •
- Masked band rockstar romance
- Second chance romance
- Lots of trauma for all MCs
- Duel POV
- Eventual HEA
• summary + thoughts •
Our MCs have a trauma laced past that has kept them apart for the last 10 years. On a whim, one of them breaks the stalemate and both of their worlds are shaken up, for better or worse.
Our MMC is the emotionally charged singer of a masked rock band while our FMC is a dancer and owner of a studio. In their early lives together, everything burned hot and fast and ended in chaos.
Now, 10 years later they are trying to see if what they had/have isn’t as abrasive and toxic this time around. Unfortunately, our FMC’s life is currently a little more complicated…adding figurative fuel to the fire.
This book is a lot “lighter” than my normal read in the scenarios throughout the book, but emotionally the characters are so wrecked.
If you want a book that will keep you on your toes, wondering who will do/say what next and if that will create the spark or fizzle between the MCs, this is it.
I am always excited to read anything by A. Riebold. She has quickly become one of my “if they write it, I’m reading it” authors!
What I loved most:
- MCs go to therapy
- Heavily ST coded - theories, song nods, etc.
- Fast pace that kept me reading - I read the entire book in about 5 hrs.
• tropes + themes •
- Masked band rockstar romance
- Second chance romance
- Lots of trauma for all MCs
- Duel POV
- Eventual HEA
• summary + thoughts •
Our MCs have a trauma laced past that has kept them apart for the last 10 years. On a whim, one of them breaks the stalemate and both of their worlds are shaken up, for better or worse.
Our MMC is the emotionally charged singer of a masked rock band while our FMC is a dancer and owner of a studio. In their early lives together, everything burned hot and fast and ended in chaos.
Now, 10 years later they are trying to see if what they had/have isn’t as abrasive and toxic this time around. Unfortunately, our FMC’s life is currently a little more complicated…adding figurative fuel to the fire.
This book is a lot “lighter” than my normal read in the scenarios throughout the book, but emotionally the characters are so wrecked.
If you want a book that will keep you on your toes, wondering who will do/say what next and if that will create the spark or fizzle between the MCs, this is it.
I am always excited to read anything by A. Riebold. She has quickly become one of my “if they write it, I’m reading it” authors!
What I loved most:
- MCs go to therapy
- Heavily ST coded - theories, song nods, etc.
- Fast pace that kept me reading - I read the entire book in about 5 hrs.
September 5, 2025
Musician Elias life changed with an accident, he lost Bryn, through carelessness, now 10 years on their paths cross once more, his music breathes life through grief of love lost but is this a second chance? Or has she moved on for good? Well written the emotions are high in this one! Youll love laugh and cry! Engaging steamy, desires and more
November 26, 2025
This book broke me, then shattered me, then healed me. I couldn't make myself put it down! The Sleep Token vibes grabbed me and wouldn't let me go. I love the dual-MC POV and how flawless the character development is. I felt invested in the characters - I actually really cared about what happened to them - and the pacing is just perfect! 10/10 will read again!
February 17, 2026
I picked this book primarily due to the Sleep Token atmosphere it evoked, in addition to it being a rockstar romance featuring second chances. I found the book's ability to maintain my curiosity quite enjoyable. After all, who doesn't appreciate characters or a band that incorporates masks?😉
November 17, 2025
Devoured this book. From the beginning I was hooked, the characters and character development was so good. Absolutely loved this one 😭🖤
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews