This is a good story.
It's not my favourite of what has been a fantastic series but it was good. ( )

This is a good story.
It's not my favourite of what has been a fantastic series but it was good. ( )

Lennon Reborn by Scarlett Cole
Book #4: Preload Series
Source: Netgalley and Purchase
My Rating: 5/5 stars

Lennon Reborn marks the end of an era, and I found this book to be the perfect ending to what started several years ago with The Strongest Steel and blossomed into two distinct yet connected series. For three years, I have loved these books, devoured each one, and waxed poetic in my reviews. Just so you know, nothing is going to change here 😊

Plot: When Scarlett Cole decides to go out with a bang, she really does go big or go home! The whole hot mess starts with a devastating bus crash that has the entire band, their partners, and their kids tossed about and injured. The worst of the bunch is Lennon, and his injury sparks a whole host of issues including his ability to continue playing the drums, his desire to isolate himself from his family, and his lack of will to live. Parallel to Lennon’s story is that of Dr. Georgia Starr, a world-class surgeon with a crappy family and little to no life beyond the walls of the operating room. Georgia needs a serious shake-up in her life, and badly damaged drummer is just what she’s been waiting for whether she knows if or not.

Characters: As always, Scarlett Cole has offered a cast of characters that are real, believable, interesting, totally damaged, and worth rooting for. While I have generally gravitated toward the Preload guys in this series, I found myself far more interested in Lennon’s love interest, Georgia in this book. While it is Lennon and his injuries that bring Georgia into the story, it doesn’t take her but a second to take over. Georgia is so vibrant, so forceful in her presence that she simply shines, and that makes her the perfect partner and balance to Lennon. Additionally, from start to finish, all the Preload family is involved in this story. Lennon may be the most tragic of the group, but he isn’t alone, and the other characters and their respective partners don’t let him forget that fact. Everything about this particular story pulls all the characters together and truly drives home the point and purpose of family.

The Bottom Line: Lennon Reborn is one hell of an end to this series! This was yet another example of a totally engrossing read from Scarlett Cole, and I don’t think she cares about how tired I was the morning after I finished this book 😊 This one had everything from an extreme medical situation, to a hellacious recovery, to the rebuilding of a life, and new and quite unexpected beginning. In so many ways, this isn’t just Lennon and Georgia’s story, but the story of Preload as a group and as a family. Though I enjoyed the entire book, I particularly liked the end with everyone coming together and celebrating all the milestones, not just Lennon’s. This series, and the series this one spun off of, are genuine worlds with real people facing real issues, and struggling to overcome their obstacles. Through each book, each character grows, learns, and becomes so much more than what he or she started as, and it is because of this that I have sincerely loved this series. ( )

Lennon Reborn by Scarlett Cole
Preload #4

Lennon McCartney is the youngest member of and drummer for the rock group Preload. When the story begins he is has an internal dialogue running as he writes in his journal and he seems to be distancing himself from the rest of the band – men that all consider one another brothers by choice if not by blood – men who met in a foster home after horrific issues earlier in their lives. With most of the band’s partners and children on the bus at the end of the tour Lennon is the only one still on his own. As they are traveling in New York in in the bus hired to get them to their next venue an accident occurs that will be life changing for Lennon.

Dr. Georgina Starr, a neurosurgeon, happens to witness the accident, steps in to triage, saves at least one person and then becomes a big part of Lennon’s life as he begins to deal with the trauma from the accident. She pushes him to take better care of himself and to follow medical protocol that will assist in his healing. She also becomes very close to him – so close that he begins to let down some of the walls he has built to keep him emotionally safe – if perhaps not entirely emotionally healthy.

Both Lennon and Gia (as Lennon calls her) begin a relationship that has the potential to provide them with more than either has ever expected but before they can get to a HEA they both may want they are required to work through a number of issues to make sure they are both emotionally, physically and professionally alright in the future.

This was an emotional story in more ways than one. It had me unable to put it down till I finished in the wee hours of the morning and still thinking about what I had read a few days later. This series was wonderful and I am sorry to have to say goodbye to these characters but am also happy that they all came out at the end of the series still “brothers” and have grown their family while also finding peace.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Barclay Publicity for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars ( )