Lennon Reborn: A steamy, emotional rockstar romance

Scarlett Cole

May 2018 · Preload Book 4 · Swerve

About this ebook

From the queen of heart-pounding, sexy, emotional romance Scarlett Cole comes Lennon Reborn, a stunning, shattering rock star romance in the Preload series.


Lennon McCartney is not a broken man. Because being broken implies being whole once. When a horrific accident deprives him of the one thing he loves—his talent as a fierce and explosive drummer—Lennon is left with a life chained by an abusive mother, by crushing guilt over a tragic past. A life he doesn’t want.




Dr. Georgia Starr is a legend. She’s one of the most successful neurosurgeons in the world, coming from a long-line of respected New York doctors. Her life is built around solving complex medical cases in order to bring relief and hope to sick children. But the one problem she can’t solve is how to live her life. How to be shake loose the burden of being her elitist, arrogant father’s daughter. How to be free.


Can a man who despises his life and a woman who desperately needs to live find the answers, and love, with each other?



**Warning: Deals with dark themes and deep personal struggles.**

Ratings and reviews

4.5 stars — Well, that was another emotionally loaded book! It was a fantastic end to what has been an emotionally charged series full of characters that make me feel so much. Lennon was both not at all what I was expecting, and yet made total sense at the same time. I think that was a hard thing to balance, b/c he’s a serious dick in the previous books, and so I, as a reader, really needed to understand what was behind all of that. I get the impression that this author does a lot of research, so I feel more comfortable in trusting the existence of the things that affect her characters. It was heartbreaking to finally hear about Lennon’s past, and how that shaped him both emotionally and from a psychological perspective. My heart hurt for him from the very first scene of the book, and just kept getting put through the ringer with all the new challenges he was facing. But he also made me feel so hopeful. I truly believed in his transformation…in how Georgia managed to finally connect with him on his level, and convince him of his worthiness. I appreciated the steps he eventually made to get help. I found the disability fascinating as well. As someone able bodied, I can’t speak to the nature of how Ms. Cole dealt with that, but it didn’t feel ableist. It felt like it was treated with respect. But I’d look to others for more educated opinions on that. I kind of loved that Georgia’s life was so remarkably different from Lennon’s, but she suffered from her own form of neglect and lack of love. My heart hurt for her as well, though I sometimes had a harder time remembering that it was most of what she knew, and not getting cranky with her when she held on to some things. I loved that she was so smart, but also extremely compassionate. In the end it was really the relationship that they developed that was the stand out. And most of that was because Georgia brought out honesty in Lennon by being honest with him and not playing games. I loved how upfront she was, how she didn’t hold things back, how she took the time to truly *see* him, and she wasn’t afraid to show him that she saw him. And through all of that, she encouraged Lennon to finally feel comfortable enough to open himself up and be honest himself. That connection was something truly spectacular, and I loved the chemistry that they had. It was emotional, but also extremely playful. I think my only complaint is that the book sometimes felt shorter…or maybe parts of the relationship between Lennon and Georgia felt fast. But maybe that was just me. I just remember being at 77% and thinking that I had expected for more to have happened. But it kind of settled in with those last 20%, so maybe it worked? Maybe I’m just greedy? As always, it was nice to see the family we’ve fallen in love with as it’s grown. There was somewhat less of that in this one, just by the nature of the story, but what was there was great. So yeah. Emotional, heartbreaking, uplifting, playful, sexy. I really enjoyed my time with the boys of Preload. I think Jordan’s still my favourite though. 😛

Sacrifice, loss, suffering... this one will leave you wrecked! ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ FOUR & 1/2-STAR ✩ REVIEW ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ > > Judging a Book by it's Cover < < Visually striking cover with bold color and strong fonts. I did not read the synopsis, I've been waiting for Lennon's story & jumped on it as soon as I saw it was available. > > Looking Deeper < < POV ~> Third-person Scarlett Cole does an amazing job of portraying the depth of the characters within the first chapter and will leave the reeling in its aftermath. Sacrifice, loss, suffering... this one will leave you wrecked! Lennon suffers from anxiety and a kind of detachment brought on by his formative years. He thinks himself to be unlovable and incapable of loving. It takes losing a part of himself and the threat of losing much more to really allow him to find himself and see things more clearly. Georgia was born into a cold and competitive upper-crust family, knowing love only from her grandfather. No matter that she's at of the top in her field, it's never deemed "good enough" for her father and brothers and she cannot step foot out of her house without fear of how it'll affect the family name. I have loved the already established cast from the time we were introduced to them in the SECOND CIRCLE series. The chemistry between the main couple, as well as the secondary character interactions, are strong and deep. The plot is dynamic and the pages turned at a quick pace. There were a few issues discussed in the book that I did not quite feel were addressed with closure but they were minor items that I'd personally noted and nothing that affects the overall story. Predictability was on par with the series as a whole. The conclusion for Lennon and Georgia was solid and mostly satisfying but I could not help but wonder, "What happens now? Is this the end?" This did not feel like the end of a series so I am hoping for more, somehow. I loved the book, love the series and would strongly recommend reading this series in order but START with the Second Circle series, as it ALL starts there and works towards Preload's series. . Rating: [R] ~ Score: 44.75 ~ Stars: 4.5, if I could! ========================== ⭐ ⭐ **** Disclosure of Material: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the Author/Publisher with the hope that I would voluntarily leave unbiased and unsolicited feedback. I was not asked, encouraged, or required to leave a review - nor was I compensated in any way. I am posting this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising". ***** ⭐ ⭐

For some reason I thought this was the final book in the series, but I can't see anything in the blurb to confirm. Lennon McCartney is the drummer in the mega-successful Canadian metal band Preload. For anyone who hasn't read the series, the band was formed by five young boys who lived together in the same group home. Each of the boys had a horrific childhood which has scarred them mentally and physically and given each deep-seated insecurities. Throughout the series Lennon has come across as the band member who seems to hate the others, to bad mouth them and to belittle their achievements. Yet in the last book Nikan Rebuilt we found out that Lennon had secretly assisted Nikan's ex Jenny to leave Toronto and had performed many random acts of kindness that the others knew nothing about. Now that the other members of Preload have found love the band is going on hiatus for eight months and Lennon is spinning. Dr Georgia Starr is a paediatric neurosurgeon from an elite New York family of neurosurgeons with property all over the most exclusive parts of the city. She has spent her entire life trying to prove her worth to her father, mother and four older brothers. She lives and breathes her work, working at weekends and on holidays, taking conference calls at all hours and generally going above and beyond. Georgia and Lennon meet under extreme circumstances (I don't want to spoil the way they meet but it is epic) and despite the situation they each feel a special reaction when they first touch. Georgia feels drawn to help Lennon to rebuild his life after his entire reason for living is lost, and as they grow closer they realise that two people from very different walks of life can have more in common than they first imagine. Don't get me wrong, Lennon's childhood was a nightmare, the stuff of outraged newspaper headlines, and yet I didn't feel that this book reached the heights of angst that I ordinarily associate with Scarlett Cole. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, sometimes reading one of Scarlett's books is a bit like having your emotions put through a wringer - TBH it was nice to read a book in this series that didn't leave me feeling like my heart had been cut out and finely julienned :) So, I've been vague on the plot because there's something that drives the whole story which was a total shock to me and I want to preserve the shock for others. All I can say is that I absolutely devoured this book. Having hesitated to start it (because of the aforementioned heart shredding) in preference of light, sexy romantic comedies I started it yesterday evening and before I knew it I was 25% into the book and eager to finish. I loved this book, I loved Lennon and how he conquered his personal demons. I loved Georgia, she was a fantastic character and a wonderful role model. But what shone through this book was the love that the guys from Preload have for each other and how that love (and their music) has helped to keep each of them going when life threw them curve balls. If this is the last book from Preload then it is a fitting end, a glorious road to enlightenment and a HEA. For someone who shied away from the first book because the idea of a series about group of long-haired tattooed metalheads really didn't appeal, I have come to love these boys, I've cried at the horror of their childhoods, I laughed with them and their unique brand of humour and I melted when each of these tough guys found the ying to their yang. All I can say is, whatever Scarlett Cole chooses to write next I'll be an avid reader. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

About the author

Born in England, Scarlett Cole traveled the world, living in Japan and the United States before settling in Canada where she met her own personal hero – all six and a half feet of him. She now lives with her husband and children in Manchester, England where she's at work on her next book. She is the author of The Strongest Steel.