Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: Restored Ruins
SERIES: Gentleman Hackers #1
AUTHOR: G.R. Lyons
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 225 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 25, 2022
BLURB:
Kidnapped by his idol? Yes, please!
Connor Jenkins is sick of rejection. Now, instead of getting close to anyone, he lives vicariously through other people’s phones and webcams. Thanks to his skills, he always gets away with it.
Until he hacks his idol.
Brendan Shyth is haunted by loss. First, the death of his boy. Then the end of his music career thanks to a grief-induced drunken accident. Fringe science regrew his fingers, but he still can’t bring himself to play again. Avoiding his fans, the media, and his manager, Brendan hides in his mansion, determined to be left alone.
Until he finds his webcam on and realizes someone is watching him. Someone other than the ghost of his dead lover, that is.
Brendan has Connor tracked down and kidnapped, meaning to teach him a lesson. But the teasing brat gets under his skin in a way that no one has in years.
A boy in need of security. A ghost in need of acceptance. A man in need of faith. With a career, sanity, and hearts on the line, can these men overcome their fears before it’s too late?
Restored Ruins is the first book in the Gentleman Hackers series. It features a boy whose hair color never stays the same, a daddy who puts him in serious time-out, a ghost desperate to be seen, and an MMM HEA ending. No pianos were harmed in the writing of this romance (though they do make good horizontal surfaces).
REVIEW:
This was a completely new type of book for me. It pushed at all sides of my comfort zones and broke through just like Connor did to Brendan. I wasn’t sure, at least for the first part of this, if this was the book for me. I was completely confused and challenged by the universe the author took us to. Ghosts really aren’t my thing but how could you not fall completely for dear, sweet, sad, hurting Frankie? Him being finally seen by Connor had to have been over joyful. And getting to experience contact and sex after three years would have been overpowering in a very good way! But having Frankie completely fall apart watching Connor and Brendan was heartbreaking. You could feel his anguish. He wanted Brendan to move on past his self isolation and sorrow but it wrecked him when he saw it. Sometimes plans for the good can have devastating consequences. And this one almost did. But all three men had so much to lose. Frankie losing the first and only person that could see him and became his friend. Connor losing yet again a connection and being cast aside. And Brendan losing all control and fear of going mad. It was all so tragic and hard to witness. Yet the HEA made it all worth the risks and hurt.
I will say that the author brought it all together for me. Made me a believer in things I couldn’t understand. I guess I understood Brendan the most on that aspect. Having a triad relationship with a ghost was very new and challenging idea for me. Connor entering an established relationship as a new third member is daunting. Then add the concept that one of the two was dead and re-found as a ghost three years later. A ghost that was the love of Brendan’s life. That is beyond complicated. Next layer on Connor’s self doubt that he is even ever wanted because of his history and that makes this story so good when all does work out. But it was a rough ride getting there.
If you can just push past your own beliefs in reality and open yourself to new and wonderful ideas and a world unimaginable before you are in for a real treat. I know I was. I am so thankful I trudged on and opened my mind to new and exciting possibilities.
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