4 stars — This review is going to be completely unstructured, because I can’t seem to make a nice coherent flow. So I’ll hit the highlights.

As a Canadian, I understand how truly shameful our past is wrt the First Nations people. I appreciated that Ms. Cole tried to subtly address some things, but by her own author note acknowledged that she can only do so much with research, and encouraged her readers to search out #ownvoices stories. Seriously, that was fantastic.

My heart ached for Nik and how at the end of the rope he was with being the patriarch. I don’t know if the resolution was enough. I still worry for him. But it was definitely a start at opening the lines of communication.

I was surprised that Nikan’s alcoholism wasn’t really addressed — or rather, the alcohol addiction that was heavily hinted at in previous books. His addictive tendencies were definitely mentioned, but it was really only in passing. In that way this book was a lot more vague on what Nikan was going through, and how he was going to manage it.

Similarly I felt like I wanted more from Jenny’s past, what she went through, how she got past it, etc. We definitely got some, but apparently I’m greedy like that.

I felt like how Jenny and Nikan moved past Nik’s cheating rode that line between dragging on too long and giving it its due. I think it was just this side of the right amount of struggle and back and forth. Much longer though and I might have struggled with whether it was worth it for them to try.

Their relationship felt a bit desperate and co-dependent or something. So much of Nikan’s future happiness was wrapped up in Jenny being there. I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if that hadn’t worked out.

I loved meeting the boys in Ellen’s group home that Jenny was running. I felt like we got a bigger glimpse at that life, and it was both fascinating and heartbreaking…mostly the latter. But there was a lot of hope too.

Overall it was a solid book in this series, but I thought Jordan and Elliott’s books stood out more. I was wanting something more in this one… Still fantastically emotional and captivating though.

Scarlett Cole's heroes in this series are so broken that it takes an epic heroine to help heal them.Jenny is just as broken as Nikan but she has overcome the trauma of her past and is learning to create a better future. Nikan and Jenny have an equally painful past and they have to move on from that to create a viable and healthy future together..

A really good second chance romance book. HEARTBREAKING AND HEARTWARMING.

If you didn't read the first two books in the series you will discover with the first chapter of this one that Nikan , even in tough times, ALWAYS takes time to help people he cares.
Nikan is this strong, generous, patient and understanding guy who gives himself without expecting something in return.
Younger, orphan, he created his own family with his friends. They became his brothers and now they have a lot of success in the Metal Music world. It seems that now Nikan has everything to be happy.
"And yet here he was, in a home that he owned, with every luxury at his disposal, and a pit in his stomach the size of Lake Ontario. And nothing he did, no amount of success or money or fame, was going to fill it."
First he needs to repair a HUGE MISTAKE he did younger. A mistake that cost him the lost of the love of his life.
After years of radio silence, Jenny is back in his life and Nikan is ready to fight to deserve a second chance. He always dreamt of family, forever home and Jenny. He just needs her to trust him again.
"TRUST took an age to build and a moment to destroy. But he was willing to put the work in."
Searching for REDEMPTION, Nikan finds himself. He learns that he needs to understand and accept the past to build a future.
To make her happy he needs to be happy himself. To love her he needs to love himself.
Who is he? What does he want? What does he love? He always made people's happiness his priority, so can HE be happy?
Jenny had a tough start in life (a nightmare really!) and she's used to be left by people she loves. Nikan broke her heart years ago...
Honestly i was curious to know how Scarlett Cole would make Jenny (AND ME) forgive Nikan . I won't give spoiler but the author is pretty amazing! She did it! Not only we understand Nikan's state of mind when he did THE MISTAKE (understand doesn't mean agree ), but we also see him grovel a lot!
Jenny needs time to trust him and i love her for that! I understand her doubts, her fear and she deserves a good man, a loving man able to fight for her.
She fights everyday to help teenagers in a foster home. That's more than a job for her. She's supportive and caring and brave. An impressive woman, like the author always gives us.

Bonus :
_ Some second characters warm your heart ( preload members), and some make you cry (the new boys in the foster home).
_ Sometimes Nikan is amazingly romantic .
_ We learn some horrible details about canadian history.
_ 10% of the 1st year royalties for "Nikan Rebuilt" will be donated to a good cause you will discover in the book. Yes Scarlett is generous like that !

This must be by far my favorite on this series. I mean, I loved all the books so far, in fact I loved the series this was the spin off of, but this book..It spoke to me on another level. You know how you sometimes find a way to connect with a character? A story? Something in the book reaches out to you and you look at the book in a new light, a light that makes it one of the most enjoyable and emotional reads of your life. This was such a book for me.


I’ve been looking forward to Nikan’s story from the start. In the light of my personal life, I could relate to Nikan and what he represented, so that was probably why I looked forward to reading his story. And I didn’t have any expectations at all because having read enough of Scarlett Cole’s writing, I knew I was in good hands. And the best part was that this wasn’t just Nikan’s story-as the case usually is in this series- but also Jenny’s. Sure, Nikan with his being the father figure in the band, was the intermediary, but Jenny was the glue that held him together until he found a way to, well, rebuild himself. So yes, the title of this book is also very fitting, and I don’t usually pay much attention to titles.

And the thing that I find the most endearing in these books are the children. This is not just a story of the band mates, but also of the children who, for some reason or other, are lost or abandoned, and need to be loved like they deserve. I appreciate the hell out of Scarlett Cole for including the children in the system in these stories. In a way, these guys wouldn’t have had their happy endings without them.

If you’re looking for romances that tackle real life issues, and are hopeful, romantic and sexy as hell even in such darkness, then look no further. You have to give yourself a chance to know Scarlett Cole’s writing. I couldn’t recommend it enough.

I’m going to start this review by saying that Scarlett Cole was a new to me author in 2017 and one of the high points of that year for me author wise. Anyone that follows my reviews knows I’m a sucker for musician/rock star romances so I jumped at the chance to review the Preload series and I was not disappointed. Ms. Cole has a knack for taking characters that are broken and helping them grow, accept, and understand that even though they have these demons inside that they are worthy of more and she does it with such care, warmth, and love that as a reader it is impossible to put her books down and to hopelessly fall in love with her characters. I identified with Nikan so much; he was the oldest, and the “father” figure of the group, he was the fixer, the caretaker, the one to placate everyone and while I was the middle child I played that role in my family and as I got older with my friends and co-workers until I got old enough to realize what being that for everyone was costing me. Thankfully Nikan realized it sooner than I did, but it is so hard to be that type of person and let someone take care of you. I loved this story for many reasons, but mainly because both the main characters had to overcome some things in their own pasts to be able to accept and move on from the incident that tore them apart 8 years prior. This wasn’t an easy story, there was a lot of soul searching, a lot of anger, hurt, and disbelief, but I also loved that both these characters realized that their childhood, their pasts had scarred them and in order to live a happy, productive, loving life they had to work on their own selves before they could commit to one another fully. Thoughtfully written with memorable characters and a second chance at love made Nikan Rebuilt an excellent love story.

There is no doubt that 8 years prior when Preload was first hitting it big that Nikan screwed up royally when he cheated on his then girlfriend Jenny and she left him without a trace. Nikan fully admits he knows he screwed up and after an epic downfall, he has spent the last few years getting his life together and making amends except to the one person he wants to make amends with more than anything. So finding Jenny as the fill in administrator of the group boy’s home he grew up in throws him completely for a loop, but he knows he will do anything to get her back.

There was so much going on in this book with both Nikan and Jenny dealing with their childhood traumas and trying to rebuild a relationship. I liked that Jenny put Nikan through the paces despite the fact that he still made her heart speed up every time he was near. I honestly felt the remorse and sadness that Nikan had for the incident that tore them apart and believed he was sincere when he said he was truly sorry. I admired Jenny for listening, for trying to understand, and for realizing that even though it broke her heart, it didn’t break her, it only made her stronger and more determined to succeed on her own. I love that they used effective communication to rebuild their relationship and when it got to a certain point, they also weren’t afraid to admit that perhaps they needed to see a therapist to completely work out all their issues. A lot went in to building the relationship back between these two just as it should have, but in addition Nikan was making some changes in his own life with his band members, the men he calls his brothers. I am so curious to see what happens next for this group and I’ll also admit the reason this book wasn’t 5 stars is because I felt like Nikan’s dream of doing something different was left unfinished and I felt it was a critical part of his story; that being said this was still a stellar book worth reading.

Heartbreaking at times yet with a sense of hopefulness for a beautiful future, I loved Nikan Rebuilt!

This is the 3rd book in the Preload series. I'd rank this my 3rd favorite after Lennon and Jordan. I liked the angst of a 2nd chance story after he cheated on her several years ago (all off page and years ago). This picks up at a point in Nikan's life where he's ready to move forward. Given that, I missed seeing the troubled drama, even the little we saw in the other's books. He's repentant and the pursuer to the point he's less alpha, if that makes sense. I did enjoy the development leading building to them addressing why he cheated. I also enjoyed was him confronting the band about being the defacto and reluctant patriarch of the brothers. Him confronting them was the fallout and angst I wanted and a pivotal moment for their future. I was less interested in the boys at the group home and skimmed a lot of that, but angsty teens isn't my favorite trope. What really hit me was the author incorporating and education the reader about the First Nation. It's heartbreaking and something everyone should know about this history.

When Nikan sees Jenny again, he knows it's now or never. Now is the time to seize the second chance he's wanted since the day she left him after he cheated on her. Yes, unfortunately, he cheated on her years ago. But in the time since that cheating, he (and she) has grown, a lot, has changed, for the better.

Nikan was a young man just off the streets when he met Jenny, a young woman whose father was a notorious cult leader put away for one of those horrible Jonestown-like masacres. Luckily Jenny escaped the deaths, but the whole incident damaged her young psyche. When she met Nikan, he became her rock, her kindred soul. So it was doubly hard when he cheated on her and she was forced to leave him. Since she left him, she's gone into social work, and works at a home very similar to the one in which she and Nikan met. It's where she'll meet Nikan again, all these years later. Will she be able to give Nikan the second chance he's so desperate for? Does he deserve a second chance? Will she open herself back up to more possible pain, knowing he's about to head out on tour, which is the same position they had been in when he cheated on her?

Although I haven't read any of the other books in this series, I was easily able to pick up on what was going on in Nikan Rebuilt. It's a heartfelt story of love, second chance, and finding one's own identity. I love that Nikan's fighting to find his identity, his place, among not only his band, but in Jenny's life, and the world in general. The fact that he's Native and is researching his family lineage and roots is an interesting subplot in this already great story. He and Jenny have one of those strong connections not always seen in romance - the kind we all crave. I've long been a fan of Scarlett Cole, since the days of her Second Circle Tattoos series, and after reading this installment of Preload, I've just become an even bigger fan of hers. I cannot wait for more Prebuilt and Scarlett Cole!

Nikan let jenny the girl he has always loved get away. He never stopped loving her always thinks about her. When a chance meeting brings them back together he will do what ever he can to win her back. Love this series love to watch the broken men become whole again. I voluntarily reviewed an arc of this book

I love all Scarlett Cole books and I really enjoyed this one. It was fast paced and kept my interest.

I shouldn't be surprised that Scarlett Cole blew me out of the water with Nikan but she did. With every one of her books I read, I fall for her male lead and his very real yet beautiful flaws. Before Nikan, Elliott was my go-to Preload book boyfriend. Well Nikan railroaded you out of that spot Elliott. #sorrynotsorry.

Nik is repeatedly described as "the glue of Preload", the guy that keeps them all together. He's the one who calms them down, gets them to see reason and has kept them all together, as a band and as brothers. And he's also dealt with the loss of his first, and only, love Jenny; all because he did something stupid.

Jenny is back to pay it forward. She wanted to be a group home "mother" and help save the kids who need saving, just like she was saved. Of course it's at the home where her ex Nik and his brothers came from. But she knew that. She just has to try and steer clear of Nik and the heartbreak he can give her.

Nik is determined. Jenny is his one and he's going to do everything he can for her to know that.

This was one hell of a ride and I know that Lennon's story is going to be a doozy.

Does the past ever really stay in the past?

Nikan can never be complete. He's got a rock group made up of the family he built for himself, more money than he knows what to do with, and a stream of groupies falling over themselves to date him. But none of them are her. The one regret that still plagues him, still taunts him with what he could have had.

Jenny is a survivor. Now running a group home after overcoming life in a cult lead by her manipulative father and watching her mother drink the poison he fed his followers, she fights to keep the light in the eyes of every boy who walks through her doors. Far from simple young love, Nik taught her to trust, showed her how good life could be. Before he formed the band. Before he became a famous rockstar. Before he destroyed it all.

A chance meeting after years of no contact shows the connection still blazes between them. But will they have their second chance at love? Or will the weight of their past crush their future together?

* * * * *

I think that it's only fair to warn everyone that I am going to gush this review. Okay consider yourself warned.

I think that I have found myself a new go to author in contemporary romance! Scartlett Cole is willing to delve into dark corners and shine a spotlight on the issues with her writing. In this book the issue was how the First Nations peoples were and still are being treated in Canada (though the way we Americans treat and have treated Native Americans here in the States is even worse). I haven't had the opportunity to read the first two books in this series...yet. They are now on my list.

Another thing that really impressed me was the depth of the characters. I hadn't even read the first two books but I felt like I knew the members of Preload as well as their significant others as well as I would know a friend.

Nic and Jenny are a wonderful main atraction. They both had issues that they had to face and the book doesn't shy away from the emotional wounds from the past. And the sex when it finally arrived fit into the plot rather then the plot fitting around the sex. And it made sense!

There is a lot of cursing as well as some really hot sex in this book but if those aren't trigger points then I would highly recommend this book. I have already set myself up on FictFact to be notified when the next book arrives.

***I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own and not influenced by the publisher or author.

This was such a great second chance love story.

Nikan knows he screwed up big time with Jenny way back when he was nothing but a struggling member of Preload. He has a lot to make up for now that Jenny is back in Toronto and he is determined to right the wrong and get back the woman he has always loved.

He has a lot of work to do and to Jenny's credit, she does give him a chance. The more time she spends with him, the more she realizes that he deserves that chance.

Nikan and Jenny both carry large responsibilities in their lives, Nik as the father figure in the band and Jenny is trying to prove that she can create a loving and supportive atmosphere as a group home leader. While they both navigate the challenges in their own lives, they are able to rekindle the love and trust they once had with each other.

I adored this book. The connection with Nikan and Jenny! The way it makes you cry, laugh, totally brilliant. It is part of a series, but can be read as a standalone.

Are you are looking for a book with plenty of steam and sexy times? Something that can pull at your heart and laugh out loud a little while later? Then this book will fulfil that for you.

I don't usually read books with known cheating in them but as I have read all the previous books in this series as well as all the Second Circle books I decided to give it a shot anyway. I think being able to give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Proves how well Scarlett Cole was able to write a character who was able to truly redeem himself.

I wanted to start my reading year of 2018 with a bang. I was reading a different book, and, while I was enjoying it well enough, it didn’t have the wow factor I was looking for. So when I got notice this book had downloaded, I put that other one aside and picked up this one right away. Based on how much I enjoyed the first two books in this series, I thought Nikan Rebuilt would be a winner. And, boy, was it ever.


This is a second-chance-at-love story. Nikan and Jenny both grew up in the foster care system, both in group homes. While their lives before they ended up in the system were horrendous, Nikan was fortunate to wind up in a very good group home with very caring staff and fellow residents he bonded with to the point they became more than best friends; they became brothers and formed the band Preload, which has gone on to become an extremely famous heavy metal band. We have already seen three of the band members get their story, andn now it’s Nikan’s turn. He and Jenny meet in high school when Jenny is being bullied and Nikan saves her. From that moment, they become a couple, and, though both were very young, they were very much in love and thought they would last forever.

Fast forward a number of years, Nikan and the band are very successful and one night while on tour, Dikan makes a mistake that changes the course of his life and Jenny ends things and disappears.

Now it’s current time and eight years later. Jenny has returned and is temporarily head of the group home that Nikan and the rest grew up in. Because they all are still very much involved with the home and the boys living there, Nikan runs into Jenny again and his feelings for her are just as deep and all encompassing as they ever were and Jenny is still greatly in love with Nikan. But what he did devastated her and she is doubtful she can forgive him. Nikan knows how badly he screwed up and how much he lost and he just wants a chance to show her who he is now.

That’s the outline of the story and now I have to start the raving, and rave I will do. This book is incredible. Every woman should have a Nikan. Yep, he screwed up and badly. But his explanation for what happened was believable and makes the reader much more sympathetic. As the oldest, he’s always been the mother hen of the group and does what’s best for them rather than himself. For example, he doesn’t really like doing heavy metal and would like to change it up, but he knows another member of the group uses it as an outlet for his rage. It’s Nikan who arranges for them all to live in the same house, because it’s something that Jordan needs due to his issues.

But now Nikan has to look after his own problems and concentrate less on the other members, especially getting Jenny to forgive him and give him another chance. He’s at a turning point in his life, and the author does such a great job in letting reader ‘feel’ his confusion and frustration and his longing for Jenny and his guilt for what he did that split them up. He’s one of the best heroes I’ve read in a while – and I’ve read some really good ones.

I would say that Nikan makes the book, but Jenny is such a wonderful heroine that she deserves as much credit for in making this such a great read as he does. She’s still very deeply in love, but she’s clear with him that she doesn’t trust him, that he needs to earn it back, if that’s even possible. One thing that sets this book higher than many others is they talk things through. They both realize they have to be open and honest if there is any hope for them. There’s no big misunderstandings, they are both mature and intelligent people.

I say this in each of the Preload reviews, but something else that really sets these stories above others for me is they take place in Toronto, a city I’ve visited many a time. One scene takes place at Rogers Centre (though it will always be Skydome to me) and as a family we would go there four or five times a summer to catch the Jays. Eaton’s Centre is mentioned and I’ve been there quite often that I can close my eyes and see it. And, most of all, Ms. Cole mentions Tim Horton’s a lot. Now, not many people outside of Canada know this probably, but there is almost a symbiotic relationship between “Timmies” and most Canadians. It’s the go-to place for coffee – though I myself stop at Mickey D’s to pick up my morning coffee on the way to work. But EVERYONE knows about Timmies. The author married a Canadian and lived in Canada for a while, so she really ‘gets’ things.

Something else that gets mentioned in this book that puts it way up high is her referencing the struggle that Indigenous People went through for many years and are still struggling with to this day to what was done to them. The Canadian government, in their unbelievable and unconscionable arrogance, stole the children away from their parents and put them in ‘schools’ were they were stripped of their culture, their language, everything that made them an important nation.

A great deal of thanks goes to the late Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip for letting the average Canadian know about this great dark part of Canada’s history.

The inclusion of this storyline makes this a very emotional book. Nikan’s father was First Nations, and after ignoring his heritage for most of his life, this is something he starts considering. I felt this really added something special to the book. It wasn’t done in any kind of preachy tone at all, but more of an added feature to the story.

After finishing this book, now I want to go back and read the previous books, this time paying attention to Nikan. In case anyone is wanting to know what they are, see the covers below for the titles.

I highly, highly recommend these wonderful books.

Grade: A

This was a really sweet emotional read I am just loving this series each book just keeps getting better and better.It was really well written and I just loved Jenny and Nikan they were fantastic characters that you just cannot help but love and root for I cannot wait for the next book.

He searched for her for over a decade. One mistake and she was lost in the wind never finding her way back. Nik had grown weary with his life and was desperate to find the only woman he had ever loved. He continues to help the troubled kids in a home he grew up in as a way to give hope when all seems lost. As a result, he finds Jenny. She left him speechless but he would not give up to rekindle the love they once shared. Will the passion they shared threaten to burn them alive? An absolutely breathtaking story about second chances.

Second chances never were so good!

Nikan grew up in a group home. coming from a very violent background he was lost until he found his place and a new family with a group of boys who became his family and his responsability.

Jenny's life wasn't easy either, watching her mother die because of her father broke her but meeting Nikan when she was young made her believe in happy endings but them he broke her heart (and his).

Years later they meet again, and their chemestry is there. Their bodies in synch asever but learning to trust again isn't easy for Jenny and Nikan has a lot to sort through his head as well.

I loved how the author portraited both characters. This isn't just about their love story or how they found each other again but about how they find themselves.

I felt sorry for Nikan more than once, he took care of everything and then just went with the flow and somehow he lost himself in there. His hopes and dreams going up in smoke when he lost Jenny and I loved that he was trying to find a way back BEFORE she came along. While Jenny's presence was needed and helpful, he was already moving towards putting all of his pieces back together. I think the author did an amazing job with his feeling over hisNative heritage too.

Jenny's such a strong woman. She not only survived his crazy father, after her heartbreak she still went on to live her dream. And when She and Nik meet again, she can tell the difference between her feelings and her body.

I think the pace for the relationship was perfect. They didn't jump right back and it made it more realistic. I usually get a bit impatient with the characters getting together but this felt just right.

I read this as a stand alone, but I'm very intrigued abot the other characters and how they all cope with their pasts. Can't wait to pick the rest of the series!!

I love Scarlett Cole. I love her stories. But this one, Nikan's story, I must admit, is not my favorite. I had a hard time getting into the story mainly because this is a cheater-second-chance romance. Cheating is one of my triggers.

Sigh.

Both MC's had so much hardship in their lives. And you know this from the blurb. I knew going in that the story was going to be full of angst and drama. That's why I could only read this in little spurts. I have to be in the right kind of mood to read a book that's heavy.

Still, it's a good, well-written story. After so much strife and unhappiness, you *want* Nikan and Jenny to get their HEA. And by the time I finished this book, I was totally cheering them on.

AHH the hotties of Preload. Nik oh Nik. Can one ever forget their first and only love of their life? Jenny left Nik when he started to rise in fame because he cheated on her on the road. Eight years later all Nik wants is a second chance with Jenny and is begging for it. As Nik and Jenny work towards forgiveness the world is trying to tear Nik down emotionally. You see Nik grow and show the world who he really is, the man Jenny always knew he could be.

Cole always goes for the emotional jugular in her books. And succeeds every time in making the reader go on a roller coaster ride with the characters. I can't wait to read more of this series.