A Restored Man

This is book three in The Men of Halfway House series. I think, technically you could read this as a standalone with no problem, but why the heck would ya? The other two books are amazing and really give you the background for this book. So… I’m going to assume you’ve read books one and two…

We met Cole in book two. He’s loud, impetuous, impractical, mouthy and in a word – Trouble. He’s also an (ex) car thief who is at the HH after spending 2 years in prison for stealing a car and refusing to “rat out” his co-conspirators.

Ty is Aidan’s brother. He’s in the family business (Aidan is the black sheep!) of car restoration but he’s still recovering from a serious car accident that took the lives of his parents and put him in a coma for 6 months. Ty is the opposite of Aidan. He’s shy, reserved, blushes at the drop of a hat and has a dark cloud hanging above his head.

When Ty meets Cole there is instant attraction on both sides. So much so that Cole puts his foot in his mouth – again – and Aidan puts his fist in Cole’s face for it! Though Ty makes Aidan apologize for it later, Aidan makes it clear that if Cole hurts Ty in any way losing the car will be the least of his worries.

Well, as it turns out, Cole fits in at the shop like a fish to water. He’s found his groove at last and things look great from that perspective. His only glitch: Ty. Ty turns Cole on like nothing else and makes him crazy.

There is more than just the romance going on in this story, and that’s one of the things that take this from a great book to an amazing book! Both Cole and Ty (and even Aidan) do a lot of growing. Sometimes this makes me jones to get back to the love story but Jaime’s writing is so smooth and elegant that I just wanted to keep reading. The 6000 locations in this story (nearly 12 hours of listening) fly by.

The romance between Ty and Cole is both a slow burn and an instant wildfire. They flirt and tease and touch and torment each other endlessly, but the final coming together takes weeks and when it does happen it is really moving and powerful.

I love seeing J and Matt again (wish we could here about Cam and Hunter too, but seeing as they’ve disappeared…). I love the “hint” that maybe J and Matt might one day expand their little family! (Wouldn’t that be amazing!)

Cole has to be my most favorite character so far. Man! He’s funny, honest, charming, adorkable, can do ANYTHING (and he knows it), cocky, insecure, sweet, raunchy… just a perfect mixture of everything. Ty is his perfect foil because he’s so shy, yet subtly aggressive, confident but tentative… another delightful mix.

I really feel that Jaime’s writing has gotten even better as the series has progressed and her world building and characterizations are top notch. I had to stop and slow down several times when I was reading this because I just wanted to savor how good it was.

Overall a truly amazing book that I know I’ll read again and again

6 of 5 stars

Audio:

Greg Tremblay. (That’s almost all I need to say.) I fangirl him so hard that y’all know I just adored him here too. He does all the subtle accents so well, gives the mechanics a unique voice even though most only speak once or twice in the entire story and he handles the emotion and smexy times sooooo well. I feel like I repeat this on every review of his narrations but… well he ROCKS!

Now we need the others!

6 of 5 stars

What a great story! I love, love!! The story of Tye and Cole is a great restoration toward believing in happily ever after. Once I started, I had to finish. Ten plus hours never went by so fast. Great story by Jaime Reese and Greg Tremblay's narration brought the story to life. A definite recommend...