Hot Restart

A sexy polyamorous space opera by Elliott Kay. It was published on August 23, 2022. Read the first chapter.

## Publisher’s summary

Riley Morgan desperately needs a reset on his life. Pit fights with aliens and illegal salvage jobs are barely enough to get by—until a salvage op turns up a beautiful stranger in a stasis pod and a clear case of kidnapping. Helping her means throwing away what’s left of his life. The trouble only gets deeper when the stranger turns out to be a wildly illegal artificial intelligence built for assassination.

Like Riley, Selene has been used and abused by her bosses… and like Riley, she longs for a life of her own choosing. Riley and Selene are ready for the struggle ahead. They aren’t ready for the dangerous and sexy aliens in their way, or the glitzy parties and corporate conspiracies, and they certainly aren’t ready for the spark between one another.

## Publisher’s warning

Hot Restart contains explicit violence, explicit sex, explicit language, polyamory, murder, kidnapping, assault, acrimony, perfidy, theft, numerous bisexuals, defenestrations, conspiracies, death and mourning, threesomes, space capitalism, interspecies hookup culture, surly co-workers, judgmental aliens, embarrassing humans, smuggling, stalking, strafing, lap-dancing, sexual promiscuity, self-discovery, self-defense, post-coital robo-violence, hedonism, exhibitionism, intimidation, surveillance, rejection, abrupt breakups, betrayals, ambushes, espionage, gang activity, false identities, pool hustling, alien/human sexytimes, questionable salvage practices, intended torture, destruction of private property, hallway foreplay, alien insectoid pseudo-anarcho-socialism, clueless appropriation of human culture for restaurant entrepreneurship, shooting, punching, kicking, flirting, taunting, aerial combat, abusive leadership, destruction of evidence, unsanitary transit through hotel ventilation, a CEO who isn’t trash, relationship boundary conversation during combat, outstanding man-ass, an amorphous alien gel-person looking for a good time, and protagonists dressed in their underwear or less for five consecutive chapters.

### Characters

* Riley Morgan
* Bhurel, a Gankriid, captain of *Mashringa*
* Ulmil, a Yiseeph, command crew on *Mashringa*
* Toquii, a Gankriid club owner and fixer
* Leeth, a Nelaen empath
* Eliza Carrington, a human bohemian
* Ivan, a human engineer
* The LiftBot, a manual labor robot
* Reteph, a Nelaen
* Gormot, Ulmil’s nephew
* Zem, a Nelaen
* Hestund, a Gankriid, cousin of Bhurel and first engineer on *Mashringa*
* Vort, an Ivorran and navigator on *Mashringa*
* Selene, an illegal AI
* Frank Carpenter, a human also known as Mr Smith, Aegis Enterprises
* Vang, an A’zhon telepath
* Jeff Whitmore, a human and Aegis Enterprises board member
* Derek, a human, employee of Aegis Enterprises
* Marco, a human, employee of Aegis Enterprises
* Shinzo, a human, employee of Aegis Enterprises
* Ron, a human, employee of Aegis Enterprises
* Mike Glenn, a human, owner of Pick and Fix
* Molgug, a Yiseeph and member of the Phantoms
* Veen, a Xelt and staff at O’Humans
* Orlina, a Nelaen, leader of the Phantoms
* Cherise Barret, a human and sex work manager
* Miriam, a human, married to Justin
* Justin, a human, married to Mirian
* Shiirul, a Gankriid mercenary
* Ankra, a Nelaen mercenary
* Kate Winters, a human mercenary
* Tibrun Resoko, a Nelaen mercenary captain
* Linonda, his assistant and bodyguard
* Eezall, a roaming Davoxxan scientist
* Paul Brady, a human, executive of Aegis Enterprises
* Daniel Bennington, a human
* Fuller, a human soldier
* Raagya, a Yiseeph mercenary
* Yocro, a mercenary leader (mentioned only)
* Keldeket, a Xelt Elder
* Aman Chetti, a human and CEO of Aegis Enterprises
* Teddy Han, a human and chief operations officer of Aegis Enterprises
* Owen, a human and chief security officer of Aegis Enterprises
* Charlie Morton, a human and security executive at Aegis Enterprises
* Wei, a member of the Phantoms
* Ghunred, a Gankriid and member of the Phantoms
* Pital, a Nelaen and member of the Phantoms
* Ganra, a Nelaen, Orline’s cousin, and member of the Phantoms
* Fareed, a human pilot and employee of Aegis Enterprises
* Yijun, a human and employee of Aegis Enterprises
* Agung, a human and employee of Aegis Enterprises
* Rong, a human and employee of Aegis Enterprises
* Walsman, a human and employee of Aegis Enterprises
* Suganda, a human and employee of Aegis Enterprises
* Audrey, a human and spaceport manager
* Lian Wen, a human and CEO of Stellar Wing
* Shawna, a human and Wen’s executive assistant
* Yun, a human and employee of Stellar Wing
* Lian Shufen, a human, sister to Lian Wen, co-owner of Stellar Wing
* Craig, a human and security team leader of Stellar Wing
* Sena, a human, chief compliance officer of Aegis Enterprises
* Navanthe, a human and chief executive of Aegis Enterprises
* Zoe Mitchell, a human and chief financial officer of Aegis Enterprises
* Tony, a human and employee of Stellar Wing
* Dave, a human and employee of Stellar Wing
* Enhuwi Orrtuun, a Gankriid and sector governor
* Vilek, a fixer (mentioned only)
* Yu Feng, a human and employee of Aegis Enterprises (mentioned only)
* and many innocent and not so innocent unnamed humans and aliens

### Locations & organizations

All events in the book take place in the Rampart System.

* Aegis Proxima
	+ Toquii’s club
	+ The spaceport
	+ Aegis Enterprises
	+ A very posh hotel
* The Graveyard
* Mathibos Minor, a moon
* Talnov Gamma
	+ Pick and Fix, a repair shop
	+ O’Humans Tavern SportsPub LoungeGrill and Bar and Teahouse PoolHall
	+ The Phantoms
	+ Tibrun’s tower
	+ The Dust Market

Also mentioned are Dennat System and Solar system.

### Ships & vessels

* *Mashringa*, a salvage vessel
* *Amethyst*, a yacht

## Trivia

*Hot Restart* was highly inspired by the computer game franchise *Mass Effect* and to a lesser degree *Dragon Age*, with their strong focus on dating and social relations: “What if *Mass Effect* focused less on galactic doom and more on who's dating who”.⁠

Paul has the last name Brady in chapter 8, but Philips in chapter 21.

## Publication history

*Hot Restart* was published as an ebook and paperback on August 22, 2022.

An audiobook is currently (January 2024) under production by Tess Irondale for independent release.⁠ There is currently no estimated publication date.

The draft had been finished in February 2022. Elliott Kay’s Patreon contains additional excerpts and world-building material. The project has also been documented on Elliott Kay’s blog:

* Chapter One: HOT RESTART (Coming soon! Sooo soon!) (July 27 2022)
* You Don’t Come Here for This (November 16 2021)
* A General Update (October 2 2021)

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Interview by Tess Irondale (Tess Irondale’s Discord, December 30, 2023)
2. ↑ Elliott Kay’s Patreon, December 15 2023
3. ↑ Elliott Kay’s Patreon, February 16 2022