The Hacker is a good fit for readers who enjoy stories about overcoming past traumas and finding love, as the book features a strong, resilient personal trainer and a skilled computer consultant navigating both personal growth and a dangerous mystery.

Hello

Apologies for the late notice, but I have decided not to review this title. While I am certain it's obvious by now, I wanted to also clear this off NetGalley, so it's not showing as open for either of us.

I look forward to continuing to work with you in 2023 and beyond.

Laura

This was way more enjoyable than the first book. Dawn & Leland where adorable together and i enjoyed how they fell in love with each other, almost so naturally. Though, it was a little bit too insta-lovey. But still very good.

Loved the first book in this series (and yes, this is a standalone but the first book was great AND there is an overall story arc so it is more enjoyable, for me, to read them all) and was looking forward to The Hacker. I was not disappointed. We met Dawn Galioto in the first book as a personal trainer. And Leland Rockwell is the ‘R’ in KRG – the company started by three friends. Leland is the cybersecurity wizard and it was fun to see him in the “real” world.

It was pretty fast paced, sexy, and a dance around each other before they actually get together. Throw in intrigue, mystery AND personal issues that these two need to deal with before they get to their HEA and it was a terrific story! I know one of these tech geniuses very well so Leland was near and dear to my heart. Really looking forward to the next partner story.

Dawn Galiato is a trainer at the Work It Out gym, a safe place for her after she suffered from a horrifying experience in college. She is triggered by noises, feeling closed in, not being in control of her situation and so much more. The gym owner, Ramon Vazquez, recognized her vulnerability and offered her a job. He took it a step farther and helped her to get into self-defense training.  Being a personal trainer is what makes her happy and gives her a sense of fulfillment. She pushes her clients hard and they all appreciate her for making them work. When the clients start to complain that they are having trouble streaming TV or movies on the treadmills, she asks Ramon's wife, Vicky, for help in getting to the bottom of the problem. Overhearing the discussion, Dawn's best friend, Alice, suggests that she contact Leland Rockwell, the computer genius at KRG Consulting and business partner of her fiance, Derek, to help get to the source of the problem. Dawn can't help but smile, thinking about the swoon-worthy man with the deliciously honeyed drawl that she met at Alice and Derek's party. She will have to wait to see if Vicky's IT people come to fix the problem before she contacts Leland. But Alice gets to him first and, the next thing she knows, an email comes through from Leland himself. After some flirtatious messages, Dawn realizes she's enjoying the back and forth way too much. Fortunately for the clients of Work It Out, the tech team is able to fix the Wi-Fi problem but, unfortunately, Leland notices that there is an inordinately large amount of wi-fi traffic passing through the gym and that indicates another problem, entirely. Leland intends to keep an eye on the building because he's not convinced that everything going on there is legitimate. As a cover story, he joins the gym under the name Lee Wellmont, and hires Dawn as his trainer. Working with Dawn in close quarters means that it's going to become very obvious just how much she affects him. It doesn't take long before they become involved, but Dawn occasionally sees Leland staring off with sad eyes and she doesn't understand what's happening. What she doesn't know is that he recently lost his mother and he doesn't quite know how to handle it. Dawn's own troubled past haunts her when anyone tries to get too close, too fast. She has a troubled reaction to a simple hug one night, causing Leland to worry and wonder. They have a lot to learn about one another and it's particularly well-written with a light hand and just the right depth of feeling. The mystery is a sound one that proceeds at an ideal pace throughout the book. It's complex enough that there are multiple layers to the plot and all of the players involved get exactly what they deserve! This is a smart story with exceptional characters, whose personalities are so well-detailed and constructed that they come to life. Nancy Herkness never disappoints!

The Hacker is the second book in The Consultants series. This book is about Dawn Galioto and Leland Rockwell. Dawn works in a gym and is a personal trainer. The Wi-fi keeps glitching so she call's Leland in to help. Lelend is a cybersecurity genius with KRG. We met Leland in the first book.

As Leland and Dawn work together to figure out what is going on with the wi-fi network they start to develop feelings. They discover something going on at the gym and it could cause a major rukus.

What happens with Dawn's past catches up to them? What happens when she tells the gym about the issues they found while trying to fix the glitches. Will their relationship be able to survive everything that this book throws at them?

This was a fun quick read. Dawn and Leland are both cautious in their relationships because of things from each of their pasts. When Dawn needs help with a WiFi problem she calls on Leland to help. They’re soon thrown together investigating a crime. Have fun learning about the crime!

I adore this author. She's always a one click purchase for me. What I loved about this book was ever increasing tension as the story unfolded. Dawn and Leland are fantastic characters and their romance was sweet, relatable with just enough spice.

This review is a little late because I had to read the first in the series. I love when characters we've met in a previous book gets their own story. While there is romance here, there as also some suspense and and a bit of a thrill ride. I however did not like how the abuse was handled. I like revenge/ pure destruction of the bad guys. Overall not a bad read.

This was an enjoyable novel, but not something I feel compelled to read again. I enjoy Herkness's writing, and character building.

I really enjoyed reading this book I think it is one of her best. I had a lot of very late nights as I read when I go to bed and just had to know what happened so many times. I would strongly recommend this excellent book.

3.5 stars. ⭐⭐⭐
I like this author's writing quite a lot....I just found this particular book to be lacking a little... both in terms of romance and also suspense.

So for me ....an okay read with likable characters...mostly an enjoyable read but I wanted more!

It seemed to me that it needed more romance or more suspense....personally ....I would have taken either.

ARC received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

It’s the little problems that cause trouble, and that’s the situation Dawn is in. The patrons at the gym just can’t get on the Internet the way they should be able to do it. So Dawn submits for help and Leland is the one to analyze the issue. This is a continuation of the series.

The mystery angle wasn’t as strong with this book. I figured out fairly quickly what and who was at fault. Lots of romance, which is fine since this is a romance. I just wouldn’t call this romantic suspense because there wasn’t much.

This was an okay read, however I thought the story was focused too much on the romance and not enough on the suspense aspect. The ending was a bit of a letdown for me as I feel like the situation was resolved way too easily.

I loved the connection between Dawn and Leland though. They were perfect together!

Dawn & Leland’s story is my new favorite book that I have read by Nancy Herkness! It was so good! Words can’t describe it! I highly recommend.


I voluntarily reviewed this book.

Thank you netgalley for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.
This was a pretty good contemporary romance with a splash of mystery. Dawn decides to investigate the computer system that appeared to be hacked at the gym she works at. She involves the help of cybersecurity specialist,Leland. Leland is immediately attracted to her and there is a healthy amount of sexual tension that develops during his private personal training sessions with Dawn. I liked their explosive chemistry and love story.
Not a mind blowing novel but worth the read.

Mixed feelings about this book. I liked Dawn and found her interesting, I liked how she'd worked to get over her past. Leeland too - wish I could have had his part read by an audiobook so I could hear his accent! - was an interesting character, with his own, different issues and I liked his blend of nerd/not nerd. They seemed to fit well together, understanding each other's issues and respecting them.

But for me, the thriller aspect just didn't move along fast enough, I wasn't gripped by the story line unfortunately. So although I liked the characters, I wasn't over all as taken by the book as I expected to be, it was too easy to put down and I wasn't quick to pick it up again.

This is a good romance/thriller, it’s romps along with plenty of action and a steamy relationship developing between Dawn and Leland. The story was the standard baseline of this genre (girl meets boy, girl resists boy, they get together) but it had a storyline which kept me enthralled all the way through. I liked that Dawn had her own story and you slowly uncovered it as the book went on. An entertaining read, All in all, this was the perfect book to pick up if you need to wind down and I enjoyed it. I look forward to the next book.

I really liked this one and consumed it in two sittings (which with me being so busy right now was incredible). Dawn has noticed an increased data usage at the gym she works and the customers have been complaining. This is how Leland is brought into the picture to help figure out why and they have such chemistry it cannot be denied. Both of them have demons and each find ways to soothe each other while still bring down the bad guys. This one can be read as a standalone. Intrigue and romance with heat and danger thrown in. Just what makes a great beach read or if you keep it for later it will be great to read in front of a fire this winter (but why wait that long).

**Received this ARC for review from the publisher via NetGalley**

The Hacker was a great story with a interesting mix of characters and a few steamy scenes.
I loved the banter and the suspense a lot and I will definitely read more books by the author.