I really enjoyed Dawn and Leland’s interaction and slow burn romance in this second book of the Consultants series by this author. Unfortunately I did not read the first book in the series, Money Man, but I intend to now! The three men in these books remind me of the Wager of Hearts series that I absolutely adored. The unique backstory of how these three men became such good friends and how they interact with each other and the people in their lives is what I find most intriguing and keeps me reading well into the night. Dawn is a strong willed, personal trainer and Leland is a computer genius and together they create a steamy and entertaining read. I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC for NetGalley.

Just finished reading Nancy Herkness's latest offering, The Hacker". It appears The Consultants Series is shaping up to be just as fun to read as her Wager of Hearts series.
Engaging, charming and steamy would be just a few adjectives I'd use to describe this book.
Workaholics, Leland & Dawn find they have to let go of their demons if they are going to gain their life balance back. Add in some great friends, some nasty criminals. Give it a good mixture of love plus intrigue and you've got another fantastic read with the Nancy Herkness touch..
I received this ARC for my honest review and I give this book 5 stars. #TheHacker #netgalley

This is a wonderfully fun and exciting book, with plenty of mystery and anticipation. There is chemistry and romance, humour and adventure, as well as intrigue and suspense.

I have enjoyed a number of Nancy Herkness books before, and this is no exception, the book does not disappoint and I cannot wait to read the rest of this Consultants series.

A thoroughly enjoyable and well written book.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book.

I read this book as a stand alone, but after reading it, I'm intrigued to go back and read the first book in the series. But this book can totally be read as a stand alone without any confusion.

This is a good book that combines romance and mystery. Dawn is a personal trainer at a gym and she starts to hear complaint after complaint about the gym's wifi service being unusually slow. She mentions this to her boss, the gym's owner, but he doesn't give it much thought, Dawn's friend is engaged to a guy that owns a tech company with two of his friends. She mentions it to her fiancee and the computer whiz from the company, Leland, wants to help. But Dawn's gym owners don't want the help. So she forgets it.

But then the next week, the wifi is working fine, but now people notice that after spending time at the gym, their personal cell phone's data plans have basically been completely used. Dawn mentions this to the gym owners and once again, they tell her not to get involved.

But Leland likes to solve puzzles so he and Dawn decide to do investigating on their own. What they uncover is a dangerous operation that involves the DEA. Will they both be safe throughout this endeavor?

This ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review. The opinion stated above are mine without biases.

Another winner from Nancy Herkness! I love the worlds she creates with her characters. Take out the billionaire part and her characters could be people you actually know. And in this book, their issues are relatable and understandable. The villain might be a little over-the-top, but the relationships are so good, it’s easy to look past that. And now I cannot wait for book three!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

It was more "like" than "love" for me with this one, unfortunately. The first book in this series was decent so I thought I'd give the second one a shot, and while there were definitely elements that I enjoyed, it left me with the same sort of feeling. The series is a strange combination of serious, steam, and suspense, which makes the romance feel a bit underwhelming. Our couple switches between being all business and all pleasure, with not much focus spent on the in-between. And the book? Still kinda boring. I really don't understand it myself, because with that much action (both in and out of the bedroom), the tone shouldn't be so sedate.

The story follows Dawn, a personal trainer who gets more than she bargained for when she tries to fix the wifi at her gym. Enlisting the help of a friend of a friend, IT guru Leland, Dawn seeks to get the business back up and running without inconveniencing the owners. But when Leland discovers that there might be more going on, the two find themselves investigating the issue. As they begin spending time together, sparks fly and it's not long before Dawn and Leland are giving in to the temptation to explore the chemistry between them.

There really is a lot that I like about the author's work, which is why I returned after a middling first book in the series. I like suspense, I like steam, and I love a sexy, kind nerd paired with a strong, resilient woman, so this should've been right up my alley. But there's something about the writing style that just... bores me a little. I think I need to be more emotionally invested in the love story to care about the suspense, and for that to happen they need to spend less time in the bedroom or working on the investigation. That's where this one falters. Because I did like both of the characters as individuals, and I did love the potential in their backstories (definitely some triggering content there). So this one had me interested enough to keep reading, but not enough to feel fully invested. I received an ARC via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review of this suspenseful romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting my request for an ARC of this book. The review below is entirely my own opinion.

I liked this book a whole lot more than the 1st one in the series. It didn’t leave me all swoony and sappy. It was a pleasant enough read but missing something I can’t pinpoint.

I like sexy nerds and Leland is certainly that. I loved that he loved his mama and that he has demons to work through.

I also liked Dawn, the heroine. I liked that she’s a survivor. I liked that she has insecurities for it made her more relatable.

Not sure about the suspense part in all of this though. I don’t know enough about techie stuff to figure out if all that was described in the book is actually possible in real life. *shrugs* But this story needed this part for the action/thriller component.

Overall, I liked Leland and Dawn. I’m glad they have each other and got their HEA.

Book 2 in a series, but a stand-alone.

Dark secrets lead to dark places which always lead to danger.

Leland and Dawn stumble into things they shouldn’t and while they face it together: can they trust each other?

This book was such a good read. It has suspense and steam, all things you want in a book to escape in

When you’ve read the first book in a series you start starving for the second. After finishing the first installment in The Consultants, I couldn’t stand the wait to see what, or who, came next. This book did not disappoint.
I love the story with a bit of danger, a couple characters who have that instant attraction that has the potential for love, sexy times that are put in a way that doesn’t make me blush but does give me the warm fuzzies, and characters that are flawed and have the capacity for change together. This is a story that delivers, as do all of Nancy Herkness’s books.
This is the story of a computer genius and the girl that he’s got a thing for. Maybe. You know, I’m pretty sure he had a thing for her but didn’t come right out and go for it. It was a realization that was unexpected for him, because Leland was a workaholic until he had the chance to spend more time with Dawn.
He helps her. She helps him. There are sexy times. They have emotional growth. There’s a climactic who-dun-it moment. There’s an HEA. Honestly, it exceeded expectations for me! And I had anticipatory exciting expectations for it.
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This is another fantastic book in The Consultant series.

This story is about a personal trainer and self-defense expert Dawn Galioto. After complaint about WIFI issues at the gym, Dawn calls on her best friends partner at KRG. Leland is a cybersecurity genius who is more than happy to help figure out the wife issues at the gym. In order to do so Leland goes undercover as a client of Dawn’s working out regularly to get more information to what is going. What Leland and Dawn are neither prepared for is the closeness and attraction they both find themselves feeling for each other. Dawn’s past has her anxieties kicking in. Leland’s discovery of the dark web connection to the gym has him in protective mode of Dawn. Can Leland open his heart to find comfort in the strong, witty and determined woman he has come to care about? Can Dawn find a way to trust and let Leland in to her past and help him to understand her anxieties? Will their relationship even have a chance, as the mystery of the dark web and Wi-Fi challenges at the gym take a dangerous turn?



This is a fun, interesting story. I love the characters and really enjoy the relationships. The writer does a fantastic job of letting the character work through both of their past to uncover the mysteries and struggles each have. It becomes clear that each have hurdles to get over to trust and to truly let the other into their heart. They find themselves brought together closer as they work through what is going on at the gym.

I enjoyed this story and I look forward to the next story in the series.

Dawn is a fitness instructor in the local gym. She helped Alice in the first book to learn self defense that ultimitely saved her life when things got a little dicey for Alice and Derek. Leland is partnered with Derek and Tully in their Accounting firm, who also happens to be very talented with computers.

When the customers at the gym start complaining about the wifi service at the gym, Alice got Leland involved to help Dawn get the issue figured out. No one was expecting there to be a more sinister reason for the problem.

The Hacker is a bit on the mild side of a romantic suspense story. It's a continuing series with the same characters in the first book, except with the focus on Leland and Dawn. I liked it, I did enjoy these characters, and the writing but I will say it lacked an excitement that the first book in the series had. This is a great read for when you need a more laidback story.

This was a very good book, I could not put it down. I look forward to reading more books from this sutnor.

The Hacker by Nancy Herkness a five-star read that will hook you in. This is number two in the Consultants series but they can easily be read as stand-alone, as there are recurring characters but enough of a story that you don’t have to worry about missing anything, there are situations and people referenced but you can easily gloss over them, If you are like me though and will want to go back and devour more from this author pick it up first as you won’t be disappointed. The romance between Dawn and Leland feels real and natural and super-hot, the mystery and suspense just add another layer to the story and will hook you deeper into the story, this is one that will keep you guessing and keep your attention on the pages from start to finish.

Good romantic story with a twist of suspense. I wish Leland had been given more of a voice. How does a desk jockey get as fit as he was if his workouts are limited to swimming. The steamy scenes were hot. I think if that sexual tension had been incorporated into the rest of the book, it would have made for a four star read.

4 stars

This story was interesting and went in a different direction than I was expecting. The storyline while intriguing was at times a bit disjointed to me. There was a sense of disconnect for me between the actual story that was happening and the characters. I am not sure why that was considering I did enjoy Dawn and Leland.

The story was rich in detail and with the addition of steamy moments and interesting characters it was overall a good book. I am glad that I did go back and read the first book, The Money Man because it helped me understand some previous characters and their backstory. Technically, this could be standalone but I don't think that I would have enjoyed it as much. I'll look for more in the future from this author.

The guys of KRG are back in Cofferwood, New Jersey when Dawn finds something weird going on at the gym’s Wi-Fi. With Leland insisting on helping, it’s no time at all before the two are drawn together. I love the exchange between Dawn and Leland and how they quickly learn to rely on each other, each with a past. As the suspense mounts, you may think you have everything figured out, but surprises are around the corner (or on the next page).
Nancy is writing a great series and can’t wait for Tully’s story!

I'm a sucker for a good mystery-romance story and this one kept me intrigued from start to finish. The chemistry between Leland and Dawn is evident from the very beginning and it was nice to see their interest in one another go from physical to something deeper - especially when the story of Dawn's past trauma is shared . The big reveal for the bad guys wasn't a huge surprise, but I didn't mind because it wasn't the point of the story. I would definitely more from this series and author.

The Hacker, book 2 in the consultants series re introduces the previous characters but can quite easily be read as a stand-alone.
Leland one of the three partners that own KRG is the computer genius. Dawn a personal trainer is best friend of one of the other partners, so when there seems to be some weird wi if glitches at the gym she works at she asks for Lelands advice. Intrigued he poses as one of Dawns clients to obtain access to the gyms computer, here he discovers much to investigate and finds that the computer has access to the dark web involving a large criminal network.
This is a good romance/thriller, it’s romps along with plenty of action and a steamy relationship developing between Dawn and Leland.
An entertaining read, I look forward to the next book.
My thanks to net galley and publishers Montlake for the opportunity to review this book honestly.

This is billed as a romantic thriller but it's for a lot more sex than romance and hardly any thrills at all. A personal trainer hears so many complaints about the wifi in her gym that she asks the handsome, rich techie friend of a friend to look into it After several breathless couplings, he discovers that someone is using the gym's internet access as a node on the dark web and using it for nefarious dealings involving the head of a drug cartel and a gun running enterprise.
There's not much here here and it's both boring and predictable.

I received a copy of this in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book. It was a quick read, the characters were like able, and the plot was definitely interesting. I finished it in a couple of hours and could not put it down. I cannot wait to read the other books.