Review: Code of Conduct by April White

Code of Conduct by April White
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.  This is one of three Smartypants Romance releases due out on October 15, 2019.  It is the first of The Cipher Security series and I can't wait to see what adventures we get next from the office of Cipher Security.

I'll admit I didn't love this at first. It took me a while to warm up to Shane. She is closed off and doesn't let many people get to know her. This made it hard to connect with her as a character. If you give her time like I did, you will eventually get to know this very dynamic woman and I hope you end up really enjoying her character as she developed. I loved Gabriel immediately. He has his baggage, but he is a delight from the beginning. Bonus, we get a Sandra sighting. If you don't know who Sandra is you need to read Love Hacked. I really love seeing the original characters in support of meeting the new ones.

Shane is a private investigator, who specializes in finding husbands who are cheating on their wives. While out on a job, she determines that the man she is investigating, Dane Quimby, is in fact cheating on the woman who hired her. Using her skills as an amatuer hacker she transfers some of his money around using his smartphone, when in swoops Cipher Security to notify him that someone is up to something on his accounts. During her exit from her "date" she runs in to Gabriel, member of the Cipher team. As Gabriel and the team from Cipher try to uncover what is happening with Dane's money and the wife, he keeps crossing paths with Shane. They are undeniably attracted to each other and she has information on Quimby that he needs to understand the whole story. Things don't appear to be on the up and up with Quimby and his company so Gabriel and Shane form an unlikely partnership to investigate the situation. As they work together they slowly build from friendship to something more.

I love that this covers some really tough topics. There is great diversity in this book. Shane is an amputee, but she doesn't let that stand in her way of anything. Gabriel is from the UK and of Jamaican Nigerian descent with a military background and he's got a bit of PTSD. They each have issues to work through and I felt that the author did a really great job explaining the emotional topics they were both dealing with.

If you are looking for an action packed slow burn romance, give this a go. It is laced with humor and good banter.

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