Book Review: No One to Trust by Julie Moffett

Title: No One To Trust (Lexi Carmichael #2)
Author: Julie Moffett
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: 06/13/2011







After having read Moffett's previous book in the LC series, I was pretty excited to give the second entry a try. There was just something addicting about Lexi's adventures that keept drawing me back in and I'm glad to say that entry #2 is no exception.

SWFG: Single, White, Female, Geek.

That’s me, Lexi Carmichael, a reformed hacker who was gainfully employed by the National Security Agency. But a series of extraordinary events led me to leave government life behind for a fresh start with a brand-new company and an incredibly sexy boss, Finn Shaughnessy. It may not be kosher to have the hots for your boss, but he seems to have the hots for me, too. If only things didn’t get so complicated…

Darren Greening, a genius researcher from Flow Technologies (our first client!) is missing, and his bosses think I’m involved. And they aren’t the only ones—the man who nearly snapped my neck in the parking garage thinks so, too.

Now I’m caught in the middle of a complex and dangerous case. I’ll have to use all my geek skills and a little help from my friends to solve the mystery of Darren’s disappearance before Neck-Snapping-Man makes a return visit…

I don't know much about the hacking world, but I do know that I enjoyed this book greatly. I love Lexi and I love the situations she gets herself into. She's a feisty heroine and we finally get to see her hands get a little dirtier than they did in the previous novel, which I enjoyed. One of my gripes with the first novel was that Lexi did little of her own hacking work, which isn't the case in this book. Lexi does just as much as the next person in this mystery.

The love interests are pretty sexy as well and are developing pretty well at this stage. I have my own personal favorites as far as who Lexi should end up with (Team Zimmerman!), but Lexi's reasoning for who she likes and what she is or isn't going to do is pretty realistic. There's also a decent amount of competition and/or other barriers keeping her from each guy, giving good reason to draw out the tension for just a little bit longer. (As long as it doesn't get as ridiculously drawn out as the Stephanie Plum love triangle has, I'm good with this.)

I will say that the mystery does move quickly and at times the plot seemed to move a little too quickly, not giving me as much time as I'd have wanted on some issues. I can't elaborate without getting spoilerish, but let's just say that there were some issues I wanted to linger on a little longer as far as the missing researcher goes. You get a good sense of what is what and I didn't end the book feeling unsatisfied, but it all seemed to get wrapped up a little too quickly for me. This isn't really a gripe, just more of an observation since it didn't really get in the way of my reading experience that much.

Overall this book was awesome to read and I can't wait to get my hot little hands on the next book in the series. It's honestly a shame that these are only in ebook format at this point in time since I think they'd sell well in paperback format.


5 out of 5 stars

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

Book Review: No One Lives Twice by Julie Moffett

Title: No One Lives Twice (Lexi Carmichael #1)
Author: Julie Moffett
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: 08/16/2010
eISBN: 9781426890499







Longing for a bit of the old James Bond type thrillers? Want something with a little chase to it? Would you like to see a geeky girl on the run to stop the bad guys? If you answered yes to any of those three questions then you'll probably like this book.

I'm Lexi Carmichael, geek extraordinaire. I spend my days stopping computer hackers at the National Security Agency. My nights? Those I spend avoiding my mother and eating cereal for dinner. Even though I work for a top-secret agency, I've never been in an exciting car chase, sipped a stirred (not shaken) martini, or shot a poison dart from an umbrella.

Until today, that is, when two gun-toting thugs popped up in my life and my best friend disappeared. So, I've enlisted the help of the Zimmerman twins—the reclusive architects of America's most sensitive electronic networks—to help me navigate a bewildering maze of leads to find her.

Along the way, my path collides with a sexy government agent and a rich, handsome lawyer, both of whom seem to have the hots for me. Hacking, espionage, sexy spy-men—it's a geek girl's dream come true. If it weren't for those gun-toting thugs...

Readers of romance & fans of books similar to The Givenchy Code will enjoy this book. (It's not identical to TGC, but similar enough to where it reminded me a little of it.) Lexie Carmichael isn't the brightest computer geek out there, but she does have a lot of heart & determination to her that will endear her to most readers. You'll also love the variety of men in the series. It's pretty easy to determine who the main players are for Lexie's heart, though. Even so, the book is easy to read & the story's twist (which I'll admit I didn't entirely see coming) makes this a pretty fun read overall.

The only drawback? Well... for a girl that's supposedly smart enough to get into the NSA for her hacking skills, Lexie doesn't really show them off that much in this book. That might change in the next few books, but for right now we the only "hacking" we see Lexie doing is her talking to a supposed hacker in the beginning of the book. She's also not exactly savvy when it comes to avoiding stupid actions, but at least Moffett has Lexie calling herself out on this at various points in the book.

Overall though, this is a pretty enjoyable read. It's a nice fluffy story that will be sure to please romance fans looking for something with a little thrill to it. I have to admit that it was better than I was initially expecting it to be & I'm curious enough to read the next book in the series.

(ARC provided by NetGalley)