What do you think?
Rate this book
White Hat Security #1
Hacker Exposed
Bridget never expected to see Alex Ross again after her father stole from the Ross family. When Alex contacts Bridget, it isn’t to catch up. He needs her help!
Bridget Boggs carries a lot of guilt over what happened to Alex Ross and his family. She had been good friends with the Ross boys until her greedy father lost part of the Ross family’s savings in a pyramid scheme. He went to jail, and Bridget and her family changed their names and went into hiding.
Bridget imagines that Alex and his brothers feel just as betrayed as she does by her father’s criminal acts. When she meets Alex again as a young hacker and the owner of White Hat Security, he has something more important to talk about than her father’s transgressions. A million dollars has been stolen from his company, and Alex needs Bridget’s help to track down the culprit.
Alex has certainly grown up since they last met. The man looks like a Greek god, and Bridget can’t help but be attracted to him. As she digs deeper into the theft from Ross Enterprises, Bridget doesn’t need any more distractions. This is a more dangerous job than either Bridget or Alex expected. The thief is willing to go to incredible lengths to evade the police, and the two amateur sleuths may find themselves caught in the crossfire.
Bridget Boggs carries a lot of guilt over what happened to Alex Ross and his family. She had been good friends with the Ross boys until her greedy father lost part of the Ross family’s savings in a pyramid scheme. He went to jail, and Bridget and her family changed their names and went into hiding.
Bridget imagines that Alex and his brothers feel just as betrayed as she does by her father’s criminal acts. When she meets Alex again as a young hacker and the owner of White Hat Security, he has something more important to talk about than her father’s transgressions. A million dollars has been stolen from his company, and Alex needs Bridget’s help to track down the culprit.
Alex has certainly grown up since they last met. The man looks like a Greek god, and Bridget can’t help but be attracted to him. As she digs deeper into the theft from Ross Enterprises, Bridget doesn’t need any more distractions. This is a more dangerous job than either Bridget or Alex expected. The thief is willing to go to incredible lengths to evade the police, and the two amateur sleuths may find themselves caught in the crossfire.
99 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 20, 2017
1574 people are currently reading
917 people want to read
About the author
Linzi Baxter
65 books313 followersLinzi Baxter hails from Bismarck, North Dakota, but currently lives in Orlando, Florida. She received her bachelor’s degree in information technology from the University of Central Florida and is currently in the process of earning her MBA from the same university.
Baxter works as an IT Manager for the local government and spends her free time playing with her basset hound, watching college sports, traveling to Europe’s great cities, and reading romance. It was that last passion that inspired her to write her debut novella, Hacker Exposed.
Baxter works as an IT Manager for the local government and spends her free time playing with her basset hound, watching college sports, traveling to Europe’s great cities, and reading romance. It was that last passion that inspired her to write her debut novella, Hacker Exposed.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 183 reviews
June 30, 2017
Alex Ross is the head of Ross Enterprises which he had taken over from his father. Alex is known for his short fuse when it comes to firing employees but this time he has a very good reason, a large sum of money has been stolen from company accounts.
Bridget Boggs had known the Ross family very well but has been in hiding with a name change since her father got involve in a pyramid scheme and went to jail. Now Bridget is back and Alex Ross notices she's grown up quite a bit since she left. The two team up together to try to find who took the missing money and get more than the bargained for in more ways than one.
Hacker Exposed is the first book of the White Hat Security series by Linzi Baxter. As you can tell by my lower rating I wasn't a huge fan of this one and that's mostly a case of too much too quickly for a novella. The author tried to make the story a bit of a thriller along with a romance on the more erotic side and it just didn't work in my opinion.
Quite honestly I didn't care for Alex much starting the story so that probably didn't help my opinion with him being an egotistical playboy. Then we have the usual I'm so not his type Bridget which didn't impress me either. But I kind of felt I blinked and missed any chemistry whatsoever between the two before they hit the sheets. Then toss in all the extra story going on in a very short book and that left me at taking a pass on the rest of the series.
I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.wordpress....
Bridget Boggs had known the Ross family very well but has been in hiding with a name change since her father got involve in a pyramid scheme and went to jail. Now Bridget is back and Alex Ross notices she's grown up quite a bit since she left. The two team up together to try to find who took the missing money and get more than the bargained for in more ways than one.
Hacker Exposed is the first book of the White Hat Security series by Linzi Baxter. As you can tell by my lower rating I wasn't a huge fan of this one and that's mostly a case of too much too quickly for a novella. The author tried to make the story a bit of a thriller along with a romance on the more erotic side and it just didn't work in my opinion.
Quite honestly I didn't care for Alex much starting the story so that probably didn't help my opinion with him being an egotistical playboy. Then we have the usual I'm so not his type Bridget which didn't impress me either. But I kind of felt I blinked and missed any chemistry whatsoever between the two before they hit the sheets. Then toss in all the extra story going on in a very short book and that left me at taking a pass on the rest of the series.
I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.wordpress....
July 6, 2017
First let me say that this quick little novella has lots of humor. The pacing was perfect for this length of book and other than relaxing the formality of the dialogue some, the writing was very nice. It had the potential to be a much sturdier read but wasn’t able to follow through. While the secondary characters are fun and quirky, I was unable to connect fully with Alex and Bridget. This is mainly due to the fact that the author had too much going on in such a short book. There was no build up to the mystery and definitely no build up to the relationship between the hero and heroine. However, I believe this is her first endeavor and I feel certain that her work will improve with each following book.
ARC provided through Netgalley
Dual POV
Safe
No Triggers
July 10, 2017
Meh. I'm having mixed feeling here.
I don't want to be to picky because it's a short story however there are bits of the story I found to be lacklustre.
I like the story line.. it was entertaining. I really enjoyed Bridget's characters she's a feisty little pocket rocket whom had me chuckling a fair few times. Alex was ok but I found some of the things that come out of his mouth had me eye rolling and cringing. I enjoyed the banter between the characters and whole reuniting old friends thing this story had going on... even with its unique twist.
I must say the sex was a little cringeworthy.... and I wasn't all that connected to romance side of the story.
I can't say it's my favourite story ever but it wasn't the worst... for me it just sits in the middle of ok. I'd definitely read more from this author and this series as I think it has good potential.
I kindly received this ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I don't want to be to picky because it's a short story however there are bits of the story I found to be lacklustre.
I like the story line.. it was entertaining. I really enjoyed Bridget's characters she's a feisty little pocket rocket whom had me chuckling a fair few times. Alex was ok but I found some of the things that come out of his mouth had me eye rolling and cringing. I enjoyed the banter between the characters and whole reuniting old friends thing this story had going on... even with its unique twist.
I must say the sex was a little cringeworthy.... and I wasn't all that connected to romance side of the story.
I can't say it's my favourite story ever but it wasn't the worst... for me it just sits in the middle of ok. I'd definitely read more from this author and this series as I think it has good potential.
I kindly received this ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
April 19, 2022
My thoughts are that at 63% read I cannot keep going. This has a great storyline, but I just do not like the author’s writing style. The characters are boring, their interaction is boring. This should be a mystery, with lots of suspense, but it just doesn’t make the grade for me.
May 15, 2019
Not good, unbelievable
It started good but not enough for me to finish. After one day working together he's decided he wants to start a family with her, is calling her sweet girl (what is she 10?) and they jump in bed together. Sure they new each other when they were kids but never saw each other since high school. She only says she had a crush on him, they didn't date or anything. There's no way they can be all lovey dovey after one day! Big eye rolls while reading this until they jumped in bed with no lead up and I gave up. This could have been a great story if it was developed more. The characters were off to a good start. Just needs a lot more relationship development.
It started good but not enough for me to finish. After one day working together he's decided he wants to start a family with her, is calling her sweet girl (what is she 10?) and they jump in bed together. Sure they new each other when they were kids but never saw each other since high school. She only says she had a crush on him, they didn't date or anything. There's no way they can be all lovey dovey after one day! Big eye rolls while reading this until they jumped in bed with no lead up and I gave up. This could have been a great story if it was developed more. The characters were off to a good start. Just needs a lot more relationship development.
June 23, 2017
A great concept for a story but it fails to produce. The conversations were very stilted and the characters did not seem to interact on a natural level. It seemed to be missing the flow of a story, as if there were great chunks of the storyline missing.
Perhaps if the story was a bit longer, the missing content could have been included. and the character interactions could have seemed a bit more natural.
I received an ARC of Hacker Exposed and this is my honest review.
Perhaps if the story was a bit longer, the missing content could have been included. and the character interactions could have seemed a bit more natural.
I received an ARC of Hacker Exposed and this is my honest review.
September 4, 2018
I just loved it.
This novella has a wonderful cast of characters and I'm already looking forward to read the next one in series and learn more about the other partners in 'crime'.
I wish there were more detials about how the white hat hackers operate and what makes them so unique. If I didn't already know about the difference I'm not sure I would detect it while reading this book and hope very much the next one will go deeper into it.
The romance and suspense parts were nicely balanced though if you don't like insta-love stories this could be a bigger issue while reading this book - it went all down really fast (if you disregard their common past ten years ago).
Almost forgot - I loved the fun style and hope this won't change in the following books :-)
All in I can recommend this novella to all looking for a light, sexy and entertaining story, but I doubt you'll enjoy this book as much if you who rather look for chareacter and story development in it.
This novella has a wonderful cast of characters and I'm already looking forward to read the next one in series and learn more about the other partners in 'crime'.
I wish there were more detials about how the white hat hackers operate and what makes them so unique. If I didn't already know about the difference I'm not sure I would detect it while reading this book and hope very much the next one will go deeper into it.
The romance and suspense parts were nicely balanced though if you don't like insta-love stories this could be a bigger issue while reading this book - it went all down really fast (if you disregard their common past ten years ago).
Almost forgot - I loved the fun style and hope this won't change in the following books :-)
All in I can recommend this novella to all looking for a light, sexy and entertaining story, but I doubt you'll enjoy this book as much if you who rather look for chareacter and story development in it.
April 12, 2023
Good but …
The plot of this story really drew me in and the prologue was very promising. The first half of the book was ok but slowly I felt the quality get lower.
It’s quite a short book, less than 200 pages. And the author fit so many plot twists that they didn’t felt developed enough. Between the reunion, the stalker, the money, the jobs, the relationships and all the other subjects mentioned, there were not enough pages. As a consequence, it all felt very surface level and rushed. Basically as soon as an issue came up, it was solved in a few pages and with a pretty bow on top. It was too easy and too close to the be all tell and no show.
I would have loved for the author to dig more into the emotions and bring me there as well. As it is she kinda lost at 40% even if I finished the book.
So I guess I’m frustrated and disappointed that the author didn’t deliver on what she offered me on a silver platter.
The plot of this story really drew me in and the prologue was very promising. The first half of the book was ok but slowly I felt the quality get lower.
It’s quite a short book, less than 200 pages. And the author fit so many plot twists that they didn’t felt developed enough. Between the reunion, the stalker, the money, the jobs, the relationships and all the other subjects mentioned, there were not enough pages. As a consequence, it all felt very surface level and rushed. Basically as soon as an issue came up, it was solved in a few pages and with a pretty bow on top. It was too easy and too close to the be all tell and no show.
I would have loved for the author to dig more into the emotions and bring me there as well. As it is she kinda lost at 40% even if I finished the book.
So I guess I’m frustrated and disappointed that the author didn’t deliver on what she offered me on a silver platter.
February 16, 2020
Hacker Exposed
Alex needs to find out who hacked into his company's system and embezzled over a million dollars. When he asks his father for help, his father brings in an old family friend. Will Alex and Bridget find their happily ever after and the person who embezzled the million dollars?
Alex needs to find out who hacked into his company's system and embezzled over a million dollars. When he asks his father for help, his father brings in an old family friend. Will Alex and Bridget find their happily ever after and the person who embezzled the million dollars?
September 15, 2019
First book
She a hacker and runs White Hat IT company but she has demons from her past chasing her. As the past and future collide in this first book.
She a hacker and runs White Hat IT company but she has demons from her past chasing her. As the past and future collide in this first book.
February 20, 2021
This book was okay in my opinion. I found it to be fast paced and a quick read but it left me wanting more. Some of the plot line was lagging in such places. I recommend this book if you like to read romance books with hot male characters and strong female characters. This female lead did steal the show and made the book more enjoyable. Nothing worse (in my opinion) than reading a book that has a less than spectacular female lead and the book suffers. I don’t know if I would read this book again but I enjoyed it when I did read.
Want to read
January 5, 2021💝FREE on Amazon today (8/3/2018)!💝
Blurb:
Bridget never expected to see Alex Ross again after her father stole from the Ross family. When Alex contacts Bridget, it isn’t to catch up. He needs her help!
Bridget Boggs carries a lot of guilt over what happened to Alex Ross and his family. She had been good friends with the Ross boys until her greedy father lost part of the Ross family’s savings in a pyramid scheme. He went to jail, and Bridget and her family changed their names and went into hiding.
Bridget imagines that Alex and his brothers feel just as betrayed as she does by her father’s criminal acts. When she meets Alex again as a young hacker and the owner of White Hat Security, he has something more important to talk about than her father’s transgressions. A million dollars has been stolen from his company, and Alex needs Bridget’s help to track down the culprit.
Alex has certainly grown up since they last met. The man looks like a Greek god, and Bridget can’t help but be attracted to him. As she digs deeper into the theft from Ross Enterprises, Bridget doesn’t need any more distractions. This is a more dangerous job than either Bridget or Alex expected. The thief is willing to go to incredible lengths to evade the police, and the two amateur sleuths may find themselves caught in the crossfire.
Blurb:
Bridget never expected to see Alex Ross again after her father stole from the Ross family. When Alex contacts Bridget, it isn’t to catch up. He needs her help!
Bridget Boggs carries a lot of guilt over what happened to Alex Ross and his family. She had been good friends with the Ross boys until her greedy father lost part of the Ross family’s savings in a pyramid scheme. He went to jail, and Bridget and her family changed their names and went into hiding.
Bridget imagines that Alex and his brothers feel just as betrayed as she does by her father’s criminal acts. When she meets Alex again as a young hacker and the owner of White Hat Security, he has something more important to talk about than her father’s transgressions. A million dollars has been stolen from his company, and Alex needs Bridget’s help to track down the culprit.
Alex has certainly grown up since they last met. The man looks like a Greek god, and Bridget can’t help but be attracted to him. As she digs deeper into the theft from Ross Enterprises, Bridget doesn’t need any more distractions. This is a more dangerous job than either Bridget or Alex expected. The thief is willing to go to incredible lengths to evade the police, and the two amateur sleuths may find themselves caught in the crossfire.
February 12, 2019
I hate leaving a 1 star review. I understand that writing takes time and that authors are passionate about their books, unfortunately I didn't like this book. I'm honestly glad it was free on Amazon. I think this book had the potential to be really great. This was a short novella, which was part of the problem for this author because she just tried to throw too much information at the reader too fast. I didn't like that we had a couple chapters that weren't from the main couple's P.O.V because it made it confusing and they could have added those points differently. They didn't add much to the story. I did not feel the chemistry between Bridget and Alex, nor the friendship Bridget was supposed to have with one of the other brothers. The suspense was not built up and everything seemed a little too predictable and easily tied up. I will not be reading the next book. I just think this author is not for me.
January 13, 2020
I could not finish this book, I made it 54% and it was just too ridiculous. It could have been good if everything wasn't so rushed or if they had been involved in high school. For Alex to see her for the first time in years and decide he suddenly wanted to settle down and have children was ridiculous.
July 14, 2017
Title: Hacker Exposed - White Hat Security Book 1
Author: Linai Baxter
Publisher: Linzi Baxter
Published: 6-20-2017
Pages: 92
Genre: Mystery, Thrillers & Suspense
Sub-Genre: Romance; Series
ISBN: 9785945672943
ASIN: B06ZZ3K1RY
Reviewed For NetGalley and Linzi Baxter
Reviewer: DelAnne
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Bridget never expected to see Alex Ross again after her father stole from the Ross family. When Alex contacts Bridget, it isn’t to catch up. He needs her help!
Bridget Boggs carries a lot of guilt over what happened to Alex Ross and his family. She had been good friends with the Ross boys until her greedy father lost part of the Ross family’s savings in a pyramid scheme. He went to jail, and Bridget and her family changed their names and went into hiding.
Bridget imagines that Alex and his brothers feel just as betrayed as she does by her father’s criminal acts. When she meets Alex again as a young hacker and the owner of a White Hat Security, he has something more important to talk about than her father’s transgressions. A million dollars has been stolen from his company, and Alex needs Bridget’s help to track down the culprit.
Alex has certainly grown up since they last met. The man looks like a Greek god, and Bridget can’t help but be attracted to him. As she digs deeper into the theft from Ross Enterprises, Bridget doesn’t need any more distractions. This is a more dangerous job than either Bridget or Alex expected. The thief is willing to go to incredible lengths to evade the police, and the two amateur sleuths may find themselves caught in the crossfire.
The most frightening thing about this novella is that it is possible. We hear about large companies being hacked every day and information and or funds being taken. There is very little that can not be done with the assistance of a computer if you have the right skill set.
This is an action packed, fast paced story that was quickly read within half an hour. My biggest problem was that I hated to see it end. The characters were interesting and story relevant to the times. This is a series I look forward to reading more of in the future. I just hope the author makes it a bit longer to give the story more room to develop so the romance has time to grow rather than feel like a one night hook up. Considering its length the author did well.
My rating of "Hacker Exposed" is out 4.5 of 5 stars.
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ3K1RY/...
B&N Link: Not Available
GoodReads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
The Reading Room Link: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.ph...
Twitter Link: https://twitter.com/DelAnne531/status...
Author: Linai Baxter
Publisher: Linzi Baxter
Published: 6-20-2017
Pages: 92
Genre: Mystery, Thrillers & Suspense
Sub-Genre: Romance; Series
ISBN: 9785945672943
ASIN: B06ZZ3K1RY
Reviewed For NetGalley and Linzi Baxter
Reviewer: DelAnne
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Bridget never expected to see Alex Ross again after her father stole from the Ross family. When Alex contacts Bridget, it isn’t to catch up. He needs her help!
Bridget Boggs carries a lot of guilt over what happened to Alex Ross and his family. She had been good friends with the Ross boys until her greedy father lost part of the Ross family’s savings in a pyramid scheme. He went to jail, and Bridget and her family changed their names and went into hiding.
Bridget imagines that Alex and his brothers feel just as betrayed as she does by her father’s criminal acts. When she meets Alex again as a young hacker and the owner of a White Hat Security, he has something more important to talk about than her father’s transgressions. A million dollars has been stolen from his company, and Alex needs Bridget’s help to track down the culprit.
Alex has certainly grown up since they last met. The man looks like a Greek god, and Bridget can’t help but be attracted to him. As she digs deeper into the theft from Ross Enterprises, Bridget doesn’t need any more distractions. This is a more dangerous job than either Bridget or Alex expected. The thief is willing to go to incredible lengths to evade the police, and the two amateur sleuths may find themselves caught in the crossfire.
The most frightening thing about this novella is that it is possible. We hear about large companies being hacked every day and information and or funds being taken. There is very little that can not be done with the assistance of a computer if you have the right skill set.
This is an action packed, fast paced story that was quickly read within half an hour. My biggest problem was that I hated to see it end. The characters were interesting and story relevant to the times. This is a series I look forward to reading more of in the future. I just hope the author makes it a bit longer to give the story more room to develop so the romance has time to grow rather than feel like a one night hook up. Considering its length the author did well.
My rating of "Hacker Exposed" is out 4.5 of 5 stars.
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ3K1RY/...
B&N Link: Not Available
GoodReads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
The Reading Room Link: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.ph...
Twitter Link: https://twitter.com/DelAnne531/status...
July 16, 2017
Hacker Exposed is too short to allow the characters to develop in any significant way and the whole thing felt rushed.
Bridget is the owner of an IT firm who's contacted by an old friend, actually the man who put her father in prison, to ask if she'll meet with his son, Alex, and help his company find out who has embezzled a million dollars from them. Bridget is really apprehensive because as she was growing up, not only was she really close to Alex's twin brothers, and has kept one of the twin's secrets, but she always had a crush on Alex. And then there's the fact that Bridget, her mom and her sister all have new identities and no one should have been able to find them.
But one minute she's meeting Alex again, the next they're in bed and rushing toward an HEA. It was so rushed that I had no time to form any connection to anyone. I liked what I saw of Bridget, her employees CJ, Patty and Sophie, but Alex wasn't fleshed out well and was a little bland. His brother Asher was interesting, though, and I'd love to read a book about him. Unfortunately, the dialogue between, well, everyone was disjointed and stilted, and more than a little cheesy. It didn't flow at all, and felt forced and unnatural. Don't even get me started on the sex scenes, they were boring and with that same disjointed dialogue, I couldn't get into them at all.
The suspense portion about who embezzled the money was rushed and wrapped up so quickly it was almost negligible to the plot. It should have served as the backbone of the entire book, but it wasn't given enough detail to make it significant. Neither of the villains as it were, were given a motivation or enough backstory about them, that their actions seemed ridiculous and just plain weird. They weren't interesting enough to be considered psychos, nor were they given enough detail that they could be anti heroes. They were just there as the token villains in the suspense part of this romantic suspense.
So why the 3 stars instead of 2? Well, as I said, I liked Bridget and her employees and Asher. They were interesting enough that I would look forward to books about any of them. If Hacker Exposed had just been given a thorough editing, I think the story could have been more fleshed out and detailed, and the dialogue tightened up made to be more natural. Hopefully any future books in this series will be given a professional, thorough editing.
I received an ARC through NetGalley for an honest review.
Bridget is the owner of an IT firm who's contacted by an old friend, actually the man who put her father in prison, to ask if she'll meet with his son, Alex, and help his company find out who has embezzled a million dollars from them. Bridget is really apprehensive because as she was growing up, not only was she really close to Alex's twin brothers, and has kept one of the twin's secrets, but she always had a crush on Alex. And then there's the fact that Bridget, her mom and her sister all have new identities and no one should have been able to find them.
But one minute she's meeting Alex again, the next they're in bed and rushing toward an HEA. It was so rushed that I had no time to form any connection to anyone. I liked what I saw of Bridget, her employees CJ, Patty and Sophie, but Alex wasn't fleshed out well and was a little bland. His brother Asher was interesting, though, and I'd love to read a book about him. Unfortunately, the dialogue between, well, everyone was disjointed and stilted, and more than a little cheesy. It didn't flow at all, and felt forced and unnatural. Don't even get me started on the sex scenes, they were boring and with that same disjointed dialogue, I couldn't get into them at all.
The suspense portion about who embezzled the money was rushed and wrapped up so quickly it was almost negligible to the plot. It should have served as the backbone of the entire book, but it wasn't given enough detail to make it significant. Neither of the villains as it were, were given a motivation or enough backstory about them, that their actions seemed ridiculous and just plain weird. They weren't interesting enough to be considered psychos, nor were they given enough detail that they could be anti heroes. They were just there as the token villains in the suspense part of this romantic suspense.
So why the 3 stars instead of 2? Well, as I said, I liked Bridget and her employees and Asher. They were interesting enough that I would look forward to books about any of them. If Hacker Exposed had just been given a thorough editing, I think the story could have been more fleshed out and detailed, and the dialogue tightened up made to be more natural. Hopefully any future books in this series will be given a professional, thorough editing.
I received an ARC through NetGalley for an honest review.
June 9, 2021
A fun light romantic suspense, with IT heroes
Clair Highmore's life fell apart her junior year of high school. Her hedge fund father was arrested for embezzlement, stealing millions from his clients, including her best friends father. When the trial ended, hacker, Clair took her mom and sister into hiding.
A decade later, Clair, now Bridget Smith, shares ownership of White Hat Security, an up and coming IT firm. One of her fathers victims has found her. Her childhood best friends big brother need her help. Clari/Bridget can't say no.
Alex Ross, CEO of Ross Industries has money missing. His father has hired a new IT firm to find it. Alex is stunned to find the girl he had a crush on and disappeared is his newest employee. He and his family are thrilled to have Clair\Bridget back in their lives. They were hurt that they were denied the ability to help and they disappeared. Her best friends twins, Asher and Antonio, were lost without their best friend. They joined the Navy and became SEALs, they couldn't go to MIT with out her.
Alex and Clair had shared a kiss, just before here father's arrest and she disappeared. The attraction is still strong between them. It doesn't take long before Alex and Clair/Bridget are mixing business and pleasure. Clair/Bridget, plays match maker between her childhood besty Asher and her college besty and business partner, CJ, who looks like Thor.
A stalker, a woman who puts her fathers sins on Clair/Bridget and the missing money, all have ties to her imprisoned father. Clair/Bridget's life is in danger.
A fun, fast paced, light romantic suspense. A little steamy. Great supporting characters, a nice epilogue for Alex and Clair/Bridget and Asher and CJ a little set up for the next book.
Clair Highmore's life fell apart her junior year of high school. Her hedge fund father was arrested for embezzlement, stealing millions from his clients, including her best friends father. When the trial ended, hacker, Clair took her mom and sister into hiding.
A decade later, Clair, now Bridget Smith, shares ownership of White Hat Security, an up and coming IT firm. One of her fathers victims has found her. Her childhood best friends big brother need her help. Clari/Bridget can't say no.
Alex Ross, CEO of Ross Industries has money missing. His father has hired a new IT firm to find it. Alex is stunned to find the girl he had a crush on and disappeared is his newest employee. He and his family are thrilled to have Clair\Bridget back in their lives. They were hurt that they were denied the ability to help and they disappeared. Her best friends twins, Asher and Antonio, were lost without their best friend. They joined the Navy and became SEALs, they couldn't go to MIT with out her.
Alex and Clair had shared a kiss, just before here father's arrest and she disappeared. The attraction is still strong between them. It doesn't take long before Alex and Clair/Bridget are mixing business and pleasure. Clair/Bridget, plays match maker between her childhood besty Asher and her college besty and business partner, CJ, who looks like Thor.
A stalker, a woman who puts her fathers sins on Clair/Bridget and the missing money, all have ties to her imprisoned father. Clair/Bridget's life is in danger.
A fun, fast paced, light romantic suspense. A little steamy. Great supporting characters, a nice epilogue for Alex and Clair/Bridget and Asher and CJ a little set up for the next book.
April 9, 2022
So apparently I read the version with more content and updates. I am glad I didn’t read the other version as this one was way too confusing and simple at the same time. I felt like for a novella there was way too much going on, so all the solutions had to happen way too fast. I guess we were supposed to accept that Alex and Bridget have chemistry because they kissed once when they were younger, even though Alex doesn’t even recognize her when they first meet. But all of a sudden one dinner later and they are it for each other. I understand they grew up together but they had whole lives apart that never really get addressed except that her and her family lived in a bad neighborhood and changed their names. And really, why bother changing your name but stay in the exact same city?? Beyond that, stolen money that was a big deal gets down played because somehow they realize there is some connection between the thief and Bridget’s dad, but then she has a stalker, oh but then he is her enemies brother who somehow she baby sat as a kid and didn’t recognize his name. So mid book they get attacked, which takes like 15 minutes to be strangely resolved. But then months go by with no news on the embezzling until we have the big (stupid) misunderstanding and all of a sudden a kidnapping and within hours, all wrapped up. Jail break plot foiled, explained in one paragraph. Some of these dramas could have been removed and could have instead focused on the relationship. I won’t be finishing the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 8, 2020
After scrimping and saving, Bridget Smith managed to get her forensic IT agency up and running. No small feat considering her father left her destitute and friendless after committing fraud, which forced her to change her identity. But her meticulously crafted façade crumbles when her next vital job is for a handsome former crush and casualty of her dad’s crimes.
Alex Ross runs his multibillion-dollar investment firm with an evenhanded iron fist. So when he uncovers missing money, he’s determined to find the person responsible. But he’s shocked to discover the white-hat hacker he hired is the stunningly hot daughter of the guy who ripped off his family.
Bridget is grateful he doesn’t hold her accountable for the sins of her father, and her relief rekindles forgotten attractions that quickly land them in bed, where Alex proves as dominant as he is in the boardroom. They work side by side to uncover crucial digital evidence, but neither could have guessed the cyberspace strikes would spill over into violent real-world attacks.
This is a great book from miss Baxter and is a must read.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Alex Ross runs his multibillion-dollar investment firm with an evenhanded iron fist. So when he uncovers missing money, he’s determined to find the person responsible. But he’s shocked to discover the white-hat hacker he hired is the stunningly hot daughter of the guy who ripped off his family.
Bridget is grateful he doesn’t hold her accountable for the sins of her father, and her relief rekindles forgotten attractions that quickly land them in bed, where Alex proves as dominant as he is in the boardroom. They work side by side to uncover crucial digital evidence, but neither could have guessed the cyberspace strikes would spill over into violent real-world attacks.
This is a great book from miss Baxter and is a must read.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
May 22, 2023
Toward the end the P.o.v. started getting mixed up a bit. When the chapter was in B's point of view a random sentence or two was in A's point of view.
Then the chapter under A's point of view and out of no where it switched back to B's point of view with out being told about the switch. Each chapter was designated to one or the other and it wasn't supposed to randomly have stuff from the other in it like that. Luckily it happened only twice and it was at the end so it really wasn't a biggie
I really liked this. It sucks how bad her father truly was though what he really did at the end.
Alex and Bridget's relationship was soo easy. It was like they fell right back into where it had ended. I love that they didn't fight the attraction to one another and she just accepted that her identity had now been figured out and no point in hiding anymore.
It had double whammy of action / climax. It wasn't super spicy but was decent.
So good on the romance and plot though
I wanna know about Patty now though - so I really wanna read her stuff
Spice 1.5/5
Humor 1/5
Emotional 0/5
Overall 4/5
Then the chapter under A's point of view and out of no where it switched back to B's point of view with out being told about the switch. Each chapter was designated to one or the other and it wasn't supposed to randomly have stuff from the other in it like that. Luckily it happened only twice and it was at the end so it really wasn't a biggie
I really liked this. It sucks how bad her father truly was though what he really did at the end.
Alex and Bridget's relationship was soo easy. It was like they fell right back into where it had ended. I love that they didn't fight the attraction to one another and she just accepted that her identity had now been figured out and no point in hiding anymore.
It had double whammy of action / climax. It wasn't super spicy but was decent.
So good on the romance and plot though
I wanna know about Patty now though - so I really wanna read her stuff
Spice 1.5/5
Humor 1/5
Emotional 0/5
Overall 4/5
April 2, 2020
Bridget Boggs of White Hat Security is an expert computer hacker and the daughter of a notorious white collar criminal. Alex Ross is CEO of the family business, and the son of the man who put Bridget's father behind bars. When a million dollars goes missing from one of Alex's projects, he hires Bridget's firm to track down the thief responsible -- which is more dangerous and complicated than either one of them ever thought.
Linzi Baxter is an excellent writer. This book is the introduction to the world of White Hat Security, and it introduces the characters, their relationships to each other, and their world in a compelling way. The characters are intriguing and the snappy dialogue is a lot of fun. Where the book falls down is in the plot department. Finding the hacker almost seems like an afterthought, and action scenes occur off camera in just a few sentences. There's a lot of telling, not showing, to the detriment of the book itself. If Baxter had spent as much time on the plot as she did on the characters this would have been a 5* read, but unfortunately, it's not.
Linzi Baxter is an excellent writer. This book is the introduction to the world of White Hat Security, and it introduces the characters, their relationships to each other, and their world in a compelling way. The characters are intriguing and the snappy dialogue is a lot of fun. Where the book falls down is in the plot department. Finding the hacker almost seems like an afterthought, and action scenes occur off camera in just a few sentences. There's a lot of telling, not showing, to the detriment of the book itself. If Baxter had spent as much time on the plot as she did on the characters this would have been a 5* read, but unfortunately, it's not.
April 21, 2020
This series is ALWAYS exciting and filled with action!
I can honestly say this series has always been one of my faves. Never, ever a dull moment throughout the entire book! This book had already been released a while back, but the author reworked it and added quite a bit to it. Still as adrenaline filled and steamy this go around too 😉. Bridget, her young sister, and mother had their lives changed the day her father was arrested and hauled off by the FBI for stealing others money. Her entire world crumbled that day, and it coincided that moments before she'd FINALLY kissed her lifelong crush. All gone in the flash of an eye. The courtroom and sentencing of her dad was the last she saw of him and his family. Living next door all those years, they'd fast become a second family to hers and now that was gone. Would her father ever have true remorse? Bridget is the name she renamed herself the night her family left town. This exciting story picks up with us learning what she's been up to.. Plus showing what a fierce , loyal, all around badass and boss she is! There many layers of deception, secrets, intrigue, adventure, and LOTS of eye candy so get prepared.
I can honestly say this series has always been one of my faves. Never, ever a dull moment throughout the entire book! This book had already been released a while back, but the author reworked it and added quite a bit to it. Still as adrenaline filled and steamy this go around too 😉. Bridget, her young sister, and mother had their lives changed the day her father was arrested and hauled off by the FBI for stealing others money. Her entire world crumbled that day, and it coincided that moments before she'd FINALLY kissed her lifelong crush. All gone in the flash of an eye. The courtroom and sentencing of her dad was the last she saw of him and his family. Living next door all those years, they'd fast become a second family to hers and now that was gone. Would her father ever have true remorse? Bridget is the name she renamed herself the night her family left town. This exciting story picks up with us learning what she's been up to.. Plus showing what a fierce , loyal, all around badass and boss she is! There many layers of deception, secrets, intrigue, adventure, and LOTS of eye candy so get prepared.
December 4, 2021
The premise started out interesting and it was a light read, not a bad way to spend a few hours. But there was a lot that felt too rushed or fell flat. It was established that Bridget was really the twins' friend growing up but you get almost nothing about that friendship/relationship, even for background, other than knowing Bridget kept Asher's secret. I feel like there should have been more. We hardly even see much of the twins when she reconnects with the family.
Part of my dislike with this one be that I absolutely hate the pregnancy scare/accidental pregnancies in romance novels. It feels like a lazy plot device most of the time, and extremely jarring and just plain unsexy. It's not a minor thing...it's not a minor change or inconvenience. Having a baby is a drastic life change, not a minor footnote in a story.
I'm one of those people that usually tends to get hooked on author and read my way straight through a whole series, and while Linzi has left me curious about Patty's past, I'm not sure I'm actually curious enough to read another one of these.
Part of my dislike with this one be that I absolutely hate the pregnancy scare/accidental pregnancies in romance novels. It feels like a lazy plot device most of the time, and extremely jarring and just plain unsexy. It's not a minor thing...it's not a minor change or inconvenience. Having a baby is a drastic life change, not a minor footnote in a story.
I'm one of those people that usually tends to get hooked on author and read my way straight through a whole series, and while Linzi has left me curious about Patty's past, I'm not sure I'm actually curious enough to read another one of these.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 24, 2017
Hacker by author Linzi Baxter is the first book in the White Hat Security series. I love this start. This is a solid book. I loved the characters, they have a great arc and lots of growth in this story. I also liked the pace of this book. Has the perfect pace not too fast or slow. This is one I didn’t want to end. I am so glad it is a series I so want more!!
Bridget is the owner of White Hate Security. She is a top-grade hacker. I loved that about her. I love a smart strong woman as a heroine. She has a great balance to her. Very likeable.
Alex has a large sum of money disappear from his family. He suspects Bridgette. I like him a lot he has a charm that just jumps off the page.
Over all I really enjoyed this book I really wanted to read more!! That would be my only complaint per say I never wanted this book to end. I am so looking forward to more in the future.
Five Shooting Stars
Bridget is the owner of White Hate Security. She is a top-grade hacker. I loved that about her. I love a smart strong woman as a heroine. She has a great balance to her. Very likeable.
Alex has a large sum of money disappear from his family. He suspects Bridgette. I like him a lot he has a charm that just jumps off the page.
Over all I really enjoyed this book I really wanted to read more!! That would be my only complaint per say I never wanted this book to end. I am so looking forward to more in the future.
Five Shooting Stars
April 24, 2020
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
3.5 stars
I liked the story, but I didn't really love it. Bridget and Alex's romance seemed almost too easy at times, especially given their history. They hadn't seen each other in more than a decade and instantly were drawn to each other, which was okay, but I felt like they rushed the lust side of the equation. I was really surprised that since Alex and his family had known Bridget by the name Claire for so many years that the name changed didn't hiccup at any point. I also thought some of the tension points of the plot came across as a bit too forced or predictable . There were some really enjoyable parts to the story and I did like some of the romance between Alex and Bridget, I just felt like it was too easy and predicable at times.
3.5 stars
I liked the story, but I didn't really love it. Bridget and Alex's romance seemed almost too easy at times, especially given their history. They hadn't seen each other in more than a decade and instantly were drawn to each other, which was okay, but I felt like they rushed the lust side of the equation. I was really surprised that since Alex and his family had known Bridget by the name Claire for so many years that the name changed didn't hiccup at any point. I also thought some of the tension points of the plot came across as a bit too forced or predictable . There were some really enjoyable parts to the story and I did like some of the romance between Alex and Bridget, I just felt like it was too easy and predicable at times.
July 26, 2020
I loved Alex and Bridgets story!
She’s a strong woman who has worked most of her life to protect her mother and sister from the misdeeds of her father. She walked away from her other family, the Ross family, who were her best friends and her crush. She stayed hidden for years until Alexander Ross, Sr found her. Of course, she was the best man, Er woman for the job. She built her company, the White Hat Hackers to a successful, highly sought after company.
Alex Ross has taken the company that his father had built from a billion dollar enterprise to a multi billion company. When he finds that someone is embezzling money from him and his company, he hires the White Hat Hackers to find the culprit and the money. Thanks to his dad, Alex found his childhood crush. Not only was she the owner of White Hat Hackers but she was his.
As Usual, we are led through many twist and turns until the conclusion. I felt like I was on the thrill ride of my life. Definitely 5 stars!
She’s a strong woman who has worked most of her life to protect her mother and sister from the misdeeds of her father. She walked away from her other family, the Ross family, who were her best friends and her crush. She stayed hidden for years until Alexander Ross, Sr found her. Of course, she was the best man, Er woman for the job. She built her company, the White Hat Hackers to a successful, highly sought after company.
Alex Ross has taken the company that his father had built from a billion dollar enterprise to a multi billion company. When he finds that someone is embezzling money from him and his company, he hires the White Hat Hackers to find the culprit and the money. Thanks to his dad, Alex found his childhood crush. Not only was she the owner of White Hat Hackers but she was his.
As Usual, we are led through many twist and turns until the conclusion. I felt like I was on the thrill ride of my life. Definitely 5 stars!
April 6, 2025
Hacker Reexposed is the first in Linzi Baxter’s White Hat Security series, and I went in with my fingers crossed for a fun little read that would leave me curious about the rest of the series. Unfortunately, I struggled with the story from the start.
For me, the writing style made it extremely difficult to get into the story. Between the telling instead of showing and the stilted conversations, I was forcing myself to continue reading. I may have been able to overlook these aspects if the story had gripped me, but everything was far too fast. The romance developed at a speed that did not work for me, resulting in characters changing too drastically over a short amount of time, and the storyline never had any suspense as things were answered immediately. Due to this, I found it a chore to keep reading.
While many have clearly enjoyed this story, it did not work for me. As I am in the minority, I guess this is another case of ‘it is me, not the book’.
For me, the writing style made it extremely difficult to get into the story. Between the telling instead of showing and the stilted conversations, I was forcing myself to continue reading. I may have been able to overlook these aspects if the story had gripped me, but everything was far too fast. The romance developed at a speed that did not work for me, resulting in characters changing too drastically over a short amount of time, and the storyline never had any suspense as things were answered immediately. Due to this, I found it a chore to keep reading.
While many have clearly enjoyed this story, it did not work for me. As I am in the minority, I guess this is another case of ‘it is me, not the book’.
April 7, 2019
Enjoyable - 3.5*
This book was quite enjoyable. I read it as a book just to pass the day after finishing another book, for I guess a “palate cleanser” before starting another, more intense book.
There was a bit of smut, but not enough to make you uncomfortable like another book I recently read where there was A LOT and hadn’t expected it.
It was quick and flirty and just generally pretty good.
The book was more plot based, so you didn’t really get to attached to the characters; however, the structure wasn’t too bad that you felt like you didn’t know who you were reading about - so, again pretty enjoyable.
It did seemed a tad rushed but being a smaller book I felt that was ok. It could have afforded to be slightly longer to just to elaborate on how certain situations came to be.
Overall a good quick fun read 👍🏼👍🏼
This book was quite enjoyable. I read it as a book just to pass the day after finishing another book, for I guess a “palate cleanser” before starting another, more intense book.
There was a bit of smut, but not enough to make you uncomfortable like another book I recently read where there was A LOT and hadn’t expected it.
It was quick and flirty and just generally pretty good.
The book was more plot based, so you didn’t really get to attached to the characters; however, the structure wasn’t too bad that you felt like you didn’t know who you were reading about - so, again pretty enjoyable.
It did seemed a tad rushed but being a smaller book I felt that was ok. It could have afforded to be slightly longer to just to elaborate on how certain situations came to be.
Overall a good quick fun read 👍🏼👍🏼
September 4, 2020
Enjoyed it....interesting characters
Engrossing story. A couple of misused pronouns, but otherwise well written. Aside from the main characters, there were several other interesting characters, some have their own books later in the White Hat series.
I like that there wasn't any angst in the H and h's relationship except for one small incident when only part of a conversation is overheard and misinterpreted. However, there is plenty involving a stalker, the cyber theives and kidnappers, her father's cronies and victims, etc. Yes there's a lot going on, which is why it keeps you interested. (Read this in one sitting.) Also liked that the only fools were the villains. (Hate when the lead characters do stupid foolish things, not so here!
Although I would have liked to "feel" more of the main characters emotions, all in all I enjoyed this very much.
Engrossing story. A couple of misused pronouns, but otherwise well written. Aside from the main characters, there were several other interesting characters, some have their own books later in the White Hat series.
I like that there wasn't any angst in the H and h's relationship except for one small incident when only part of a conversation is overheard and misinterpreted. However, there is plenty involving a stalker, the cyber theives and kidnappers, her father's cronies and victims, etc. Yes there's a lot going on, which is why it keeps you interested. (Read this in one sitting.) Also liked that the only fools were the villains. (Hate when the lead characters do stupid foolish things, not so here!
Although I would have liked to "feel" more of the main characters emotions, all in all I enjoyed this very much.
March 5, 2021
Alex and Bridget
This is an exciting read filled with suspense, laughter and love. Bridget Smith owns a forensic IT company but that isn’t her real name. She was once Claire Highmore daughter of a rich hedge fund manager until he was caught embezzling millions from his clients and jailed. Claire her mother and sister were left destitute and disappeared. Fast forward 15 years and Alex Ross now runs the family investment firm when he finds someone in his company is stealing his money. His father recommends Bridget and her company. Low and behold she’s his younger brothers best friend he had a crush on and she even more beautiful than he remembered. As she goes about finding out who is stealing from Alex they get reacquainted and there is quite a spark between these two. Bridget also has a stalker and there is even more danger in store.
This is an exciting read filled with suspense, laughter and love. Bridget Smith owns a forensic IT company but that isn’t her real name. She was once Claire Highmore daughter of a rich hedge fund manager until he was caught embezzling millions from his clients and jailed. Claire her mother and sister were left destitute and disappeared. Fast forward 15 years and Alex Ross now runs the family investment firm when he finds someone in his company is stealing his money. His father recommends Bridget and her company. Low and behold she’s his younger brothers best friend he had a crush on and she even more beautiful than he remembered. As she goes about finding out who is stealing from Alex they get reacquainted and there is quite a spark between these two. Bridget also has a stalker and there is even more danger in store.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 183 reviews