Julie Garwood keeps the reader WIRED as they turn the pages in her new romantic suspense novel. ~ Heather, White Hot Reads

I've been a HUGE Julie Garwood fan as long as I can remember. Her FBI books are my favorites and this one is no different. She has a formula and it works for her.

Allison is an insane computer genius and Liam is an FBI Agent. When the FBI needs assistance, Liam requests Allison to help with a secret project. What ensues is a constantly evolving game of cat and mouse. However we don't know who the cat is... Is it related to the secret project at the FBI or something in Allison's past or even her current life? There were so many avenues of crazy town that fed into this story it was a bit far fetched but none the less, it kept me entertained. It was fun and a fast read. There were some elements the author could have researched a bit more (access to FBI networks would NEVER happen without a background and clearance granted and that doesn't happen in one day) but I kept reading.

I felt the insta-love that Allison and Liam had and I was all for it. It worked for them.
I loved catching up with some of the older characters that we've met throughout the series also. They added another element of excitement.

Overall, I was very pleased with the book. Allison and Liam are entertaining characters with just enough passion to keep the reader wondering what is going to happen next.

Wired by Julie Garwood is the 13th book in her Buchanan/FBI series. I am a big fan of Julie Garwood, and I am happy to say that I loved Wired. What makes this story fun to read, were the two lead characters, Allison Trent and Liam Scott. I loved both of them. The story line was also exciting, fun and with the two wonderfully likable characters, it was a fast fun read.

Allison Trent, our heroine, is a college student by day, a part time model, and a hacker at night. Allison is a genius, and can find bugs, break viruses or stop hacks and writes her own security programs. Allison visits the FBI’s new cyber building with her friend Jordan , but while there she is approached by two men who want her to work for them to find a leak in the FBI.

Liam Scott, our hero, is an FBI agent, who has researched and discovered Allison. Liam does not work for the Cyber division, but he recognizes that Allison is the one who will be able to find the leak, which has been stopping some of their key investigations. At first Allison refuses, as they want a commitment of a year. She is also afraid that they will discover how easy it is for her to get into any computer system, even if she only fixes bugs, or helps find and return millions of dollars scammed from seniors. But Liam will arrange for Allison to have immunity, as they need her to work on this sensitive project, which thus far has been impossible.
As Liam slowly fights off his attraction to the smart, tough, beautiful Allison, he learns about her rough life. When Allison mother and father died years before; she and her sister were forced to live with their aunt and uncle. They used Allison to do modeling work, and would take all her money. They were really nasty people, who badgered her constantly with phone calls.

Rather than give spoilers, what follows is a wonderful story that blends an exciting storyline that threatens Allison, as well as the threats from her relatives; but it is also such a sweet romance that will develop between Allison and Liam. This was a fun story, and Allison was such a great heroine. Liam was also good, as he was always there for Allison, even when he was determined to not let his growing feelings change anything in his life.

Wired was a wonderful fast exciting, fun read, with a great couple, some humor and nasty villains. Julie Garwood once again gives us another wonderful enjoyable story.

A beautiful computer hacker and a bad-boy FBI agent must collaborate—in more ways than one—in the sizzling new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Garwood.

Allison Trent doesn’t look like a hacker. In fact, when she’s not in college working on her degree, she models on the side. But behind her gorgeous face is a brilliant mind for computers and her real love is writing—and hacking—code. Her dream is to write a new security program that could revolutionize the tech industry.

Hotshot FBI agent Liam Scott has a problem: a leak deep within his own department. He needs the skills of a top-notch hacker to work on a highly sensitive project: to secretly break into the FBI servers and find out who the traitor is. But he can’t use one of his own. He finds the perfect candidate in Allison. Only, there’s one problem—she wants nothing to do with his job and turns him down flat.

What Liam doesn’t know is that Allison is hiding secrets that she doesn’t want the FBI to uncover. But Liam will do nearly anything to persuade her to join his team, even break a few rules if that’s what it takes. A temptation that could put his job—and both of their futures—on the line…
and longing for more . . .

Allison is in college and is a brilliant computer hacker. She’s feels that everything she does she does for the good of the people, but technically it’s still illegal. When she is invited to explore a new FBI facility, that houses their cyber task force, with a friend of hers, she quickly accepts. Once at the facility Allison and her friend are separate and Allison is questioned. She is freaking out thinking that they know about her hacking but they end up offering her a job – which she turns down.

When push comes to shove Allison accepts the job after the lead in a particular case, Liam Scott, agrees to get her cousin out of trouble – which will keep him out of prison. While Allison is working on the job she gets closer with Liam and soon they’re inseparable. Unfortunately Allison has no idea what’s in store for her future and since Liam is on the road 90% of his life she knows that it doesn’t lie with him. Love, however, has a funny way of changing things around so Allison may get the future she truly wants.

This was a good book. It’s been about six years since I’ve read a Garwood novel so I was looking forward to this one. I can’t say that I loved it and I did have some issues with it but overall I enjoyed the story.

My issues : while I liked Liam and Allison I didn’t truly ever connect with either one of them. They were pretty down to earth – although Garwood did make them seem, at times, that they were too good for me to read about. Because I didn’t really connect with either character it was hard for me to get too into their romance. I think THEY had a problem getting into their romance. It was like they were together, but not. Then Allison would think that Liam was out of her life and bam! He’d show up again and stay with her like nothing ever happened. And she allowed it. Why? IDK. I didn’t see the love growing so when it happened it was puzzling.

The hacking part of the story was decent. I’m not a hacker so I have no idea if anything that was written was accurate or not but it sounded good to me. Lol

I liked Allison’s friends as well. I hadn’t read any other books in this series but I didn’t feel like I needed to in order to read this one – it was a good standalone.

Overall a decent read.

Rating: 3/3.5 out of 5

This will post as a guest review on Book Binge.
bookbinge.com

3 Stars!! I liked this book. It was interesting & kept my attention. This is the first book from this series that I've read & it works as a standalone. I wasn't crazy about the main characters, Allison & Liam. They were both too smart & serious all the time. And does Allison really have to be a computer genius & a perfect/gorgeous model? How unfair is that!? And Liam-does he have to do everything at the FBI, cause he's such a great agent?! Of course he is gorgeous too! And he is a top FBI agent AND a lawyer?! This book made me feel a bit awful about my life & how little I've accomplished-in comparison to these main characters! I did get a bit confused every now & than with the switching back & forth between the point of views & not knowing who is speaking or thinking something! I didn't like how it would switch from Allison's thoughts to Liam's or vice versa without any heads up. I'd love to know what happens to Allison & Liam after the book ends! The ending felt kind of rushed to me. One second I'm reading the ending & the next, I'm on a blank page! It was a good story just a bit unbelievable & it was hard to like such "perfect" characters!!

I did nit like this book, at ALL.

The characters were utterly ridiculous.

In this book, Liam is also an FBI agent, <i>also</i> a lawyer, and ALSO seemingly the only law enforcement officer in the whole city of Boston, what with how he always seem to show up just in the nick of time. Every time.

And Allison? I couldn't stand her.

Not only was she a meek personification of patience and self-sacrifice, she was drop dead gorgeous - for real though, not only did she model "on the side" she was supposedly some kind of Versace muse - AND she was such a computer genius that the FBI needed <i>her</i> college-age ass to solve their problems - cause, you know, apparently the FBI can't find their own dicks without Allison holding the magnifying glass.

Not only were my rolling eyes hitting the roof of my skull with the ridiculousness of the characters, the plot was seriously all over the place. There were so many unnecessary scenes, conversations and details that had no purpose in either pushing the plot forward or developing the characters.

Engaging characters, decent story right up to an ending so abrupt and weak that it ruined the book for me. Blech. Did Ms. Garwood run out of ideas or steam? Either way this book ended with a whimper...perhaps mine in disappointment.

When Agent Liam Scott recruits a beautiful hacker, Allison Trent, to find a leak within the FBI, he uses her cousin’s criminal record as leverage. As they try to deny their growing attraction, the computer program Allison developed is stolen. Liam helps track down the thief while protecting Allison from continual harassment and attempts on her life. I genuinely enjoyed reading this novel. It's been several years since I have read anything by Julie Garwood, but she hasn't lost her touch. The characters were captivating, and their relationship was intriguing. The whole book was tightly plotted and well written. This is a story I would highly recommend to romance readers, especially those new to the genre.

I really enjoyed this fast paced romance between Allison, a computer hacker with principles, and Liam, a sexy FBI agent who needs Allison's help. Allison's family and secret life are taking a toll on her and it gets worse when the FBI approaches her. Liam is struggling to remain professional but his attraction to Allison is powerful. Great read!

Two years, I have been waiting for two years for this book and I got an early read ............ thank you ARC via NetGalley. WOOHOOO.... Love Julie Garwood, loved this book; it is a great story with interesting characters. It's a stand alone novel but some of our fav characters from previous books make an appearance.

Allison is a hacker. She has stolen money from crooks and returns it to the FBI. Now the FBI has come to her to ask for her help. ARC from NetGalley.

A story about a computer genius that grabbed me from the start. I really enjoy this series and the fresh introduction of characters here was wonderful. The plot is all too realistic and easy to relate. Any fan of romantic suspense and intrigue will enjoy this book.

Action and romance in Garwood's signature style. I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

This is the first book I've read by Garwood and I will be peddling it to patrons for the following reasons:
1. Tech language is simplified so readers get the gist without getting bogged down with jargon.
2. Romance builds nicely without being too racy.
3. Popcorn read for the weekend - nothing memorable but a pleasant read.

The downside:
1. I can't remember most of it even though I've just read it.
2. Characters were well developed, but I was disappointed that the female lead was both a tech genius AND a supermodel who was raised by an evil aunt and uncle. It was just too much to put together. The worst part was how humble is she was throughout - her godfather figure is a famous designer and she was never spoiled by that?
3. I knew very little about the male lead - she also knew very little but she agreed to marry him anyway. Seems odd. I doubt the marriage will last.

The author is a star. Her books have long wait-lists. Of course we'll buy and I'll recommend to patrons who enjoy similar authors.

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the opportunity to read Julie Garwood's Wired, releasing in July 2017. This is such a fun beach read! I haven't read other titles by the author and although this is the 13th book in the Buchanan-Renard series had no difficulty following along and will without a doubt read her prior work. Wired is a definite read!

College student, model, and hacker Allison Trent has been harassed and taken advantage of by her Uncle and Aunt for years, particularly whenever her no-good cousin gets into trouble. When FBI Agent Liam Scott needs to utilize her particular skills, he lures her in using her desire to help her cousin as leverage.

Allison ends up working, temporarily, for the FBI, but it's not just her family that's trying to bring her down, an ex-roommate is also causing trouble, and Liam is the man to help her work through all of it, all while keeping her safe.

Maybe it's because I haven't read any of the other stories in the series, even though I was repeatedly assured by many that each book works a standalone and I didn't have to read the others, but I felt like I was missing something.

Mostly I felt like I was missing a connection to the characters, who I found to be too cookie-cutter. The "good guys" are populated by women who are all excessively brilliant AND gorgeous, with perfect bodies and wonderful personalities (for the most part), and the men are all gorgeous, buff, and brilliant in their own rights, while also being super protective, but in that awesome Alpha male way. The "bad guys" were...annoying for the most part and laughably clichéd for the rest...and it all just didn't work for me.

I found much of the story to be exhausting, and I was honestly just happy I finished it.

Julie Garwood was one of my favorite authors when she was writing her historical romances, but the magic, for me, just isn't there in her contemporary novels.

Allison is close to finally graduating and after carrying the weight of taking care of her aunt, uncle, and cousin, she is ready to move cross country and start her life anew. Her life seems on track until the FBI comes knocking on her door wanting to know just how good of a hacker she really is.
Special Agent Liam has been so dedicated to his job, he wouldn't even know how to have a normal relationship but when he sets eyes on Allison, he wants some changes. Her brains and beauty pack a punch while her sweetness has his protective side flaring to life.
Cousins, jealous colleagues, and traitors try to derail these two but Allison and Liam make quite the team.
 
The thirteenth installment in the Buchanan-Renard series, Wired, immerses us back into the world of FBI agents and life and death action. There were a couple appearances by past couples but newcomers to the series could start here and be ok.
 
The beginning starts the reader right off into the action but with a timeline that fast forwarded awkwardly, it all felt a bit jumbled. We get some information dumps to thrust us into the story and with some repeats, the editing felt a bit off. As the story went on, it started to smooth out as our leads and characters took over.
 
Being with him even topped writing code, and how freaky was that?
 
Allison is a likeable heroine but with every reminder about how gorgeous she is, models high fashion on the side, and how amazingly brilliant she is at hacking along with her overly sweet "I must do everything for everybody" attitude, she became a bit eye-rolling. Her awkwardness is cute and empathetic to a point, about the millionth time I heard about her amazing legs and how she doesn’t need make-up point. Her inability for most of the story to stand-up to her over-the-top villainous aunt and uncle was also a bit much; it started to feel like unnecessary conflict that was dragged out.
 
Letting out a low whistle, he shook his head.
"She's gonna be trouble."
 
Liam for all his protective man in charge attitude still came off somewhat wooden. I never felt like his personality was too delved into, he was always on the go without the reader having time to really get to know him, let alone Allison. After I finished the book I can't even say for sure if they had an extended conversation. They did have moments of chemistry but their interactions were such hit and runs, nothing ever felt flushed out. The beat in their relationship just felt off.
 
Allison and Liam were two very analytical characters and that could be why they were harder to connect with as their thought patterns were pretty decisive but it also had them coming off a bit stiff. The over abundance of villains and obstacles thrown in their way was too much and clogged up the story. Allison had to battle her aunt and uncle, a jealous fellow student, and the FBI, all too much for only 300pgs.
 
Even though I felt the heroine was too sweet, the hero was a bit cardboard cut-out, and one too many bad guys running around, Garwood's writing still has a readability that can't be denied. The story was interesting with action and intensity but our hero and heroine didn't get a chance to rise a bit above the antics and emotionally shine.

Man, this book was a huge letdown for me. I had high hopes since I’m a coder and I thought a coding/FBI/romance/thriller book just sounded AMAZING. But it wasn’t what I hoped it would be. :(

It sounded like it was written someone who didn’t know code.

I don’t expect all authors to be experts in what they write about, but a certain amount of research would be nice. To be blunt, I felt like the author just threw around the same words over and over again and hoped that would be good enough for a book about a “coder”. They all sounded like this though:

“she and Jordan had plenty of time to sit and talk about languages and codes, and writing programs, and bugs, and hackers.”

We never got any details into what they were actually talking about. Just, “Oh then we talked about codes and bugs and hackers.” Those same phrases were all that were repeated over and over again.

Two things:

1. Something about that word and “codes” (plural) felt really unnatural. I’ve just never heard coders talk like that.

2. This was literally the extend of the coding and technical stuff in the book. Even when the character was doing actual coding there still wasn’t any other technical descriptions or explanation of how things got done. It was just, “I threw on my headphones, hunched over my laptop, and chased the puzzle.” The author could have at least thrown in ever-so-slightly more advanced technical words like “SQL injection” or “traceroute”. It didn’t feel like it was read by anyone technical at all.

And here’s another quote:

“there are some people who have sold various bugs and viruses for a lot of money.”

You can’t “sell a bug”. You can sell knowledge of a bug (or exploit), but you wouldn’t sell the bug itself. It doesn’t really make sense.

---

I saw zero chemistry in the romance.

The romance was a huge part of the book. In fact, given the lack of depth in the coding part, the romance was arguably the whole point of the story. So it was a huge bummer that I didn’t connect with it AT ALL.

I just couldn’t see any chemistry there. From my perspective, there was nothing drawing the characters together. Honestly I started skimming through the romancey bits.

Plus, it turned into major insta-love. Allison and love interest didn’t really spend all that much time together. In fact, Allison spend half the book complaining that Liam was never there and never calling or texting her. Even when they were together, a lot of the time was purely businessy stuff. Then, in the last 5% of the book, Liam comes back after an absence, rescues Allison, then tells her he quit his job because he wants to marry her, and they literally sit there talking about what they’ll do when they’re “old and gray”. WHAT???

---

The plot seemed unfocused.

There were four major plot points:

1. Finding a leak in the FBI.
2. Dealing with a testy person in the FBI who’s upset about Allison finding said leak.
3. Someone stealing Allison’s computer program.
4. Allison dealing with her horrible family issues.

I don’t know if there were four big plot points to keep us guessing or what, but to me it just felt unfocused more than anything. My brain didn’t know which event to focus on or which was supposed to be the main part of the story (and #2 ended up being pretty pointless if you ask me).

Parts of the plot were actually quite fun to read, despite the lack of actual technical stuff. I do think there was some potential there, but it could have been much stronger and more interesting if they just picked ONE (two tops) event and really focused in on it.

---

The format was kind of jarring.

The book has two main points of view:

1. Allison’s
2. Liam’s

But there aren’t neatly organized chapters where it switches between the two. Nope. Instead, it just switches randomly from paragraph to paragraph. I hate this format in general; I prefer neatly organized chapters that swap back and forth. But it was made even worse in this case because the voices between the two characters weren’t distinct at all. The book often switched points of view and I didn’t even realize, then I’d get confused and have to backtrack a little to find out when it switched.

Also, the book sticks to those two points of view for 90% of the story, then randomly switches to a different character’s point of view for like one useless page. That REALLY confused me. I had to reread the first paragraph of that chapter like three times before my brain realized what had happened and who’s point of view I was reading from. Then it did this again with a different character a few chapters later. I thought these two chapters were unnecessary and just made the book weirdly inconsistent.

---

After all that, two stars probably feels like a generous rating… and maybe it is. But to be honest, until the last 10% of the book I did kind of enjoy reading Wired. I was unsatisfied with it—sure—but I was actually fully intending to give it three stars until the ending. Allison became annoyingly sympathetic to EVERYONE who did horrible things. “Oh I feel so awful for my cousin who keeps beating people up and robbing stores. I really want to keep him out of prison.” and “That poor guy who stole my computer program and tried to sell it and then held me at gunpoint. I feel bad for him because he’s in with some bad people now.” Maybe I’m just not that nice of a person, but damn… Allison was way too nice to people who didn’t deserve it. At least Liam kept calling her out on that. Then there was that whole ridiculous thing with Allison and Liam deciding to get married at the end… totally randomly.

So much potential in the plot, but turns out it wasn’t for me… *sigh*

I Love this book Ms Garwood wrote a wonderful story. I enjoy Liam story and also seeing how the other couple are doing.

3.5 stars

Allison was the genius/hacker/model heroine. She didn't have a lick of sense when it came to her own greedy relatives, however, she could hack her way into a highly secure system in hours. She was introverted, but could walk the catwalk with no hesitation. She was a puzzle to be solved, but unfortunately, one I was hard pressed to finish.

Liam was the broody/protective/ FBI agent hero who talks Allison into working for the FBI to discover an internal hacker. He's the tall, handsome guy who came and went like a shadow. He'd pop up at the right time, right place, and he would say all the right things, but he was superficial. We never got up close and personal with his character on a personal level.

Liam and Allison struck me as friends, or rather friends with benefits. Their chemistry was lacking the zing I normally take away from a Garwood novel. I don't think they reached their full potential as a couple, much less as individuals, and frankly expected more from them.

I love Garwood's writing and have been anticipating this book since it was first announced well over a year ago. Overall, Wired was a good read, but the story didn't work for me. WIRED leaned more towards contemporary romance than it did romantic suspense. I was expecting more "oomph" on suspense and more "sizzle" to Allison and Liam's chemistry and was disappointed when it never materialized. I did, however, enjoy catching up with Jordan, Alec, and Noah. They definitely provided some levity to certain situations!

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from the Berkley via NetGalley.

Julie-Alphas Do It Better Book Blog

Julie Garwood never disappoints! Another book hard to put down. It has it all. Very hunky, strong, sometimes guarded aloof leading man....very smart, savvy woman solving cyber crimes. Family conflicts involving the law. And of course lots of passion!