Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Tropes: contemporary romance; blind date; rom-com
I don’t think I’ve read a romance where the MMC and FMC are adorable from their meet-cute. Lauren Rowe’s expanded billionaire and rock-star universe inspires good romances. Her newest offering, Hacker in Love, was created for her fans, and she gifted Henn and Hannah to them. From the moment they meet, it’s clear they’re soulmates, and much of Hacker in Love is them falling heavily in lust and love with each other. Here’s the thing. I love Henn and Hannah’s journey, BUTTTT..and I hate to say this because I adore Lauren Rowe, Hacker in Love feels like filler. Yikes! I hate saying it. This book is steamy, and Henn and Hannah are clearly soulmates, but Hacker in Love feels like what Solo was to the Star Wars universe. It fills gaps and summarizes plotlines from the other stories in the universe. As such, at times, it feels disjointed. The tension of the story is Henn’s secretive life. As it gets doled out over the space of the story, Hannah’s story feels uneven. They’re soulmates, yet he doesn’t fully trust her until almost the very end of the story. It feels inconsistent with their journeys. I love Lauren Rowe, so I wanted to love this story, but I didn’t. I appreciated it for what it was: a love letter to the fans as they waited for Rowe to find her writing voice again. Was hanging out again with many of Rowe’s favorite characters wonderful? Yes. Did Hannah and Henn give me a cavity from their sugar and spice relationship? For sure. Would I want to read their story again? Probably not. Lauren Rowe filled the gaps with Henn’s story, but I’m not sure that they needed filling.
In love and romance,
Professor A
Lauren Rowe is the USA Today and international #1 best-selling author of bestselling Standalone Smitten, The Reed Rivers Trilogy, as well as The Club Trilogy, The Josh & Kat Trilogy, The Morgan Brothers Series, Countdown to Killing Kurtis, and select standalone Misadventures.
Professor Romance 