My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Title: The Love Code
Author: Connie Kitson
Format: eBook (NetGalley)
Pages: 384
Publication Date: 11/17/26
Publisher: Hera
Categories: Romance, Contemporary
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
Thank you to Hera for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!
Jenna, a talented web developer by day and a cyber vigilante by night, wages a covert cyberwar against Belmayer, a giant oil company she believes was responsible for her father’s death while at work on a rig eight years ago.
But unbeknown to her, Kieran, her childhood friend and long-time secret crush, now heads up Belmayer’s cybersecurity team.
When their paths collide at a family wedding, their old feelings are rekindled. However, Jenna’s double life and relentless pursuit of justice put their relationship to the test, and she must face the fact that bringing down Belmayer makes her the secret enemy of the man she loves…
Content Warning: anxiety attack, grief, death
+ I love the idea of this story premise with the FMC being a secret hacker and the MMC being the guy she’s hacking. It turns out though the story is a little more emotional than just a hacking romance. Jenna isn’t hacking for fun, she’s hacking a company where her dad worked, a company who is hiding secrets about how he died on the job. She’s someone who is still grieving, wanting revenge for what happened to her dad and also dealing with anxiety, though most people around her thinks she’s okay. But there is a lot of growth for Jenna.
+ I like how this friends to lovers romance develops. Kieran is Jenna’s brother’s best-friend, he used to be close to Jenna until he left for the army. So Jenna and Kieran drifted apart and reunited at her brother’s wedding. Clearly he is crazy about her, and she is attracted to him but she’s not the girl he once knew. When the conflict happens between them though I like how it felt realistic with how the situation plays out, and how they fix things between them.
+ I thought it was really cool how Jenna was a hacking legend and it was so interesting to see Kieran deal with this information. I did like how the storyline about her dad’s death gets dealt with, since it’s not a dark romance (because you know in dark romance she could have gotten away with taking down a company through hacking them), I think the legal way this gets dealt with is the more realistic way.
Final Thoughts:
I found that this romance had more depth than I was expecting which was a pleasant surprise. I love Jenna’s journey through dealing with anxiety and grief, and eventually realizing her methods of finding answers were not going to hold up in a lawsuit so she redirects her energy to do it the right way. Her romance with Kieran was a journey but a good one. She opens herself to love and to her family too. Overall, I enjoyed this one and look forward to reading more books from this author.
Read if you like:
- friends to lovers
Book Links:
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
