Marriage Confidential (Harlequin Intrigue) by Debra Webb on July 1st 2017
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A sexy hero vows to love, honor…and stop the hacker!
Marriage to Madison Goode—his secret high-school crush—is news to billionaire techno whiz Sam Bellemere! The gorgeous State Department liaison has summoned him to fix a cybersecurity breach at an art museum reception. But why is he guest-listed as her husband?
Madison has her reasons…as does a nefarious hacker now threatening her life and career. But once they've gone public, introvert Sam and career-focused Madison must play their roles perfectly, trusting and protecting each other as they race to thwart disaster. Surprisingly, being close is easy. A real relationship might be possible…if a worldwide cyber attack doesn't cost them their lives!
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~~Reviewed by Monique~~
FBI liaison officer Madison Goode is attending a gala at the Artistry of the Far East Museum, Chinese dignitaries will be in attendance, when she notices there could be a cyber security problem. Is it a threat from American radicals fearing too much Chinese presence? On the spur of the moment, Madison calls the man most likely to handle what could turn into a serious international incident: Sam Bellemere. Madison helped him in the past, and he owes her one. Sam is an old high school friend, but also a developer of proprietary encryption technology, and he rushes to give Madison a hand.
What an excellent story! We’re right in the thick of things from page one and the authors’ impressive knowledge of cyber technology make MARRIAGE CONFIDENTIAL a riveting read. The crisp descriptions paint sharp pictures, and I felt I was watching a movie! The authors didn’t waste time with needless repetitions, and the technological details made the story realistic, without slowing down the narrative. Madison is a confident young woman, a people-person, while Sam is so painfully socially awkward, life almost passes him by in spite of his genius and wealth. Both characters are so skilfully portrayed that they came off as real people, and not caricatures. Sam is stunned that he is on the guest list as Madison’s husband, and I thought Madison’s reason for doing so was really clever; I also loved the explanations as to why they never dated in high school. It was really nice to see this sort of situation done in a believable manner, and that Sam didn’t morph into Superman nor did Madison slip into damsel in distress mode; while their areas of expertise are different, they acted as equal participants in the story, they remained true to themselves, and they had great backstories as well.
The romance was just perfect and nicely woven into this exciting story, and all the loose ends tie up nicely in a great ending. MARRIAGE CONFIDENTIAL is great cyber thriller with a believable romance; the writing is efficient but still retains a quiet elegance, very much like our protagonists, Sam and Madison. MARRIAGE CONFIDENTIAL reads like a dream: brisk, captivating, modern, and realistic all the way!
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book.
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