Review: Hardwired (The Hacker Series, Book 1) by Meredith Wild

Print Length: 266 pages

Publisher: Meredith Wild (June 10, 2014)

From Goodreads.com: Determined to overcome a difficult past, Erica Hathaway learns early on to make it on her own. Days after her college graduation, she finds herself face to face with a panel of investors who will make or break her fledgling startup. The only thing she didn’t prepare for was going weak in the knees over an arrogant and gorgeous investor who seems determined to derail her presentation.

Billionaire and rumored hacker Blake Landon has already made his fortune in software, and he’s used to getting what he wants. Captivated by Erica’s drive and unassuming beauty, he’s wanted nothing more than to possess her since she stepped into his boardroom. Determined to win her over, he breaks down her defenses and fights for her trust, even if it means sacrificing a level of control he’s grown accustomed to.

But when Blake uncovers a dark secret from Erica’s past, he threatens not just her trust, but the life she’s fought so hard to create.

                              

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My Rating: 1 star out of 5

My Review: When I saw these novels being billed as the next "Fifty Shades of Grey" and BETTER than "Fifty Shades of Grey" I got really excited. Now don't get me wrong, I didn't LOVE Fifty Shades, but there was a plot that moved forward, and the last book was probably the best out of the series. So, when I got these books for Christmas, I couldn't wait to dive right in.

And man was I disappointed. At first, this story held A LOT of promise. There was a plot right out of the gate, and Erica struck me as a lot stronger of a character than Anastasia Steele. I loved the interactions between her and Blake, and how even though she was attracted to him, she also despised him enough not to act on it. And then they had sex. And then they had sex again. And again, and... do you see where I am going with this? I would say at least 90% of this story was about them having sex. And really, there are so many times I can read that a man's penis was "rooted" in someone before I start to think of it as a tree taking root. And yeah - not a good mental picture. 

Then there was Erica herself. What I had once thought of as a strong woman who was very centered in her work, the moment she became involved with Blake, she turned into this sniveling "damsel" who gave in to him too easily (even when she was mad at him), or who turned tail and ran away when things got too hard for her. I was shocked at the complete 180 this character did once she "had a man". What happened to the Erica who I read about in the beginning? Where did she go?

The more this story progressed, the more it reminded me of a BAD rip off of Fifty Shades. It was almost as though someone took that novel and decided to write a fan-fiction of that, even though there was some original ideas, the majority of it seemed like a carbon copy of the other. Too much sex (and all of it sounding the same), not enough plot, sex in place of dialogue or plot that would have kept the story interesting or moved it at a faster pace.

Definitely not worth the hype.

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Hardwired (The Hacker Series, Book 1)   is available from Amazon.com