Holy band of merry misfits! Zero Hour felt like Ocean's Eleven except a tiny bit darker and...with hackers, obviously. And I loved every minute of it - from the cantankerous personalities, to the good-natured ribbing, to the genuine care that these guys all had for each other. It all resonated and I'm pumped that this is only the first book, and there will be so much more from this series to come!

What's going on in this story is bigger than a love story (seriously - so much action and suspense!), but Wren and Roarke, you guys. Oof. Talk about palpable chemistry and emotional explosions. I loved them together. I loved the push/pull between them and the way they inevitably gave in because we all know, when the attraction is that fierce, there's no denying it. And that is a completely joy to read.

But honestly to me? The greatest parts of this book centered around the secondary relationships. Erick's role in this book nearly broke me but GAH - the emotions hurt so good. I loved how reluctantly loyal this little gang became to each other, and how they're set up to move forward from here. I loved the action, and the grit, and the hacker insights. I am seriously so excited for more of this. This was such an excellent series starter and I am 1000% in for more!

Communication isn’t only essential in Megan Erickson’s Zero Hour. It’s darn sexy too!

Zero Hour is book one in the Wired & Dangerous series by Megan Erickson featuring risk-taking hackers, dynamite tension, and threads of action and suspense.

Roarke is on a mission of revenge. It has consumed him, and he doesn’t have time for distractions. Of course, that’s when his best friend’s little sister—and his crush for years—decides she wants to be part of his crew.

I loved the idea of this. I wanted a book with some nerdier character rep, and a darker edge too. What’s all that in coding lingo? Hackers. Roarke and Wren haven’t seen each other in almost a decade, but time and space hasn’t made a difference. Wren not only wants in on Roarke’s quest for revenge for his brother, but she has her own personal vendetta. It added another layer between them that really upped the tension.

I have to say that I love a guy who can admit to what he wants, and the level of communication Ms. Erickson put into this novel on both Roarke and Wren’s sides…OH MY GOD, I now want that level of communication in every novel I read!

And Wren demands every piece of it, too. Loved her so much! Holy smokes, were some of the conversations swoony, and Roarke completely won me over by the end.

This. Guy.

The secondary cast is phenomenal too. We get just enough info to keep us guessing their back stories and desperately anticipating the next installment. I’m invested. 100%. I can’t wait for book two!

4.5 stars!

There's a lot to like in Zero Hour. I totally give the concept, the diverse characters, the whole idea of hackers saving the day. I also liked that at the end there's a promise of more for these guys--so I know that it'll be a series that I'll get to go deeper in to.
The cast of characters was diverse in their backgrounds and their interests--which means that each of their stories will give us something new to think about; and, they're all a little edgy which always makes it fun.
The thing that I got hung up on and knocked the rating down a little for me was how the characters' reactions to each other sometimes seemed out of proportion to the action of the scene. Sometimes their reactions felt a little too strong or too *something* for whatever was being said or happening--other times they felt normal. But since it was something that I kept noticing it threw me off and had me thinking more about that, sometimes, than the plot.
Other than that, this is a series that I'd definitely invest more time in when the next one comes out.

Think geek heroes are boring? Let ZERO HOUR change your mind. It's a gritty, pageturning, thrilling ride into the world of cyber romantic suspense with hackers and high-octane action!

Roarke gathered a crew together to avenge his brother's murder, but he never wanted to involve Wren, the woman who had the power to tie him up in knots. But Wren got an in with the villain, and it would've saved them work and time if she used that connection, so Roarke reluctantly allowed her to join them, not that he could've stopped her. But what he didn't know was that Wren had a personal revenge mission of her own…

Roarke and Wren are unbelievably hot together! Roarke is a typical geek with some problems communicating with the opposite sex, but when they were on the same page, they sure burned up the sheets! I love that he's not tanned (as so many heroes are) and that as a typical geek who sat in front of the computer all day, he's lanky (not muscle-bound) although he does know how to carry and use a gun (though not very proficient). (Why would a geek know how to use a gun? I think there's been mention of how they operated on dangerous jobs, hence the need to protect themselves.) I love all these flaws in him, but for all that, he's hot and he does whatever he needed to do to save his girl.

I see several Asian heroines in books these days, and Wren Lee, a Korean, is one of them. I'm all for diverse characters and it's great to see Asians represented in books, however, aside from her loving Korean dramas, her parents are strict, and she has dark hair, she could be anybody, even a white girl. My point, I guess, is that if you're going to make one of your characters an Asian, how does that play into the story? Where is the conflict that arises from the different cultures and races? Even if she were born and raised in America, there would still be differences from other cultures and races.

That aside, both Roarke and Wren are amazing characters. Not only them, but also the secondary characters like Eric, Jock, Marisol, Dade and even Maximus! Dade and Maximus especially are interesting due to their mysteriousness. I'm itching to read the next books in this series, which I hope will feature their stories.

ZERO HOUR moves at a fast, steady clip so that there were no boring moments. The plot also contains twists and turns that pleasantly surprised me, and the last few pages had me jumping for the next installment. I hope it comes soon!

If you love geeks, hackers and romantic suspense, pick this one up now!

Anyone who knows me knows that Hacker books are my jam. There is something about them that I love. The suspense, the action and the drama. This book had that in spades and oh yeah let's not forget the blistering chemistry between Wren and Roarke. I loved these two together and could not get enough!

When Roarke Brennan assembles a crew of brilliant hackers to avenge the murder of his younger brother, it reunites him with Wren Lee, his lifelong crush and bestfriend's younger sister. But with a decade apart, he realizes how much she has changed. But when lines get crossed and passion and chemistry rear their heads will Roarke and Wren be able to complete their mission or will they be distracted by their growing feelings?

I really enjoyed this story. I loved that we were thrown right into the drama. I was intrigued by the broody Roarke and his history with Wren. All in all, I thought this story was amazing and honestly hope we get everyone's story as I am so intrigued by the whole crew.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Forever Romance for an advanced copy of this book for an honest review. Bravo! 4 stars! ~Ratula

Man, I wanted so much to like this book. I really did, but I don't. First off, the revenge theme. Revenge stories tend to be filled with a lot of hate and anger. Not my thing. I should have listened to my instincts but this one was about hackers and I love hackers. I thought it would be exciting and filled with lots of action - keyboard action, that is, with plenty of hacking. I understand hacking is hard to translate into words to get it to seems exciting but dang, I wanted it. I've been watching a lot of CSI Cyber lately and I love that show. That's an exciting show and I wanted this book to be like that. High stakes, edge of the seat hacking. Unfortunately, 24% into the book and it's still all set up and backstory, and people being angry. I kinda understand the angry since it's what drives the revenge but I wanted more action. I'm pretty sure most of it is my fault because I had a certain set of expectations going in and the story didn't meet my expectations. It's kind of unfair on the book but the whole time I was reading it, I wanted more happening and I kept thinking of putting it down because it was not drawing me in. I did not feel invested in Roarke and Wren's mission. This makes me sad because I love the concept of the story. I didn't even get far enough for the sexy bits because Ms Erickson's sexy bits are some seriously hot writing. All this said, I will read the next book in the series if it is not revenge themed because Ms Erickson is a good writer and I like her writing.

I’m a fan of Megan’s words, so I’m 100% here for anything she writes.

I really liked Wren and Roarke. They’re both quite smart and loyal and I loved their history of always wanting the other. The additional people in the crew were fantastic and I’m really hoping we get more of all of them. Marisol especially.

Plot wise it was interesting. I was a bit wary about the hacking aspect, but it wasn’t hard to follow. The story pretty much starts with a bang and doesn’t let go until the end. And while I liked the epilogue, I wanted more.

My main complaint is that it did sort of feel like I was dropped in the middle of a story. We’re given a very brief background on everyone and yeah, it does make sense because hackers are solitary people. Yet, it seemed slightly unfinished and with several loose ends. Perhaps it’s a set up for future books?

Overall, it was a unique to me story and had characters kept me reading. I’m definitely interested to see where this series goes.

Note: I’m not putting this on the rape shelf because there isn’t an actual scene. However, there is a lot of talk of sex trafficking and assault.

**Huge thanks to Forever for providing the arc free of charge**

I really enjoyed this fun, sexy, exciting romantic suspense story! The author is a favorite of mine, but this is a new genre for her. I loved her take on this ensemble cast of hackers.

Roarke Brennan is a great hacker. It's how he makes most of his money, unbeknownst to the government, of course. He's been doing it since he was a teenager, and he taught his younger brother, Flynn, how to do it as well. But, Flynn decided to "go straight", and got a job with a defense contractor. He found something he wasn't supposed to see, and it got him killed. Now, Roarke has become obsessed with getting revenge for Flynn's death. He's put together a team of hackers to help him take down the owner/CEO of the company Flynn worked for, who Roarke is sure is responsible. Roarke and Flynn's best friend, Erick, is a major part of the team, since he's been close to both brothers since they were kids. But, what Roarke wasn't expecting was for Erick's baby sister, Wren, to be back in D.C., and to insist on helping too. Roarke has never been able to think straight where she's concerned, and that hasn't changed, though he hasn't laid eyes on her in 10 years.

Wren Lee used to be the perfect Korean daughter to make her parents happy. But, after high school, she started to go her own way. Then, in college, she had a traumatic experience, and it sent her down the road she's taken for the last 10 years. She's traveled all around the world, and learned all she could from one of the best hackers in the world, and now she wants to put those skills to work to help Roarke avenge his brother's death. Of course, she's also on her own private revenge mission which intersects with the team's plans, but she's keeping that to herself for now. Wren has grown up a lot, but through it all, Roarke has been the one she's always wanted. She hopes that now they can have a chance to see what they could be together.

Roarke and Wren had blazing hot chemistry, but it was left at a slow burn for much of the story, as the suspense plot took center stage. It made for a great period of them getting to know each other again and finding out truths about each other they never knew. I loved this aspect of their pairing, and I enjoyed watching them feeling out their connection. There were a lot of circumstances that had to fall into place for them to be able to be together, and I enjoyed watching everything happen.

The ensemble cast here was FANTASTIC, and I loved watching their group dynamic. They each had very strong and interesting personalities, and I can't wait to find out more about each of them in future books. Jock will be the hero of book 2, and I'm so excited to see deeper under his surface! The group banter was funny and realistic, and I loved how they all gave each other grief, like a family. They all worked well together too, and it was interesting seeing what they each brought to the table. The suspense plot was dynamic and exciting, and it kept you guessing how things were going to turn out.

I loved Roarke and Wren's dynamic, and their coming to terms with how they are now as adults, rather than how they each used to be as kids. They really had to get to know each other again, though the strong feelings for each other were already there. It made for a different relationship arc than many I've read, which was refreshing. I really loved this story, and I am truly eager to find out more about the other team members. I highly recommend this to any romantic suspense lovers out there!

The premise of this book is really interesting. I love books where the computer geeks are the heroes. And this book sets up what sounds like it will be a very interesting series. Some of the subject matter is intricate, and the author seems to have really done her homework, making the events very believable. I must say, however, that I found myself having a hard time connecting to these characters, and I can't even put my finger on why. I just sort of felt like I was floating above the story instead of caught up in the middle of it. This is the first book I've read by this author, and I would definitely like to read another one because I enjoyed the story itself, and maybe I would connect more with different characters.

ZERO HOUR spoke directly to the geek in me. I blank out at many things technical, so hackers (whether they be black/white hats) written as heroes/heroines of romances are relatively new in this genre but so welcome.

I love the lingo, the geek side of things, the stuff that the deep, dark web is made of, most probably because I've never been able to get my mind around it. That Megan Erickson has jumped wholly on this subject has made me more than moist with excitement, with the underlying classic tropes of the forbidden best friend's younger sister while a high-stakes hacker-style investigation into a murder brings it all together. There's a lot of beguiling intrigue to be explored in this arena after all, and I've always wondered why not many authors have chosen to use this very contemporary setting along with the realistic and contemporary threats we face today to weave a pretty little tale.

Unsure as I was about how hackers would appear in this series, I was nonetheless surprised by the tattooed protagonists who sometimes acted more like members of an MC at times instead of thickly-spectacled people who were glued to their computers and surfaced bleary-eyed only for meals and sleep. Yet Ms. Erickson gets the anti-social, loner-types pat-down though, by introducing a varied, unpredictable put-together team of characters whose questionable histories are still veiled to us.

Roarke and Wren do have a hell of a backstory and a decade of separate lives that Ms. Erickson didn't make too much of, except for the fact that pining (on both sides) went on while they moved on with others instead. Their sudden reunion—spurred on by the death of his brother and Wren's own personal motive for revenge—however, felt almost like a coincidence, along with the hidden skills that they'd each picked up which didn't seem to fit the hacker-skill set. Where had they had weapons training, for instance, at least enough that they would carry guns around? What sort of jobs had they done in the past 10 years that made them what they were today? Why did Wren only return now, at a time when Roarke sought revenge when the tragedy that she and her friend suffered happened years ago?

I think the questions that kept popping up dipped my enjoyment of the story somewhat and the brother's-best-friend-to-lover trope was less convincing especially after knowing that Roarke and Wren had always wanted each other but never actively did anything about it. The ending, for all the gritty, edgy build-up, seemed a little anti-climatic with the rather convenient end of the mastermind, and the several loose threads hanging, while understandably left deliberately to set up the sequel, didn't give the story a proper sense of closure.

In many ways, ZERO HOUR reads like the establishing novel it is and while I did like how this narrative arc—the mesh of thriller and digital espionage really gets me going—seemed to be shaping up, I'm already eager to see how the author would explore the unstable dynamics of the ad-hoc group brought together by chance and the pairings that will come out of that.