Book Summary: 

Perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Katherine Center, Phishing for Love is a swoony, laugh-out-loud, enemies-to-lovers, workplace romance.

Phishing: When hackers send malicious emails designed to trick people into falling for a scam.

Phishing test: When organizations send deceptive emails to their own staff to test their response to phishing attacks.

It all started with a cat video.

A video that Tess Miller, a sassy and talented greeting card writer, shouldn’t have clicked on. But cat videos are her kryptonite. And how was she to know the video embedded in the email was a phishing test designed to take down the company she works for?

The infuriating man who tricked and humiliated her? Aaron Sinclair, cybersecurity consultant brought on by her paranoid boss to whip their company into peak security shape. A dark-haired man with a dark past, and an unrelenting thorn in her side.

Buried beneath their mutual animosity, however, is an attraction they both have reasons to fight. Thanks to Aaron, Tess’s boss has labeled her a high security risk and her professional reputation is at stake. A fierce battle of wits ensues as Tess uses every trick not to fall for Aaron’s random phishing tests.

With the end of Aaron’s six-month contract fast approaching, Tess is faced with the looming risk of losing not only her job but also her heart to the man who has tested her in every way possible.

My Review:

Lara has done it again! Coming back with her second book, Phishing for Love is a laugh out loud, swoon-worthy, heart pumping tale of two people who couldn’t be more right for each other, even if they drive one another insane! 

Lately, life’s been pretty sweet for Tess Miller. She loves her job as a greeting card writer, has two of the best friends/co-workers a girl can ask for, and a cat that adores her (on a good day). The icing on the cake, her wonderful, sweet, loving boyfriend Nathan that she has been with for over a year. Despite the protests of her family, she is perfectly fine that they are taking it slow and completely understands why they don’t live together. She has absolutely no doubts about her relationship or questions if she is really with him out of love or familiarity and complacency. Yep, no doubts and definitely no straying daydreams of a certain cybersecurity specialist that just started on a six month contract. His dreamy blue eyes and breathtaking smile haven’t crossed her mind once! While staying out of trouble is nearly impossible for Tess on a good day, she is determined to fly under the radar. Unfortunately, no matter what she does, she keeps landing in Aaron’s path and can’t help but ruffle his stoic demeanor. As long as she reminds herself it is all in fun and there is absolutely zero attraction between them, she should be fine. 

I loved this book! I can’t even begin to count the number of times I laughed out loud! I swear Kenzie and Sofia were the physical manifestation of her conscience (almost like her Angel and Demon). You couldn’t help but get excited when the three of them got together. Lara’s ability in character development is astonishing. By the first third of the book, Tess feels like a close friend that you have known for years. She keeps you in stitches the entire time and whether it was thought or said, the things Tess comes up with are comical gold. And the Group Chats? Priceless!

The way Lara flipped the script on Nathan was brilliant. In the beginning, you start to build resentment against Tess for flirting with Aaron, even if it was innocent. While she never crossed the line, she played dangerous close to it. You felt sorry for sweet, wonderful, charming Nathan who spent Sundays with her family and treated her like queen (occasionally). When you suddenly find out he is a cheating scumbag, you start to look back at each incident and realize something had been up. The late night call where he insisted he come to her instead of letting her come over. Constantly working late. The snide remarks he made at the couples getaway. All of a sudden you feel for Tess and loathe Nathan. I have to hand it to Lara for perfecting that transition. As an avid reader of romances, I was curious how she was going to get us to side with Tess when it came to Aaron and while the “cheating boyfriend” is a little cliché and an easy out, the continuous doubt Tess had about the relationship made it an easier pill to swallow. 

Lara made this book a bit steamer than her last. Still sticking true to the purer form of writing and contemporary romance, the most the reader received was innuendos and some hot and heavy kissing, allowing the imagination to run wild with possibilities. I do enjoy how much she can say without actually saying it – a heated look or a person about to say profanity but getting cut off at the right moment. Truly a talent! 

I love the underlying message of playing it safe. Tess was so determined to not turn out like her sister that she bet everything on Nathan – comfortable, reliable, dependable Nathan. I felt like the breakup wasn’t so much of heartache but the revelation of risk. She took the safest bet, the easy choice, the most risk adverse path. Sure it wasn’t exciting and the fire had burned out a long time ago but she trusted it. When she lost him, she lost her compass – she saw what risk did to Kate but she now witnessing what playing it safe did for her. What was the middle ground?

My heart shattered for Aaron. To learn why he was so dedicated to cybersecurity and all of the pain he had suffered. He truly believed he was cursed and would lose anyone he loved. How do you live a life like that? The problem was Tess couldn’t even convince him otherwise because to do so would force him to take a chance he wasn’t willing to do, to gamble on the life of someone he loved. When he broke up with Tess to protect her, I could feel the pain and sorrow. If there was ever a time where I wanted to reach through the pages and shake a character, this was it!

Lara did an excellent job wrapping up the book, giving us just enough of Kate’s impending saga to have us counting the days for the sequel. Plus, the cameo from Lucas and Nina? It’s like bumping into old friends. Woven with humor, heart, and the wisdom of risk and balance, Phishing for Love is definitely a must-read!