No One To Trust by Julie Moffett

                                        

Publisher's Blurb:

SWFG: Single, White, Female, Geek.
That's me, Lexi Carmichael, a reformed hacker who was gainfully employed by the National Security Agency. But a series of extraordinary events led me to leave government life behind for a fresh start with a brand-new company and an incredibly sexy boss, Finn Shaughnessy. It may not be kosher to have the hots for your boss, but he seems to have the hots for me, too. If only things didn't get so complicated...
Darren Greening, a genius researcher from Flow Technologies (our first client!) is missing, and his bosses think I'm involved. And they aren't the only ones—the man who nearly snapped my neck in the parking garage thinks so, too.
Now I'm caught in the middle of a complex and dangerous case. I'll have to use all my geek skills and a little help from my friends to solve the mystery of Darren's disappearance before Neck-Snapping-Man makes a return visit...

Review:
No One To Trust is a great mystery combined with a little romance and a whole lot of smart chick empowerment, with a generous dollop of laugh-out-loud humor.  Lexi Carmichael is a breath of fresh air - she is smart, funny, self-deprecating, and insecure.  As a former computer hacker and a supersmart woman with a photographic memory, Lexi is also socially awkward.  Adept at reading computer code, she has difficulty reading social cues, which results in her brusque (but charming) honesty.  In a world full of disingenuous people with their own agendas, the men in Lexi's life are attracted to her.  The fact that she is attractive and doesn't realize it adds to her charm.  But the thing I most liked about Lexi is the fact that she is a late bloomer.  At twenty-five, her poorly developed social skills and lack of experience, have made her acutely self-conscious.  She is hyper-aware of her appearance, her clothing choices, and her awkwardness in romantic situations. Her discomfiture is so well-written and honest that as a reader I could feel her embarassment, and I was having flashbacks to my own early-twenties.
 Part of Lexi's charm is that her big heart and good intentions result in finding herself in situations that are wacky and laugh out loud funny.  But through it all the reader is cheering for Lexi to figure things out.  Her best friend Basia is her polar opposite, and attempts to guide Lexi through dating and social minefields with sometimes outrageous results.  She is determined to teach Lexi to get in touch with her sexuality and this results in some truly funny situations.  There are three men in Lexi's life, and while she's not sure how it happened, she is starting to realize that all three are romantically interested in her.
While this is a character driven story, the mystery is well-written and engaging.  Trying to locate a missing scientific genius keeps Lexi and her sexy Irish billionaire boss, Finn, occupied as they sift through layers of sometimes baffling clues. 
As the second story in the Lexi Carmichael series, this is also a stand-alone book.  I have not (yet!) read the first one, but was able to keep track of characters and plot, and never felt like the author was obviously catching me up as a reader.
Laugh out loud humor, a believable and likeable heroine, a well-drawn mystery and three hot guys - what's not to like about No One To Trust?  Enjoyable, fast and fun - highly recommended.