A painting, a panic room, a thief, and her lover … whose job is to catch her.There are three things you need to know about Anna. 1) She’s a bounty hunter with adrenaline junkie habits, 2) She’s the “awkward” twin, and 3) She’s a thief – kind of.Darius designs security systems for Cipher Security, and the strange and remarkable woman he met the night the painting was stolen is as intriguing a … stolen is as intriguing a mystery as his hunt for the thief is.
But the lady has no filter, and she knows she can’t lie to the man who looks like a Disney Prince and kisses like fairytales are true, so she runs from the one person who may actually see her as the heroine of her own story.
Code of Honor is book #2 in the Cipher Security series. It is a full-length romantic suspense novel, and can be read as a standalone.
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The second book in the Cipher Security Series, set in the Penny Reid Universe, specifically an offshoot of the Knitting in the City World is Code of Honor. This is also penned by the talented April White. I totally enjoyed the first book also penned by Ms. White, Code of Conduct and when I found out there was going to be a second one I couldn’t stop myself from jumping with glee. Ms. White did such a fantastic job with Code of Conduct that I was pretty sure that Code of Honor won’t disappoint. I did have initial misgivings about whether it was going to be at least at par with the first one but fear not Code of Honor holds itself on its own! And why not with such fantastic characters and unique plot it was definitely looking up as a great addition to the series. Main characters like Darius the Disney prince lookalike, who made a brief but lasting impression in the first book and Anna, the one badass not-a-princess with verbal diarrhea and just out of this world imagination are the stuff romance with opposites attract themes are just tailor made for. Code of Honor made me feel gooey and excited and just hungry for more. Anna and Darius had fantastic chemistry right off the bat but more importantly not cookie cutter characters. They are as multidimensional as any person and their opposite approaches and rules in life are the main obstacles in their romance which is basically real life romance territory in itself. I love how they interacted, try resolving the issues and just basically jumped off the pages because they definitely felt real. Code of Honor also gives is glimpses of past characters whom I love, specifically Quinn and Dan owners of Cipher, and my favorite couple, second only to their beloved other half. Code of Honor is all funny and sexy and sweet, emotionally poignant and thought provoking as well. I adore it!
Code of Honor (Cipher Security #2) by April White is a humorous romantic suspense told in first person, dual POV. Although it’s book two in the Cipher Security series, it can be read as a complete standalone.
Anna Collins is a twin, a bounty hunter, and a thief (sort of). With the help of her twin, she plans to steal a painting. But is it really stealing if she takes it from someone who stole it and returns it to its rightful owner? The last thing Anna expects is to meet a man with Disney prince good looks at the party where she’s doing recon work. She’s even more surprised that he doesn’t seem at all put off by her lack of filter. But Anna’s not there to socialize. She’s got a job to do if she wants the burglary to go off without a hitch.
Darius Masoud works for Cipher Security designing security systems. When a painting goes missing from a client’s house where one of his systems had been installed, he doesn’t expect the beautiful, enchanting woman he met at the party to become his prime suspect. The client is adamant that his security system has failed and threatens to publicly drag Cipher Security through the mud unless the painting is found and returned.
What will happen as Darius investigates the robbery? Will Anna get caught? Will she be able to hide the truth from Darius? What will happen if he finds out? Will Anna go to jail? Lose her bounty hunting licenses? Read the book to find out.
I absolutely loved Anna and Darius’s story! I thought they were both fantastic characters, but Anna won me over instantly. She’s a smart, quirky, whimsical, kick-ass heroine, and one of my new favorite characters. I loved the cat-and-mouse element to the story, the push and pull of attraction between Anna and Darius as they both pursued opposing goals. This is only my second April White book; the first was Code of Conduct. Both times, I finished the story, fangirling hard, and wanting to devour every book from her backlist. And have you read her author bio? I’m fascinated! But enough fangirling, I’ll get back to my review. April White has an amazing gift for creating three-dimensional characters that are not only unique and interesting but also believable. They captivated me from page one. This story was so much fun! The mixture of mystery, intrigue, suspense, romance, and laugh-out-loud moments made it a fantastic read. I highly recommend it, and look forward to reading more from this author.
Like a romantic suspense? Like an opposites attract story? How about connecting to a quirky character who’s also a total bada$$?
Well if you answered yes to any of these, then Code of Honor is a story you’ll enjoy!
Anna and Darius kept me intrigued. She’s imaginative and quirky, inquisitive and tough. He’s straight-laced, intuitive, lives by his rules. Anna also thinks he looks like a Disney Prince, hence his nickname. She flys by the seat of her pants. He is very orderly and lives by a standard that is almost unflappable. They shouldn’t connect, but oh do they!!
I loved all the usual Cipher Security characters we get included too. Dan, Quinn, Shane and Gabriel, plus some others. This is my second April White read in the Cipher World and I continue to be impressed. Her storytelling is great, the use of real world mystery makes the story relatable and compelling. Definitely will read more.
4.5 Stars
I’ve only read one other book by April White, which was the first book in this series, and after each one I have vowed to download more of her stories as I have loved each of them immensely. I will definitely be doing that.
She manages to write stories that are filled with mystery, romance, jam packed with history and interesting facts, and humour by the bucketload.
Her characters have a depth to them that is hard to find, and are lovable yet principled enough that you don’t know how it will end.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, Anna is exactly what I want in a heroine, strong, independent, lives in the grey and is just slightly insecure. She lives in her head weaving a dream world around herself, in which she invites people to join her, some like it, Darius for example, who she calls a Disney Prince, but others think she’s a little loopy.
At times Darius made me angry with his views on right and wrong, he would get close to Anna only to push her away, but it wasn’t until his family were in the mix that you could see the turmoil he was living with, falling for Anna, but knowing if he let himself go there, he would have to bend the beliefs he has held since childhood.
Ultimately, this story was everything I love, from page one, I couldn’t put it down. I enjoyed catching up with characters from the previous book, and seeing how they connected to this one. It took me a while, but I fell hard for Darius too, but Anna was perfect from the very beginning.
I highly recommend both books April has written for this series, each one is completely different but spectacular in its own way.
Really enjoyed this fun, sexy and action packed adventure filled with interesting charters, witty dialog, heart racing twists and undeniable passion….was a great read! Emotionally thrilling and filled with exciting edge of your seat suspense.
April White was a new to me author with the Smartypants Romance Launch last year, but after hearing her talk about her experiences and her book at Book Bonanza, it was one of the ones I was most excited for. And it did not disappoint. Even more said with this next installment of the Cypher Security Series, I KNEW that this book was going to be amazing.
April’s plots are well thought out, the precision of execution is flawless. The amount of research she did in the book, hands down, one of the best. Again, she exudes the smart romance genre. I know I personally was doing side research while reading this book, and the fact that she lined up the anniversary of one of her plot points, PERFECT!
Anna and her Disney prince were a treasure to get to know. I love how April touched on so many things with this book, including how people of ethnic backgrounds have to do so much extra just to do things we take for granted. I especially loved that he was a reader and had a book collection.
This book had me laughing in so many places, I want Anna to be my new best friend, and steal her t shirt collection. The title of this book has so many meanings, for both Anna and Darius. I love when authors are able to weave it in.
“My own bits of soul had found his and recognized them as known.”
“I see the very best version of myself when you look at me.”
“He was my honor-he was integrity and truth and his love gave me wings.”
Loved, loved, loved Code of Honor! April White’s female leads are such amazing, kick-butt women!
In Code of Honor, Anna is a bounty hunter that is sent to retrieve a stolen painting. Her plan to get it back? Steal it, of course. What she doesn’t know is that Darius Masoud designed a high-tech security system to protect something else that the painting is hiding.
Darius and Anna are such great counterparts. The witty banter is prime-time TV, Hollywood hit worthy. They both have such refreshing perspectives and they really talk and listen to each other.
Great plot, phenomenal conversations, such great writing to express emotion and set the scenes. April White is a really gifted author, and her contributions to the Smartypants Romance series are spot-on.
I am in awe of April White’s ability to tell a story. Code of Honor is her second Smartypantsromance book, and she has brought together adventure, romance, humor, and fascinating characters in a book I absolutely loved.
Anna reminded me just a bit of Janie from Neanderthal Seeks Human with her wide range of knowledge and trivia. However she is by no means a carbon copy of that character. She is strong – a requirement for her job as a bounty hunter – and intelligent. One of my favorite things about this book is that no one, including Darius, questions her ability to do her job or anything else she does just because she’s a woman. I feel like so many people would feel the need to qualify that she’s out of the norm or different. Instead she is just allowed to be who she is which is an interesting, kick ass heroine.
Darius is wonderful in his own right, too. He’s smart, thoughtful, and caring. His work for Cipher Systems setting up security systems was interesting. I never thought reading about that would be as interesting as it was. I understood his struggles and concerns as the plot progressed and it was fun seeing him interact with Anna and work with her as they grew closer.
I don’t often rate books five stars, but Code of Honor is one of my favorite reads so far this year. I definitely recommend reading it!!
Thank you to the author for providing an ARC for an honest review.
Favorite Quotes:
How was it possible that Colette, wearing jeans and a linen shirt, could look so effortlessly female, while I looked like a confused boy playing dress-up in his sister’s closet? … We were genetically identical, and yet my body was awkwardly athletic while hers was willowy and slender. My laugh was loud and startling, and hers made fairies sigh and small woodland creatures come out and sing. She walked like a supermodel in stiletto heels while I teetered around like a drunk toddler in anything higher than Doc Martens combat boots.
… his gaze gave me sweaty butterflies. I’ve determined they’re a thing, since I don’t get simple, fluttery, girly butterflies like most straight women do when a ridiculously handsome guy notices them. My butterflies flap around so hard they make me feel slightly nauseated, which inevitably leads to a mild case of the sweats. Ergo, sweaty butterflies.
I had realized when I was a kid, choosing Honor as my D&D character, that my personal code felt a little like a mix of Robin Hood and Mulan, with an unfortunate dose of Sid, the filterless sloth.
I can be a lot of things… but shy isn’t in my repertoire. Awkward and dorky I have covered, and I could draw a map to Mortification Central, but I won’t, because that’s the kind of place you have to stumble into.
“You have a T. rex costume?” he asked as he looked over my shoulder. I snorted. “You don’t?” I shut the drawer before he could see the rhinestone tiara.
My Review:
This fun and snappily written book was chock-a-block full of smartly amusing humor that sparkled brighter than ten glitter bombs and took quirkiness to a stratospheric level. I adored, savored, and gleefully devoured each and every one of Ms. White’s perfectly chosen and expertly paced arrangements of words.
Ms. White’s writing was crisp and flawlessly engaging. Her charismatic characters were delightfully idiosyncratic and deliciously filterless while brimming with uncanny and colorful nonsense as well as intelligent insights and astute observations. The intrigue and mystery were craftily scaffolded and shrewdly tucked in between and among brilliant and raucous bouts of comedy. I adore her brand of whip-smart cleverness and also learned a thing or two, as a consultation with Mr. Google was required for engineer boots and the Four Noble Truths.
Yay for more Cipher Security! I am enjoying how April White weaves such a wonderful story and creates amazing characters that I fall in love with.
Anna is amazing, badass and just great. Her attitude and love for living is so refreshing.
Darius is intense, intelligent and just needs to keep everything in order. When these two collide everything is wonderfully crazy and sexy hot.
Code of Honor will have you laughing out loud but also heartbreaking at times. I’m excited to see who we meet next and you need to read this!
I loved this book. The Cipher Security series is wonderfully written, the characters are unique and well-developed, and the stories hold my attention. In this book, Anna is delightful – straightforward and fearless – and her imagination fascinated me. Darius is serious, and straight-laced. On the surface, they are opposites, so it was fun to watch their relationship develop. The story shows us more of the workings of Cipher Security, with appearances by both Quinn and Dan from the Knitting in the City series. For an extra treat, Shane and Gabriel from Code of Conduct play supporting roles.
This book was a fun read, and allowed me to escape from reality for awhile! I highly recommend this book!
Code of Honor will keep you guessing til the last page! It’s not every day that you can find a book that will make you laugh and blush, all while trying to solve a mystery. I’m so in love with the Cipher Security series and this one is my new favorite. Characters with a lack of filter are some of the best, but Anna has NO filter and I guarantee she’ll have you rolling on the floor with her antics. This story was entertainment at it’s best and I’ve never wanted to work in a story-based office before, but the guys crack me up and who can pass up a hidden staircase?!? Such a great addition to the series!
I just adore this book!! I’m loving the Cipher Security series. It combines amazing suspenseful storylines with tons of humor and snark. And the writing is a complete joy to read.
“… the kind of place where shadows had dance parties on the walls to the snippets of piano tunes wafting from open windows, while cats serenaded the stars with glittering voices.”
Anna is the absolute best heroine. She is strong, smart, and sassy but also a complete dork and funny as all heck. She has no filter on what she says and does and at times had me in stitches!
“That room has the best coffee, so don’t be shy.”
“I can be a lot of things,” I said with a smile I actually felt, “but shy isn’t in my repertoire. Awkward and dorky I have covered, and I could draw a map to Mortification Central, but I won’t, because that’s the kind of place you have to stumble into.”
Anna describes Darius as a “Disney Prince” and she definitely keeps him on his toes and he tries to keep up with her.
I love the slow burn romance, the abundance of laughs and the engaging, intriguing story that had me captivated from the first page to the last.
-5+Stars!!-
This is book 2 and I couldn’t wait as book one was sooooo good. I love April’s writing style which is wicked smart that I want to go read more so I know all the lines. This one doesn’t disappoint at all it has all the smart writing, sassy leading lady, charming leading man, and mystery and action all packed into this book. I just loved it and Anna was a wonderful leading lady- that you just wish you could be that cool. There are some of the characters from book one and others from Penny’s Knitting in the City world, which is always nice and feels like home.
Anna meets Darius when we steals a painting out of one of the house he designed the security systems for. They have killer chemistry but can that win over their values?
Absolutely amazing! I was so excited to see that April was back with another book in the spring launch for SmartyPants & she really wowed me!
I loooooved Anna. She was such a BA, I mean I’d love to have some of her skills! And her imagination and quirkiness just made her so endearing & relatable. Darius….I enjoyed watching him learn that Anna might do things differently but that she has a good heart & the best intentions!
I think that April created an amazing story around them. Seeing these two work together on an art heist that occurred 30 years ago drew me in & I hated having to put the book down!
Link to blog post: https://messybunbookblog.blogspot.com…
Fabulous, delightful read! Funny, quirky, sexy and so clever!
“The filter between my brain and my mouth had always been tenous at best, but it completely disappeared whenever sweaty butterflies got involved.”
Anna Collins meets Darius Masoud (a dead ringer for a Disney prince) under false pretences. After a spewing of verbal awkardness, she fully expects him to retreat but is quietly thrilled when he rolls with it and engages her in conversation. He makes her feels things that she’s never felt before.
“Who was this woman who spoke in non sequiturs like they were an intelligible language, and was somehow both oddly innocently and utterly brazen.”
Darius has never met such a remarkable and fascinating woman as Anna. He is utterly charmed by her intelligence, beauty, personality and impressive physical prowess. However, when evidence about a crime starts pointing in her direction, he battles with is own code of ethics and morality.
“The attraction is visceral…It sparks the air between you like electricity, but ungrounded, like a live wire.”
Anna and Darius are opposites. She is outrageously unfiltered in her speech and thoughts, and her life is like one big adventure, although deep down she harbours a certain level of insecurity. He has a sense of responsibility embedded deep in his psyche. A man of serious thoughts and a moral code steeped in black and white. However, when he meets Anna, she turns him inside out and makes him question everything. Anna and Darius complemented each other so well – I loved their connection. Every word of this story was a delight and the plot was so clever! Anna is such a kickass, quirky heroine – she fits right into this universe of books. This story was funny and well-written, and I’m so looking forward to reading more from this author.
Overall Grade:
Anyone who has, for any length of time, read romance knows that not all romances are created equal. What does that mean? You can read the same trope (enemies-to-lovers tends to be my favorite) by any number of writers, and their voices will be so distinct that you can fall in love with any of them (or the opposite). I am currently obsessed with April White. To be fair, I have just finished reading a second novel by her, Code of Honor, her second SmartyPants Romance book, and I can’t seem to get her writing (and this book) out of my mind. I found her with Code of Conduct, her first book in the SmartyPants Romance world. Her booklist looks fairly small, and honestly, I didn’t rush to read it after reading Code of Conduct. Mostly, that has more to do with my constant reading of ARCs. It isn’t that I didn’t want to read her booklist; I simply find myself indulged in other authors’ ARCs at the moment. Yet, after reading Code of Honor, I’m dying to get my hands on her other books. Like Code of Conduct, this book bowled me over. It would be easy to say that it has everything to do with the story and its connection to Penny Reid’s Cipher Security connection. Who doesn’t want to return to the Knitting in the City folks? Honestly, though, it isn’t that. It’s April White’s prowess at writing romance. Truly. I found myself most intrigued by her story development, prose, and heroine than the connection to the Penny Reid universe. Let me explain further…
It’s hard for me to try and elaborate on this next point without using words that cannot relay my meaning. I’m going to try, so bear with me. This book, according to Amazon, is 337 pages. That’s a good-sized book; I’m not sure how that equates out to total words. Why am I talking about this? Because April White’s story reads deep, “filled in,” so to speak. It reads as though there are so many words that swim on the page, and it’s glorious. Her details woo-ed me. I kept thinking wow…the level of research she did on this story is impressive. What’s more impressive is how seamless her research and details add to the gravity and depth of her story. I’ve recently read stories where the details overwhelmed, where there should have been revision, to bring back the levity of the story. With White’s Code of Honor, these details place you more firmly in Darius and Anna’s story. The story blooms under White’s control, and I was hooked from the first page. I remember feeling the exact same way with her first book in this series, Code of Conduct: so many details, so well-researched, and impressively developed that it pulls the reader into the depths of it. When you buy this book, you’re purchasing something weighted and refined. It is quite a remarkable read.
Add to this depth of soul in her book, April White’s prose. I will get to Anna, White’s heroine in this story, next. However, the words of this story, the way that White strings words into sentences and sentences into paragraphs is impressive. I left this note in my ARC: “April White’s prose is exciting. There are so many witticisms and oddities that it entertains beyond the story.” White’s ability to craft story and character while integrating little facts from history and art compels you through her romance. These words find themselves spoken in the voice of her heroine, Anna, which is probably my favorite part of Code of Honor.
The true beauty of April White’s writing is her ability to create heroines who are created from their own mold that seems broken afterward. I felt these same thoughts during Code of Conduct with her craftsmanship of Shane. White writes heroines who own their idiosyncrasies and originality. Anna isn’t like most people. In fact, if you’ve read Penny Reid’s Knitting in the City series, you know Janie, Quinn’s wife. Like Janie, Anna speaks her thoughts without a filter. She oftentimes begrudges herself of this habit, but it’s these actions that bring the humor and levity to the story which is underpinned by suspense. Additionally, Anna challenges Darius through this habit of unfiltered thinking. Anna doesn’t apologize for herself. It is this truth that is Anna’s power as the heroine. It also sets up the major conflict of the story and White’s play on the idea of honor. In this story, honor is defined in different ways between Anna and Darius, just as “conduct” finds re-definition in White’s first book in the series. Through Anna, we are challenged to consider the gray lines of honor. For Darius, honor is black and white; while for Anna, honor can be re-defined given the situation. As Anna “teaches” Darius this truth, these two struggle. Yet, it’s Anna’s sense of self that eventually bridges their conflict. I cared so much more for Anna as the heroine than Darius because White gives her dimensions in a way that Darius doesn’t quite have. And I loved this. I loved that the heroine was much more interesting than the hero; that, while she tends towards verbal diarrhea of the mouth, she speaks the most truth; that she seems more astute than our hero. I’m not one to pit the hero against the heroine, but Anna represents the feminism of this book, just as Shane did in Code of Conduct. It is Anna’s characterization that illustrates April White’s true genius: the ability to craft interesting, compelling heroines.
You do not need to have read Penny Reid’s universe of books to read a SmartyPants Romance book. You see its colors when you have, but these SmaryPants authors create their own spaces and find their own fans. I had not read April White prior to this series, and I am thankful to the powers that be behind SmartyPants Romance for including her. White is a writer who manufactures her own compelling world of romance that entraps you in her tales. Code of Honor is no different. Anna and Darius’s romantic journey is one full of intrigue, chemistry, hilarity, and happy endings. Through them, April White demonstrates that opposites can attract and find their compromise as they live lives filled with immense love and passion.
April White has blessed our bookshelves with another fantastic Cipher Security book!
I cannot stress how much I love this series! Between the kick-ass heroines, the smoking hot Cipher Security men, and all the action packed not-technically-criminal activity that goes on, you won’t be able to put these books down!
This book follows the story of Anna and Darius. Let me just say, Anna is freaking amazing! Her quirky-ness, knack for just blurting thoughts out and her oddly fantastic abilities make for an absolutely lovable and admirable character.
We can’t forget to mention my sweet Darius. His take-no-crap personality was so fun to read! I also loved how his moral “compass” tended to point him towards Anna (see what I did there? Compass, Pointing.. You get the idea). As in, even when he didn’t quite agree with her on things she still managed to gain his affections more and more.
April White has totally knocked it out of the park with this story! I already can’t wait to read more of this series and more of her work.
This book was a 100/10! So freaking amazing!
Code of Honor
“My personal code felt a little like a mix of Robin Hood and Mulan, with an unfortunate dose of Sid the filterless sloth.”
Anna was the heroine I didn’t know I needed to read. She had personality aspects of many of my favorite “Pennyverse” heroines. (That being said you do not need to have read any Penny Reid books to love this story! It just adds a little something extra if you have and April does a fantastic job of staying true to her characters.) She is wicked smart, quirky, funny, true to herself, and just lovely even if she probably wouldn’t describe herself as such. The wonderfully unique character traits made for a heroine so unabashedly individual and lovable. I was rooting for her from the first page until the last, and I was so hopeful for someone who could see her how she needed to be seen- Not as a thief, or a bounty hunter, or the tomboy twin, but as her unique self.
Darius is a Disney Prince with a code of honor so intense, you don’t know how two people so very different can make it work.
And yet, inevitably they do, and it is honest and lovely as is the journey their relationship takes.
April White has outdone herself yet again. How an author can paint a picture so vividly of somewhere I have never been… it’s absolutely amazing. I felt like I could walk you through the scenery and draw a picture of the locations because it was just that rich. Paintings I’ve never seen, museums, boats, and even the heroines home, were described in detail that was immersive, but never felt overdone.
The novel has intrigue and mystery, suspense and yes, swoony romance, “Code of Honor” was another amazing addition to the Smartypants Romance world.
***5 Stars***
Going into this book, I was pretty certain that I’d enjoy it based on how much I loved Code of Conduct, and I more than just enjoyed it. I freakin’ LOVED this baby. The characters, the heist, the suspense AND the art history woven into the story had me hooked from the start and gave me everything I wanted and so much more than I expected.
I ADORED Anna and Darius. Anna is quite unique and she owns it all. She may not be able to keep the words swimming around in her head from slipping out, which was actually quite enlightening on top of being entertaining ~ if I’m absolutely honest, but she has a heart, and soul, full of goodness. Darius is all about rules. Everything is black and white ~ grey, or color in general ~ rarely ever make it into his world, but he cares deeply, and once he calls you his own, there isn’t anything he wouldn’t do to keep you safe.
Their journey to their HEA was all kinds of fun. They may be opposites in so many ways, but they fit perfectly together because they truly enjoyed who the other was. Their bantering was on point and the chemistry between them HAWT. There were a few bumps in the road, ones that were understandable given their life experiences, but I loved how everything worked out for them in the end.
This was a great addition to the series as well as to the Pennyverse at large. The heist was well thought out and executed, and the little extras added all kinds of goodness to it, especially when it came to the art history aspect. I’m a bit of a art history geek, so that part had me all kinds of giddy. I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with the Cipher crew, and I loved how Shane and Anna ended up colliding. Speaking of Shane, while you don’t have to read Code of Conduct to enjoy this book, I highly recommend that you do.
~ Copy provided by SBPR & voluntarily reviewed ~