Catherine Bybee

Security agent Claire Kelly goes undercover with her former love, Cooper Lockman, at a California high school to root out the mastermind behind a prostitution ring targeting young girls.--Adapted back cover.

Changing the Rules

Elianna Lucas

As the heroine of the story, Claire is strong, courageous, and can hang with the guys. She is also compassionate and feminine in a way that makes it clear you don’t have to be masculine to do the work she does. This was a refreshing character, who showed great concern for the task at hand and not the typical dedication that results in the lack of a social life.

While it wasn’t the center of the story, the relationship between Claire and Cooper is a slow burn romance that helped to break up the heaviness of such a difficult topic. Although advertised as a romance, this book is more of a mystery. I actually appreciated that the romance wasn’t front and center of this story, since it allowed me to focus on the seriousness of the trafficking of underage girls.

This was a really great read for me! It started out slow and I couldn’t name for sure how I was feeling about it, but a third of the way in it started to pick up. Cooper and Claire’s interactions along with the supporting characters made for a strong plot and engaging storyline. I ended up really enjoying this read for how it highlights such a crucial topic in a way that didn’t completely overwhelm me. I will be recommending this book!

**Trigger Warning: this book centers on human trafficking and so contains numerous scenes discussing and detailing both sexual and physical abuse

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Totally Addicted to Reading

Changing the Rules is the first book in the Richter series. Catherine Bybee is not an author whose work I am familiar with. However, the synopsis hinted at an exciting read and with that in mind I jumped at the chance to read this book. The story delivered as expected.

While reading, I recognised that this was a spin-off of another series. Information I wish I had before jumping into this book. This in no way prevented me from enjoying Changing The Rules. However, if I had the chance to read the previous series, I would have had more information regarding the background of the main characters.

Claire and Cooper, the stars of the show, both work for McBain Security Solutions. Cooper left six years ago to work with the London team. His reason for leaving had to do with his intense feelings towards Claire, but now he is back hoping to win her heart. However, before he can accomplish that, they need to infiltrate a high school to uncover the mastermind behind a teenage prostitution ring.

The story captured my attention from start to finish. Throw in some dirty cops, shady teachers and misbehaving students and you get an intense story which will keep you on your toes.

I had an interesting time watching Claire re-inventing her high school experience. From what I gathered, her true experience was not so great. Cooper made a great coach. I loved how well the team worked together to bring down the culprits. The interactions and the banter between helped to lighten some of the moments in the story.

The romance, although not the focus of the story, could have benefited from a little more development. Cooper’s feelings were made clear from the get go, while Claire’s proved difficult to determine. One moment she sees him as a friend, then the next she is head over heels.

I alternated between the e-book and the audiobook.  Lori Prince and Joe Arden narrated. While I didn’t mind the male narrator’s voice, the female narrator irked me. Her accents and her attempts to sound like a teenager were off-putting, which pulled me out of the story several times. The e-book saved me from giving up on the story, which made it the better choice.

Overall, a good story and one I would recommend to fans of romantic suspense.This review was originally posted on Totally Addicted to Reading

Lynn Braden

Claire Kelly is assigned to go undercover as a high school student to help track down a human trafficking ring preying on young girls.  Along with her will be her friend, Cooper Lockman, who has just returned from 6 years setting up a second branch of MacBain Security and Solutions in England.  Now that he is back, Cooper is determined to make his friendship with Claire into something more, while they are working together on this assignment.  However, their relationship may have to wait because not only are they looking for criminals at the school, but they will also be searching for crooked undercover cops.

On paper, Changing the Rules sounds like an exciting romantic suspense novel, but whatever romance this story contains is weak on emotions and substance.  The mystery element of the book moves too slowly to be called suspense until the last couple of chapters, leaving this story feeling like it is missing its core.  Overall, Changing the Rules is a disappointment on all levels.

Changing the Rules

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