REVIEW: Changing the Rules by Catherine Bybee

 

OUR REVIEW:

Catherine Bybee was one of the first women's fiction/contemporary romance authors I read when I rediscovered my love of romance many many moons ago. So when I saw she had a new series, I thought I'd see what this version of her writing was all about. 

In Changing the Rules, the characters are working undercover to break up a human trafficking ring that seems to be originating in a high school. Interesting, right? Yeah, the premise is interesting and the intricacies involved must have taken a huge white board to keep it all straight. And that may have been part of my problem with parts of this novel--I sometimes felt like I had a lot of information coming at me and I couldn't always keep it straight. I also got the distinct impression that these characters, who were new to me, were probably not so new to fans of Bybee and so I always found myself wondering what I was missing--what piece of the puzzle did I not know that would make all of their connections all click? The romance part also was unusual for me--it's rare when one party in a party of two is so completely clueless about the feelings of the other, but that was definitely a thing for our main characters. It grew on me, but at first it was a little ....strange. 

All of this to say that Changing the Rules was probably a great read for her fans but it just didn't always work for me. 

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SYNOPSIS:

As an employee of MacBain Security and Solutions, Claire Kelly can certainly hold her own. Armed with an impressive set of covert skills, she’s more than prepared to tackle any job that comes her way…except one involving Cooper Lockman.

Cooper and Claire used to work together before his feelings for her sent him packing to Europe for six long years. But now he’s back and determined to ignore the still-smoldering heat that lingers between them.

Their current mission: go undercover together at a California high school to root out the mastermind behind a prostitution ring targeting young girls. The closer they get to the truth and the closer they get to each other, however, the deadlier their task becomes. As Claire and Cooper risk their lives to bring down their target, will their hearts be the final casualties?