Catherine Bybee is one of my favorite authors and knowing she had a new series coming out was extremely exciting prospect and I'm thrilled to say that Changing the Rules is by far one of the best books I've read so far this year. I knew early on in this one that The Richter series was going to be a good one!

Claire Kelly works for McBain Security and while she's a private investigator, she's got a host of other skills that make her very good at her job. Cooper Lockman also works for the company and he has just returned to the United States after spending the last six years working on an assignment in Europe. Claire and Cooper have a bit of a history and so working together could prove to be a bit of a challenge.

When the team is hired to help flush out a prostitution and human trafficking ring at a local high school, Claire and Cooper are forced to work together on a daily basis, which only heightens the feelings that continue to grow between them. Will they be able to do the job they need to do without tipping their hand that they are both undercover and also slowly falling for one another all while trying to keep the young girls being targeted safe?

Bybee does a wonderful job of keeping the reader on the edge of their seat while tackling a problem that is more prevalent than any of us would like for it to be. My eyes were opened to how intricate rings like this are and how sick and dangerous they are. I loved the relationship that Claire and Cooper had. Their banter made me smile so many times! I also loved that some of our favorites from previous Bybee books/series were very involved. I am without a doubt already ready for the next book in this series! Do yourself a favor and pick this one up!

**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

Changing the Rules by Catherine Bybee

In this new series, which is a spinoff from the First Wives book “Say It Again”, and we also get some characters from The Weekday Brides. I am sure if you are a fan, you have already read Say It Again, if not I would recommend reading this one too.

Clair Kelly was a student from the Richter school, so she was well trained in many self-defense art forms and she could hold her own with anything that was thrown her way. When she was freed from the RIchter school, she was taken under the wing of Neil McBain and brought into his security business. But when it comes to Cooper Lockman, who also works for McBain, all the rules go out the window.

The two are assigned on the case of high school students disappearing into prostitution rings targeting young girls. She has to play a student and Cooper is a teacher, but things heat up when they are again working on this case, and it’s not your typical “teacher-student” relationship off school property. They do their best to keep it professional but sometimes the chemistry is just more than in class.

When I began reading this book, it was just a tad slow, for me but it soon began to get really, really good and I could not put it down. I read it in a 24 hr period and it was the early hours of the morning when I finished it. Catherine Bybee knows how to keep her readers turning the pages and giving us a great story. I can’t wait to read the next books in this series. I know late nights will be instore for me again..

Thank you Catherine Bybee and Netgallery for giving me the opportunity to read and review this 5+++ Star book.

Update bumped from 3.5 to 4 ☆
cause of the following.

I strongly recommend reading Say It Again as you get the whole backstory of what went on with the super spy school.

I always enjoy picking up a Catherine Bybee book and Changing The Rules was no exception. However in saying that and this is me there is always something that makes it fall flat, I can never really get the five star read that I want.

MacBain Security has been called in to support a taskforce with a teenage prostitution ring. Claire Kelly rescued from the secret assassin school Richter now gets to all 21 Jumpstreet. For all of you young ones, 21 Jumpstreet, the series with Depp (which I loved) and not the film with Tatum (which I refuse to watch why ruin a good thing?) Now that I have made myself feel old, let's get a crackin' on the review.

Claire Porter goes in as a student to see who the players are but she has backup in her track coach Cooper. When Claire was saved from Richter at the young age of eighteen, Cooper from the start couldn't deny his feelings but the age was a problem and six years is still six years. Neil who adopted Claire kindly suggested that Cooper go to London. However Claire was never far from his mind. After six years Cooper is back and can't get over Claire the case brings them closer together. I liked these two together, they work well. Both as a couple and as a team on the job.

Ms. Bybee does awesome Hero's they are patient, strong and alpha but not a-hole alpha. The heroine always has enough time for herself to realise what she wants and is never pressurised into anything. The hereoine is strong and knows what she wants and get this she isn't stupid. However although the plot was strong I personally think that the book could have been a little shorter. For my liking there was just one too many parties as well as being at school. But this is a fine line and well it can't be too much and not enough to wrap the story up properly.

This is the start of a new series about a group of PI's that are connected to a German school called Ricter where they train you to be some sort of spy, Its connected to another series by the author which I did NOT read. Even not readig the previous books I was never lost.

This story stars Claire who is a living with her best friend Jax in Los Angeles and they both work for the PI firm and both are young and graduated from Ricter. Cooper works for their agency and was in Europe for 6 years and is now back in town, he knew Claire when she was 18 and knew he was too old for her but went away to give her time to grow up. Now he is back and he wants her to give him a shot as they reconnect working a tough case.

The case is about high school girls being stolen and sold to men who turn them into hookers. The PI agency is hired by the police to crack the case and so they infiltrate two high schools with Claire, Jax and Cooper all going back to high school.

It was an awesome story and I loved all the characters and the wriiting and story was absolutely wonderful. Bennett, was my absolute favorite character and I kinda wanted to see some extra scenes with him and Claire after the whole plot was resolved.

I love exciting and interesting stories, and Catherine bybee always delivers. This book is a little bit different than her usual book, but I still enjoyed it. Strong female characters are my jam. Claire is definitely a kick butt heroine. Claire and Cooper (hero/heroine) go undercover in a high school to find out who is involved in a prostitution ring. I thought this book was well written and super fun. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me this ARC.

I was hooked from the first page and finished this book in two days! Catherine Bybee knows how to write a really good, page-turner of a romance!

The story is about a security firm who is hired to suss out human traffickers who are targeting high school students. Claire, Cooper, and Jax go undercover at two high schools to try to find the people involved. Everyone is a suspect- students and faculty.

The romance revs up between Claire and Cooper who have a bit of history together. I loved all of the friendships and relationships between the characters! The banter and interactions are both funny and smart, as well as very entertaining! Bybee also brings to light the seriousness and prevalence of human trafficking in our times, which was eye opening for me. I think she did an excellent job describing a fictional victim named Marie, and also how easy it is to be prey for traffickers.

I have read- and loved- several books by Catherine Bybee and this is another very good one. I was happy to learn about another book in the series and am going to begin reading it soon!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

I’ve enjoyed Catherine Bybee’s books even though the plots have become increasingly more unlikely. This builds on earlier books so you would be better off if you have read her book, Say It Again, so you can understand the background about the German school, Richter, that trained the heroine of this book.


I’m usually pretty willing to suspend disbelief when reading a romance, but this book jumped the shark in the first scene. Claire, our heroine, is part of a security firm that has been hired to guard valuable jewelry and other things at a celebrity charity auction. But the gang on the security firm thought it would be just so funny to play a joke on Claire and have her think a bracelet had been stolen so she would leave her post and tackle a guy in disguise who turned out to be another employee of the firm, Cooper, who will be her love interest. Really? Is this what a professional security firm would do - remove one of their guards from the valuables so they could play a private joke? Yeah, I’m not buying that.

There is some suspense as Claire and Cooper go undercover at a high school to catch the people who are running a sex trafficking operation. That part was interesting, but I never bought into the romance between Claire and Cooper.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

Romantic suspense at its finest. I love a good romance with some mystery and Catherine Bybee always delivers. We met Claire and Cooper previously but she was 18....fast forward 6 years and now we have a grown up Claire and Cooper who is back to help solve a sex trafficking mystery. I loved this story but not gonna lie some parts were difficult to read due to the crime being solved. You’re not going to want to put it down once you start so block off yourself some time!! Looking forward to more from this series.....hoping Jax is next!

A great start to a new series by Catherine Bybee. I was so surprised that it was a spinoff of Sasha’s story, “Say It Again”. Now I have to go back and reread Sasha’s story while this one is still fresh in my head and before the next book comes out. I loved reading about Cooper and Claire as they worked undercover and slowly started their romantic relationship with each other. Cooper had always had feelings for Claire but because of her age when they met (18), he had transferred to London for 6 years to give her time to find out who she was. When he came back, he knew he still had feelings for Claire and wanted to be with her. They both worked for MacBain Security as private investigators and went undercover, with others who worked for MacBain, at a high school to find out who was behind the teenage human trafficking/prostitution ring and stop it. This was an exciting book and I couldn’t put it down once I started. A great romantic/suspense book with an awesome female lead character. Highly recommend this book but I really recommend that you read “Say It Again” first so that you have the background story of Richter and Claire. You can’t go wrong with any of Catherine Bybee’s books. Can’t wait for the next book in this series!

I have absolutely adored the character of Claire ever since she first landed on the page in the book, "Say It Again". She was much younger then but just as riveting a character. In this story, she is no longer a child but a talented and capable agent for McBain Securities and Solutions when she finally comes face to face with Cooper Lockman once again. He originally left when she was 18 and she hasn't seen nor heard from him in six years. They both are assigned to work a child trafficking case together,however, which forces him to deal with the attraction he has never gotten over and her to come to terms with feelings for him she didn't realize she had.

The entire story is classic Bybee, with smooth as silk writing that is an absolute delight to read and characters that are so real they could jump off the page! The author does a fabulous job of combining multiple genre aspects as well. We get to enjoy a bit of mystery, a dose of suspense, mixed with a scrumptious romance! Claire might be a bit frustrating for those who have read earlier books (only because those feelings were so strong and apparent to begin with.) But the road to revelation and love is still a joy to travel!

A perfect escapist read with a good balance of romance and action and a fun nod to 21 Jump Street for those who that reference still has meaning. I enjoyed the writing style and was quickly immersed in the story. Lots of fun!

Absolutely amazing! Catherine Bybee never fails to deliver. This had it all, smouldering romance, quick and witty lines and suspense by the boat load.

Fantastic 21 Jump Street reference, I grew up watching that tv series and this book was just as amazing.
I loved seeing Neil and Gwen again and caring so much for Claire, such an amazing heart.

A brilliant new series and I can’t wait to see more from it.

Oh my! So excited Claire got her story told!

Claire was the young 18 year old rescued from Richter to find her new home with the amazing rough exterior- teddy bear on the inside, Neil, and his wife Gwen in the First Wives' series. You don't have to have read that series, but oh boy why wouldn't you!

Cooper had eyes for Claire when her first met her 6 years ago at the Richter incident. Instant attraction, but forewarned by Neil, Cooper heads to the Europe security branch determined to let Claire be. Always on his mind, Cooper is back and ready to declare his feelings for Claire. WHO IS TOTALLY SHOCKED!

Claire, Cooper and Jax are given an undercover assignment in a local high school and private school suspected of human trafficking. Worse, it's the school Neil and Gwen's daughter attends. I loved the intense drama and intrigue of this storyline. The constant cast of characters and suspicions of who could be involved with such a disgusting crime make for an intense and dramatic read.

The attraction and sparks with Claire and Cooper are amazing. While Cooper is waiting on Claire to catch up to speed on 6 years of desires, Claire may be late to the party but she is ready to make up for lost time when she gets there. LOVED!

Having read both the Weekday Bride series and the First Wives series, I was admittedly sad to see those end. But fortunately, Bybee's latest series brings back many of those characters in all new adventures! This first installment centers around Claire, one of the students from the Richter academy that was introduced in Say It Again. Even if you haven't read these other series, this book can be easily enjoyed as a stand alone. Although I do recommend the other two series simply because they are such page-turners.
While this book is classified as romantic suspense, I would say it is heavier on the suspense side as Claire goes undercover in a high school to break up a trafficking ring. With plenty of action and just a hint of romance, this was a tough book to put down. My only complaint is at times I had trouble keeping up with all of the characters. But even so, this was a great read and I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

With characters from previous novels, this new series is similar to the Weekday novels that I absolutely loved. With some romance but a lot of action and a great story line, I found myself reading late into the night. If you have not read this author please start with the Weekday novels. They are interesting with wonderful characters and kick butt heroines. I received an e-book from NetGalley in return for an unbiased review.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This had all of the heat and treat of a romance book, but all of the seriousness of an undercover sting operation.

I’m not a real fast reader, but I found that I could NOT put this book down. It was impossible to do anything else (like school work) - I needed to know what was going to happen. Lots of twists and turns but VERY a entertaining!!!

Omg its a spin off and omg is amazing i love those bad a$$ Richter girls and I didn't have go leave them behind. It was awesome seeing Sasha again too!!! This book is perfection.

ahhhhhhhhhhh yep i just remembered i loved this book and i need more of the series!

This was the first book I have read of Catherine Bybee. And it won’t be the last. I will definitely be going to get the others In this series! Claire Kelly works with people you can more call family than anything! When called on to go undercover it is finally the action she has been waiting for and with cooper back things are looking up. But will this mission be more than she can handle? Is there something more there with Cooper? You won’t regret reading this book and finding out. You might just fall in love with the whole team also. I can’t wait to read more to learn more about the team! Highly recommend! Book given to me by author!

Loved reading the exciting and engaging story. Cooper and Claire are private investigators undercover at a California high school trying to figure out the people behind the prostitution ring that is targeting teenage girls. Read the highly recommended, wonderfully written, and a must read love story of two people working closely together to stop the disappearance of young girls.
I reviewed a copy of the book through NetGalley.

I love a good book and every book I've read by Catherine fits that description.
This is no different.

This book hits on the very real topic of trafficking and how young girls fall into it even with someone they know.

The team goes undercover at a high school and has to find the major players in a multi state trafficking ring.

I love the crossover from all the older series while still starting a new series! Can't wait for the next installment! #netgalley #changingtherules