Changing the Rules

I really enjoyed this book. I remember entering the giveaway thinking this book was going to be right up my alley. I wasn't wrong. It had a nice mix of romance and undercover excitement as a team investigated the human trafficking of high school students. I look forward to more. The main characters in this book are from Catherine Bybee's First Wives series and that happens to be a series of hers that I have not had the pleasure of reading yet. I plan to begin that series soon.

More Action, Arguably Less Romance. Still Bybee. This book - arguably a version of a take on 21 Jump Street (though admittedly my only exposure to that franchise is the Tatum/ Hill movies) - continues Bybee's recent (2020+) path of moving to less saccharine / comedic romances and to more thriller-ish romances. There is still comedy and sweetness here, but it takes more of a backburner to the thriller elements. Also continuing is Bybee's more recent examination of weighty real-world topics while telling a romance tale, and in this case the topic in question is sex trafficking - particularly of high school/ just after high school age young women. Bybee, at least in my experience with her books, isn't really known for having multiple sex scenes throughout the tale, and this particular book is no exception to that norm. Truly a solid romance, with all of the old RWA standards I am aware of met, and a pretty good (low body count) thriller to boot - particularly when considering that the author is more known in the romance world and has written far more in that genre. This reader, for one, is looking forward to seeing where this series goes. Very much recommended.