Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Veena’s review of An Unexpected Distraction (Richter, Book 3) by Catherine Bybee
Romantic Suspense published by Montlake 30 Nov 21

From the moment Andrew picks up Jax at Heathrow airport and she thinks he’s a chauffeur, I got sucked into their sparkling dialogue and the sheer romance of this perfect couple with a story that has enough suspense to keep the adrenaline flowing.  I started reading Ms. Bybee with this series, but I discovered that she has a lot of books to her credit, and I look forward to exploring some of those others soon.

Jax is an agent with McBain Securities in California. She has just wrapped up a sex trafficking case, when her brother Harry calls her to come out to England on an urgent family matter that he can’t disclose over the phone.  She’s disappointed to find that her brother couldn’t make the effort to pick her up at the airport, though she’s definitely intrigued with the handsome chauffeur. Soon it turns out that her parents are having marital troubles, and Andrew is actually Harry’s friend and not a chauffeur. The story just takes off from there and sweeps up the reader along for the most delightful ride.

Richter is a military school where children were taught spy craft and hacking and all other manner of things. McBain Securities and her fellow agents have had a hand in getting all the illegal activities and abuse that was happening at Richter shut down, but Jax has always wondered how she ended up as a paying student there, considering her parent’s affluence and status. Now as she tries to dig into the troubles between her parents and reports of resumed activities at Richter, she digs into her own roots.

The story takes readers from the US to England to Europe, and Andrew might be a stockbroker, but he’s determined to stick by Jax and support her in her investigation. This is an excellent chapter in the Richter series, of which I hope there will be more.

Grade: A

Summary:

Jacqueline “Jax” Simon knows how to expose secrets: she’s a skilled operative with MacBain Security and Solutions. When Jax hears her parents are divorcing, she races to London to find out why. She’s determined to learn the truth, especially when her investigation uncovers why her parents sent her to Richter, the German military school that made her a fighter.

Andrew Craig collects Jax at Heathrow Airport as a favor. He’s heard she’s a handful, but he didn’t know she’s dangerously gorgeous too. His instant attraction could change his life…or end it.

Jax doesn’t want to fall for Andrew, but soon he’s worming his way into her life. Together, they infiltrate Richter to discover if it has returned to its covert purpose: training children to be spies and assassins and blackmailing parents to look the other way. As the attraction between the two intensifies, so do the secrets exploding all around them. How deadly are those secrets—and who will survive?

No excerpt available.

Other books in this series: