Theresa Beachman is a new author to me. I started this series with book four, The Engineer, because the premise sounded interesting. I will, however, not be reading the other books in this series.
Jo, an investigative journalist, hires Guardsmen Security after her investigation into her brother’s death places her in danger. There she meets Griff, the bodyguard assigned to protect her. The two of them set off on the trail of the company she’s investigating, and along the way, they fall in love.
Maybe it was my own fault for starting the series in the middle, but I was confused from the start. It was not clear where the story played off: places in Norway were mentioned, and so were the UK and US. We even had an MMC who underwent BUDS training—I thought this was a US-only thing?—but with a Norwegian surname.
Both main leads’ characterization was inconsistent, and supporting characters came across as one-dimensional. The investigation itself had many gaps, and I often found myself wondering what answers they received to their questions (because it was not specified on-page) and even what those questions were. The relationship between Griff and Jo was rushed and seemed choppy. Background information on both characters was flimsy.
The story started well enough but then soon fell apart. The book title did not tie to the story (or Griff, who I assume was “the engineer”), but because I was interested in seeing how the story ended, I’m giving this one a rating of 2.