A great romance/mystery story that keeps you engaged! Loved the plot and how everything unfolded! I would recommend this book!

I so enjoyed this offering from Ms. Paton. The premise of Fool Me Forever is fun and flirty. The characters are engaging, and the story itself was so very entertaining. I realized about 1/4 of the way through that it is part of a series, and I ordered the first book. I'm glad I did, I think they are best read in order. Ms. Paton has created a complex set of characters, placed them in intriguing situations, and I am really looking forward to the continuation of the series. Well crafted, enjoyable, light reads.
I received my copy through NetGalley and am under no obligation to the publisher.

Okay, so I definitely read this back in 2018 and I definitely liked it. Why didn't I review it?!

Anyway, a con-artist promises to help the woman he's entranced with and her struggling non-profit get their money back after being caught up in a scandalous swindle by a bad foreign investor. All Lenore has to do is fake-date Halsey, gain entrance to his high class world, and let his skills of lying and deception help her get the money back.

Swoony and I love a great heist!

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.

Technically, this should have been all my flavors of catnip and then some? I struggled, though, with the characters' internal conflicts & their resolutions--it both did & didn't feel too easy and I couldn't quite reconcile how they overcame their innate moral compasses to be together.

MS Paton has a fabulous writers voice she brings out the best in her characters, her stories are witty with wonderful banter, and this one is no exception there is a lot going on when Halsey Sherwood meets up with the beautiful Lenore Bradshaw and together they work on a sting to bring a Prime Minister down, the sparks fly and the sensual pull grows as PowerPoint girl and ExcelBoy work together and try and control their feelings.

Lenny is working hard to keep her charity, Dollars 4 Daughters going after her life has been turned upside down first by her father going to prison then her best friend and partner falling in love with Cal Sherwood who comes from a family of fraudsters as far as Lenny is concerned. So when Halsey, Paul Newman look alike brother of Cal arrives at her office to check her accounts the sparks start to fly with a sensual pull and then a proposition to team up and work a sting sets them on a course to love.

Hal is not a field person worker he is more a spreadsheet guy and working for the family in Robin Hood style brings them close to being con artists, but helping Lenny after everything that has happened to her is going to change how Hal works and bringing down the Prime Minister of Ossovia becomes top priority and although having Lenny work with him is not ideal in case she gets hurt it is a bonus that has Hal opening up to who he really is.

This was a real page turner, there are arguments, there is fun, the clothes and shoes that Lenny has is amazing but above all the love that grows between them is just amazing and beautiful and had me cheering them one, truly there is so much in this story that made me love Hal and Lenny, I highly recommend this one and look forward to more in the Sherwood family they are a family I want to get to know, thank you MS Paton.

Fool Me Forever is a very good mystery/romance. I enjoyed the plot, characters and the author’s writing. I look forward to reading more of her books. I received an arc from Netgalley and this is my unbiased review.

I really loved the first book about the Sherwood Family and to actually get a second book, this time with the socially awkward but no less brilliant in the art of the con, Halsey Sherwood was a welcome surprise. And of course his soon to be partner Lenore aka Lenny who is extremely averse to any type of con will present readers with another exciting heist romance. Halsey and Lenny are adorable together and how the conflict gets resolve is sarisfying.

What does a modern day Robin Hood look like? That’s what author Ainslie Paton tackles in her latest series, The Confidence Game. It’s about the Sherwood family and their allies, modern day thieves who excel at breaking the law but do it with a sole purpose in mind – to rob the rich of their ill-gotten gains and give to the poor and deserving. They do it with shady investments and forged art, attracting wealthy clients whose greed knows no bounds until they find themselves losing it all. Is what they do illegal? Yes. Is it immoral or unethical? Well, that’s the gray area. In Fool Me Forever, Halsey Sherwood finds himself tangling with Lenore Bradshaw in a con artist’s game where the winner could end up losing the most important thing of all – their heart.

Lenny knows firsthand what it’s like to be a victim. Her father is in jail for running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded people of their hard earned money. She, her mother and siblings have paid the price with a societal shunning and financial backlash. Lenny’s charity, Dollars for Daughters (D4D) has also suffered as wealthy donors withdrew from their commitments. She’s especially bitter that her best friend Fin got involved in an illegal scheme that funneled money through their charity, falling for the man responsible, Cal Sherwood, in the bargain. Lenny knows all about the Sherwoods now because of Fin but she’s kept their secrets because being involved in another financial scandal is definitely not going to help rehabilitate her reputation. So when Cal’s brother Halsey shows up at her door to make sure D4D’s accounting won’t set off any alarms, she’d like nothing more than to slam it in his face.

Halsey is a desk man. He’s the brother responsible for the charts and the spreadsheets, the brains that make the Sherwood’s investment schemes look good on paper even if they don’t hold up in reality. But when his brother tasks him to ensure Lenny’s charity won’t get into hot water over Fin’s involvement with them, he discovers a problem. Lenny has been taken for a ride, literally, by the Prime Minister of Ossovia who has used a donation from D4D that was supposed to go to scholarships for students to instead buy a $100,000 sports car for himself. It’s not the only action that Prime Minister Ozols (code named Cookie Jar by those familiar with his schemes) has taken on behalf of himself, funneling millions of dollars into his own personal wealth and keeping his citizens in the dark. But this time it’s personal.

Halsey is determined to prove to Lenny what Ozols has been up to, and to recoup her donation so that she can put it to better use. Not only that, he’s committed to getting Ozols ousted by his own citizens by exposing his fraudulent money use through a Sherwood scheme. Trouble is, he’ll not only have to do field work, he’ll need a partner too. When Lenny buys into the premise of his plans, they agree to work together until he’s got the big fish on the hook, then she’ll back off and he’ll do the rest. But what will happen when Halsey discovers he’s not ready to lose his partner in crime? And will Lenny be able to look beyond the con man and see someone worth betting on?

Readers who are tired of alpha males in contemporary romance – rejoice! I’ve found you a beta hero worth a spot on your book boyfriend shelf. Halsey is easy going, intelligent and quietly confident. His laid-back manner masks keen observational skills instilled in him since childhood, a Sherwood survival trait. He’s well-dressed, handsome, and could give a young Paul Newman a run for his money! He knows how to wine and dine and romance a woman and puts those skills to good use once Lenny lets him past her fully understandable barriers. It’s a relief for Halsey to be up front and honest with Lenny when his whole life is built on his ability to tell lies. But he doesn’t sugarcoat the truth either. He’s grown up in the family business and he believes in what he’s doing. He has no plans to go straight, even if it costs him a relationship. It will be up to Lenny to decide whether her conscience will let her heart get involved. Clearly Halsey is head over heels for her from the start, making his stumbles with her that much more painful to watch. Nobody’s perfect, and he makes his share of mistakes. But he’s got no qualms about showing Lenny how he feels about her, his protective side coming out when needed even if the timing is sometimes off. If you don’t fall a little for Halsey in this romance, you’ve got a heart of steel.

Lenore is a strong, capable woman but feeling the heat. She’s got good reason to be mistrustful of Halsey, having been betrayed by a parent who on the surface played the same game, and picking up the pieces for her stressed out mother and teenaged sister. Oh, and she has a brother who takes after her father more than she’d like to admit, along with some not so pleasant bullying traits. Her desire to do well in the world has only intensified with the fallout from her father’s fraudulent activities and her struggles with D4D are the only thing that convinces her to go along with Halsey’s plan. She’ll be his arm candy in social circles that will get them into the same events as 'Cookie Jar', introducing her back into the society that has shunned her and hopefully getting her donors to see her as a separate entity from her father. Rebuilding that trust won’t be easy and it could all be shattered if the truth of what they are really doing comes out. But the Sherwoods are not new to deceit and have a number of tricks up their sleeves.

As Lenny wonders how such a good man as Halsey can be a criminal, so does the reading audience have to think about what constitutes a crime. In the Sherwood’s shoes, if you could steal money from rich, entitled, misogynistic, racist men and give that money freely to struggling women and their families, would you do it and risk the consequences? Can you love someone with a heart of gold, even if they are a thief? All of this makes for an exciting, sexy and thought provoking romance. The Confidence Game series is a unique concept and ripe for the current state of world affairs. I highly recommend it for those lusting for a little justice with their side of romance.

This review has been posted at All About Romance and feedback updated with the link. A short review has been posted at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.. The link to the blog post will be posted at Goodreads when live.

The characters are very strong and have their own areas of expertise you could say. And because of that, there are serious trust issues. When this starts to get dangerous both characters question their belief in the other and who is the real con artists. Hoping it's not the other. This has a lot of twists and turns it gets a little slow but picks back up and I enjoyed the romance as well as the mystery part.

Fool Me Forever by Ainslie Paton is book Two in The Confidence Game series. This is the story of Lenore 'Lenny' Bradshaw and Halsey Sherwood . I haven't yet read the previous book, so for me I made this a standalone book.
Lenny is out to clear her charity's name after being caught up with a partners money laundering. Halsey has been sent to help but Lenny isn't open to that at first. But they start to slowly work together which in turns gives their feelings time to grow.
Enjoyed their story and hope to read more from this author.

after surviving the ordeal of having her father convicted of running a ponzi scheme, the last thing lenore bradshaw, lenny to her friends, needs is halsey sherwood, of the con artist sherwoods hanging around and claiming to help her.

the problem is he is helping her. and in fool me forever, the problem isn't lenny and halsey's attraction to each other. it's that they aren't supposed to end up together. he's a con artist from a long line of con artists, and lenny is trying to play it straight and do good. and how can she do good if she's constantly surrounding herself with criminals.

the sherwoods do bad things for good reasons. the con the con and redistribute the ill-gotten goods. when lenny is tricked out of money by a perfect sherwood target, she finds herself partnering up with halsey to bring the bad guy down. and the more she sees of halsey the clearer it is that he is not the villain she's made him out to be.

but can he be the hero in her story? that's the question, and like we all know the answer here, but getting there is so emotionally satisfying. i loved halsey and i loved lenny and i think they are perfect together. i loved them even more than cal and finley.

**fool me forever will publish on september 24, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing (amara) in exchange for my honest review.

Fool Me Forever by Ainslie Paton is a great edition to The Confidence Game series.

This is the second book I’ve read by Ms. Paton and I have to say she definitely has my attention...I am completely hooked. Halsey...omgosh where can I get one of him LOL!!!

I love the author’s writing style, wonderful characters and interesting storyline...Paton pulls you in from the get-go.

An ARC was generously provided in exchange for an honest review of which this is both honest and completely voluntary.

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own*

I absolutely enjoyed reading this book.

While the romance is clearly there and a big part of the book, I really liked how the plot didn't revolve around it-- these are my favorite types of romances, because there is other things going on. In this case, they are trying to swindle a big time swindler. I love it.

The characters were fantastic. Halsey is a fantastic male lead. He isn't the usual arrogant, imposing dude-- he actually has feelings and insecurities and... he just has depth. It is so refreshing, I'm not going to lie. Lenore isn't helpless, either. She is such a great character to read about. The characters really made this enjoyable to read.

I'm praising this book all over the place, but only 4 stars?? The conflict *sigh* I swear I probably just need a break from romance novels because how the couple reaches the point of "oh we love each other but this just won't work because [conflict] just annoys the stuffing out of me. Especially when the guy acts like an asshole or out of character. Just.... ugh. Once the conflict part came about my interest severely waned :(

I might read the first one... maybe... I feel like it was kind of spoiled because I read this book haha, but I am interested in reading more of this series. I think anyone who likes romance will be interested in reading this one, especially if you want more than just the romance.

Hilariously funny! Lenny and Halsey make the most adorable couple. I want to be a part of the Halsey’s fun filled family. Mal is the typical bratty 16 year in full angst mode. This is just a crazy, hilarious and fun story.

ARC received via Netgalley for an honest review

Every Ainslie Paton book is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.

If you have read One Night Wife, then you have already kinda met our leading man and lady, Lenny and Halsey.

We know that Halsey Sherwood is a grifter, a con man who will take you down (well, if you are a despot who needs taking down).

Lenny has been dragged into the con by her best friend Fin and Halsey's brother Cal in the last book, hates the con game and everything Sherwood.

There is something about Ms Paton's characters that, even when we shouldn't really like them, we can't help but fall for them.

I love that Halsey is the nerdy, computer guy of the Sherwood business. I adore how he stumbles over his words when he is around Lenny. Totally adorkable.

I love how our lovelies lives aren't all rainbows and butterflies, they have their baggage and their issues and they are dealt with realistically.

Fool Me Forever was a great bit of escapism, and I can't wait to see what Ms Paton brings us next.

I really enjoyed ONW but Fool Me Forever didn’t work well for me. It felt slow and I never fully connected with the characters. The hero, Halsey, is the younger brother of the hero in the previous book. Halsey is everything I like in a hero including awkward and a someone straddling the line of right and wrong. Lenny, the heroine is smart and independent and hesitant to be involved with Halsey. It had an enemies to lovers start, but they were never truly enemies. It was also a slow burn and once it ignited, it wasn’t super hot. I loved them individually but I just didn’t connect with them as a couple. This wasn’t a terrible read, it just wasn’t great either.

Halsey is a Sherwood - and they do a great job at conning you - but only if you are a bullying, self serving, deceitful despot of some sort. But Halsey is a back seat guy in the family, until his more outgoing brother Cal is away and there is nothing else but for him to come out from behind his desk, and for him to flex his muscles.

Lenny is a Bradshaw, and these days not so proud of that because her father has been sent to prison because of dirty schemes. Lenny runs a business where she helps women get on their feet with monetary support. Unbeknown to her she has been conned by a dastardly despot, and riding in is Halsey to help her right things. Not that she is terribly keen on that.

I again enjoyed a meet up with the Sherwood family, who rob the undeserved rich to help the poor. This whole con job was fun to watch go down, as of course the relationship between Lenny and Halsey. He falls for her straight away - Lenny not so open to being able to trust such a blackguard. Or... is he!

Loved the side characters of Mal and Amelia. Mal a troubled teen who provided me with quite a few laughs and Amelia - whom I fell in love with.

Fool Me Forever by Ainslie Paton is the second book in The Confidence Game series but the first one I have read and it can definitely be read as a standalone.

Lenore's charity has been involved in a scandal and the donation money is missing. Halsey is a con artist who suggests they work together to find out what happened. But Lenore refuses to have anything to do with him but then things change.
Perfectly told realistic romance between two very different people who have opposed values and opinions but can't deny feelings for each other.
Pleasurable read with some very steamy scenes. Well written with many twists to keep it entertaining.

OK fine, Ainslie Paton can take all my money. I've had nothing but positive experiences with her books, but I think Fool Me Forever is my favorite from her. The Confidence Games series has been mindblowing, romantic and immensely fun to read.

Fool Me Forever picks up where One Night Wife ended, told from the perspectives of Lenny Bradshaw, partner and friend to Fin, and Halsey Sherwood, brother of Cal. Lenny is understandably furious at the Sherwoods and Fin for their scam, even more so because her father was recently arrested for pulling something similar. She wanted nothing to do with that family, so when Halsey drops on her doorstep with an offer for help with her charity's finances, she was quite acerbic towards him. I liked Lenny a lot. She was someone who stood her ground and refused to allow all the crappy recent events in her life to thwart her goals. She was quite admirable with her no-nonsense attitude and her headstrong personality. She wasn't all rough and cold as I am making her sound in this review though. Readers will get to see a gentler and more compassionate side of her surface as the book progressed, especially around her handful of a teenage sister. Speaking of the teenage sister, Mal was a treat. She was dealing with the typical teenage angst and was kind of a pain in the butt, but she made me laugh at her antics. Halsey too, I just absolutely adored. Despite being a rich-people scammer, he was a gentleman - he was kind and all kinds of attentive. I very much had a soft spot for Halsey and I couldn't help but swoon at how patient and devoted he was towards Lenny. I was also low-key very very attracted to the ingenious ways he manipulated the filthy rich folks to give up their money without them ever suspecting a thing. I need to learn a thing or two from Halsey ...

The main reason I can't get enough of Ainslie Paton's books is her romances. There is just something about them! She is just brilliantly deft at writing couples who have a ton of chemistry together. Lenny and Halsey just sparked off the pages of Fool Me Forever. I devoured this romance because of how good these two were together. At first, Lenny wanted nothing to do with Halsey, but she can't help but give in to the strong attraction between them when the two of the partner up to take down a corrupt prime minister. It made me sigh in happiness to watch them open up to each other. I swear these two have to be one of the softest couples I've ever come across and now all I want is more soft couples in my romance books. As with One Night Wife, I found the plot-line revolving around the scam to be addicting. I couldn't look away from it as everything came crashing down for the corrupt prime minister, and I found myself cheering on Halsey even though yes, his acts could be considered criminal. Who cares about morality in fiction though, especially if they are taking down gross people in the first place? Not this girl! We also get to see more of the Sherwoods and I'm obsessed with this family. Can we please get a Mama Sherwood book? She has got to be my favorite secondary character in this series!

Fool Me Forever was another entertaining and lovely romance from Ainslie Paton that I just pretty much devoured. Pick up her books, friends. You won't regret it!

It's been said that you can read this book as a standalone, but I definitely would not delve into it without reading the first book in the series first. From the start, the reader is dropped into a fairly tense conversation between the two MCs and if you didn't read the first book you would wonder why there is so much animosity.

I didn't love either of the MC's and I didn't like their chemistry together at all. Their conversations were weird and unnatural and their reactions around one another were TOO dramatic. It was like a soap opera where everything is taken to the nth degree for the sake of dramatics.

I'm sure a lot of people will love this book, but I couldn't get past the characters and their strange attitudes and behavior.