Domestic thrillers often disappoint me. Stone Cold Fox is going to be a total hit. I read it in one day and could not stop reading. It has it all: great writing, compelling characters and a story you have not read before.

Bea is an ambitious marketing executive who is about to marry the son of an extremely wealthy Manhattan family. Colin’s best childhood friend, Gale, is not going to let that happen because she is on to Bea’s past. Bea is unsure of what Gale knows and the game of cat and mouse begins.

That story is interspersed with the story of Bea’s childhood if you can even call it that. Mother, if you can even call her that, is a long game con artist.

So many twists in this book and I saw none of it coming.

But, I have questions about that ending!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. 5

Thank you to Berkeley and netgalley for the free e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Perfect by the fire read. This domestic thriller has the fun storyline of the grifter trying to enter the rich family and the woman who tries to take her down. The lines are blurred on who you root for as it comes to a thrilling end.

This was another great debut for 2023! The book follows a woman who is plotting her life out to score her very wealthy boyfriend. Along the way we learn about her past as a con artist with her conniving and ruthless mother who oddly reminded me of Jeanette MCcurdys mom. I really enjoyed the narration by the main character and was always guessing about who really was in control. There are a few twists though I definitely figured one out quite early.

I recommend this for those that like psychological thrillers and unreliable narrators.

A slick and sexy debut!

The first 75% of this con artist, social climber domestic thriller/suspense had me a bit bored if I'm completely honest but things did pick up towards the end and had me interested in how things would shake down.

Okay on audio, I really think it would be been a lot better if Brittany Pressley had been narrating - she does such a good job at the unlikeable female protagonists, making them more sympathetic and relatable than they otherwise would have been.

Recommended for fans of books like this year's The social climber by Amanda Pellegrino, Janelle Brown's Pretty things or Marissa Stapley's Lucky - (other books with a complicated mother/daughter con artist relationship). Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

"A perfectly wicked debut thriller about an ambitious woman who, after a lifetime of conning alongside her mother, wants to leave her dark past behind and marry the heir to one of the country's wealthiest families.

Like any enterprising woman, Bea knows what she's worth and is determined to get all she deserves - it just so happens that what she deserves is to marry rich. Filthy rich. After years of forced instruction by her mother in the art of swindling men, a now-solo Bea wants nothing more than to close and lock the door on their sordid partnership so she can disappear safely into old-money domesticity, sealing the final phase of her escape.

When Bea chooses her ultimate target in the fully loaded, thoroughly dull and blue-blooded Collin Case, she's ready to deploy all of her tricks one last time. The challenge isn't getting the ring, but rather the approval of Collin's family and everyone else in their 1 percent tax bracket, particularly his childhood best friend, Gale Wallace-Leicester.

Going toe-to-toe with Gale isn't a threat to an expert like Bea, but what begins as an amusing cat-and-mouse game quickly develops into a dangerous pursuit of the grisly truth. Finding herself at a literal life-and-death crossroads with everything on the line, Bea must finally decide who she really wants to be.

Like mother, like daughter?"

Because sometimes grifters need to look within.

Thank you to the publisher for my copy of this - all opinions are my own.

This book is SO FREAKING GOOD, I am still thinking about it days afterwards. A deliciously deranged story about a con-woman trying to con her way into a straight life is exactly the kind of escapism reading that I didn't know I needed in my life.

I loved every single page of this book. The mental games, the manipulation, the cons - I know in theory that Bea is not exactly a good person, but that did not stop me at all from rooting for her to get away with her biggest con yet, marrying into BIG generational wealth.

The flashbacks to Bea's life growing up makes her a likeable character, while building this tension that something sinister is going to happen and you have no way to stop it. I loved her banter and ongoing battle with Gail, who is utterly detestable. Mostly, I loved her inner dialogue which SOMEHOW almost feels inspiring, like you too should approach your life with this devil may care attitude that seems to work so well for her.

Overall, I just SO enjoyed this one, and this will be VERY high on my top 2023 reads list, no question. Get this one!!

Very pleasantly surprised by this debut! I was intrigued by the synopsis, but feared it might dip into trite or over-done territory. Not the case! Fresh, unique, and page-turning. Can't wait to see more from this author!

I can’t believe that this book was a debut! It was so good! Hand me hanging onto the edge of my seat from the start.

Bea knows what she’s worth and she’s determined to get what she deserves – and she’s going to get it by marrying rich. Bea knows how to play the game, she learned from the best – her mom. When she finally choses her target, she is met with an unplanned foe – her soon to be husbands best friend, Gale. Gale is in love with Bea’s fiancé and determined to get Bea out of the picture by exposing her for who she really is. Will Gale succeed in ruining Bea? Or will Bea prevail and get everything she’s ever wanted?

Sometimes when a story is told only from one point of view, I tend to get bored but that was not the case with this one. I loved the past and the present and it was so fun when they came together. I loved how this was an edge of your seat thriller, but not in the traditional sense, it was more about backstabbing and secrets from the past – which was great. I loved all the chaos in this book and seeing how Bea’s life had taken form, and how she ended up. I loved the side characters in this book, they added so much to the story. The writing was amazing and well done which is fantastic for a debut.

I was so excited to get approved for this one, and I hope you check it out on Valentine’s Day. There’s no better way to my heart than a good thriller. Thank you so much to Berkley Pub, @berkleypub, the author, and @netgalley for my e-arc in exchange for this honest review.

Bea has a goal: marry into a filthy rich family. Her mother taught her ways to con men. Bea does not want to be like her mother at all.

Bea becomes an enemy of Gale Wallace-Leicester. Great reading of the hisses between the two!

We get glimpses into Bea’s childhood and upbringing. While reading, I wondered what happened to Bea’s mother and the men she conned.

An enjoyable novel full of suspense.

This was not at all what I expected. I love a good conwoman story. Heartbreakers will forever be a favorite film of mine. Unfortunately this didn't have any of the fun scheming I was hoping for from a woman who's smarter than everyone around her. Instead it was sort of...sad. Bea may be running a con, but she's really just trying to escape. This read like a thriller with an unlikable narrator and the conwoman piece was barely prevalent.

BUT - my biggest issue with this book was that it was 95% inner monologue. It felt way too repetitive and too much telling me what was happening versus actually showing it. I found myself skimming a lot by the second half for this reason.

Twists were okay but fairly predictable. All in all, this was a miss for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

This voice had a strong voice and moved at a quick pace. The twists and turns came at the right moment and the ending was a great surprise. An excellent read.

After considering this novel for a couple days as I tried unsuccessfully to categorize it, I finally realized that what it reminds me of is Thackeray's Vanity Fair. And then I had it: satire, masquerading as a small-r romance, that is, romance in the fictional sense, not in the market category for romance sense. Even though on the surface, we have a couple who go from dating to engagement to marriage and beyond, what I felt by the end was that the whole really bordered on horror, emotionally.

There is a key line in the middle, about us (humans) being chaos-creatures drawn to drama. Which is true. But for a lot of us, the tension comes in the push-pull with justice, or harmony, or order, or peace. I know that some read for the chaos and entropy. Darker the better. I don't, which is probably why it took me several days to read this book, which is not long. The prose is fine, it's even first person, which I am fond of. But I began to be wary of the unreliable narrator, and finally, I found myself wishing for one character I could root for. Zip, right to the sudden, (purposely?) clumsy ending.

But I have absolutely no doubt this novel will rocket to the best seller list, for those who have a fascination for emotional train wrecks. And I'm sure there will be a film as cool and sophisticated as that cover. However, I won't be seeing it; uncool as it may be, give me my Pollyanas and happy endings.

i loved the premise and i loved the narcissistic and enigmatic narrator. the narrative was quick and snappy, which is exactly what makes a thriller so enticing and fast paced. i really loved the flashbacks as well, and how it built up more and more of a background for our narrator (who literally hides everything in the present day narrative). i literally could not put this book down and finished it in a day.

but i just thought the payoff was just a bit too anticlimactic and rushed at times. i feel like this could have been a five star and now i'm a tiny bit sad.

all in all though, if you're looking for a quick fun and flirty thriller, this is 100% the book for you!

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of Stone Cold Fox! I thought this book was really good.

Star Rating: 4⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Pub Date: February 14, 2023

Thriller lovers, you are going to want to put your hands on this book! Stone Cold Fox was a bit out of my comfort zone, but boy, did I like it! If this book had a soundtrack, Anti Hero by Taylor Swift would be the lead song, no doubt.

I rooted for the antihero from the beginning of this book. Who knew a con artist would steal my heart? 😂 But, she did just that. She was so relentless and determined it just really stood out from the typical female characters I read, especially when I read a thriller. I respected her authenticity that showed through all her lies. Her character had so much depth, and I kind of oddly enjoyed her cruelty and dark sense of humor.

I literally giggled with glee when Bea and Gale met for the first time. I just KNEW the cat fight was coming. Despite all Bea's flaws, I wanted her to get what she wanted in this story. I cheered for her, all the while knowing her morally dubious ways were, well, wrong. To be fair, her mother was a bit of a joke, and Bea actually turned out pretty good comparatively.

I enjoyed this book immensely. Thank you so much to Berkley for an advanced copy of it!!

The synopsis of this book gave me Heartbreaker movie vibes. I loved the movie about the con artist mom and daughter duo so this story immediately grabbed my interest.

I loved the present and past timelines and actually found the story stalled a bit when the past caught up with the present. The ending fell a bit flat for me.

Overall I really enjoyed this debut and the cat fights between Bea and Gale. I just wish we had a slam dunk ending.

Rachel Koller Croft's debut novel STONE COLD FOX is an entertaining, sexy, often jaw droppingly funny tale of Bea and her quest to secure a lifestyle which her beauty deserves. Bea's cat and mouse rivalry with Gale is hilarious and absolutely fun to read. Bea is a surprisingly smart antiheroine whose true foe is her mother, and whose inner dialogue is as sharp and biting as she is in conversation. The back story of who Bea really is and what her mother puts her through shows a depth to this novel that was unexpected. Enjoyable.

This one was great! Would recommend for most collections and would not be surprised if its a Jenna Pick/ book club hit

Always trust your mother?
This is one fun escapist read, I devoured it in two days over my winter break. Thank you to Berkley for this fun wild ride that had a fascinating main character and intriguing plot twists and secondary characters. This is the perfect book to help anyone with the winter reading blahs, a great book for a wintery evening, or the perfect book to bring as you escape the winter weather on a vacation or cruise.

What works well
1. the pacing is strong, the plot drew me right in and help my attention. The pace was fast and fun with good drops of twists and backstory to keep me hooked.

2. a main character who should have been unlikable and yet.. Bea was who she was and never pretended to be more, or less, than who she was. She didn't need my pity but did get my respect for her savvy, her ability to read people, and her keen self awareness and manipulations.

3.some worthy themes on mental health and social class as well as important themes on the treatment of women, women's bodies and sexuality/sexualization experiences, and a complex examination of mother/daughter relationships.

don't let the amazing cover and catchy title trick you though..,. this book is worthy of a book club chat as it does dive into a range of themes perfect for a book chat!

recommended for fans of: Julie Clark's Lie to Me, Big Little Lies, The Last Housewife

This was a great book. I thoroughly enjoyed getting a glimpse into Bea’s vicious mind. The twists were unpredictable. I didn’t love the ending, it felt anticlimactic to me. Overall, this book is a winner.

STONE COLD FOX (what an apt-fitting title!) had so many facets and subplots to it I'm not sure I could name them all. Not to mention that cover - ahhhh, that blue stone ring along with manicured nails is the perfect allure to this story.

Bea has become many identities in order to achieve the life she wants. Thanks to her con artist mother (I LOVE A
GOOD LONG CON STORY) Bea has learned the tricks of the trade.

Once she finds the "love" of her life, Collin, Bea thinks she's finally got it made. That is until Collin's unrequited love bestie, Gale, catches onto Bea's conning ways.

We get a backstory that is just enough so it doesn't take away from the A-plot driving the story. Bea first must achieve the engagement status with Collin. That's when the plot veers off into Bea doing her best to keep Gale at bay. And then, just when you think Bea has won, another twist is thrown into her life. And then another. And another.

This book is perfect for those interested in semi-high society, the long con (have I mentioned how much I love a good long con story?) and unapologetically morally grey main characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me an e-copy of STONE COLD FOX to review.

I rate STONE COLD FOX five out of five stars.