"Moorewood Family Rules" by HelenKay Dimon is a captivating and emotionally resonant novel that delves into the complexities of family dynamics and the power of love. Dimon's storytelling prowess shines as she weaves a tale of relationships, secrets, and personal growth. The book's relatable characters and authentic plot create an immersive reading experience that resonates with readers. Dimon's ability to capture the depth of emotions and the intricacies of family bonds adds depth to the narrative, making it a compelling read for fans of romance and women's fiction. "Moorewood Family Rules" is a touching reminder that amidst life's challenges, the bonds of family and the strength of love can lead to unexpected healing and renewal, leaving readers with a sense of hope and connection long after the final page.

I love the cover and premise. The story was funny, entertaining, and slower paced with lots of dialogue. If you're planning to pick this up please know that it reads more literary fiction than mystery, and includes a side romance plot. A bodyguard romance, which was a good time!

There were many characters, as this is a story about a family, and I wish the author gave readers a little more background so that I could feel the uniqueness of each character more. That being said, I did appreciate the growth some characters experienced. Also, I thought Jillian was an awesome main character. Her personality and growth from the start to end of the book make this a worthwhile read.

This was an entertaining story and will work great for readers who enjoy lots of family drama and dysfunctional families. It absolutely made me laugh a few times, and the way the drama unfolded was satisfying enough. I recommend picking this up if you want a lighthearted literary fiction, an awesome main character, a little romance, and a lot of family drama.

The Moorewood Family Rules has problems - and laughs.
Jillian is the typical oldest - taking the fall and spending months in prison. Determined to get her family on the straight and narrow, Jillian pushes for the family to become legit, boring people.

Oh man. I was really stoked for this one. The premise and first few chapters had me hooked but then it fell off the rails. It almost felt like each plot point was written by a different person. The love interest was obvious from the start and then still didn’t make sense to me. I really wanted to like Moorewood Family Rules and I do enjoy the premise and I really love Jillian as a main character but it just fell flat in execution. rounding up to a generous 3⭐️

Moorewood Family Rules he’s a book about a dysfunctional family of con artists. Our main character Jillian Moorewood is out of prison after serving times for crime she did not commit. She comes out of prison giving her family a rude awakening. Looking for revenge in the most honest way. A lot of shenanigans and see you there a lot of dynamic personalities in a family with different specialties. Looking for was a little more humor and I just kind of feel bad for the family by the end. This wasn’t when I was expecting the book but I was satisfied with the ending. Each character seems to change and grow in different ways and that was really refreshing to see. A lot of characters that need it kind of hard to follow but after a while I grow attached to the family.

A Massive Thank You to the Author, the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this book prior to its release date.

Jillian Moorewood just got out of prison and she's PISSED. Thirty-nine months in the slammer will do that to a woman who took the fall for her entire family, and then doesn't even get a warm welcome back home after she's out on good behavior. But when her family says they won't get clean and leave a life of crime, like they promised, Jillian sets out for revenge.

I was initially drawn in by the comps of Knives out and Ocean's 8, two movies that I absolutely love and are pretty well known for their humorous moments amongst crime plots. The cover is also super cute and made me think of the spy novels I used to read as a preteen!

That being said, this book was not for me. From the first page, I knew the tone wasn't for me, but I tried to stick with it and see if the quirky voice would grow on me. Unfortunately it didn't, and the more I read the more I felt like I was reading a cheesy fanfiction about Ocean's 8 instead of getting a novel version that delivered on the fun elements of organized crime. (Not a sentence I ever thought I'd type, but if you've seen the movies, you know they have a lighthearted tone!) I wanted an ensemble cast that felt well-rounded and stood out to me, but I just got a family dynamic that I didn't really enjoy from page one and never really ended in a way I liked either. I also felt the romance side plot was incredibly random and just thrown in there (and the lines were incredibly cringe-y, the dialogue wasn't my cup of tea at all). This book also seriously struggled with a lot of side-note telling (explaining backgrounds, talking about random things from the past) without any of the fun of being shown these moments.

Overall, I wish that this book HAD been more like it's comps. That's the dangerous thing with book marketing - sometimes the allure of the comp sets the reader up for expectations that just can't be met.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for providing me a copy of this book for an honest review.

Sometimes silly, sometimes snarky, this is a fun book that never takes itself too seriously. This would make a fantastic tv series with the caper-y behavior of the characters and over the top mansion setting.

This was such an incredible book! I was hooked from the start—really enjoyed the storytelling, I couldn’t put it down and can’t recommend it enough!

Moorewood Family Values
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: HelenKay Dimon

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Avon Books and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: One day a con man met an heiress, wooed her, married her, had two kids…and kept on conning. Jillian Moorewood is the oldest child from that meet-cute-gone-wrong marriage. The stable one. The sensible and dependable one. The one who protects and fixes. The one who went to prison to save their sorry butts. Now, thirty-nine months later, she’s out and she’s more than a little pissed.

Finally home she finds the scheming clan in full family fleecing mode. They all claim they didn’t really agree to Jillian’s previous go-legit-or-else ultimatum before she went away. They viewed it as a “suggestion” then ignored it. So, business as usual. But Jillian is done with the lies and fakery. She demands the whole messed-up crew clean up its act, and this time she’s not kidding—she has the leverage to make it happen.

Problem is, her life is in shambles, but with the help of a great aunt (crooked but loveable), a bodyguard (who is a nice surprise after three years in prison), and a few allies (all working undercover), Jillian starts to put her life back together. She kicks out a few mooching relatives living under her roof, sets limits on everyone’s access to the money, ducks from their various attacks, and sees if that bodyguard is maybe interested in sticking around for a while. For the first time, she’s Jillian Moorewood, her own woman, and she’s ready to figure out who she is.

My Thoughts: This is classified as a romance/mystery/thriller but it is really family drama with a slight mystery and slight romance. I think if it was reclassified, it would set the reader expectation better. I thought the overall premise was interesting, however, it just fell a little. Jillian, after spending time in jail, no longer wants to be grifter (con artist) and wants to go ‘straight.’ Her family has other ideas. Jillian gives them an ultimatum… Will they comply?

Each chapter has a Moorewood Family Rule listed, which was fun. The banter between the characters was fantastic. The characters were a bit complicated and a little confusing in the beginning. The history of the multitude of characters is absent, so at times, I had to reread paragraphs to understand where it was going. I think if there were flashbacks to the family history and dynamic, it would have pulled things together better. For the romance part, there needed to be more built up chemistry. Since there were many characters lacking the historical significance, it was really hard to connect with any character, but if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Jillian. She had the attitude that even though she covered for her family doing the jail sentence, she was determined to go straight, even at the determent of her family.

If you like Knives Out or even Ocean’s Eleven, this would be right up your alley. A dysfunctional family of con artists, what could go wrong? It was not a bad read, overall, I did enjoy the story and would recommend under the classification of family drama.

This was a cute book but at times it felt like it was dragging. I was expecting more action and that wasn't there. Overall, it was fine but not a favorite.

<b><i><u>please note that the trigger warnings and topes/themes may contain spoilers</b></i></u>
<i><u>I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. </i></u>
<b>POV:</b> 3rd person, multi POV
<b>TWs:</b> death of parent (recounted), cheating (not MCs), OW drama, OM drama
<b>standalone:</b> yes
<b>final thoughts</b>: Jillian is our FMC who is coming out of prison after being put there by her family- she comes back home and is blindsided by her family still up to their old antics.
While this book was mostly enjoyable, I was not expecting the story that I read. I had a tough time considering this was supposed to be a romcom/mystery, but it just felt like a lens into tons of family drama with hints and drops of mystery and romance and not much suspense. I was SO EXCITED for a bodyguard romance, but we didn’t really get much there, and I didn’t ever really feel connected to anyone. That being said, it was a good read for people who enjoy high drama and family dynamics


read this book if you love
😬 angst
👮 blue collar MMC (bodyguard)
⁉️ murder mystery
🌀 plot twists
🎭 drama

I went into this book really excited to read about this FMC who is trying to change the way her family runs, I was excited to read about the way she is going to get these cons to go good and get a little mystery kick, but I wasn't really feeling it. I did enjoy the bodyguard romance that came along with this book but I was looking for more. I felt bad for Jillian and how her family treated her but I liked how Beck was able to help her through this time in her life, even if she didn't want it at times. I definitely think this would be a great read for someone else but just not me.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC opportunity!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I feel lukewarm about this book. It seemed like the family never changed and that at every point, the main character was complaining about her conning family or trying to change their conning ways, to no avail. I was also expecting it to have more heisting and trickery since it was compared to Knives Out and Ocean's 8. However, it's more of about a woman coming into her own and standing up for her family.

2 sad stars

I was so excited for this book because I love Knives Out with every fiber of my being and my second favorite thing is a heist movie, a heist novel, anything about heists. However, this entire book just fell flat for me. There wasn't enough "conning" for me and I honestly wasn't sold by the family dynamics. The secondary plotline of the romance also wasn't really working for me. I think I had different expectations for this novel but at the end of the day it was just a women's fiction novel about the main character's self discovery which wasn't really what I thought I had signed up for.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Will absolutely be recommending this read to all of my cozy romance friends. Kind of revenge plot, kind of romance plot, but chock full of oh my god I cannot even. Poor Jillian and these people she’s unfortunately related to. While I’ve seen it described as a “Knives Out” sort of read, I will say that the only way it compares is in how horrid the Moorewood family members are with how horrid the Knives Out family members were. There’s no real mystery here, just good ole fashioned family drama with a drop of hot bodyguard.

Jillian went to prison for 39 months to save her family of con artists. When she gets out, she is ready to follow through with her ultimatum to get her family to go legit. With the help of her great aunt, her bodyguard, and a few undercover allies, Jillian is ready to figure out who she it.

This was fine…it was a little to “out there” for me. I had a hard time getting into it.

Although this book was not at all what I imagined by the way it was advirtised I enjoyed the way that it played out. It was more of a family drama then a fun con artist come-back.

Jillian came out of jail after doing time for her family and tries to make them go striaght. They resist her and try and kick her out but due to her love interest and hire body guard that is not happening!

The relationships in this book were my favorite. I come from a very dynamic and whacky family and to see some of the same struggles and patterns in this book was a comfort.

If you were looking for the Ocean 11's feel you will not get it but if you need some family drama this is a good read!

Fun book about a family of criminals--it had me laughing out loud on many occasions. The banter was the best part. Full of family drama and the right balance to keep it kind of light, it was a great respite from the heavier books I've been reading!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the concept of a conning family. I'm a huge fan of con movies and the fake out double reveal. Jillian was interesting as a character, you hardly ever read about characters who have been to prison and especially women, made her different from most of the woman I read about. I don't really like closed door books but her and Beck and were a good slow burn and I appreciated the dedication taken to their romance. My only complaint is if you are going to have a book about con people there should be a heist! Even if the main character is trying to better themselves. There's a lot of interesting concepts here, I think it could do well with a spin off or even prequel.