Thank you to @randomhouse for sending me a copy of YOU CAN TRUST ME by Wendy Heard. This one is out now!

This is a dark twisty thriller that’s sure to bring you out of any reading slump. The atmosphere was so well done and the characters were super well developed. I really enjoyed this one!

Two femme fatale 20 something female grifters who live off the grid and use their charms to relieve others of their wealth. Other them of course being beautiful and fit and able to pick any pocket or pull off any scam being a tad far-fetched, this book was fast-paced and really tense throughout.

Leo and Summer met when Leo took Summer under her wing after Summer ran away from her life. Leo had a hippyish, free-spirited mother who decided at 13 Leo was ready to live on her own while she ran away with her boyfriend. Ouch - I guess you can image what type of person that made Leo. Hardened, gritty, scheming, cautious and with a fear of abandonment. In walks Summer who is almost the opposite personality. Summer is running from her parents, from the loss she feels responsible for and from the carefree person she used to be. She wears her heart on her sleeve and loves adventure. Together they find a way to survive financially on Leo's pickpocketing and slight of hand schemes and on Summer's easy ability to lure rich men into relationships. Until finally it seems their lifestyle may have caught up with them.

This story moves at a roller coaster pace. Between missing girls, lies, false identities, playgrounds of the wealthy, secrets and long hidden serial tendencies, this one will grip you from the beginning and not let go until the end. I thought the book should have ended a chapter or two before it did - but I prefer a bit more of an open ending and I know not everyone does. I liked the twists in this one and the way the author made you doubt your predictions throughout. I really enjoyed this one but you definitely will have to suspend disbelief. Some things are a little too convenient, but overall this was a great story and would make a great beach read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House / Ballentine for the ARC to read and review. Definitely pick this one up!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of You Can Trust Me.

This is my first book by the author so I was excited my request was approved. I like sort of unlikable characters, and Summer and Leo, con artists, sounded like interesting people I'd want to know more about.

Summer and Leo are sisters, bonded by their desire to roam, their talents for hustling, and no real family to rely on.

When Leo doesn't return from a sexy rendezvous with a famous tech billionaire, Summer risks her life to look for her friend. But will it cost them both their lives?

The best part about the story is the friendship between Summer and Leo. Usually, these types of thrillers there are backstabbing women, plenty of phonies, but Summer and Leo care about each other and that's great to see and read.

Second, despite living on the streets, Leo is painfully, woefully naive. She keeps talking about how handsome and gorgeous Michael is, and if I have to read about what color his eyes are again, I'm going to scream.

Third, the narrative is hard to suspend disbelief for. Like, really hard.

I guessed the twist, but there's no explanation how Leo ended up on Michael's radar.

And, what are the odds?

The writing was okay, the suspense was decent, but the narrative dragged, especially when Summer is searching for Leo, then gets caught.

Also, that ending was hard to swallow, the way Summer and Leo escape and their happily ever after?

I disliked all the characters, though not Summer and Leo. I didn't like them but I didn't dislike them.

I didn't believe they were hustlers, much less good ones from the way the author described and developed their characters. It was hard to believe they had any street smarts at all.

Summer and Leo are better as BFFs than con artists.

Too farfetched and disjointed to be enjoyable. Not my idea of a good thriller, more of an eye roller. The characters were not very likable and the plot was unrealistic and overdone. I was able to finish it but unfortunately can't recommend it. My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.

(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)

Summer is the time for reads that fully transport you. And as a long time fan of Heard, I knew You Can Trust Me would fit the bill. This latest release is packed with lies, betrayal, and twists you won't see coming. At the core of You Can Trust Me - and my favorite element - is the friendship between Leo and Summer. The ways they have become each other's found family and would sacrifice and face danger for each other. It's easy to root for them even as you find out they've been keeping secrets from you - and each other.

Perfect summer thriller. Summer and Leo are my kind of heroines. Independent, street smart, clear-eyed, and loyal to each other above all others. I love the idea of found sisters saving each other, in a kind of a twisted Frozen plot. The villain is a mash up of all our great current villains, Epstein, Zuckerberg, the Golden State Killer, etc., and so the story feels very current. Hooray for Wendy Heard. I love her books.

What a whirlwind of a summer thriller! I devoured this novel in 2 days. You Can Trust Me is the perfect book to binge on the beach or by the pool!

Summer and Leo are two con women, who use their quick hands, sharp wit, and beauty to distract unsuspecting marks and keep themselves afloat while living in California. Both are dealing with the aftermath of their traumatic pasts, bonding together to seek out a better future for themselves. When Leo meets the enigmatic tech billionaire Michael Forrester, both she and Summer think they’ve landed their big fish. Michael takes Leo to his private island off the coast of California, but she never returns. Summer knows that something is wrong, and must find a way to get to the exclusive island, uncover what happened to Leo, and try to rescue the only family she has. Little does she know that the secrets on the island are not just a threat to Leo, but also to her survival as well.

Like I said before, this summer thriller is completely bingeable! From the very beginning, the reader is thrown into the con artist lifestyle, as Summer and Leo engage in pickpocketing, scoping out potential targets, and playing to their strengths while orchestrating their cons. Both women deal with trauma and family heartbreak, but find a true sisterhood together. The author does a fantastic job weaving dark suspense elements into a narrative that still focuses on the strong bond that Summer and Leo share. The plot is pretty straightforward, with minimal twists. However, the narrative moves quickly, and you'll find that it's very hard to put down. Set in June and in the state of California, this is the perfect addition to your summer thriller TBR!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House - Bantam for this advanced copy, in exchange for my honest review.

Definitely a cute beach read but it was a bit predictable.
I enjoyed Summer and Leo, and loved the dual perspectives but sometimes I did get confused when I was reading.
Some parts just felt very over the top and others fell flat but overall if was a book I would recommend if you want a suspense novel that will keep you on your toes.

I would love to see this as a limited mini series on Hulu or Netflix, it definitely fits the criteria for it!

That was a twist I didn't see coming. Summer and Leo are nomads. Summer was raised that way, Leo became a nomad and teamed up with Summer after running away from home. They are also grifters, but in very different manners. Summer can pocket anything, including the bracelet off your wrist and the cash out of your wallet without you even noticing. Leo focuses more on finding a big fish and living off of them for awhile. Summer and Leo are like sisters and work together. Then, one day, Leo chooses the wrong big fish and Summer will do anything to find her. This story is told in alternating chapters narrated by Summer and Leo. Because realization of events happens at different times for each of them, the tension builds in pieces. Once that twist happens, you realize what is happening, but it is a big twist and it is impossible to predict most of what follows. This is an exciting thriller that you won't want to put down.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an advanced copy. My opinion is my own.

At first I wasn’t too sure if I was going to like this book. Once I got to reading it I was hooked. So many different twists and turns and of course the plot twists. Definitely worth reading!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for recommending this twisty thriller, the first book I've read by Wendy Heard. I was on the edge of my seat from the beginning.
The story is told in first person, alternating between the viewpoints of best friends Summer and Leo.
Summer grew up on the streets and perfected the art of pick-pocketing at age eight. She's never had a real job or a home with four walls, doesn't have a last name, and doesn't even know her birthday.
Leo left home when she was a teenager, blaming herself for the death of her beloved older sister. (She tells everyone it was a car accident, but we later learn it was murder.) She's in dire straights, struggling for survival, when Summer rescues her from a life of drugs and prostitution and takes her under her wing as a partner in crime.
Despite their unsavory profession, I found myself rooting for these two strong, street-wise women.,
Although Summer brings in most of the income, Leo is determined to prove her worth, and she sets her sights on handsome billionaire philanthropist, Michael Forrester after he likes a selfie she posted on Instagram. She maneuvers a meet-cute and soon gets invited on a date to his private island.
When Leo doesn't return and doesn't call or text, Summer grows worried. She finagles an invitation to an investors-only weekend on the island, hoping to find out what happened to Leo. But no one claims to have seen her, despite evidence to the contrary.
The charming billionaire is not what he seems, and the grifters may have met their match. What follows is a spell-binding story of female friendship and a battle for survival at all costs.
Highly recommended!

I got an email directly about this book & OMG!! This was such a good thriller!!! I am so lucky!
I was never quite sure where this book was heading or how things would play out!! The authors strong characterization & ability to put a fresh new spin on the newly popular con-artist trope made this book so exciting to read!! Cannot wait for more by Wendy Heard!

Wendy Heard’s You Can Trust Me is a great way to get out of a reading slump as well as a great book to kick off your summer beach/poolside reading. The characters are interesting and the plot is well paced. Big kudos to the author for the authentic California speak!

"Not all open doors lead to freedom and adventure. some lead to death. I should have know that all along."

Summer and Leo, are unique choices for main characters. They are grifters. They live off the grid and out of the back of Summer’s truck. I wouldn’t have thought of them being compelling, but I found myself empathizing with them and highly invested in their story.

The story is told by multiple narrators in multiple timelines. Through this interesting story layout, readers learn how Summer and Leo came to be and how they came to be in the predicament they currently find themselves in. Is it wholly believable? No, but it is a work of fiction about women who have spent most of their lives improvising and surviving on their street smarts and perseverance.

"Home is a person, not a place, and everything we need is here, no matter where we go."

Ms. Heard filled her story with some great twists, and even though there were some highly telegraphed plot points, You Can Trust Me was a good book that featured the sisterly bond between two women without families of their own. I found this book to be a fresh take on the thriller genre.

4.5 stars

Please, I beg of you, go into this book blind. You can read the blurb. That’s fine. That’s expected. But otherwise, try and stay as blind as possible before you read this absolutely twisting, turning, mind screw of a thriller. You’ll find it all the more rewarding for it. I had absolutely forgotten the vast majority of the blurb when I opened my copy and I was absolutely delighted I did because it was one heck of an experience opening this book and reading the captivating prologue before getting swept away by the engrossing first chapter. You’ll find that those feelings never leave throughout the entire book: captivating and engrossing. Other feelings are added and mixed in like cookie dough, too: propulsive, desperate, disdainful, stressful, anxious, shocked, lonely, angry, betrayed, loved, and very lost. Also, there is pain: mental, physical, and psychological.

And, of course, there’s a whole lot of wondering what the unholy heck is going on.

There’s so much I don’t want to say anything about because I don’t want to spoil anything, so let’s stick with our two protagonists, Leo and Summer. Summer has been on her own since she was 17 (she thinks) and her mother left her alone in Big Sur with just over nine hundred dollars in cash, a tent, and her backpack so she could follow her boyfriend to join a new spiritual commune. In her mind, her daughter was now old enough to make her own way in the world. Summer had no last name, no father, no birth certificate, no car, and the only life she knew was the nomadic, displaced one she had been raised in, where the con and pickpocketing were her tools of the trade.

Some years later, by the time Summer meets Leo while Leo is panhandling on a San Francisco street, she’s been lonely for a long time. She can see potential in Leo to be more than a mere panhandler, and Leo is too young to be alone on the streets of San Francisco for long without drugs or something worse to destroy her. So Summer adopts her like a little sister, and they put their trust in one another. Sleeping and moving around California in Summer’s converted and tricked-out Land Cruiser, they make their way up and down the coast with Summer clearing whole clubs of cash, credit cards, and IDs and Summer playing longer games, hooking men on her smile and personality to get them to take her home for the night where she can clear their houses and condos of more expensive valuables or get them to take her on shopping sprees. She’s the sugar baby when Summer is on the prowl.

In truth, Leo is the only person Summer has ever truly trusted, which is why she goes absolutely breathless with worry when Leo doesn’t come back from her prior night’s con. She fears everything from Leo getting sick of her and abandoning her like her mother did to the con going wrong and Leo being dead. No matter which way the pendulum swings, she needs to find out what happened to her adopted sister, and so she goes looking for answers. What she finds is something far more intricate, ugly, and sinister than she ever thought, but she also finds out when you’re lucky enough to find family to love you, you’ll fight to keep it. You’ll hold on tight to their light and trust in them.

This book has everything I love in a fully-rounded psychological thriller: excellent character development, an outstanding central plot with terrific and relevant themes, a traumatic and malicious subplot, a entire cast of supporting characters with their own agendas who you can’t trust as far as you can throw them, extremely interesting back stories, BAMF female protagonists, and a complete uncertainty of who’s going to come out of this alive and how. This whole thing throws twists and turns at you constantly. Heck, sometimes it even feels like Chutes & Ladders (or Snakes & Ladders, depending on where you are in the world), in the way it feels like characters gain and lose traction.

This is my first Wendy Heard novel and now I’m itching to go back and read her backlist, because if they’re anything like this one I know I’ll enjoy it.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Psychological Fiction/Psychological Thriller/Suspense Thriller/Thriller/Women’s Fiction

You can trust me was another good book by Wendy Heard - Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. I ended up listening to the audiobook I was able to get from my library. To get the most out of this book - I personally think it’s one better read than listened to. The chapters rotate between Summer and Leo and actually seeing at the front of the chapter who it’s about might make for a better reading experience. I liked both Summer and Leo. They were well developed characters and although they were grifters - you couldn’t help but like them. I’ve read a number of this author’s books going back to Hunting Annabelle.(which remains my favorite) - I’m hoping to see her write an adult thriller instead of so many YA - I liked this book a lot however and look forward to reading more from her.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC! You Can Trust Me is a perfect summer thriller to read in one sitting. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I really enjoyed this book! Near the end it went in a completely different direction, but it worked so well.

This was my first read by Wendy, but definitely not my last!

Ooooh this was good! I do love a twisty thriller with characters you love to love and love to hate. This one runs the gamut! (I kind of think the author lost track of Alan somewhere along the way though… 🤔)

Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Random House for the e-arc! This book was super fast paced and fun. I really liked the dynamic between Leo and Summer. I do think the twist wasn't totally twisty but I enjoyed it anyway. Can't wait to read more from this author!

You can trust me is a thriller that is really about friendship. Although the premise is wildly unrealistic at times, the relationship between Summer and Leo, 2 nomadic homeless women, feels true. They are both beautiful talented women who live in a truck and scrape by as pickpockets and con artists. Then Leo meets Michael, a rich tech CEO, and things get more dangerous from there. I don't want to give anything away, the twists reveal themselves gradually, things happen a bit too smoothly and Summer comes off as James Bond with her lock picking. But it's an entertaining book.

My thanks to Net Galley and Bantam Books for an advanced copy of this e-book.

Summer was raised by her bohemian "hippie" mom to be a pickpocket and she was very good at it. Leo, having left home very young after a family tragedy, is Summer's best friend and learning all the ways of getting what they wanted by stealing in a variety of ways.

Along comes a handsome billionaire who is very interested in Leo and wants to take her to his private island. Summer, the devoted and watchful best friend, gets a friend and co-worker of the billionaire to invite her to a weekend trip to this island as well. But when Summer gets there Leo is gone.

Two devoted friends, a mystery and an adventure that becomes dangerous. This was a story I couldn't stop reading & listening to - read it in a day!

{NG kindle, Libby audio}