This was a great and easy read. It was fast paced and something I couldn't put down. I loved the dynamic between Summer and Leo and how strong their relationship was, especially by the end. The only reason it was four stars for me was because there was a lot of background information that seemed like it could've made the story more interesting but it was just sort of said to be said and didn't have a point.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this eARC of You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard

I will be posting this review on goodreads today (6/11), and will link it to this.

This book was so hard to put down! It was reminiscent of White Lotus season 2with the conwomen and their scheming to get money from the rich men who just want sex. I didn't expect the mystery aspect to be what it was (I wont include any spoilers) but it brought the story around full circle in a really satisfying way. There are so many little threads that weave together throughout the story, and at times you don't know who to believe. The subplots were intense and interesting - usually things like that are annoying to me because they distract from the main story, but I found myself wanting more each time we got a glimpse into another plot. By the time I finished reading this I desperately wanted to see the perpetrator brought to justice, but I know that would be counterintuitive to the themes of the book so I've learned to make my peace with it.

Overall, a great thriller that really dives into the world of scams and just how much those who live at the top can get away with.

Read/Listen if you Like:
2️⃣ Dual POV
💰 Con Artists
🏖️ California/ Island Setting
🔐 Locked Room Thrillers
🔀 Twists and Turns
⏳ Past and Present Timelines

This one was such a fun thriller! I really loved the found family that Summer and Leo had in each other and how their friendship truly was about sticking together and supporting each other.

I loved the dynamics of Leo going for the big scores and big fish for huge payouts in her cons contrasted by the safer low hanging fruit type of pick pocketing that Summer did and how this led to the big story for the book when Leo goes missing with one of her targets and Summer follows her into her to his private island to find Leo.

I loved how all the pieces came together slowly and how the timelines were off just enough that you never know what really is happening as we are getting a lag in Leo’s POV while Summer is at the island trying to figure out what’s going on.

All in all this was such a fun and feminist thriller featuring two skilled con artist badass women just trying to make their path in the world after some hard cards they had been dealt.

Thank you so much to the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review! If you are looking for a fun summer thriller I highly recommend this one!

I don’t read a lot of thrillers, but I’m glad I picked this one up. It really kept me at the edge of my seat throughout the entire book. We follow Summer and Leo who kind of float through life as con artists. But Leo has picked a new target that could be the end of both of them. When she disappears with Micheal, Summer knows something isn’t right and follows her to Michael’s private island where there are hidden and terrible things happening. Definitely would recommend this one.

Although far-fetched at times, I enjoyed many aspects of this thriller. I liked the nomadic lifestyle of the Summer and Leo, the strength of their friendship, and their own personal strengths. Both women have suffered significant traumas, and I liked the way that the author incorporated their growth and healing into the story. I loved the secluded island setting and think it added so much to the tension of the book. A quick and engaging read.

This was a FANTASTIC grifter thriller with two of my fav narrators and amazing female friendship and secret dead sister revenge plot. I loved the premise, the plot twists and the bad girls vibes. A perfect summer beach read that will leave you completely entertained from start to finish. Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and @prhaudio for the early digital and audio copies in exchange for my honest review!

WOW!! What a thriller!!! This was non-stop and a completely shocking ending. This was such a fun read. I loved that this focused on the two con artists and you got both point of views. I highly recommend this!

4.5 rounded up to 5
This book hooked me from the beginning! Were introduced to Summer as she heads into a club to resupply. She needs money and a new ID, and hopefully, she can get what she needs to keep her and her best friend Leo afloat for a little while. Summer and Leo are grifters, pickpockets, and thieves, and while Summer seems to be happy living the life she's always led, Leo wants something else and she has targeted a Billionaire hoping to get close and sell information.

To say this leads to some problems would be an understatement. Leo disappears after a night with Michael the Billionaire, and Summer will do whatever is necessary and use all the skills she's acquired to figure out what happened, and where her best friend is.

This story is fast-paced and full of twists and turns. While I did call one of the big ones before it was revealed it didn't make me enjoy this story any less. The rest of them kept me on the edge of my seat waiting to see when the other shoe would drop.

3.5, rounded up. This is a solid summer read--a fast-paced popcorn thriller following two women navigating the sinister secrets of the wealthy in the tech industry as they try to escape a private island. (The White Lotus comparisons are apt.) The pacing falters in spots, and there's an issue with tense congruity (some chapters are in past, others in present) that might be a conscious choice--can't get into it too much without revealing spoilers--or is an oversight that would hopefully be fixed before publication. Overall, it's a fun book with just enough cat-and-mouse drive and a twist that's easily predictable but still shocking enough to keep one reading.

3.5
Summer and Leo live off the grid in California and do whatever they must to get by. They are both experts in differing areas of the con game and together they make quite the team. Summer's talent is pick-pocket and Leo is more of a relationship con. Leo sets her sites on billionaire Michael and it's game-on until she disappears. Summer follows to the private island she was last known to travel to and it all gets a tad nutty from there. It was an entertaining read that kept me turning pages. If you are a fan of the con game as the main plot point, you will likely love this one. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing - Ballantine for an early e-copy in exchange for my. honest opinion You Can Trust Me will be. available on 6/13/23.

A fast-paced read sure to delight thriller readers looking for a fun beach read. Summer and Leo are two drifters who found one another and formed an intense friendship. The two travel around pick
Pocketing and scheming to survive in California. Leo ends up getting close to a billionaire hoping to sell his tech secrets. Instead, she goes missing on his island and summer tries to find her friend and infiltrate the island and its secrets.

This is a fun, suspenseful read that will keep readers turning the pages. The true strength, however, was in summer and Leo. Heard created two strong, likable characters with whom readers will instantly empathize and invest.

Thanks to the publisher for providing the arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this thriller! Two girls, Summer and Leo, live out of their car along different spots on the California coast, making their way by picking pockets and other forms of thievery. When Leo begins to rub shoulders with a billionaire, hoping to sell some of his private info, she and Summer have no idea what they are actually stepping into.

There is a great kinship between Summer and Leo, both of whom have difficult histories that are related throughout this book. I loved their sister-like relationship and Summer's devotion to trying to figure out what is going on with Leo.

Overall, I really loved the fast-pace, the characters and the twists and turns had me on this one.

Definitely recommend for thriller lovers!

Out June 13, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

This was an intense read about 2 friends trying to survive on the road. Summer and Leo are best friends and will do anything for each other. Summer is a champion thief who is willing to support Leo. Leo wants to find her own way. Leo meets a self made billionaire one night in a bar and vanishes. Summer knows that something is off, but can't prove it. I felt this was a bit of a game of cat and mouse.s I really enjoyed it and couldn't stop turning the pages, You couldn't help but root for the two ladies. Great plot twist.

You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard #thirtyninthbookof2023 #arc

CW: homelessness, con artists, missing persons, murder, violence, kidnapping, child abandonment

This is the story of two women who live a nomadic life of conning and using others…until one of them disappears and the other realizes that it’s up to her to track down her missing friend.

I loved the pace of this book. It’s a popcorn thriller and I finished it in just a few hours. I was immediately drawn in and anxious for the fate of these two women. They were not always likable but were well written characters. I liked the dual perspectives with overlapping, out of sync timelines. I did guess the final twist before it was revealed at the very end and felt it was slightly far fetched, but it was a fun easy read if you don’t mind slightly heavy topics. And the cover is beautiful to me, which is what drew me to check out the story in the first place.

Thank you to @netgalley and Bantam @randomhouse for the advance copy. (Pub date 6/13/23)

#youcantrustme

Oh my gaaawwwwdddd this book!!!! From the beginning I was totally HOOKED. Leo and Summer were such awesome characters and I love the depth that was built by providing flashbacks to their lives before they met each other. They came from such different backgrounds and traumatic events from their pasts really helped shape their present selves.

I went into this book totally blind and I absolutely recommend that for anyone considering it. I had NO idea where it was going and it was absolutely thrilling! I loved the storyline when Leo and Summer were just two hot babes trying to make it in the world by swindling rich guys and I loved it even more when the story went places I totally wasn't expecting.

The writing was fantastic, the character building was stellar, and I loved the use of multiple narrators and timelines. I did have one gripe with the story and that was that I wish there was more closure with Leo's story. There was a loose end I was hoping would get more attention and it felt incomplete to me.

This book is sexy, smart, exudes girl power and sisterhood, and was pretty unique. I was totally absorbed and didn't want it to end! I'm hoping a major network picks this up because it would make a stellar miniseries or movie!!

Thank you to Ballantine and NetGalley for the copy. I'll be recommending this one to everyone!!

Interesting read. I didn’t like either character initially, but they grew on me. The story starts a little slow but picks up about halfway through. You get flashbacks that give provide insight into the main characters, making them less shallow. This was one I didn’t have figured out until about 75%, so it does keep you guessing. I enjoyed the ending the author gave the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam, and Wendy Heard for the eARC.

A great page-turner! Heard had me sucked in after the 2nd chapter when I met both main characters. I guessed a couple of twists early, but I still enjoyed this suspenseful ride. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about a story with con artists, but Heard wrote in a such a fresh & creative way that I was rooting for them the whole time. Thanks NetGalley for this advanced copy!

You Can Trust me is my first Wendy Heard book and it won't be my last. I've kind of had my fill of thrillers lately because they end up being a let down with stupid plots, poor character building, and twists on twists that end up making everything convoluted. I also rarely ever like a locked-room mystery which this book ended up partly being. Wow. I loved getting to know and understand Summer and Leo before they wind up on a private island. I went into this book blind. I've had the arc for a while and I didn't re-read the synopsis before starting it. You know fairly early on that something is up and who is behind it but it's so well written that I really didn't have any plausible theories for a while. The twists were authentic and believable. I was thoroughly enthralled and enjoyed the wild ride. My only complaint was the super gross and weird spicy scene. I could have lived without that but in hindsight it did add another layer of character building to the villain.

I enjoyed Wendy Heard's last YA novel, She’s Too Pretty To Burn, so I was excited to see that she was releasing a title for adults. The story follows Summer and Leo, two women in their twenties who are beautiful, clever, and pursue wealth by any means necessary along the coast of California. Summer is a few years older than Leo and has always lived off of the grid. She now resorts to theft in order to fund her life. Leo is playing the long game and hoping to snag a billionaire. She meets and falls in with a hugely successful tech billionaire early in the novel. The style reminded me of Janelle Brown, especially her novel, Pretty Things. Summer and Leo are characters who do bad things, but they're so compelling and you understand their motivations. Some of the action is maybe not so realistic, but I could not stop listening to the audiobook! The audiobook is well-narrated by Kelsey Navarro Foster and Natalie Naudus, who match their characters very well. I highly recommend this book, a perfect summer read!

Thank you to the publishers for providing this e-book and audiobook ARC. All thoughts are my own.

✨Book Review - You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard✨

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️STARS

Pub Date: June 13

REVIEW: If you’re looking for your next beach read, pick up this thriller on Tuesday. It was fast paced & suspenseful but pretty easy to guess what was going to happen. The author gave us insight into Summer & Leo’s background so we had a better understanding of why they were doing what they were doing. I liked their relationship and bond. It was a fun read and I enjoyed the ride.

SYNOPSIS: Summer & Leo live out of Summer’s Land Rover traveling up and down the California coast. Summer is a skilled pickpocket & Leo has learned a trick or two. Looking to score big, Leo catches the eye of billionaire Michael Forrester and charms her way in his life. He invites her to his private island and she then disappears. Summer sets out to infiltrate his island and figure out what happened to Leo.

Thank you to NetGalley & Randomhouse for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.