Thank you so much to NetGalley and Bantam for access to an eARC of You Can Trust Me in exchange for my honest review!

Summer has spent her life living off the grid and traveling through California, first with her mother and her collection of nomadic friends and then by herself. But after years spent traveling alone and learning not to need anyone else to get by, she meets Leo, young and hungry and living on the streets. They forge a bond quickly and Summer welcomes Leo on the road with her, teaching her to get by the same way she always has. Years later, they're like a well oiled machine, Summer frequenting crowded areas where she can pickpocket to her heart's content and Leo setting herself up with new wealthy targets to steal money and secrets that can be sold later. It all seems like business as usual one Wednesday night when the girls go to a party being thrown by Leo's latest target, wealthy tech mogul Michael Forrester. Leo and Michael leave the party early, and Summer even secures herself a date with a friend of Michael's before calling it a night herself.

But when Leo doesn't make it home the next day and Summer can't manage to get in touch with her, she has to use every clue at her disposal--especially her date with Alan from the party--to follow Michael's trail to a closed off weekend event on his private island in the hopes that finding him will bring her back to Leo as well. Full of a host of stressful twists and turns, You Can Trust Me is all about the ways our pasts can come back to haunt us, the strength and resourcefulness that drives a woman to keep going against any odds, the lengths a person will go to to protect their loved ones, and the unfailing power of friendships between women.

This book took me a shamefully long time to get to on my list, and that feeling of shame is only worse now that I've finished it because honestly, Wendy Heard is an auto buy author for me after this one. I fell in love right away with the bond between Summer and Leo and the way that Wendy Heard wrote each of their outlooks on the world around them and how they each go about their individual...jobs. Summer's process of picking out targets in a crowd and knowing how to take advantage of her surroundings and Leo's way with people and understanding of what the people around her are looking for and what they might want from her in a given scenario. The twists and turns this story takes you on were fun to read through and managed to keep me on my toes. I guessed at a few of the twists that were made a bit more obvious, but it almost felt like those were put there to mask the deeper, more sinister layer of the twist hidden underneath, and my gosh, I wish I could read it over for the first time again on a day off to just devour it all in one go.

I will say, though, that there are some CONTENT WARNINGS to keep in mind going in such as murder, parental abandonment, physical assault, strangulation, gaslighting, manipulative behavior, and drugging/sedation of a character.

This was such an interesting story! I really enjoyed the unique plot and the characters. I look forward to the author’s next work!

I really enjoyed this unique premise! Two women con artists are working together on a large scale con against a tech billionnaire, but one of them goes missing in the middle of the con. Summer must set out to find out what happened to Leo, and has to get access and travel to a private island where an ultra-private tech meeting is happening. This book was fresh, exciting, and the pacing was perfect and kept me immersed the entire time. Highly recommend for something new and different if you're in a thriller slump!

I personally did not enjoy this book like I thought I would. At the beginning it was interesting as we were learning about the characters and how they got into the situations they were in. But after that I thought it was a little boring at times and felt quite juvenile. I felt like it kinda mirrored the whole Jeffery Epstein stuff and that gave me a bad taste in my mouth. I also thought the writing was sub par.

A really good suspenseful book, kept me guessing and was surprising overall. I would recommend to others

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard.

Two friends who become more like sisters, living the van life and grifter lifestyle. When one of them hooks a "big fish," she may have signed up for a lot more than she bargained for, getting both women into situations they may not survive. I wasn't sure about this book at first, but the characters are well developed and the action keeps the pages turning for sure!

Special Note: Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I especially enjoyed the first half of the story was tension was building and I was getting all the information.
The story went a little over the top as we got closer to the end and plot details were given. I did enjoy the story and it was a good summer read.

While this book was marketed as a thriller (and it was, a little) it was more about the strong bond of female friendship/sisterhood and how far one would go for that relationship. During that time, there were some “thriller” aspects and a few attempts at a twist here and there, but I feel as if this was not marketed correctly. Did that change how I liked the story? Once I got over it, no. The story was still just as great as intended. Just go in with different expectations and I think this could be really great for you.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

First and foremost, as someone who 100% judges a book by its cover, this one is easily one of the best of 2023!

Moving onto the story itself - one of my favorite subgenres is a thriller with a deserted island setting, and this is one of the most well-executed I’ve read. Our MC duo are both female con-artists, which is another trope that is having a moment right now. When one of the two goes missing while on a “job,” the other is determined to find out what happened to her. To me, this story had all the makings of a totally bingeable read - dual POVs, short chapters and fast-paced action. Definitely one of those books with a bit of a crazy and chaotic storyline, but I ate it up. One of my favorite thrillers of the year, highly recommend!

Thank you to Ballantine Books + NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I love Wendy Heard, and this novel was brilliant, twisty, and fun, and markedly less dark than some of her previous novels.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for providing me with an eARC of You Can Trust Me in exchange for my honest review!

I feel conflicted over this con artist mystery thriller, because I vibe with some parts, but then other aspects negatively stick out to me. For one thing, I'm always up for tales about con artists and all the clever deception they pull, so You Can Trust Me automatically rivets me in that sense. I also like the claustrophobic setting and the dynamic between Summer and Leo. But then I've got complaints over elements like the formulaic plotting, the puzzling timeline as we jump back and forth between the different POVs, and the cliched villain. These things prevent me from fully loving the book, although it does conclude on a satisfying note.

Overall, I'm officially rating You Can Trust Me 2.75 out of 5 stars, which I'll round up to 3 stars. I may not have been completely happy with this book, but I'll continue to be interested in Wendy Heard's work, particularly as someone who'd enjoyed She's Too Pretty to Burn.

I enjoyed reading this thriller, as it offered a unique story and characters along with twists! The book kept me guessing and invested in the characters' outcome, even though it was tough to connect with them. That is what made it a different sort of read for me though, that I couldn't predict what crazy things would happen next!

On her own for the first time in years, Summer decides to infiltrate Michael’s island and find out what really happened. But when she arrives, no one has seen Leo—she’s not on the island as far as they know. Plus, there was only one way on the island—and no way off—for the coming days. Trapped in a scheme she helped initiate, could Summer have met her match?

I enjoyed this wild ride of a thriller from Wendy Heard. It's about Summer and Leo- two friends who make a living through cons and pickpocketing. But then Leo disappears and maybe this time they have gotten themselves into more trouble than they can handle.

This story is wholly unbelievable, but I don't know that it needs to be believable to be fun! I decided I was okay to just go along with the wild plot and unbelievable characters. The chapters are quick and easy and alternate between Summer and Leo, making for a quick and entertaining read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with and advance copy of You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard in exchange for my honest review and opinion. HOLY COW - BUCKLE UP! This book is going to take you on one heck of a wild ride. So many twists and turns that at times you will be holding your breath to see what is going to happen next. Absolutely loved this book from the very first page. Do yourself a favor and read this right away.

This was my first Wendy Heard novel and it won't be my last. It was a light thriller which sometimes I need.

The book follows Summer and Leo, two women who live the van life and are petty criminals.

I love stories about grifters, and ones where you're rooting for characters that aren't necessarily good people.

The story is told from the POVs of both Summer and Leo. I enjoyed both characters and loved that they were vanlifers! This was certainly the thriller of the summer. I loved it, flew through it, and was kept guessing until the very end.

I liked Summer and Leo, although I think I liked Leo better. Both women had some trauma in their past, which formed who they are today. These 2 friends lived out of Summer's Land Rover. They lived a life of petty crime throughout the state of CA in order to survive.

Leo tries to con a billionaire named Michael so she can pay Summer back the money she owed her. However, it didn't turn out that way, and Summer goes after Leo to save her.  I loved that Summer would do anything to find and save her friend. I enjoyed the ending. It seemed fitting after everything that went on in the book.

The twists and turns would be pretty predicatable if you are the type of reader to guess what is happening. However, I'm not, and I was only able to guess 1 of the twists right before it happened.

This book is a lighter thriller. I know the spooky season is over, but don't count this book out yet. Keep it in mind for when you want to read thriller.