This book lacked substance. The first couple of chapters had me hooked on but after that it was a downward spiral. Some plot "twists" could be guessed from a mile away. The conversations between the "bad guys" and the "good guys" felt very unnatural. Won't recommend.

I gave this one 2.5 stars rounded up to 3. I hate to give bad reviews and I typically would just put it aside and not finish, but I wanted to be able to review it for Netgalley.
The main issue was I didn't connect with the characters which is probably on me. I found it slow. I did like the connection of the characters at the end, but it took a long time to get there.

A total binge worthy, thoroughly dark, and deliciously twisty book, I just could not put this one down. Summer and Leo are twenty-something pickpockets and con artists. Living in sunny LA, they do what they need to in order to get by. Both come from troubled pasts, but they are content with their existence. Leo sets her sights on meeting Michael, a billionaire tech genius, and he whisks her off to his private island for the night. When Summer doesn't hear from Leo the next day, she begins to investigate and gets herself invited to an exclusive weekend on the island to try to find Leo. Things seem fine on the surface, but the longer she is there, Summer begins to believe that everything is not as it seems. The book is told from both Summer's and Leo's alternating perspectives, we get to know their pasts and what made them the people they are, as well as the wild events of the present. Are they wild! There is definitely some suspension of disbelief needed, especially for some way too convenient coincidences, but if you can just go with the story it is shocking, entertaining, and actually thrilling. There are far too few thrills in thrillers these days, but this one has plentiful thrills. The plot itself was thoroughly entertaining, keeping me spellbound throughout. Sharp, twisty good fun with a pair of spiky yet lovable female con artists who grift their way unabashedly through California's elite--but they meet their match when they get a tech billionaire in their sights, and one of the pair disappears.

Thanks to the author, NetGalley and the Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine/Bantam

More Like 3 and ½ Stars

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for my advanced copy of You Can Trust Me.

I enjoyed this one.
It was entertaining.
I listened to this one on audio.
Kelsey Navarro Foster & Natalie Naudus were the narrators.
They did a fantastic job. I found their voices to be similar so when multitasking it was easy to get confused as to who's POV I was following. I did enjoy that there were two POV's.
I also appreciated the backstory and the relationship between the two female main characters.

Why This Book Wasn't a 5 Star-

Some of the plot was just a little too over the top for me.

Overall- Recommend. I will definitely be reading more by this author.

I love a good con artist story, and this was just the perfect fast-paced summer thriller I was hoping for!

WHAT TO EXPECT
-best friend con artists
-found family
-private island setting
-strong female protagonist

🎧I enjoyed the audiobook format, and would definitely recommend. I binged this fun summer read in one sitting!

*many thanks to PRH, PRH Audio and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

Book was great! Such suspense and twist and turns and couldn't put it down. I felt like I had to know how this was all going to come together!

“Not all open doors lead to freedom and adventure. Some lead to death. I should have known that all along.”

Wow, what a ride! I thoroughly enjoyed my time jumping back and forth between Leo and Summer's perspectives! Leo and Summer are thieves, and when Leo leaps at the opportunity to use her skills on a billionaire, she decides to meet up with him. The problem is that she doesn't come back. Summer becomes worried for her friend, and after hearing that Leo went to a private island with her billionaire, she decides to follow her. Little does she know when she arrives that the stakes are high and not everything is as simple as it first seemed.

I loved so much about this book, but especially appreciated the witty quotes and twists and turns. I did so many Kindle highlights for this one! Thank you to the publishers for my e-ARC. I will recommend this to many others!

I enjoyed this book! The pace kept me engaged and I hated when I had to put the book down for other things. Definitely worth the read!

I was totally drawn to this one because of the cover I love the bright colors and it was a solid thriller. I liked the way everything unfolded and it was a nice take on the remote location concept. I only wanted to know a little bit more about what made the bad guy tick, why did he do the things he did even if it was just because he could, but it seemed like a deeper drive and I would have liked to know more about him and his past. And maybe also what summers mom was up to.

Two con artists are planning their next scam. This synopsis alone attracted me. What turned me off were some of the weird sex scenes and some of the torture scenes. I ended up not finishing it. Just not for me.

My thanks to NetGalley and Bantam Books for the advanced e-copy of this book.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine, Bantam for an Arc.

Absolutely loved this book, it was definitely a quick binge worthy read. I was hooked right from the beginning .

This is a great suspend your disbelief and enjoy the ride thriller! A pair of young women cons find themselves swept into the glamorous trappings of a billionaire’s private island, but there’s something sinister simmering beneath the glitz… the action gets going early on and the pacing kept the story moving in a very satisfying way.

A wild ride thriller that I couldn't put down. I loved the con-women main characters and the twists - reminded me a little of Glass Onion vibes.
The audiobook is also super well done.

I just wrapped The Guest and Stone Cold Fox and was looking for something similar when I found You Can Trust Me. This novel took the cake!

“Not all open doors lead to freedom and adventure. Some lead to death. I should have known that all along.”

This was a fun plot with unique characters and I just want to watch the TV show version of it now. Thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Leo and Summer through twists and turns.

Ok this book was the perfect end of summer thriller, mystery, rich people drama and death vibes read!

I think that going in fully blind is best with most thrillers and especially with this one. So many of the twists and turns were wildly surprising to me and caught me fully off guard. I enjoyed the pacing of this story, especially the pacing of when we got flashbacks and learned more about the girl's past.

I don't think this book did anything ground breaking that has never been done before, but it was a quick and enjoyable read that I would recommend!

A sharp and sizzling thriller!!

Summer was born in the back of a van. As a young child she drifted from campsite to campsite with her mother. Summer thinks she’s around thirty-two-years old but she doesn’t know for sure. She doesn’t have a birth certificate. She doesn’t know her real last name. She doesn’t know her mother’s last name either and she has no clue about her father. She once asked her mother what her birth date was, but her mother admitted she forgot.

“as far as the world is concerned, I don’t exist”

Summer hasn’t seen her mother in about fifteen years. She left when Summer was somewhere around age seventeen.

Summer had been on her own for around ten years when she first met Leo (short for Leoneli) when Leo was panhandling on the street. Leo is about six years younger than Summer.

Summer and Leo have a very tight bond. They are as close as sisters. They’ve been travelling together for five years. They live in Summer’s van. They have found non traditional ways of making money to survive.

“Get money, spend money, hide money, repeat”

Then Leo vanishes without a trace.

Where was Leo? Did she leave of her own free will?

A fast paced and intriguing story!!

I really enjoyed this book! After some of the emotional reads I’ve read lately this was a nice change. An exciting read with great characters. I flew through this novel in just a day. I did guess a few things but there were still many surprising revelations.

I’m definitely looking forward to reading more from Wendy Heard!

I'd like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel. All opinions are my own

You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard is a thriller about Summer and Leo, two friends that are traveling together and conning rich men. Leo is invited to a billionaire's private island, but then she disappears. When Summer makes it onto the island, she soon realizes that some really shady things are happening there. And there are some major twists. This book was a fun read. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard
My rating:
4/5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Leo and Summer both live in the back of a Land Cruiser. They both have a particular skill in being able to con someone, which they learned overtime in order to survive. When they have their sights on a specific target, they both attend a party that will change their lives.

I went into this one completely blind because I was emailed an invitation to read this on netgalley. I accepted and I am so glad I did! I really enjoyed this thriller.

I had a feeling that the story would go in the direction it did, and figured out the big twist rather early on. With that being said, I really loved the main characters and their sisterly type of bond.

I would absolutely recommend this one. This is the first time I have read anything by the author but this won’t be my last!

I loved the short chapters and how it was told in both Summer and Leo’s point of views.

Thanks netgalley and Random House Publishing for the invite to read this one! You can read this one now!

You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard is a fun, readable thriller with two strong female leads that I. really enjoyed and never found insufferable. Leo and Summer are two women with traumatic pasts who form a bond in the form of conning and stealing. They do what they need to do to survive by scamming and stealing, often setting their sites on rich men.

Leo and Summer were written so well, I enjoyed both characters immensely. I loved the mystery surrounding the island they both found themselves on, and the cast of uber rich characters really filled out the story. There were a few things that I predicted pretty early on, none of which took away from the enjoyment of the ride.

I loved this book! I will definitely recommend it. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.