*Received as a free ARC*
I had no preconceptions going into this other than having liked one Gwenda Bond book. Boy did it deliver. Dani is sharp and funny. The plot is intriguing, well executed, and very original. I'm a big art nerd so those details were lightful (Gardner Museum heist!), as well as the pop culture references. I'd read a whole series of this. Would recommend to fantasy and crime fans.

Dani is estranged from her family for a mistake she made when she was younger. This story follows Dani in a fun magical heist story with a dash of romantic comedy. It is a very charming read.

3.5 stars rounded up. This was a fun and magical read. I enjoyed the heist storyline and most of the side characters were great. It was a slow read but it kept my interest a majority of the time and I always wanted to pick it back up. There is a sense of mystery and intrigue weaved throughout and also a fun little love triangle (albeit, it is not a huge storyline.) The concept was unique and the found family dynamics were good, if a little messy. The ending felt a little abrupt but I did like the little insight we received after the main event. Overall, not my favorite by the author, but still a solid and different type of story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Magical realism is one of those genres that takes a certain amount of mental ingenuity to enjoy - and if you love a bit of a challenge, you'll enjoy this 'going-home-again' mysterious romance!! Bond's take on characters being forced to confront their demons and come to terms with the current status of old relationships was refreshing and done in such a way that I immensely enjoyed this lighthearted read.

Even though it's technically a romance - I found the art history/underbelly of the art world scene to be fascinating! If you love art - pre-order this for 2024, and you won't be disappointed. I'm mentally classifying The Frame-Up as a perfect break between steamier reads and a mystery!

NOTES:
- Set in Kentucky - so I automatically felt at home reading!

**Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey & NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. I received this book for free, but all thoughts are my own. – SLR 🖤

Quick heist read with magical elements and small amount of romance on the side. I liked this one ok had a few too many characters to keep track of and that could've been pared down a little. All in all and ok book 3 stars liked it fine but probably won't stick with me for too long. I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Rom-com, heist and magic? Yes, please. I enjoyed the storytelling of the family you are born into and the family you choose. Along with a side of magic. Dani Poissant has been running jobs on her own since her mom disinherited her for something she did in her teens. When her mom turned her back on her so did the rest of her family. However, now Dani has a chance to make it right.

I loved the storyline and the telling of Dani’s story.

Thank you #NetGalley for the advance copy

This was my first Gwenda Bond book, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect when picking up The Frame-Up. The plot sounded really fun and unique since it was an art heist with a hint of magic.

This book takes place over a week, yet pacing felt off. Dani has so many side plots before getting to the actual heist that I just wanted the actual heist to wrap up quickly.

I think one of my major issues with the book is that Dani refuses to be an adult. She avoids tough conversations for most of the book, yet continues to complain about missing her old family.

The book also has a lot of side characters. Obviously when dealing with thieves and con artists, there is going to be double-crossing and lies. This made it difficult to keep track of everyone’s motivations since it felt like no-one was trustworthy - especially since Dani refuses to have the hard conversations that need to happen.

The Frame-Up was definitely an interesting concept, but I had a hard time getting into the story because of Dani. Also, if you are picking this up for the romance plot, you might be disappointed because it is a really small portion of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for giving me an ARC copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This seemed like a cute, fun book that I might enjoy, and I was right. Dani is still feeling very guilty about turning her mom in, and she is a little unprepared when she’s unceremoniously dragged back into her gang of loved ones/thieves. What follows is a very interesting caper involving an art heist in an unusual way and a hunt to…well, I can’t say much because spoilers. The characters were a little distant, but I really enjoyed myself anyway. It was interesting to see how they got around obstacles in stealing a painting. I wish we had gotten to know all the characters better, and I would actually like another book to see how and what they are doing. All in all, though, this is a fun read. Recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

Wow! There were surprised I didn’t expect when I saw this very cute cover.

First thought was - romcom with a heist involved! Who doesn’t love that?

Plot twist! There’s magic, found family, and a century old demon! Romance is there but it’s not spicy at all which is fine. I love a good found family story.

I think how the story is design heighten the adrenaline. Dani has to assemble her crew and steal a painting in 7 days. Every so often sections of the story will have countdown like 6 days left and so forth. So really everything was such a jam packed roller coaster of a story in a week timespan! Amazing.

Dani’s faithful companion Sunflower was my favorite. The most loyal canine to Dani when everyone left her.

Definitely recommend! Thank you for this advance readers copy for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I don’t know why I thought this would be a lighter heist book, but The Frame-Up was much darker than I expected. I blame it on the cutesy cover (which I like) but might be a bit misleading.

The Frame-Up starts off by introducing its main protagonist, Dani Poissant, daughter of an infamous art thief, currently on her own pulling jobs. She gets sucked back into her former life when a mysterious man comes to visit and makes her an offer she should, but can’t, refuse. Which means Dani headed back home to pull off an impossible heist, and she’ll need the help of all of her mother’s crew to do it.

This is a story with a unique premise. Dani lives in a shadowy world of magic, and those with magic use it to their advantage. In Dani and her mother’s case, their magic enables them to pilfer the most expensive works of art from museums, replacing them with duplicates that are almost undetectable. Dani grew up in this world and knows how to pull off a caper or a con. But then her mother got out of control, and she turned her in to the FBI. Now she’s back in the world she left all those years ago, and determined not only to complete the heist, but to solve a mystery.

In addition to being lured in thinking this was a lighter book, I ALSO kind of thought there would be more romance in it. I mean there is mention in the blurb of Dani having to reunite with the old gang, INCLUDING HER EX. But, alas, this is not a romance, so don’t get excited. I will say that the premise drew men in and kept me reading. Even though there were lulls in the pacing, I really, really wanted to know how this seemingly impossible theft would occur, and if they would be able to pull it off cleanly. I also really wanted to know what would happen to Archer and Dani’s mom at the end.

Despite this book being nothing like I expected when I opened it, (that will teach me to make assumptions), I did enjoy.

Glenda Bond is one of my auto buy authors and this book is an amazing example of why she is. This book was absolutely enchanting ot has all the witchy goodness that I was looking for but mixed with an oceans 11 vibe. Lol it was so good I didn't want to put it down! I would give this book 6 stars of I could!
I just reviewed The Frame-Up by Gwenda Bond. #TheFrameUp #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Thank you to the publisher for my arc!


This story was super interesting! I loved the found family aspect as well however it does feel like it moves slowly in some areas and I would’ve given anything for more world building.

Highly recommend if you love plot driven heist novels!

I loved the idea for this book! A fantasy, heist, somewhat romance! What a perfect combination! When I read it it fell a little flat. It was good, but I wish it could’ve been more!

Dani and trusty dog Sunshine were a great team of Robin Hood-esque con artists. I enjoyed the way magic works here; it reminded me a bit of Graceling with people having very specific talents which the protagonist and her friends have put to use to steal art. The twists and turns were fun, but I cared way more about the mission/group as a whole than Dani and her love interest. There just wasn't enough detail to him for me to care. I would read a second book in this universe!
#TheFrameUp #NetGalley

I had high hopes from requesting this arc - the premise is SO unique and the cover is so eye catching. But unfortunately The Frame Up was… boring. I think the writing style fell short, since this is supposed to be a literal art heist - none of the events (there’s a fight, the stealing of the art, there’s even a fire?? how did it all feel so bland) are written suspenseful or in an engaging way. Like, these events are supposed to be page turners and have you feeling nervous for the characters. NOTHING! There’s nothing! The magical realism element also went over my head at times because of how many characters there were that weren’t fully developed. I didn’t like the romance because I truly didn’t see the chemistry between the main characters besides their shared past.. give me more? I actually did like Dani (I think everyone’s favorite character will be her dog Sunflower) but again I just felt like the story dragged onnnn. There’s so much about Dani’s relationship with her mom, but I never really got invested in the Maria in the first place.

I was super excited for this book, but unfortunately it just didn’t work for me. It took me almost 2 months to slog through this.. Bummer. Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for an arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed the concept of this book more than the actual writing. The idea of it being a fantasy novel is there, but it isn't until the last third of the book that the writing really gets immersive and the magical system explained. There didn't seem to be high stakes and the villain was just not believable enough, nor was Mira.

I really wanted to like the characters more, but they didn't get enough background or personality to be likable. The most likable characters were Brad and Emma to me and I disliked Elliot the most, so the ending fell flat and fast for me.

I loved the heist scenes and feel like maybe this would've worked better with more editing or even as a different format, like a play or film. All in all, it was still an enjoyable read, but the plot was strung out for a good 2/3rds of the book.

I gave this a solid 3 stars.

I really enjoyed the historical aspect and homage to Dorian Gray.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy of this book, in exchange for my honest review! The Frame-Up will be published in February 2024, just in time for Valentine's day!

So, I loved Not Your Average Hot Guy and The Date from Hell but The Frame-Up was not for me. I couldn’t get into this book at all. I didn’t really like the characters and couldn’t force myself to continue to read it. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I've only read romances from Gwenda Bond, but I really liked those, so I was excited for this. It was a different vibe from the others I've read by her, as the romantic element was present but not the main thing. The story here is that Dani Poissant, infamous daughter of an infamous thief who happens to be in prison because Dani was talked into setting her up when she was 17, is basically living a nomadic life, earning a living by running blackmail schemes, when her mother's old partner finds her and convinces her to come back home to Kentucky to steal a painting for him and win back her mother's love and trust. Dani, who feels really guilty about how she let the FBI use her and really hurt that her mother basically hasn't spoken to her and has also gotten her blackballed among their small community of thieves (which I'll get back to in a minute), is convinced because the job involves access to a holy grail personal art collection in Louisville whose owner has recently died. Okay, so back to the community of thieves - part of what makes Dani, her mother, and their former accomplices special is that they all have some kind of magic. Dani's is that anything she forges looks just like the real thing (especially art), and her mom's is that she can persuade anyone of almost anything. They were a tight-knit group and they completely turned on Dani when her mother was arrested, even her best friend Mia and boyfriend Elliot. Her mother convinces them to accept Dani back to help her do this job, which involves her posing as a security consultant (based on her mother's reputation as an art thief) and finding a way to steal the painting that Archer wanted. I did feel like this got a little bogged down in some of the details of the art stuff, though that may have been because I was actually more interested in the magic side of things, including a whole magical history subplot involving one of Dani's ancestors, an artist in Paris. Anyway, this was kind of like Ocean's 8/11/13 but with actual magic, and I did find it fun and entertaining.

The Frame-Up one had a super unique premise with a dose of magical realism which I really liked. It kept me hooked for the entire book, and I just had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next and how the story was going to end.

I enjoyed Dani’s character and how strong she was and her relationship with Sunflower (of course!). The other characters seemed a little flat to me, including their relationships with Dani. I think it definitely could’ve benefited from being a bit longer to deepen those characters and relationships. I did like the found family that was created through the book, which is one of my favorite tropes.

Overall, I really liked this one! It was a quick, engaging read and I would definitely recommend if you like heists and magical realism! Thank you to Random House Publishing and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn't get into this book. I tried multiple times, but still ended up not finishing. Maybe someday I'll give it another shot.