Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC!

This was disappointing. The premise contains every single aspect of a book I should enjoy: a heist, magic, and romance, yet it fell flat in each category. The book itself was okay, it just was SOOOOO SLOWWWWW.

I'm a fast reader. It took me 27 days to read this. I couldn't get into the novel, yet it was just interesting enough to keep me invested.

I can't say that I would recommend this, but I also won't not recommend it. If it sounds interesting to you, read it!

On paper this book should have been catnip to me. I love a heist novel. I enjoy magical realism. But for some reason I just couldn't connect to this one. I slogged through the audio even listening at 3x. I can't really pinpoint what didn't click, and I did finish it, but as I sit 30 minutes after it's over trying to write this review I have nothing to say about it other than, it was boring... And I hate to say that, but I think there are better heist books to spend your time on.

I suggest: the Charlie Thorne Series (middle grade), Thieves Gambit (YA), or Rook to King (rom com).

Thanks to Del Rey for the complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

Dani is a talented painter...and daughter of a talented thief. Ten years before her story takes place she's 17 years old, afraid for her mother, and sells her out to the FBI. Now her mother's former partner, Archer, needs her to complete a heist. This new job will require so much more from her than she's prepared to give, and it means reuniting with people who she believes she betrayed back in her teen years. With a bit of magic, a lot of teamwork, and rekindling an old flame, she hopes to catch Archer and reveal the truth behind his power.

This is a really fun adventure with laugh out loud moments.

Reading this book reminded me of reading Ally Carter's books for the first time as a teen and that is a very high compliment. It had just the right amount of intrigue, and the action was not at the expense of the character development and the exploration of their relationships to each other. I definitely was at the edge of my seat through reading it, and look forward to more from this author.

Danielle (Dani) Poissant makes her living making bad guys pay. Then, she's contacted by the mysterious Archer who used to work with Dani's estranged mother. He makes her an offer she can't refuse: steal his portrait from the most heavily guarded private art collection in the world and he'll restore the life Dani used to lead. Soon Dani is working with her mother's old crew of magically-gifted art thieves, but this may be one job Dani won't get out of unscathed.

This novel featured an interesting and original concept--the overlap of magical abilities and high-end art heists, but I would have liked to have known more about the magic world and the characters abilities. Additionally, for an art-heist story, it just wasn't that suspenseful.

The synopsis/premise of the story was interesting, but the execution...UGH?! I definitely missed the magical feel of this because it was supposed to have it...but like, where? A lot of the relationships in this felt forced, the characters were pretty meh at best and it seemed like she was trying to make the book more romantic than it really was. I also was sooo disappointed in who she chose in the end, but alas, that's how it goes sometimes.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC copy.

I love a this con artist story, and was so excited for this new release. It had a touch of magical elements, but a love triangle is not my fave, and unfortunately the rest of the plot fell flat for me.

*many thanks to PRh and prh audio, and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

Book Name: The Frame Up
Author: Gwenda Bond

ARC
Thank you to NetGalley and **Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey** for an ARC of this book

Wrong Book at the Wrong Time.

First, I apologize to the author and publisher for the lateness of this review.
While the allure of the plot originally hooked me, this book failed to hold my attention. I have tried multiple times to get into this book. Restarting over and over but still not being able to push through. this is a DNF for me.

I had high expectations of this being similar to the Emily Donovan series or Moorewood Family Rules and it just… wasn’t

This is landing right in the middle for me at a 2.5 — I had really high expectations for this book -- the description and cover totally caught my attention, but I couldn't get into the story/writing here. It felt very flat, and I couldn't feel anything for the story or characters. I thought it would be so much more exciting! Not as captivating as I hoped.

Dani Poissant has magic that lets her copy a work of art and make it indistinguishable from the original. As a kid, her mother used her power and those of others with special skills to become one of the most successful and infamous art thieves. Until an FBI agent tricked Dani into betraying her mom and sent her to jail. Now it's 10 years later and her mother's mysterious associate, Archer, comes to her with a proposed heist she can't say no to. Dani will have to work with her mother’s old gang—including her former best friend, Mia, and Elliott, the love of her life—to get a painting that's part of a private collection impossible to approach with only a week to plan and execute. But the more Dani learns, the more she's realizing that there's way more at stake than just getting the painting.

It took me a bit to warm up to Dani, but she's the kind of character that you need to spend time with to warm up to. It's not ideal in books, but the rest of the characters and the unique situation kept me reading. It's almost more about the relationships and the interactions than about Dani herself, and I think that's why it works.

It's different from what I usually read and I appreciated the magical realism being a big part of the heist while the plot remains mostly about the planning of the heist and the relationships of the people involved in it. It somehow feels both cozy and exciting, which made for an entertaining read.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for the original and entertaining read!

8/10. What a fun read this was! It wasn't at all what I expected in regards to the magical aspect, but once I was acclimated I really enjoyed it.

Quick synopsis—magical art thief/artist Dani is trying to get back in the good graces of her mom by stealing a painting from the private collection known as The Fortress. In the process she hopes to reunite with old family and friends, but learns a lot about herself and relationships in the process.

What I liked: the characters, the inclusion of magic, Sunflower, the flashbacks to the origin story (though how did the magic come to be?!)

What I didn't like: I thought Brad's character was a little weak. He was a good guy, and wanted to do the right thing, but he didn't have the charisma to make it happen.

I'd love to read more about the antics of Dani, Elliott, Mia, Liz and Rabbit + the other characters with magical powers. Thanks to NetGalley and publisher DelRay for the ARC.

PS—In my ARC there was some confusion over when Elliott vs Emerett was used, but I'm sure that's been corrected. :)

I love a good con artist story, and this one was fun! I loved the addition of the heist and the magical realism elements to the plot. I was engaged in this book the whole way through!

I’m always drawn in by a heist story and thought this sounded like a fun premise. Unfortunately the execution didn’t pay off for me and I decided to DNF. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook to review.

2 stars!

I'm so bummed because the cover is so cute and the description felt right up my alley but this just didn't work for me. The issue is I just didn't care? How can a heist book not be exciting? You have a heist! I also unfortunately did not connect with the characters or the writing and it took me a long time to get through it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Single POV, Magical Realism, Love Triangle

Despite the gorgeous cover and intriguing plot this novel fell a bit flat. An art heist theme lead me to believe this book would be full of tension and finesse only that wasn't the case here. Somehow this book felt anticlimactic and the FMC Dani was hard to care for and root for because she is so clueless most of the time. Highly enjoyed the dog Sunflower though.

This was sadly not what I was hoping it would be. I did like the world building, with real magic existing in the real world, just hidden with tricks and lies. The storyline jumped around and had a lot going on that did not always work well and at times was distracting from the actual plot. There was also a lot of dark and betrayal here, and then the end was very HEA with no real work to get there, kind of abrupt. Also, the romance was more of the Main Character remembering that she had feelings for a person, with no actual real relationship development- I was actually rooting for another love interest instead. I guess this is a standalone with how the epilogue went, but I feel like there were more loose ends then I like, but I probably would not read another in this world anyway.

I'm a sucker for a heist book and thought I had just about read it all, but Gwenda Bond's The Frame-Up was full of the delightfully unexpected. Introducing magic into modern-day thievery is pure gold and was such a fun plot to read. Dani is such a multi-layered character and I couldn't get enough of her mom's old crew. I was on the edge of my seat to see if they could truly pull off such an impossible heist on a crazy short timeline!

I enjoyed this books about thieves in which a daughter sends her mom to prison. But then ends up having to pull off a heist only her mom could pull off. I have to say to say that this one gave me grow up Heist Society by Ally Carter vibes.

Without giving too much away, I'm going to review this a little vaguely (sorry!) - It took me a bit to get through this book, it's a combo of grand larceny/art theft/magical realism/romance - which made for an interesting story line, but I just didn't connect with any of the characters and I didn't get "hooked" at any point in the story, but I did finish it. Looking forward though to see what Gwenda Bond does next!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House publishing for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was a funny, quirky story that drew you right in. You were rooting for Dani to pull off the heist, you were hoping the trust she is putting in her old crew is warranted, you are torn between her old friend and her new friendship with the art collector's son. There is magic, mystery, twists and turns. It is a fun story to read with an array of unusual characters that will keep you turning the pages to see what is going to happen next. This book will appeal to older children, teenagers, and adults. It was very enjoyable.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.