3,5* rounded up. The premise of the book is awesome: An art heist, magic, romance, a family secret… it was a pleasant read, but some parts just fell flat. The romance part for example. I didn’t feel any chemistry between Dani and the guy she chooses in the end (I would read a sequel if the other guy is in there tho 😅). Also had some plot holes. Nevertheless a nice palette cleanser with a wholesome feeling. Bonus point for her dog Sunflower.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the earc!

Well written, complicated story about mother daughter art thieves. The mother/daughter relationship is fraught with issues. There are quite a few well developed characters. The story is original and well thought out. Definitely would recommend!

This one took a while to get into. The last half was intense and exciting, the first half boring and forgettable. That said it is a perfect beach or airplane read.

This book was not what I expected and I loved every second of it! I loved that the story focused on all of the character relationships and not just on the romantic ones. The main character was super relatable and there was suspense but also humor!

As excited as I was about this book’s concept, it just didn’t hit the mark for me.

The Frame Up follows Dani, a painter, as she tries to get back into the good graces of her mom’s magical group of thieves after connecting with a man she’d only heard of as her mom’s confidant.

The book has a high stakes art heist, secret magical society, a love triangle - all very fun tropes. I think the characters just felt a bit flat for me and there were several who felt superfluous. I wasn’t able to connect with everyone, as much as I was excited about the story.

I will say the addition of Sunflower the dog was wonderful and I loved that aspect. I just think there was maybe too much going on in a short span and it would have benefitted from more character diving.

I was provided this book for free in exchange for my honest review.

Up top, I have to wonder if the reason why this book has such low ratings is because it’s based on expectations instead of on the actual book; I would happily & confidently say this book was a 3.75 if not 4-star book. Here’s the thing, I would not classify this book first as a romance, but that doesn’t make this book any less enjoyable. Perhaps the marketing for this book missed the mark by a bit on the romance aspect, but y’all…who doesn’t love a heist? Let alone a magical heist?

The concept of this story is so unique - it takes place in a world where magic exists, but it manifests differently for every person who does have magic. This makes for a secretive community full of strange, fascinating characters & an interesting magic system that I haven’t quite seen before. And I LOVE that, in the case of Dani & those in her orbit, the magic is used for art heists. Dani’s history is compelling & I love her as a character. I was solely invested in her arc & who she may end up with was really a side thought throughout everything else that happens in the story. I want to go into so much about this book but I don’t want to risk spoilers. I will just say that this book felt closer to something like “The Lost Apothecary” than your standard contemporary romance.

I gobbled this book up. It’s full of magic, history, action, mystery, & emotion. (And I especially loved the “Loki as DB Cooper”-esque nod that we got to the 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft.)

Thank you to Ballantine/Random House Publishing & NetGalley for providing an advanced digital copy for review. All thoughts & opinions expressed are my own.

I was so excited to read this story. I loved the premise of a heist and the underground community in the art world.. The writing is good and I enjoyed the mystery as well.


Spoiler Alert:

I was not a fan of one of the characters being a demon. I felt uncomfortable and had to skip through many parts.

It was not what I expected and sad it did not work out for me. I enjoyed the writing and it was a good story

I was given a complimentary copy and not requited to write a review.

This was so boring and I want the time I wasted reading this back. The magic aspect of the book was not well written at all and didn't make a lot of sense. The main character also had no chemistry with the love interest. This was horrible.

I received an arc through netgalley.

I do love a heist, and Gwenda Bond’s The Frame-Up is a good story wrapped around a heist. I think it’s a standalone, but I would not say no to more of this crew doing their version of a heist with magic in the future.

Dani Poissant has been working solo in the decade since she turned her art thief mother in to the FBI. She’s a Robin Hood style grifter – targeting bad people, taking their money, and giving a big chunk of it to their victims. While she’s in the middle of blackmailing a soon to be divorced jerk, a man shows up to make her an offer she can’t refuse. This man that Dani has never met before has had a huge impact on her life. He was the reason Dani cooperated with the FBI, and now he is offering to give her mother and her family back to her if she will steal a painting.

Dani has 10 days to convince her mother’s old crew, including her old boyfriend, to join her on this heist, plan the heist, paint a forgery, and steal the painting. With the exception of her former best friend, Mia, they all have magical talents that they use for their thefts, grifts, and so on.

Initially, I assumed this was a romance because it’s Gwenda Bond. But I figured out pretty quickly that while there is a rekindled romance in the book, the romance isn’t the central focus. I double checked and saw that The Frame-Up is not being marketed as a romance. Yay for accuracy in marketing. It’s a fun heist mystery with elements of romance. I enjoyed this. I thought it was a fun read that you while away some time with, but don’t think about too deeply.

CW: Threat of violence, threat of violence to dog, emotional abuse by parent, magical emotional manipulation, magically induced fear and pain, rape of ancestor discussed in diary, discussion of ancestor’s suicide, incarcerated parent, and violence.

I received this as an advance reader copy from Random House/Ballantine and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.

This was an intriguing mix of fun and infuriating and I want more in this universe with this magic system.

Dani is a sympathetic character that's easy to latch onto and support, and oh my gosh everyone around her is awful and she doesn't even see it. Despite the sideways nature of a world with real magic and Dani possessing it, this is ultimately about recovering and moving on from the trauma that some parents inflict on their children. Dani has secrets and shames and so many of the things that people hold against her aren't her fault - let's just say her mom is even more awful than you'll suspect. At the end I was scoffing out loud in fury and agitation. But don't worry, Dani is actually the baddie she first presents herself as and it's awesome to watch her blossom into the life she should have and the power inside that has nothing to do with her magic.

I love a good heist book and the complexity of this one was fun, especially as multiple layers of things go wrong before and during the heist. Watching them try to maneuver and manipulate was a good time.

There's a slight romance, and a happy ending.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC
Ten years ago, Dani sent her art thief mother to prison. Now a friend of her estranged mother has asked her to help with a job, promising her mother back. The only way she can pull this off is with the reluctant help of her mother's crew, who she's also been estranged from. The job requires strealing a magical painting. Luckily Dani & the crew also have magic.
Entriguing story that kept you guessing who the bad guy really is. It also included a romance subplot including second chances and a love triangle.

The Frame-Up by Gwenda Bond is a fun mix of mystery and magic/fantasy elements. In the story, the main character, Dani Poissant, is a con artist with a special magical talent. She is approached by a colleague of her estranged mother to do an art heist that can benefit them all. Dani agrees to the job and then has to reach out to her former crew who she hasn't been in contact with for a decade. Needless to say, things do not go quite as planned with the heist.

I enjoyed this book but felt like some of the middle dragged a little. I was hoping for a little more action throughout. I found the magic element to be a unique twist in an art heist mystery. I would love to see another book following some/all of these characters!

The Frame-Up is a fast-paced and thrilling heist. Dani’s mother is known as one of the world’s greatest art thieves- until she gets caught. Dani accidentally helped put her mother away and has been paying the price ever since. A shadowy figure offers her a deal that is too good to be true and includes her being allowed back into the life she was exiled from. However, Dani has no hope of completing the job without her old crew. Can she convince the gang to come back together for one last heist?

I really enjoyed The Frame-Up! I love heist books and enjoyed the way magic played a role. In this book, some people are gifted with magic that helps enhance their abilities. Dani has the magical ability to create paintings that look identical and evoke the same feelings in viewers. The magical abilities were intriguing, yet still created plenty of obstacles for the team. The puzzle of the heist was well-thought out and compelling. I liked the romance, but found myself more interested in the heist/magical aspect. The crew is made up of lovable criminals and I especially loved Dani’s dog!

Readers who enjoy Ally Carter (particularly her new adult romance) will enjoy this. If you enjoy second-chance romance, magical heists, and lovable characters then you should check out The Frame-Up.

Thank you to Gwenda Bond, Del Rey, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC of this book (ebook version).

I really enjoyed this story. It had a little of everything: magic, lovable criminals, demons, romance, snark, mystery, a dog! It was fast paced and fun. The magic added a unique element to the heist story which was refreshing, but the magical abilities of the characters could've been more fleshed out. Also, calling it "the secret world" seemed juvenile.

Selling your mom out to the Feds doesn’t seem like a great way to start a book, but Gwenda Bond makes it work in this fun art heist with a magical twist.

I’m still not totally sure the magical elements of the story really worked or needed to be there, but it’s a fun, quick read with good pacing and a clever premise.

The magic means the story glosses over a lot of the nuts and bolts of pulling off a heist, which is a bit of a bummer, but it does give the story an original spin, and it’s a clever way to reimagine the typical members of a heist team as people whose skills are rooted in magic.

I liked the protagonist and loved her canine companion, and I really appreciated that the story never gets to schmaltzy. In all, a charmer and a great pick for a beach read.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for sending me an ARC!

The cover and plot of the book hooked me instantly! It is about an art heist with magic and romance what more could a girl ask for! While the plot grabbed my attention this book fell short for me. I was expecting more but overall this book just made me confused. I felt like the magic aspect did not need to be added and we could have just kept it as a normal heist. I also really wanted to like the characters but it was hard to relate to them.

If you are looking for an art heist book with magic and romance then I hope you give this one a try! It was not for me but it could be for you!

Important things you need to know about The Frame-Up:

Pace: Fast. The storyline of the book takes place over ten days.

POV: 3rd person (from Dani’s POV).

Trigger Warnings: There are scenes involving emotional abuse (on and off page), blood (mostly off page), fire (on page), gaslighting (on page), abandonment (off page and was done to and by Dani), injury & injury detail (on page), toxic relationship (on and off page), grief (on page), sexual assault (off-page but described in general terms via a journal Dani found written by her great-great-grandmother), suicide (off-page but described in general terms in the same journal mentioned previously), and murder (off-page). If any of these triggers you, I suggest not reading the book.

Language: There is moderate swearing in The Frame-Up. There is also language used that might offend some people.

Setting: The Frame-Up is set in Lexington, Kentucky. A brief chapter at the beginning shows Dani doing business in St. Louis, Missouri.

Plot Synopsis (as spoiler-free as I can get):

Growing up, Dani was molded into an expert forger by her art thief mother. But, at the age of seventeen and desperate to get her mother out of that lifestyle and away from her shadowy business partner, Archer, Dani contacted the FBI and arranged for her mother to be arrested. Dani didn’t expect backlash from the people who helped raise her.

That all changed when Archer hunted her down and asked her to forge a painting and steal the original for him. He promised that she would be able to make things right with her mother and with her mother’s gang if she did it. It wouldn’t be easy, though. The painting he wants stolen is in a private collection about to be sold at auction. That means Dani and her accomplices would need to infiltrate the auction. Dani is counting on her ace up her sleeve, her magical talent, and the magical talents of most of the gang to get the painting and get out.

But, with the clock ticking and rival gangs casing the joint, Dani needs to work fast. There is something bothering her about Archer and his reason for wanting the painting. Also, her mother has miraculously decided to talk to her again and shows great interest in the job. Can Dani figure everything out before the heist?

Characters:

The main characters in The Frame-Up are Dani and her border collie, Sunflower. She was a sympathetic character with a heartbreaking backstory. The only thing I was even a little “meh” about was her wanting to have a relationship with Maria (her mother). But I will get into that during the actual review.

The secondary characters (Maria, Rabbit, Mia, Elliot, Brad, and Archer) did add some oomph to the storyline. But I didn’t feel the connection that I did with Dani. I was a little grumpy with Rabbit because of how she treated Dani, but having read the book, I understand why she acted that way. Just remember that things aren’t what they seem with Maria’s gang.

My review:

When I started reading The Frame-Up, I expected it to be a rom-com centered around an art heist. I did think that the premise was strange, but I have read books that featured a jewel thief, so I went with it. Well, the blurb wasn’t exactly right about the book. The Frame-Up is more of a fantasy chick-lit crime book with a touch of romance. And again, I didn’t mind it. But some people do, so I want to give everyone a heads-up.

The main storyline of The Frame-Up centers around Dani, Archer, Maria (her mother), a plan to steal a painting, and Dani reconnecting with the only family she knew. The storyline was well written, but it did lag in spots (mainly at the end when everything went to hell). I found some situations unbelievable, but since this was a fantasy, I went with it. In the end, I did enjoy the book.

I liked how the author took an art heist and made it magical. Except for Mia, everyone had magic powers. Dani could accurately reproduce any painting, her mother had the gift of persuasion, and Rabbit was a whiz on technology. I also liked how the author kept the highest, generally, in shades of gray. Yes, stealing and replacing a painting was awful, but Dani did it for a reason. She wanted to reconnect with Maria. Yes, lying and pretending to be security consultants was terrible, but again, Dani was doing it to get to the painting, and she helped stop heists before they happened.

I was disappointed that the author didn’t explain Dani’s ability. There was one scene where she was reproducing Archer’s painting, and that was it. Otherwise, it was all about the finger tingles and memory of Monet when she was a child.

I liked that the author kept Dani and Elliott’s romance in the background. With everything going on, if the romance were more up in your face, it would have ruined the book. I also liked being kept guessing if Dani would go with Elliott or with Brad for most of the book. That pseudotriangle did keep me on my feet.

Other than the heist, the main focus of this book was the relationship between Dani and her mother. Dani did what she thought was right and turned Maria in. All she wanted was for her mother to be out of Archer’s control and back to being a somewhat normal parent. But, as the book went on and the more Dani interacted with Maria, the more I saw that Maria wasn’t nice.

Archer is the big elephant in the room. He was very mysterious in his dealings with Maria and with Dani. It was in the scene where Dani saw the painting where I thought something was up. And there was. The journal scenes explained so much and explained why he wanted the painting. It also changed Dani’s mind about helping Archer. He got what he deserved in the end.

The end of the book is chaos. There was so much going on and so much revealed that my head spun from processing it all. I was left with a headache and feeling that the book hadn’t ended (if that makes sense).

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey, NetGalley, and Gwenda Bond for allowing me to read and review this ARC of The Frame-Up. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

Ten years ago, Dani Poissant thought that she’d left her old art heist crew behind for good. Nowadays, she works as an itinerant con artist, traveling from town to town and finding easy marks, with a side of Robin Hood do-gooding along the way. Her only companion is her beloved dog Sunflower, also a stray like herself, who provides the muscle when she gets into sticky situations. It’s a lonely existence, but one she’s resigned herself to living.

That all changes when a mysterious figure shows up while she’s in the middle of cutting a deal. Archer is her estranged mother’s shadowy partner in crime, and he’s come with a proposition for her. If she steals a single painting from an upcoming auction, he’ll reconcile her with her mother, the notorious art thief Maria Poissant, who’s refused to speak to her own daughter since their epic falling out a decade prior:

QUOTE
Dani’s mother taught her well enough, that things that were too good to be true were always fakes, promises like this were fairy dust that dissolved when you flipped the lights on. Yet, in this dark bar, Dani felt hope in every beat of her heart.

She realized she wanted to say yes, for multiple reasons. Archer was a mystery, still, after all these years. This would give her a chance to pry, to solve it, to figure out who he was and what hold he had on her mother.

That wasn’t the most enticing part of his offer. She could hardly allow herself to contemplate it. But suppose he <i>could</i> close the abyss between her and her mother?
END QUOTE

So against her better judgment, she agrees. When she hears the conditions of the heist, her confidence sinks even further. The Fortress of Art is well known in artistic circles, as it’s rumored to be the most valuable private collection in the world. More intriguingly, it was jealously guarded by its owner, William Hackworth, who allowed no one except himself to view the contents. He’d constructed an elaborate security system to ensure this, one that consistently foiled even the most skilled art thieves, including the Poissant crew themselves.

With William’s demise, his only son and heir Brad is eager to get rid of the fortress’ contents, announcing an auction to dispose of the art within less than a fortnight. This has, of course, set the art world on fire with anticipation. Unsurprisingly, it’s also drawn the attention of criminals, who see a ripe opportunity for illicit profit, and the members of law enforcement hot on their trails.

As part of the operation, Archer introduces Dani to Brad as a security specialist. Sparks fly almost immediately between the undercover criminal and the charming billionaire, but Dani knows that that won’t be enough to carry off the audacious heist. She’s going to need her old crew back, as well as the magical abilities that made them the best art thieves in the world. She and her crew had once been so close that they’d been practically family, but they won’t let her return to the fold without a fight. How far will Dani go to win back their trust, when failure means the possibility of never regaining her mother’s love?

This is a juicy paranormal crime caper with plenty of family drama and a sweet little love triangle. My favorite parts were both the historical flashbacks and the musings on the ethics of the art market. Dani isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty in order to right injustices as a con artist, and has little sympathy for the wealthy people she robs:

QUOTE
Sometimes the art world got it right, recognized true genius, rewarded it, and sometimes other reasons and outcomes prevailed. There were a lot of broke geniuses. A lot of dead, valuable artists. And if they became famous while they were alive and had sold a painting for seventeen dollars when they were younger? The artists didn’t see another dime on that piece if it suddenly became worth seventeen million dollars and someone else sold it. That part of what [her crew] did always made sense to Dani. It was an ecosystem they were part of balancing.

No different than any other con. Or business.
END QUOTE

I always enjoy a book that reflects thoughtfully on the ethics and history of art, especially when it’s linked to a little mysticism, modern or otherwise. I was somewhat surprised that my favorite character wound up being Brad, especially given my weakness for found family narratives: I thought he was by far the most memorable and fleshed out member of this diverse cast. The ending of The Frame-Up does hint at sequels to come, so I hope we’ll be seeing him and Dani again in future novels.

I was so excited to read this book (art heist, magic, and romance, what else could I want?), but it didn't quite scratch the itch the way I wanted it to. Don't get me wrong, I definitely enjoyed it, but I think there was a bit of an expectations mismatch and some elements I wished were more developed.

First of all, I think this book was marketed incorrectly. This is not a romance novel featuring a magical art heist. This is a magical art heist novel with a minor romance subplot. Though it's possible I made assumptions about the book based on Bond's past work. The romance wasn't quite giving what I wanted it to. I felt I was really missing the exploration of Elliot as a character and a lot of information about Dani and Elliot's past. I didn't quite get on board with their physical or emotional chemistry. One major caveat here being that I'm generally not a huge second chance romance fan.

I loved the art heist and magic portion of this book. Bond always does a fantastic job of incorporating history and historical details (real or fantasy) into her work and this was no exception. This book had a bit of a darker and grittier tone compared to some of her other work and read as either a thriller or mystery at some parts, which I enjoyed.

I did feel like there was a ton of information thrown at me at the very beginning that was a little difficult to absorb all at once. At the same time, there were a lot of pieces I wished were more fleshed out. There were a lot of really interesting supporting characters (Mia, Rabbit, etc.) that we didn't spend all that much time actually learning about on an interpersonal level.

Overall, I enjoyed this book but it didn't quite click in the way I wanted it to. Maybe I just really miss the "Not Your Average Hot Guy" duology and have been chasing that high ever since.

3 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Random House/Del Ray for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

I usually love Gwenda Bond's books, however this one fell flat for me. I considered DNFing but I kept waiting for it to get more interesting, but it didn't. It was kind of slow, not much of it was exciting at all although it genuinely sounded good and I loved the cover. The "romance" aspect wasn't great at all. There was no witty banter or conversations that remotely made me smile or giggle while reading