I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley. It's full of heart about two women who life has not treated kindly who become Robin Hood-like characters to help karma along. It was full of twists and excitement and I enjoyed every minute of it. If you like heists, then try it out.

Emma and Nellie are longtime friends who reinvent themselves as high-end grifters, making a great living at it. But then Nellie is kidnapped and Emma is blackmailed into stealing a very high-profile bracelet from an exhibition. This is a fun, frothy book but doesn't have much character development and I felt these two were much more lucky than smart. But Sophia was a doll and she was my favorite character. This would be a great summertime "beach book." or a good fireside read.

The confidence games is one of the best books I have read this year. Tess does a great job of building the story with a great conclusion. This is the first book I have read by Tess Amy and I can't wait for more. She is an author definitely worth following.

In this novel, two best friends are elite con-women and who pull off intricate jewelry heists. They are making big names for themselves on the black market, and we meet them preparing for their next job. Though, a wrench is thrown in their plans and now we have to follow them to see if they can make it out.

The premise is such a fun idea and I was really hoping for a fun action packed novel following these two strong women scamming people left and right. Emma says they are the best in the business of conning crooked men, but Nellie is kidnapped in the 2nd chapter. We didn’t get to experience how elite they are, and it just didn’t make sense for us to not see that. With Emma constantly reiterating the quality of their work, the story also didn’t feel cohesive when seeing how insecure she is. I did not finish and stopped at 30%. It might pick up in the latter half of the book but the first few chapters didn’t keep my attention, this book just isn’t for me.

Now I did enjoy how the writing was very detailed and vivid. I felt like I was experiencing Emma’s flashbacks, it was really vivid. I also really appreciated the sisterhood representation between the two FMCs. Very much found family with them. I think readers who love female protagonists and an action forward plot, this will be a good selection for them.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tess Amy & Berkley for a digital galley of The Confidence Games in exchange for an honest review.

I knew by the cover and the synopsis that it would be the perfect book to fit my reading style & I was not disappointed!

I absolutely loved the spin on con-artistry with two female leads in something that has normally been a man's world. Girl Power!

I also really enjoyed the concept that they would only con men and only the lowest of mean who deserved to be conned. I've encountered this same type of plot in thrillers with the murders of unsavory characters.

Emma & Nellie, best friends their entire lives, lead us on many of their heist/con adventures and they don't all go off a smoothly as would be preferred. There was multiple LOL moments, which reminded me a bit of Elle Cosimano's writing with the Finlay Donovan series (that's a huge compliment).

Everything is great until they get swindled themselves into an extremely dangerous heist that is far out of the comfort zones of both Nellie & Emma. It's a life or death situation that they have to make happen, which requires calling in reinforcements to assist them. Now we're getting into an Ocean's Eleven or Now You See Me situation.

I literally loved everything about this book from the cover art, to the writing style, to the characters, the plot, the ending - literally everything.

Tess Amy is an author to watch & I look forward to many more 5-Star reads from her.

I cannot imagine any not loving this fast-paced, perfectly written, clever story. I will highly recommend this book to everyone.

This review is on my Goodreads account.

“They called us swindlers, fraudsters, tricksters, cheats. But make no mistake: we never crossed anyone who didn’t deserve it”

Brief Summary-
In The book The Confidence Games, you follow two best friends Nellie, and Emma who made a career of being con-artist and making a name for themselves in the European Black Market. In a life that they chose, something was bound to happen that would rock their world. Emma and Nellie now found themselves in the toughest job yet. They have to steal The Heart Of Envy a very important jewel in an exhibit in London that is filled with high-tech security with people and press everywhere. If they dont this.. they will find themselves in a life or death situation. So how do they do it? And do they pull it off?

What To Expect :
💅Badass Female Main Characters
💅Action/Adventure
💅Strong Friendships
💅Mystery
💅A Twist At The End

My Thoughts-
I loved this book. It was an incredibly fun read. If you like movies like OCEAN’S 8 & OCEAN 11. Then you will love this.It was a great mystery, action packed book. I think the plot is great. I was immersed in the story rooting for Nellie and Emma. I felt like I was part of the heist. I think this story was more than two friends being trickster. You really fell in love with the friendship Nellie and Emma has. It was very inspiring and I had the warm and fuzzy. I hope we all have a girl that we can count on that will help us with anything in life. Including swindling old men hahah but also ready to commit a crime and help each other cover it up lol.

“Sometime it takes the scary things to show us how brave we really are.”

The writing was easy to follow along. The pace went well with this story. I was never bored. I was on the edge of my seat wanting to know how the heist played out. At the end of the book, I was questioning how people come up with these plot twist?! Because my brain is definitely not wired like that so I was the perfect target audience.

The Characters in this book was very unique to the story. There is a lot of side characters at play and they were woven in perfectly.

❤️‍🔥Nellie- was the tall blonde tanned, stylish FMC. All eyes on her. I really enjoyed her energy. I think her spunky personality really added a fun layer to this story.
❤️‍🔥Emma was the timid FMC. She stated a few times that was nothing with Nellie. And I dont think that was entirely true. Emma’s character development was amazing I was really proud of her by the end of the book.

Overall I truly recommend this book It’s a quick easy story that will have you on the edge of your seat. I was really impressed. This book comes out in July so make sure you add this to your TBR as it will be a sizzling summer read.

This is my first book by this author. The Confidence Games is her debut contemporary fiction novel. I can’t wait to check out her future work.

“..it’s the storyteller that counts, not the story. It doesn’t matter what you do or say; as long as you’re confident, you can get away with anything”

Playlist-
💎I AM WOMAN-Emmy Meli
💎Looking At Me- Sabrina Carpenter
💎Breakfast- Dove Cameron
💎Diva- Beyonce
💎Play With Fire- Sam Tinnesz Feat Yacht Money
💎Woman Like Me- Little Mix Feat Nick Minaj
💎Boss Bitch- Dojo Cat
💎7 Rings- Ariana Grande
💎Lithuim- Nirvana
💎Castle- Halsey
💎You Should See Me In A Crown- Billie Ellish
💎Watch Me- The Phantoms
💎Work- Iggy Azalea
💎Bitch Better Have My Money-Rihanna
💎Queen- Loren Gray
💎I Did Something Bad- Taylor Swift
💎Devil Is A Woman- Cloudy June
💎Me & The Devil- Soap&Skin
💎Bad Girls- M.I.A
💎Mount Everest- Labrinth
💎Just A Girl- No Doubt

✨Thanks to NetGalley, The Author, and Berkley Publishing for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review✨

The premise is great. The writing is easy to follow along with. I wasn’t personally gripped and stopped after chapter 2 (11%). That said, I can see this being a solid three to four stars for the target audience.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC.

Great little heist book! Immediately the book took a different direction than I was anticipating. Female friendships rock. Lots of "you go girl" moments <3

Focus x oceans 11 x taken, this was a really fast and fun novel to read.

I’m always a sucker for a heist so this read was right up my alley! Loved it

What a fun quick read! Two friends have a thrilling job where they steal from others and then sell stolen jewelry and watches and etc for more money. This job is thrilling until one of the friends gets kidnapped. If you’re looking for a standalone, quick and easy read, this one would be recommended!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for access to this eARC! This book was fun! I was really excited to get into a book about a heist and this did deliver. I loved the relationship, the sisterhood between our two main characters and the elements of found family within their heist crew. The twist at the end is where I started to get a little lost. It was a little bit too much unraveling all at once. It all works out in the end but the dump of information right at the climax had my head spinning just a little bit. That doesn't stop me from wanting this as a movie right this minute so I can see it all play out. Overall a really good time!

Fairly predictable mystery, but it was still a good read that I enjoyed. I only thought it was predictable because I solved the mystery before the characters did.

This book made me so excited! My heart pounded through every chapter which made me fly through this book. The plot was exciting and fast paced and the characters were interesting but relatable. I highly recommend this book and will be telling all of my family and friends to read it!