Thank you to NetGalley and Canary Street Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! I read it all in one day. Reid writes so well, and I love how I always get so sucked into her storytelling. Magnus and Celeste had great chemistry, and I loved their second chance romance. The found family that formed was so good, and I have my fingers crossed for another potential couple to get their own book as well!

CW: sexual content, grief, cancer, death, sexism

Two of my VERY favorite things are heist stories and second chance romances and this latest from Charish Reid seamlessly blends both to perfection!! Full of steamy scenes, a moving connection to a dead mentor who has given them a final job to complete and an Ocean's Eleven esque jewel heist, Jewel me twice delivered on all the feels and romantic suspense I could have hoped for. Great on audio and perfect for fans of books like Love & other scams by Philip Ellis. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Something about this book reminded me of the Italian Job. Celeste and Magnus have some unfinished business from a botched Stochkom job. There's nothing quite like the death of a mentor for one last whorah. The dual timeline helped the reader understand how the team came together and maybe how Doris mentored them to be international jewel thieves. At the same time, I think it impacted the plot's pacing. Sometimes I didn't think a flashback was necessary, but I also wanted to get to the final journal entry (so take that with a grain of salt). Without getting too spoilery I think it was an interesting sub-message that she saw something in Celeste but wanted her to avoid the same choices she made. Overall I wonder based on the epilogue if there's more to come with this team because I think Doris will continue to speak to her crew from the dead.

When Celeste learns of her mentor's passing, she is not shocked to find herself pulled in for one last thieving job with her old crew. As they plan for a new heist, Celeste is reunited with her former partner and flame, Magnus, for the first time after their dramatic split. With their tension and chemistry running as strong as ever, the two are forced to decide if they are willing to set aside their differences and finally be vulnerable with each other.

I don't think I've ever read a thief romance and I have to say it was so much fun! The story was perfectly balanced with enough romance and chemistry to keep the thievery and heisting entertaining and never broaching on too much. Celeste and Magnus were absolutely breathtaking together, their tension and rapport was so lively and full of chemistry. I loved how the second chance romance played out and the two reflected on their previous relationship and issues before committing to each other. Beyond the romance, the characters and their found family were so cute, and I cannot wait for the rest of the crew to get their happily ever afters!

Heat Factor: It’s got some pretty steamy scenes a moderate way into the plot

Character Chemistry: It’s got that situational tension AND that sexy tension

Plot: Celeste and Magnus were part of a tight-knit crew of thieves that was abruptly split apart after a failed heist. Reunited for one last job, Celeste and Magnus end up facing who they were and who they want to be—and have to decide if who they want to be with is each other.

Overall: This book was RIDICULOUSLY good.

I’ll be honest, I opened this book a little worried because the plot set up was so good I thought it couldn’t possibly deliver. A second-chance romance with international jewel heists? I couldn’t let my poor, poor heart get too invested.

Celeste and Magnus are both established, PhD holding, normal-seeming people—except that Magnus is only a geology professor as a cover, and Celeste acquires the high end antiques in her elite shop through subterfuge and thievery. They were once part of an elite team of thieves that was split apart when a failed heist in Sweden destroyed their budding relationship and Magnus left the team.

When their mentor dies and leaves them one last scavenger hunt/heist, Celeste and Magnus are reunited with their team and are forced to revisit what went wrong—both with their relationship and with their team.

Celeste and Magnus are both characters I found very easy to admire. They’re both driven, motivated, calculating, and creative. They’re also both fiercely independent for different reasons. Magnus was orphaned at 14 and found himself privileged but alone, and Celeste was orphaned much younger and had to protect herself in a group home. Both used what they went through as a way to fuel their dreams and goals—Celeste in particular was hungry for power and the safety and security that power can provide. But both their backstories unfold in such a way that it’s just one part of who they are as characters, and I like that neither one is ever depicted and something broken that needs fixing. It’s more like, hey, if you want this life you’re going to need to make some adjustments. Characters as intelligent and successful as Celeste and Magnus deserve to be depicted as more than poor victims waiting to be saved, you know?

You’ll also find yourself loving the side characters in this book. Not a flat one in sight. Celeste brings to the group her younger assistant, Beatrice, who hasn’t been part of a crew before. Her inclusion in the list of characters was, in my opinion, a critical component to why the book plays out so beautifully. Because she’s new and is kind of Celeste’s ward, it’s very natural that Celeste would see herself in Beatrice and it forces Celeste to confront both her past and her other relationships. For example, one of Magnus’ big complaints prior to the split was that Celeste took risks that were too big and that she didn’t consider how that impacted other people in the crew—especially Magnus. In watching Beatrice step out and take risks, Celeste very naturally and subtly has to examine how it feels to watch someone you want to protect put themselves in harm’s way. And Magnus at one point comforts and mentors Beatrice and sees that limiting someone because you’re afraid of what could happen is also not an ideal way to love them.

You know one of my absolute FAVORITE things about this book? At one point we learn that Celeste is in her young forties, but she’s never described as being attractive “for her age” and the ways her body has changed since she last slept with Magnus are not listed—same with Magnus. The steamy scenes between them are just two people fully engaged in enjoying the pleasure of each other without “her body was still really good” or “his body was a little softer but she loved it”. I had no idea the unquenchable thirst I had for aging bodies being left alone until I read this book. Let me say it louder for the people in the back—we do not need asterisks next to descriptions of bodies that age. There is no need to even go there. We know Celeste and Mangus have gotten older—at one point, Magnus and Celeste go for a run and Celeste doesn’t stretch first and she strains a hammie, and they banter about the importance of needing to stretch at their age, but the author just lets the mutual attraction be what it is with no excuses or caveats. And it’s not like she’s not described as being very attractive—she is. Almost immediately. It’s just that the description isn’t like, “despite her softer, slightly saggy skin and the creases around her eyes, Celeste was still a hottie”. She’s just described as gorgeous, because—SPOILER ALERT—gorgeous has very little to do with age. I guess it just never occurred to me before that there’s really no dire need to point out what an aging body looks like because I already know and I don’t care. And maybe neither should anyone else?

Anyway, if you’re in the mood for a heist book with mature characters and a stellar cast, look no further. This is a winner.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

3.5 stars.

This book should have been my catnip.

Heists! - I ADORE Heists and capers. Love them. I'd love a sexy romance series written like tv show Leverage. There were different ones, past ones, news ones, memories.

The Heist Crew! - Yeah, we got a crew with their messy history.

Romance! - Yup. Celeste and Magnus were lovers on the same crew of thieves, things ended not-so great and they meet again five years later trying to steal the same thing. They are fully brought back into each other's orbit after the death of their former mentor for one last job. The old spark re-sparks!

All Things Sexy ! - Yes, we got banter, sexy times, jewels, globetrotting, luxury items!

So why not higher?

Well...while it had so many things I loved, they didn't quite all 100% gel for me to make this a 5-star

The Heists were fun but not super clever.
The Crew weren't as well developed as I needed them to be. I liked all the characters but didn't have quite the depth.
The Romance was good. I liked both Celeste and Magnus and felt they had good chemistry. The romance was the best part, imo. They were just sexy and spicy and they had great tension.
All the Sexy Things: Were all sexy

Yeah this was overall really good but I think the parts were greater than the whole. There were some pacing issues, the beginning lagged a bit and I had a hard time getting into it at the start. But it did pick up. And the dialogue was witty.

I will say I'd actually love to see the characters again.

I love a heist and I love a romance novel and I love a romance novel that features folks older than their 20s. This was all of those things! Unfortunately I was a little too brain scattered to follow the ins and outs of the heist-as-scavenger hunt premise, so ended up setting it aside.

Jewel Me Twice-a standalone

By Charish Reid- I read Mickey Chambers Shakes It Up and gave 4 ⭐

Publication 7-23-24, Read 7-24-24

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley and Canary Street Press for this ARC 💙! I voluntarily give my honest review and all opinions expressed are my own.

Format: E-book 322 pgs.

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Adult Fic, Multicultural Interests, Mystery

Tropes:

✔️lovers to enemies to lovers
✔️interracial relationship
✔️dual POVs
✔️H/h in their 40's
✔️opposites attract
✔️found family
✔️2nd chance romance
✔️grumpy/sunshine
✔️action-packed heists

⚠️: grief, loss

💭Summary: A professional international theft Celeste St. Pierre now runs a Manhattan antique store after a job went bad five years ago. Dr. Magnus Larsson is a geology professor who can create replica jewelry. Celeste and Magnus worked together and had a steamy relationship until the disaster heist. When Celeste and her assistant Beatrice are stealing jewels she sees Magnus again. Their mentor Dr. Doris Grant who taught them everything they know about thievery dies, but leaves them her diary to complete the heist of the century. Celeste and Magnus put their grudges aside, gather a team, and go hunting throughout Europe.

🤔My thoughts: I haven't read a book like this before, especially with a black heroine. I requested the ARC solely because of the beautiful cover. I loved that there were three generations of black, female, professional thieves. I forgave the stealing since they were robbing from bad guys. The found family between Celeste, Magnus, Beatrice, Santiago, and Lawrence reminded me of the Ocean's Eleven and Ocean's Eight movies. Misfits put together for their specialties who protect each other.

Rating: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

3.75 ⭐️ rounding up

I have to admit I am a sucker for heist books. There is something about them that always is appealing. The high end tech, the intrigue, the tension between the love interests,usually the amazing outfits and high stakes of the moments.

Magnus and Celeste were on the same heist team. They had the same mentor, Doris who is now deceased and her dying wish is for them to come back together as a team to pull off one more heist. Making the job that went sideways, have resolution. Celeste is a risk taker and Magnus lost his entire family so he didn’t want to lose Celeste. When he realizes that she is not willing to put that part to the side and recognize the recklessness of her risk taking he walks away. Celeste grew up in the system and blossomed with mentorship from Doris and she likes the thrill, the chase and yet we see her vulnerability in the book when others outside of Magnus recognize that risk taking and how much it will isolate her from people that love her.

I loved the heist aspects and how fast paced that part was and I enjoyed each of them individually a lot. I think what I wanted to see a bit more of was them as a couple the emotional connection there outside of sex. There are not any flashbacks to them as a couple in the past so you have to rely solely on their memories discussed or conversations had now and I think that if that had been more present I would have loved this book even more. That being said, it is a fun and quick read and if you like sexy heists I think you will enjoy this one.

CW: Sexual content, Sexism, Grief, Cancer, Death (off page)
Racism, Gun violence, Blood

This was an entertaining book. It was fun, fast-paced and steamy. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

Writing this review is challenging because I realize that this book simply wasn't for me, and it's okay for it not to be a 5-star read. I wanted to love it because I enjoy the idea of a heist combined with romance, but it didn't quite hit the mark. The story started out promisingly with Magnus reentering Celeste's life, but the plot lacked strength. However, the chemistry and spice between the main characters were definitely highlights.

Recommend (Yes/No/Maybe): Maybe. I think it could be good for someone but it wasn’t for me.

This was a lot of fun. A “let’s mourn our loss and get the gang back together” kind of heist. But with spice. A hella lot of spice. Very descriptive… Anyway! It’s a fun, quick read for a lazy afternoon.

I'll give this a 3.5. It was a good story and I enjoyed the banter between characters. What I didn't like is that the POVs between Celeste and Magnus switched mid-chapter. It always took me a second to be like "oh wait ok we're in this POV now."

I finally finished this book on the date of its publication after sitting on the ARC for months, and that should tell you something - not so much about the book's quality about how the book and I got along. Reid is a good writer, let's get that out of the way; the plot moved along at a good clip, the sex scenes were hot, there was some good banter. That said, the book and I didn't click. I was hoping for a heist novel, and to me the lynchpin of a heist novel - even more than the actual mechanics of "something gets heisted" - is that it's fun. The characters are having fun. The author is having fun. The reader is having fun.

This book... wasn't fun. What do I mean by that? It's a second chance romance. The thief mentor of both the FMC and the MMC has recently died; Celeste, the FMC, gets access to her mentor's diary - which is full of longing and regrets, both for her mentorship of Celeste, for her own lost love, and for the choices she made throughout her life - and messages from the grave send them and a crew on a treasure hunt through Europe. Pretty much everyone is having an existential crisis. Everyone is grieving. Everyone is hesitant about the choices they're making. No one is really having fun.

Reid made all the usual choices for a heist set-up - there's a crew, there's a secondary romance, there's what I think is supposed to be some slight comic relief (it's neither comic nor a relief, alas), there are complicated theft setups, there are glamorous settings and twists and turns and a last-minute appearance by an evil Interpol agent Out To Get Thieves. But it never really clicked for me. I never really started having fun.

As a thoughtful second-chance romance about life decisions and regret and choices, this was actually really good. But read it with that in mind.

Jewel Me Twice is a second chance romance with older characters (love, love, love). Celeste St. Pierre and Magnus Larsson were lovers who worked together to steal expensive artifacts until a job went back in Stockholm, Sweden, ending both their professional and personal relationships. They end up meeting again and start to work together after the death of their mentor, as his final wish throws them in each other's path again. They aren't sure whether it is a good idea to get involved again which leads to some fabulous tension between them. The writing is witty and made me laugh out loud several times (always the sign of a keeper book).

Readers should note there are themes of grief and loss in this romance; however, both topics are handled with much care.

Jewel Me Twice is like the old Reese’s Peanut Butter cup tag line. “Two great tastes that taste great together.” It combines two of my favorite things, a heist romance written by one of my auto-buy authors, Charish Reid. I liked Charish Reid from the first page of The Write Escape, and have enjoyed all of her books. I love the characters she writes and the relationships she builds with them.

As a side note, I got into a conversation about Charish Reid’s heroines, and the phrase “academia to heist pipeline” was introduced by ariana_reads. I think that if any of Reid’s heroines were faced with planning a heist, they could pull it off. If I wrote fanfiction, I would assemble a team of Reid’s lead characters, but I would put Celeste in charge. Dr. Doris Grant, Celeste’s mentor, did put Celeste on the academia to heist pipeline, though Celeste ultimately left academia to become an antiques dealer (and thief).

Celeste St. Pierre was once a part of a team of 5 that pulled off heists all over the world. One bad job and a falling out with her friend with benefits, Magnus Larsson, and the team disbanded. Now she owns an antique store and consults with wealthy clients. While on a job with her protege, Beatrice, running tech, Celeste runs into her former lover and makes off with a kiss and a tiara. A few days later the team is pulled back together by the last wishes of their former leader. She wants to send them on a last job to rectify some mistakes from the past. She’s giving Celeste and Magnus another shot at a relationship.

I love that Celeste and Magnus are in their 40s with all the self-knowledge and baggage that brings. Grief and regret are woven through the story. Though initially Celeste and Magnus downplay their past relationship, it becomes clear that they were both more serious and in love than they’ve been willing to admit. As they circle each other, they are each reexamining the past and making small movements towards emotional intimacy (they’ve already got a gold star in physical intimacy). It is a lovely and grown up romance. Jewel Me Twice gives the reader emotional depth and maturity along with stolen diamonds and some smoking hot pre-heist role playing.

I received this as an advance reader copy from Canary Street Press and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.

I loved the concept of this - a treasure hunt of heists. And after reading it, I would say it's a solid story, but I just didn't love it and I cannot put my finger on why it missed the mark.

The main characters are well-written with more complex backstories that I expected. The baggage in a second-chance romance has to be just right for it to work out believably. Their chemistry was well done, and once Magnus started all-out flirting, I was sold But it often felt like we missed out on how 'perfect' they were before, instead of flashbacks we we just told how good they used to be together which for me isn't as compelling. I will say that I love a mature/older couple, but I don't know if I believed that CeCe and Magnus were in their late-30s, early 40s. They felt older, but I wish that this had been leaned into more.

The book seemed a bit slower paced than I think I expected for a heist caper. I think I was 40% through the book before it really felt like the plot picked up. It all seemed to go a bit too smoothly and the plans all seems a bit elementary, but it was still fun to read.
I really wish we would have gotten more of the side cast, it really was a strong focus on Magnus and CeCe with the others mostly just there for the plot instead of really seeing a full cast of developed characters.

I think this is an overall good solid book, but I am a bit disappointed it's not a great book.

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing for my advance electronic copy via NetGalley. My opinions are my own.

It's been five years since Magnus Larsson let down his team of thieves, especially his girlfriend Celeste Ct. Pierre, in a big way. Now they and the rest of the team are summoned to a treasure hunt for the ultimate payout, and Celeste has to decide whether to trust Magnus again--on the job and with her heart.

This second-chance romance has a lot of spice between two hugely attractive, talented people. They may not agree on how to get the job done, but when they work together their differences complement each other and they make a great team. I found the justification for their thievery interesting--that they are only stealing from sleazy guys and the descendants of robber barons who stole it first. I also enjoyed the ingenuity of the heists and how they pulled them off. This one is a great read about a diverse set of characters and found family, and for those who just appreciate a good plot-driven, spicy romance.

3.5 stars

A crew of thieves must reunite to pull off one last job. Celeste and Magnus were part of the same crew and lovers until a heist went wrong and then they went their separate ways. 5 years later they reconnect after their mentor passes away and from beyond the grave she tasks the old crew to complete a scavenger hunt and complete one last job.

This had all the making for a fun caper in the style of Ocean's 11 or The Italian Job and while the set up and plot was good, it did lack a little suspense.

Celeste and Magnus did have a connection but they argued a lot of the same things over and over and it seemed like neither of them actually wanted to listen and forgive at first. They were both stubborn and not willing to bend their thoughts and opinions to try and mend the crack in their relationship. I really started to enjoy the romance part of the story when Magnus decided he'd had enough arguing and started unabashedly flirting with Celeste instead. That's when their spark really came alive.

The supporting characters could have been more developed. I would have liked a little more background on the other members of the crew or just some more banter between them all to really show how close these people were and the history they all shared.

The diary entries from Doris were clever and insightful. Just enough background to give you an idea of who the woman was and how Celeste had modeled herself after her. Made you think if Celeste really ever really knew Doris and if Celeste will follow in her footsteps as the ultimate protégée or will she carve her own path and fight for what she wants?

I did think the pacing could have been better at first. It started pretty slow but once they got to Estonia and they started plotting the heist, it did pick up and that’s where the story took off. The heist plot was very basic and straightforward. I would have liked a little bit of a twist or hurdle to help build a little more suspense but overall a solid read that was fun and engaging.

• Name of the publication/blog/outlet: @mycuppacoffee_books on Instagram
• Run date for when the review will be posted/published: July 23rd - release date!
• A link to your review so the publisher can share your review (note: click the link icon) Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6669029561
Amazon Link: Still Waiting on Approval

Jewel Me Twice was like a book straight out of axmovie, heist, comedy, witty entertainment. Tge cover alone is so beautiful, the story inside. Celeste and Magnus complimented each other as partners so well. Duos written well with chemistry always gets me!!! I laughed, u had such a great time.