In this vibrant science fiction novel, readers meet Ruth and Jules Johnson, sisters and small-time hustlers on interstellar cruise lines, after Jules fell in love with insurance fortune heir and target Esteban Mendez-Yuki. After Esteban runs away from Jules after she disclosed her identity, Ruth wants revenge on Esteban Mendez-Yuki and disguises herself as a provincial debutante named Evelyn Ojukwu on her first visit to the New Monte satellite. Planning to break his heart and steal his fortune, Ruth has no idea what his brilliant and stunning older sister Sol will do to her plans -- and her heart -- on this fateful mission. With two charming protagonists in Sol and Ruth, readers will read this novel for the futuristic science fiction and stay for Sol and Ruth’s enemies-to-lovers romance. Clever, witty, stubborn, and personable, Ruth is a fantastic narrator and a masterful manipulator, though Sol, clever and cunning in her own right, can keep up with Ruth’s hustler ways. With a fantastically exotic setting on the New Monte satellite, the science fiction backdrop of this novel creates an incredible location for Ruth’s hustle and for Sol and Esteban's (and Evelyn’s) glamorous lives as debutantes and socialites in this exciting and adventurous novel.

Rebecca Fraimow has a fun tale of Lady Eve's Last Con (paper from Rebellion Publishing Ltd.) which takes place on an artificial satellite near Alpha Centauri filled with the super-rich. Hustler Ruth Johnson’ sister Jules had a fling with playboy Esteban Mendez-Yuki and got pregnant. Ruth, masquerading as a rich heir, is determined to create a marriage-con to avenge her sister and also retrieve enough money to allow her sister to settle down. The con is complicated by Esteban’s half sister Sol who has gotten herself in debt to gangsters. The gang is willing to create dangerous situations that Ruth gets caught up in. Lots of fun

What would you do to get revenge for your sister? In this fantasy/space opera, we are introduced to a con artist who adopts a new identity to get back at the person who broke her sisters heart. She is thrust in to the world of the elite, where she meets the charming sister of her sisters Ex. With stakes high, and chemistry between the two blossoming can Ruby kept sight of her goal?

I was really excited to read this one and maybe I'll come back and finish it at a later date. However, I find it difficult to read books with two Black women protagonists written by a white author. The premise is great -- sci-fi, space opera, romance?? Sounds perfect. But I've been disappointed before by the portrayal of Black women by non-Black authors; and so, I will not finishing this one at this time.

Sapphic space opera?? Rebecca Fraimow built a creative sci-fi future with satelite trash" kids, mulitple rich colonies and a re-furbished earth. I adored Eve and Sol togather.

Lady Eve's Last Con is a romp sci-fi romcom novel, a delicious and fun proposal written by Rebecca Fraimow and published by Solaris. An ambitious con which ends taking more ramifications than it was expected, a candid romance, great worldbuilding and fully fleshed characters are the elements that make of this book a great read.

Ruth and Jules Johnson have been working as small-scope hustlers in an interstellar cruise for years; until Jules fell in love with Esteban Mendez-Yuki, one of their targets and heir to the Mendez-Yuki fortune. While it seemed a mutual relationship, when Jules reveals her identity to Esteban, he fled without more explanations.
Ruth is decided to get vengeance; disguised as Evelyn's Ojukwu, a debutante in the satellite New Monte, she will make Esteban fall in love with her, break his heart, and get the half of his fortune. However, what she didn't take into account was Esteban's sister, Sol, a brilliant and much harder to fool woman.

A con that was not easy to execute at the first time, but which still can become harder as Ruth starts falling in love with Sol, a sentiment that progressively become mutual; cold-hearted Ruth is getting melted by the impulsiveness of Sol. Her mind is still focused on procuring that fortune for her sister, but definitely, we can see how she progressively loses the rationality and the heart starts governing her decisions.

Fraimow expertly blends several genres in this novel, an explosive mix which is super enjoyable to read. From the humour and feelings of the rom-com, to some thriller elements related to a criminal subplot, and all spiced with a dash of sci-fi in the worldbuilding; I found myself laughing out loud, but at the same time super invested in Ruth and Sol, and suffering whenever they were struggling. The pacing is simply excellent, and all the relevant information is eventually revealed, keeping that layer of intrigue that hooks you into the plot.

Lady Eve's Last Con is, simply, an excellent sci-fi romcom, a really fun book which you will love if you are into flawed characters; personally I would love to return to this part of the universe, and maybe continue with the same characters, but it was a really satisfying reading. Read it if you want fun in your romantic sci-fi!

Ruth is a long time con artist, mostly running low stake hustles with her sister, Jules, on interstellar cruise lines. But she has come to this particular space station for revenge. Disguised as the daughter of a wealthy family, she targets Esteban Mendez-Yuki, the heir to one of the biggest companies here. But everything changes when she begins to have feelings for Esteban’s sister, Sol. The story is set far into the future but the sci-fi aspect is super lite.

The writing is good, both main characters are likable, and a con played out in outer space is a fun idea. I also enjoyed some of the smaller details like what life might look like for poor people in an advanced world. But I could not connect with the story. The pace is slow and creates no tension. Usually with heist books or scam stories, I worry about the mc getting caught before accomplishing their goal. But in this story, I wasn’t invested in Ruth or Sol so I didn’t care. I was disappointed in this one but I would still look for future books by this author.

LOVE LOVE LOVE everything that this book is doing. I requested an arc because I saw Freya Marske post about loving it, and I knew immediately that this style was right up my alley. The genre-mashing commentary on class and consumerism is very well blended and executed. It’s funny, sharp, romantic, and had me laughing out loud constantly.

I loved the concept of a futuristic story that has historical elements to it. Humans truly do run in circles and it’s fun to see this author’s take on history repeating itself. The setting allowed for a great balance of glimpses into the sci fi world building while also staying contained and focused with the characters.

This was a great bite into this world and I have zero complaints. 10/10 would love more books set in this world.

The title tells you the important information, even if the "Last Con" seems almost redundant once you have The Lady Eve there, And the cover should tell you the rest, two androgynes and a rocket ship - this is intergalactic grifting, swindling in space, hustle on a habitat. Our protagonist Ruth, and her sister Jules, have run small-time cons on interstellar cruise liners for years, acting up and baffling the rich set for relatively small paydays. But then Jules only went and fell for a mark, who seems to have left the minute she became pregnant, and so Ruth has decided to use all of her connections and skills to run one big con as revenge. Admittedly she hasn't run this past her sister, might be slowly getting entangled with some quite dangerous organised crime, and is romantically intrigued with her marks sister, which doesn't help one bit.

Lady Eve' Last Con is a whole bunch of fun, from its naturally hard-boiled narration to its unraveling of the perfect con at its heart. Cons, like heists, have to go wrong, and the fun here is watching Ruth roll with the punches, engage her contingencies, and occasionally just have to trust in human nature. All stories of con artists end up being about class too, and whilst this happily uses its future analog of mid-thirties class strata to do most of the heavy lifting, it also paints a plausible oligarch-forward class structure. And while its plot is intricate, as clockwork as it needs to be, it is in the relationships that this thrives. There is more to the story than Ruth assumes, and trying to square the man who wronged her sister with this harmless, somewhat diffident posh kid also gets her to peck away at her other assumptions. It's decent pulpy fun, as if they left Flash Gordon running while Barabra Stanwyck was waiting in the wings.

I think it started quite strong but somewhere along the way I lost interest in the story (maybe because I couldn't connect to the writing style of the book). However, I really enjoyed the setting and I thought it was done quite cleverly because there isn't a lot going on plotwise so the the sci-fi twist definitely added a fresh breath of air.

The romance was good and I did like how it progressed especially in terms of individual character growth - both the female leads were better people because of each other and I always love that element in my romance books.

Overall, I did have a good time with this book for the most part so maybe I will have better luck with the author's next work.

Genre: sci-fi romance

Ruthi Johnson is a woman on a mission. She and her sister are con artists, and on their last big con on a luxury starliner, Jules falls hard for their target, and unfortunately things go sideways fast. Unfortunately for Estaben Mendez-Yuki, that is. Ruthi plans to con this heir to his family fortune out of as much money as possible. Donning the identity of provincial debutante Evelyn Ojukwu, Ruthi makes a splash in New Monte trying to impress Estaben, and instead catches the eye of his sister Sol, a lady rake with the brains, beauty, and poise to stop hearts, including Ruthi’s.

A genre mashup of science fiction, romance, and screwball comedy, Lady Eve’s Last Con is witty and humorous. In her own words, Fraimow is looking for the spaces between the margins of the genres to find the interesting moments, tropes, and plot points recognizable to genre fiction fans but truly unique in execution. There are points of reflection throughout informed by diasporic Jewish identity and religion, queer normativity, and commentary on excess consumerism. For me, successful science fiction is a commentary on society (now and in the future), and Fraimow uses her reflection points to support a wildly funny and unputdownable romantic screwball comedy love story.

One of my favorite things about picking up any romance is the way an author navigates the HEA. The best thing about setting one 200-300 years in the future is that the social rules are different - and so are the people - but human nature doesn’t ever fully change, and Fraimow gives us a sapphic romance that not only suits her characters but feels real and attainable to 21st century readers, too.

Lady Eve is informed by classic works of science fiction, different historical eras - though predominantly 19th and early 20th century because all human trends go through cycles - and the glimpses of worldbuilding are enough to spark the imagination but not bog down the writing. It’s zany and fun, with the appropriate level of conning, grifting, and heisting to keep the plot moving at all times.

I had the pleasure of hearing Rebecca Fraimow speak about this book last night, and it was clear she had a lot of fun writing it, and readers will have a fun time reading it.

I really enjoyed the blending of sci-fi with 1920s aesthetics and society. The first half definitely felt like an opulent space opera.

The book began to lose me when the con artist confessed her scheme with very little prompting. The mark's sister suspects her of lying, there is some plot stuff and then she fully explains her plan to marry her brother for money because he wronged her sister.

The plan doesn't make a whole lot of sense and it makes even less sense to tell that to your mark’s sister, especially when she loves her brother.

The romance was flat with both siblings. I don't know how she was going to get Esteban to marry her, they had zero chemistry, and she was trying to con him. Be a better gold digger.

The book suffers from having too much going on. The characters are never given any depth, their relationships are shallow and a lot of it has to do with the amount of stuff going on.

This is more space opera than con/heist or romance. If you want sapphic space opera then give it a go.

Futuristic, fun book about a con artist who is avenging her sister’s heartbreak. Loved the space setting and descriptions of the world. This story has twists, surprises, adventure, cons, and sapphic romance. I recommend it.

A romantic romp in a Regency-style space opera future, meshing sci-fi and romance tropes with a righteous con artist as the lead. Creative, engaging, full of banter, queerness, and double-crossing. Lots of fun

On a far-future space station that is equal parts Regency marriage market and jazz age (including dark underbelly), a queer biracial Jewish con artist tries to scam the rich boy who broke her sister's heart. Too bad _his_ sister is suspicious of her, and also incredibly hot. This is a bubbly, fast-paced, and generally delightful SF novel, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I would happily read an entire series of adventures with Ruthi, Jules, and Sol.

DEBUT In this interstellar SF story, con artist Ruth Johnson has invaded the swanky satellite New Monte to fleece one particular mark, Esteban Mendez-Yuki (the corporate scion who seduced her little sister and left her pregnant and crying), by trapping him into a marriage contract he’ll have to pay big money to get out of. But Ruth didn’t count on the high-level crooks who have their own beef with the Mendez-Yuki megacorp, and she absolutely didn’t plan on falling in love with her mark’s dangerous, gorgeous stepsister. It will be the con of a lifetime if Ruth can pull this game off—or it will be game over for them all. A high-flying sapphic romance riding on a high-speed hoverbike of a confidence caper among the spoiled rich, wrapped around a conflicted heroine who discovers that she has a heart after all and can’t keep up the game, in spite of the stakes.VERDICT Readers who have fallen hard for the recent run of SF caper mysteries, such as The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal, Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis, and You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo, will find similar thrills in this debut.

4.25⭐
con woman poses as a young and sweet provincial girl, seeking revenge on the filthy rich, young mendez-yuki son who left her younger sister brokenhearted and pregnant. easy job for ruthi johnson! except her plans didn't include falling for her target's older sister, suit-wearing lady charmer, miss chivalry herself, sol mendez-yuki, who's had ruthi's scheme made from day one.
and all this happens in space on an unspecified period. the world building is quite simple and easy to follow, but the characters took some time to grow on me. overall an entertaining sci-fi rom-com fusion.
thanks netgalley, solaris, and rebecca fraimow for my advanced copy! i would love a sequel btw!!

🌟 3.5 Stars 🌟

I’m always a huge fan of a con artist main character and Ruthi did not disappoint. I loved getting to see her meticulous thought process behind every action that she took. Pair that with her suave masc love interest and you’ve got a recipe for a good time. If you’re interested in a fun sci-fi setting I think you’ll really like the world of space debutants the Fraimow creates. This book wasn’t able to be a four star read for me because it felt bit long and dragged around the middle. However, I still think at a fun little romp and I’ll be excited to see what this author puts out in the future.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book…this book wow!
I love a great story that send me into a state of zoning in on the story. The character Ruth Johnson aka Evelyn Ojukwu is totally the definition of getting my revenge, don’t mess with family, and getting your lick back. Between romance, laughter, and an amazing plot this book was amazing. Let’s just say this definitely a rom-com, but surprisingly you get Sci-Fi which I adored. This is a story you can dive into without putting it down because from beginning to end a great book.
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I LOVED THIS BOOK.

I love science fiction, and I love romance, but it's been hard for me to find a science fiction romance that hits the SF and the romance spot for me. The SF in Lady Eve's Last Con, like in many (most?) sci-fi romances, is primarily window dressing. That said, it's gorgeous window dressing: the logic of the universe holds together, there are no weird physics discrepancies, the new cultures of far future humanity make wonderful, messy, glorious sense. The MCs aren't out to save the universe; this is "cozy" worldbuilding.

At its heart, this is a confidence artist romance. Ruthi is in town ("town" = a satellite orbiting Pluto) to infiltrate high society, get a specific scion of corporate nobility to fall for her, and then take him for all he's worth. This isn't just a con, it's a revenge scheme: Esteban, said scion, was originally Ruthi and her sister Jules's mark on a luxury space liner. But Jules actually fell for him, and when he left her, she was left high and dry. So Ruthi not only wants his money, she wants to break his heart the way he broke Jules's. The only thing standing in her way is Esteban's sister, Sol. She not only thinks there's something fishy about "Evelyn Ojukwu," Sol is also inconveniently (for Ruthi's state of mind) hot.

Everything was just perfect about this book. The identity reveal happens at exactly the right spot. The character chemistry is off the charts. Sol and Ruthi's compatibility makes so much sense. Be prepared for a slooooooow burn; the book is on the longer side, but the pacing is so perfect it never feels too long. The book isn't closed door, but it's also not high heat. The sexual tension, though, is really well calibrated (Ruthi's got to make Esteban fall in love with her while also feeling nearly uncontrollable lust for Sol, and Fraimow never lets the reader forget it).

I really hope Fraimow returns to this universe in the future, but regardless of what she writes, I'll be reading it.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.