What a delightful, joyous book! I loved every minute I spent reading this.

Ruthi is out to get revenge from the guy who left her sister heartbroken and pregnant, so Ruth's plan is to disguise herself as someone else, make him fall in love with her and then steal his money. And then Ruth meets Sol, Esteban's sister, and ends up falling for her. The plot is ridiculous and entertaining throughout, it's fun from start to finish. The world building is great with such rich settings and the characters are exquisitive. Sol and Ruthi are wonderful and I loved the way their relationship developped.

There's nothing at all I dislike here, it was wonderful. Thank you for the ARC!!

Ruthi Johnson (currently going by Evelyn Ojukwu) is running a con on the awkward heir of a major intergalactic insurance concern to get back at him for jilting her baby sister. But it's hard to focus on breaking Esteban's heart when his wildly dashing half-sister is standing right next to him.

This--like the ostensible Miss Ojukwu's game--is the kind of project that takes a massive amount of craftsmanship to pull off while seeming light-hearted and casual the entire time. There's an immense satisfaction in watching the various gears line up. If you're thinking of Ruthi's universe as a hand-crafted mechanism, it's one with a surprising heft: early twentieth-century musical comedy IN SPACE needs no extra justification, but I appreciated the depth in Fraimow's imagined cultures. Even the seemingly frothiest fashions are based on assumptions about where money comes from and how it is used, and there are layers and layers beneath questions such as why debutantes wear bubble-dresses (the better to dance in half-gravity!) or when it's gauche to take a radiation pill before eating, to say nothing of the best methods for interstellar transport of kosher duck.

4.5 stars rounded up

Everything of Rebecca Fraimow's that I've had the pleasure to read has worked for me, from short stories to novelette to novella, so I had high expectations going into this one and it did not disappoint.

It's a rollicking good art deco space opera on a lovely intimate scale. A small-time conwoman from a hardscrabble background infiltrates the upper crust of a rich planet for money, revenge, and--most importantly--love of her sister. She's very, very good at what she does, but of course things get complicated when she starts to develop feelings for a very inconvenient person.

This is an established kind of plot that depends entirely on style and characterization to work. Because it's Fraimow, it has both. The worldbuilding is fun and colorful with loads of delightful details, and our main characters are lovable with just enough rough edges to lend some weight to what might have been pure fluff.

There's a ton going on here that I love: identity porn, protective older siblings, hot girls on motorcycles, plotting, disasters in zero-gravity, fashion, kosher ducks, and a compelling central romance.

From here on I'm going to get into some thematic spoilers, so read no further if you want to avoid those.


***spoilers below***

The whole thing works because our lead is the perfect mix of justified and wrong. We get why she's doing what she's doing, we understand how she's justifying it to herself, and we understand how a person with her background and experiences would come to this place. Thankfully, the reasons she's wrong are less "it's bad to con rich people" (is it, though?) and more "sometimes you have to let your little sister grow up." I love a storyline about codependent siblings learning how to be less codependent while still loving each other, and that's what's going on here: Ruthi has spent her whole life protecting her sister, and she was right to do that, but she has to come to terms with the fact that "protecting" and "controlling" often end up being the same thing, and once your sister is an adult, too, you have to relinquish your desire for control.

As for the main romance, I'm a hard sell for romances. I love them when they work for me, but 90% of the time they do nothing for me. This one works: I believe that these two people like and admire each other, that they could make a go of it in the future. Fraimow also understands that nothing is more romantic than actually being able to trust someone, and it takes real skill to make me as a reader believe that Ruthi and Sol *can* trust each other despite the layers of deception. I buy that these are two people from different backgrounds who sense a commonality of soul and really *want* to be honest with each other.

All in all, a very fun time. I can't wait to see what Fraimow publishes next! (No pressure, Becca!)

The Sting meets Fiddler on the Roof

** spoiler alert **

Ruthi Johnson, our first-person narrator, arrives at the wealthy resort New Monte (which seems to be a satellite orbiting the quondam planet Pluto, not that that ever matters) bent on revenge. Esteban Mendez-Yuki, the scion of the obscenely wealthy Mendez-Yuki family and corporation, knocked up Ruthi's kid sister Jules then abandoned her. Ruthi is here for revenge. Since she and Jules are con artists, conning Esteban is the best way she knows of getting vengeance. Also, the money couldn't hurt. Jules is not here with her -- she's back at a nice resort colony making Esteban's baby.

OK, this is obviously a disaster waiting to happen. It's hard to read Ruthi's schemes of revenge and imagine any way this can have a happy ending. While Esteban is kind of feckless and oblivious, he has a half-sister Sol who is both protective of him and frighteningly smart and competent. She is also, as it happens, very attractive to Ruthi. So, Ruthi begins to enact her plan to reel Esteban in and stuff happens to Sol and to Ruthi.

At about a third of the way through the book, I began to discern a possibility for pulling off a happy ending. That was, for me, the main interest of the story -- watching Rebecca Fraimow engineer a plausible path. I'm not telling you there IS a happy ending. I'm not telling you there is NOT. But we need that possibility to make the story work -- the is-there-a-path-out-of-this-disaster suspense drove the story -- and it's very well done. There was even a twist near the end that I totally failed to see coming, even though it made perfect sense.

When I was in High School, I saw the movie The Sting. In The Sting two small time con artists play a revenge con. It is impossible to watch the film and not come out of the theatre smiling, or even dancing a little with joy. (Well, it may not be literally impossible, but it certainly was not something I could do.) That's what Lady Eve's Last Con felt like. Now, I want to emphasize that aside from the points I've just mentioned, there is no similarity between the plots of The Sting and Lady Eve's Last Con. In particular, I'm not telling you whether or not Ruthi's con succeeds.

One thing that took me entirely by surprise (and the reason I'm marking this review a spoiler) was the Yiddishkeit. Ruthi and Jules grew up culturally Jewish. I seriously doubt that Ruthi keeps shabbat or eats kosher -- but I am quite confident that she would be comfortable doing both if she wanted to. And, although it is not huge, Ruthi's Yiddishkeit even has an essential plot function. There's also an explicit reference to Fiddler on the Roof.

Heist/con stories can be tremendous fun, and this one is. It left me smiling.

I received an advance reader copy of Lady Eve's Last Con from NetGalley and Rebellion. This review expresses my honest opinions. Release date 4-Jun-2024.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really fun sci-fi romance with a lot of flair.

The world-building of this book was familiar with some fairly unique elements. It does involve a far future setting where humanity has become a space-faring civilization, but not one completely removed from current-day practices, prejudices and culture. In fact, capitalistic class issues have intensified so much in this future, that among the rich, some practices/culture of the Gilded Age have been reinstated. The aesthetics of that era, combined with science fiction aspects were not only window dressing but were integrated deftly into the plot.

The plot of this book was very charming with its fair share of quirky elements, but also had rather fun twists. You probably don't expect the transport of Kosher ducks and the like to be key to a science fiction book, so prepare to be surprised and amused.

The cast of characters were all flawed but well fleshed out. Ruth is such an entertaining protagonist and her push-and-pull relationship with Sol was just lovely. I really enjoyed the arc of their romance and how it played out. Even people with masks galore sometimes need someone to see them as they truly are. The familial dynamics were also interesting to read and had a lot of depth.

The ending of the book was somewhat open-ended and perhaps a little abrupt. The climax also could have been more heightened than it ended up being. It doesn't quite resolve every issue brought up. I am not sure whether that was to keep it open for a sequel or not, but either way, the book is still quite entertaining as it is.

Overall, Lady Eve's Last Con is a charming read with a lot of heart involving space travel, glitzy balls, daring rescues at the opera, space mobsters, class commentary, complicated cons, and a whole lot more. If stylistic science fiction or romance is your thing, I'd highly recommend picking this up.

Y'all.

Sapphic 1920s in space.

What more do you want?

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Ruth Johnson is on a con for revenge. Esteban Mendez-Yuki broke her little sister's heart, and Ruth will take him for all he has - which, as the heir to the Mendez-Yuki insurance corporation, MYcorp, is quite a lot.

Ruth was not prepared for Esteban's sister, Sol, however, and she brings her own set of troubles.

Featuring gangsters, high society, low gravity, and a wisecracking inner monologue, each time I opened the book I had a little bit of a giggle. Whoever narrates this audiobook has their work cut out for them in order to do it justice.

I wasn't entirely sure how well the tone of the book would hold up - I recently DNF'd something else when the gimmicky inner monologue got too repetitive and annoying. Thankfully, there was enough plot, dialogue, and fascinating futuristic elements that this kept my attention.

Ruth is a fairly well-rounded character, fitting a few stereotypes, but bringing enough self awareness to feel real. Sol occasionally seemed too good to be true, but at the same time Ruth is a very one sided narrator, so some of that can be forgiven. The villains aren't over the top evil, the big revelation midway through about what Sol has is underwhelming in the best way possible, and the wrap up itself could have been a movie.

If I had any complaints it's that I honestly started feeling bad for Esteban - self centered and awkward and socially unaware he may have been, as a scientist I really wanted to know more about his dirt studies. Which isn't a real complaint - had Ruth actually paid attention, she wouldn't be Ruth.

Overall, a 5/5, and I'll be keeping an eye out for more by this author.

Lady Eve's Last Con by Rebecca Fraimow is an absolute scream and I loved every second, I mean, kosher duck smuggling in space?? Glorious!

Rebecca Fraimow writes razor sharp repartee and is an astute architect of world building. Character development is on point and oh my life if I am not left bereft and wanting more! (but with an ambiguous open ending, ,there is oh so much potential for a rollicking series here!)

Oh my crikey, never in my wildest could I have ever imagined something like this and furthermore, something so out of this world! (Literally and figuratively). The thing is, I was thinking, is it a cosy mystery? An adventure? Nono, I can't pigeonhole it as it is a genre buster, straddling (with grace) comedy, sci-fi, contemporary romance, satire and so much more!

Very, very well written, great narrative, excellent dialogue. An utter gem of a book and so much fun!

Thank you to Netgalley,Solaris and the author Rebecca Fraimow for this fascinating ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

At its heart this was a fun scam/heist in a Jazz Age-in-space setting, with a compelling and engaging central romance. Ruthi was a great narrator, cynical and wisecracking with a marshmallow heart underneath it all, and watching her assessment of - and feelings toward - Sol change over the course of the novel very much kept me reading. The world-building was detailed and fun - the floating opera boxes were a particular favorite - although there were a few things that felt unnecessarily reminiscent of the actual 1920s. (Ruthi's and Jules's motivation for revenge, for example.) The scam plot managed to be complicated without feeling confusing; Fraimow clearly knew what all the threads were doing at any given moment. Over all, very fun and I loved it.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC for free, but this review contains my own, honest assessment of the book.

Perfect. An absolutely perfect book. I can't even remember the last time I read a book with writing this sparkling and spunky. I think I highlighted like 70 passages in Rebecca Fraimow's wacky, whimsical space opera, which I read without putting it down, thank you very much. It had me in its clutches! The world building is wonderful, the mystery is surprising, the queer MCs are *actually* complicated and full of motivations that get peeled back almost the whole entire book, the romance is sapphic and sizzling (and surprisingly sweet), and the dialogue is just... I want to kiss this dialogue on the mouth down by the imaginary ocean. I'm going to force everyone I know to read this book, so just get ready.

"Sol turned to scan the drinking area and left me still standing there, reminding myself over and over that those grey eyes of hers had hooked in a dozen stupider girls, and I didn't have to be one of them just because she gave me a heated look. But I knew I was going to be stupid. There wasn’t anyone there to stop me but myself. And when it came to saving myself from myself, it had already been proven that I just was not reliable."

Thank you to Solaris and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book and provide an honest review.

I don't know what I liked best: the fantastic world building, the charming cast and the sizzling chemistry between romantic interests, or the clever plots--both the ones the con artist heroine enacts and the actual storyline of the book. Also an interesting look at how Judaism might look in an interstellar future, both the ways it might change and the traditions that'll continue on. Not to mention the fantastic sibling dynamics!! This book's going to stay with me for a long time.

A witty, zany, screwball romantic comedy romp across space stations and asteroids that both pays a lovely homage to my favorite-ever rom-com film (The Lady Eve) and transforms that setup into a delicious new romance between two sharp, smart women who can't resist each other. Total fun!

"Lady Eve's Last Con" by Rebecca Fraimow is wonderfully unique, and without a doubt, one of the best books I have read in the genre in a long while. In this fantastical sci-fi/space opera/rom-com tale, we get to follow Ruth Johnson, a small-time con artist and one of those characters you don't want to leave behind when the book ends.

Meet Ruth Johnson, a con artist who speaks Yiddish with her younger sister Jules, and lives on her wits. When her sister falls in love with one of their targets, Esteban Mendez-Yuki, and gets dumped by him for lack of class, Ruth decides to take revenge. Disguised as the provincial debutante Evelyn Ojukw, she plans to make Esteban fall in love with her and take him for all he is worth in the process. However, she didn't bargain for falling for his cool sister Sol, a charming and sharp-witted gal who is proving to be far more interesting than her dull brother, Esteban. The plot thickens when the mafia enters the picture, further complicating an already convoluted con.

I loved everything about this book! Kosher ducks, playful and witty banter, great setting, wonderful world-building, aristocratic society in space, gay romance reminiscent of Jane Austen—what's not to like? I loved the Jewish angel, the Rachel and Lea reference, and the use of Yiddish to hide intentions. The concept of shipping Kosher ducks with consideration to Shabbat made me cackle.

The characters are well-rounded, and the author does a great job of establishing them as people you want to root for. Ruth is smart and feisty, and I just love the way she infiltrated her way into the snobbish society. The observations on class and old wealth were right on point, and playing the provincial debutante was a clever move. I enjoyed the interactions between the characters and the relationship between the sisters. The dialogue is quick-witted and clever, building a strong intimacy between characters. Sol was delightful and a good counter to Ruth. Jules was hardly in the picture, which is a pity. She seems more clear-headed than her sister.

The book was well-written, well-plotted, and kept me interested throughout. The pacing of the plot is perfect; it’s not too fast or too slow, and everything has just the right amount of detail. The author paints beautiful pictures of the settings and scenes. You can see every image as she describes it: the balls, the outings, the zero-G restaurant scene—which was hilarious—and the bike rides. I loved it all!

It's a brilliant book—an adventure, a rom-com, science fiction, and humor all rolled into one. The ending was a bit abrupt, and I would have liked a bit more closure. Hopefully, another book is on the cards. In sum, this is one of those books that are very difficult to put down once you've started. I don't have words adequate enough to express how much I enjoyed this book. If you love flawed characters, refreshing tales, and tongue-in-cheek dialogues, then this is totally for you. Lovers of the genre would be well advised to immerse themselves in this story. Full stars from me!

* Thank you NetGalley and (publisher) for the opportunity to read this arc. All opinions are my own.

What a fabulous, entertaining book! If it's possible to read a novel with sparkles in my eyes, I think I just have done it.

Meet our protagonist, Ruthi Jones, an extremely competent conwoman out for revenge, as she infiltrates a circle of glitterati like it's Ocean's Eight in space. The man she plans to charm -- and then pay through the nose for having scorned her younger sister -- under the guise of a provincial wide-eyed heiress bores her to tears. If you ever wanted to read a comedy about the tedium of romancing a mediocre straight man, look no further: I wheezed through Ruthi narrating her way through her time with Esteban, possibly to avoid falling asleep from just how underwhelming the man is. It doesn't help that he is completely eclipsed by his sister, the fabulous Sol Yuki-Mendez. The favourite Don Juan of all debutantes, the rescuer of damsels in distress, the swoosher of capes, and before you ask, this is not an exaggeration: her sense of style is firmly situated somewhere between Tuxedo Mask and GSNK's very own princely Kashima. She chews the scenery on her every appearance, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

For something that could be pure comedy and deliver on that alone, there is so much more depth in the book. I ate up with the spoon everything on what life is like for an elder sister (and they are both elder sisters, and it shows so much!), observations on race and wealth, the nuance with which all characters were rendered, the way the world was fleshed in just the right level of detail for it to feel real and inhabited without turning into dry infodumps. Oh, and corporate deals featuring mafia and kosher ducks :D :D :D Loved it, 10/5, no notes.

Thank you to Netgalley and Solaris for an advance copy of #LadyEvesLastCon.

Ruth is on a mission: find the man who broke her sisters heart, make him fall in love with her, marry him, break his heart and walk away with half of his (considerable) fortune. She also has the talent to pull it off from a long life of running cons, barring any unexpected complications. Unexpectedly, the target’s sister is clever, suspicious, and wow she is absolutely gorgeous and interesting too……….. Add in some of Ruth’s old “business partners” showing up and things quickly get unexpectedly complicated.

Lady Eve’s Last Con was good novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. It was well rounded with a lot of plot to offer aside from the main romance. This one kept me turning the page and pressing forward to find out what happened next.

This novel was very “full”; the writing, plotlines and subplots, characters and side characters, and setting were all rich and detailed. It was sci-fi enough to provide some variety from what I normally read while not being too far out there at the same time. The writing and world building were great. The author painted a clear and detailed picture of the world the novel takes place in without degrading into sci-fi technobabble or overly complex levels of detail.

My only true gripe with this novel was the ending which I found very unsatisfying. The ending left far too much unresolved and up in the air. I realize that open-ended endings can be great when done properly, but in this case it simply felt unfinished or rushed. It was overall still a good novel, this was not enough to ruin the rest of the book, however I think it was still disappointing.

Thank you to NetGallery for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What an absolute ride — I breezed through Lady Eve’s Last Con with a huge grin on my face, enjoying every minute spent with those fabulous characters who could have put Ocean’s 8 to shame in matter of style (and I say that with deepest fondness for the movie) and loathing the thought that I will eventually inevitably run out of this book. It’s full competence, swagger, leather jacket and elder sibling energy, and as much sapphic chivalrous nonsense as my heart can fit and some more. I loved the chemistry between Sol and Ruthi, sizzling from page one, Sol’s every over the top sweeping stupid sexy antics, the similarities between them as elder siblings, the humor running through every description of the glitzy scene Ruthi was in. I am sorely tempted to start rereading this, like, right now.

A million thanks to Netgalley and Solaris for letting me read an ARC. What a good book.

This is just CHARMING AS HELL!! I’m going to have to come back later with more thoughts, because right now, all I’ve got is !!!! 😍😍😍😍😍

OK, now that I've slept on this book, please allow me to tell you why this book is the bee's knees! Part of the plot of this is a heist of sorts, REVOLVING AROUND KOSHER DUCK IMPORTATION. Like. I just. My people living their best Jewish lives in the future, having ALL of the opinions on transporting meat across galaxies on Shabbat! Gosh that is the BEST subtle bit of world building. But also the relationship between Sol and Ruthie slayed me. I'm just such a sucker for "I don't know who I am without my persona, so I'm going to let my guard down around you to remind myself of the truth" in a romance, but I don't know if I've ever seen it done in conjunction with a con artist and one of the people being conned before. Gosh, that level of shared intimacy is SO GOOD FOR ME! Also the exploration of class and how it impacts how you can move in the world just made me SWOON. Y'all, I will be rereading this book for AGES, it is an absolute DELIGHT.

(This is a review of an advanced copy given to me freely in exchange for an honest review.)