I was quite intrigued by the premise of The Queen of Fives by Alex Hay, and was looking forward to reading it.
However, it was not what I expected. From the start, the entire cast of characters fell flat, and I didn't care about a single one of them. Although it is proficiently written, the pace of the book was so slow, I found it easy to put down and increasingly difficult to pick back up again.
Once I got to the 38% read mark, I realized that I truly didn't care about finishing it and decided to put it on my DNF file.
I appreciate the ARC of #TheQueenofFives that I received from #NetGalley, and am sorry I wasn't interested enough to finish the book.

3.5 🌟, rounded up

A Victorian era conwoman is right up my alley. I really enjoyed the setting and characters in this novel, but the pacing was a little all over the place. I would have liked more of a history for the Chateau and an explanation of the "games" that they play.

Nonetheless I really enjoyed Quinn as a protagonist, and there were a few twists I really didn't see coming and I'm always delighted when that happens.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I'm so fond of a good confidence story, and this one had it all: There was cleverness and conniving, duplicity and despair, crosses and double crosses to spare...yet, it was all a bit sad, in the end.

An interesting plot but all the twists and turns made it difficult to follow. Characters were interesting but not likeable and by the end of the book I was not really interested in what happened to them.

I would give this 3 1/2 stars,since it was better than a 3 but not as good as a 4. This is the story of Quinn, the Queen of Fives, who plans to scam a Duke out of his fortune. She is assisted by her companions Silk and Mrs. Airlie, but things don't go to plan. The man in the blue waistcoat is working to stop the goings on. I found Quinn's parts of the narrative interesting but the Blue Waistcoat parts didn't provide enough to keep me interested--but I kept going because I wanted to find out who he was.

Honestly, this book was good but there were certain aspects that I felt could’ve been taken out to make the story move a little faster. Sometimes I felt myself get into a reading slump because I was just too bored and I felt nothing was happening.

I did love the storyline and the main female character I just felt it needed a little less filler. <3

This was another one of those books that I thought had so much potential, but just fell quite a bit short of hitting the mark for me.

I mean, a historical (Victorian) fiction mystery marriage scheme??? That sounds like so much fun to me! But that amazing concept wasn't executed as nicely or entertainingly as it could have been. After reading it, it makes me think that maybe this concept would have been better as a movie (which is something I rarely say, I am a book before the movie kind of reader). But I could see this being VERY successful as a movie because I feel like it would feel better paced in that medium.

I felt like this book moved so very slowly. I even had to skim the first and last 15-ish% just to get through it because I felt like nothing was happening.

The characters were so two-dimensional to start and with next to no character development by the end of the book (and as a character-driven reader, character development is so incredibly important to me, I want to see the character thinking and processing).

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I almost really liked this but something (some things?) just didn’t sit right with me. The story is the thriller-ish/mystery/suspense historical fiction tale of Quinn, the head of a crime house in Victorian England. According to the rules of her crime ring she has 5 days to con a wealthy heir into marriage.

But we are never quite sure what the rules are and the ones we do learn are parceled out gradually over the course of the story. Throw in the mysterious heir with secrets of his own; his angry, scorned sister; and their cunning stepmother plus Quinn’s network of lawbreakers and hang on for a ride through the various echelons of society.

I guessed a handful of twists early on but was still surprised by a couple. I felt that the language used and names were not quite right for the time period. I didn’t really care about any of the characters. It did become a page turner about half way through.

3.5 stars

Quinn, a self professed charlatan, sets out to con a duke to marry her in 5 days. But all is not as it seems in the house of the duke. I loved this story, the twists and turns, the historical aspects of this novel. I will definitely be reading previous and future writings by this author. She captivated my attention, engaged me until the very end with her style, pace, characters and setting of this novel.

The Queen of Fives by Alex Hays is a dazzling historical heist novel that plunges readers into the glamorous yet cutthroat world of London’s high society in 1898. Quinn le Blanc, the city’s most talented con artist, embarks on her most daring scheme yet—trapping a duke into marriage and swindling the wealthiest family in England.

Masquerading as a debutante, Quinn flawlessly navigates the glittering balls and drawing rooms, but soon finds herself embroiled in more than just a con. The Kendal family, each with their own hidden motives, presents more of a challenge than she anticipated, and what starts as a clever game of manipulation turns into a complicated web of love, secrets, and dangerous loyalties.

Hays delivers a fast-paced, thrilling tale filled with rich characters and sharp twists. Quinn is a captivating protagonist—resourceful, clever, and unexpectedly vulnerable as she juggles deceit and personal stakes. The novel’s blend of romance, intrigue, and cunning makes it a must-read for fans of historical fiction and sophisticated heist stories.

The Queen of Fives is a thrilling ride from start to finish, where nothing is as it seems, and everyone is playing a game.

I want to tell everyone about what a fun read this one is! I was drawn in immediately. The voice is strong and captivating. The premise is a fresh take on the fortune hunting/ con artist narrative, and I love how the author used the time period and setting details to immerse the reader in the Victorian era. The characters are realistically drawn; I especially appreciate how the author makes effective use of occasional flashbacks to delve into their personal histories. The pacing is spot on, and the plot twists make THE QUEEN OF FIVES such an enjoyable read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance e-galley; all opinions in my review are 100% my own.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THE HOUSEKEEPERS and hope a movie comes of it! This new novel from Alex Hay is just as good!

It's the late 1800's and Quinn le Blanc is a con woman running a well known house in London. As the Queen of the House (fifth), it is her say so on what heist, con or tickery will take place. The house has fallen in disrepair so a go-big con is needed and she locks on the Kendals, a very old money, very powerful and very discreet family. Using one of the house plans, Quinn sets out to earn a fiancé, not knowing the interpersonal secrets kept between the remaining Kendals. As only Alex Hay can, we are slowly reeled into a complicated and unique con the becomes more and more thrilling as other forces enter the game.

Double Crosses, secrets, violence and genius chess playing is afoot! Grab this story now! #harlequintrade #thequeenoffives #graydonhouse

I really wanted to enjoy this one. A historical con-artist mystery sounds so intriguing! While I did enjoy the mystery and the role each player had, I felt that the story moved very slowly. When I open a book I want to be drawn in from the very first page and I just didn't get that with this story unfortunately. The concept is very unique I just think that the overall execution could be a little easier to follow.

Quinn le Blanc is the reigning queen of the chateau. And her next target? A rich nobleman. But this con is not the same as the others. Quinn is upping the stakes and putting more on the line for this job because desperate times call for desperate measures.

I received a complementary electronic copy of this book from Alex Hay and Harlequin Trade Publishing in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are mine and mine alone.

I really wanted to like this book. The idea of it was intriguing, but the execution did not quite capture what I was hoping for. The details and certain characters were too complicated and it was hard to keep everything straight in my mind. I also felt like the story was dragged out too much in the middle.

What I liked: I enjoyed the drama of the ending and the overall mystery that encompassed the story. The mystery definitely added to the story, so I am glad that was included.

Overall, I might recommend this to someone who was looking for a historical con artist novel, but I do not see myself recommending this to all of my friends and followers.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sharing with me the advanced reader copy of Alex Hay' 'The Queen of Fives' in exchange for my honest review.

I requested the ARC of 'The Queen of Fives' because I had enjoyed the authors previous novel 'The Housekeepers'. However, I found quickly that while I had enjoyed the author's voice in previous novel I did not enjoy it in this. The first few chapters were incredibly repetitive in their language and the story did not draw me in.

Very entertaining. It gives me "Inheritance games" mixed with "Bridgerton" vibes with something else to it as well.

I was drawn into this one immediately - and almost as immediately lost the threads... I found the topic intriguing, and loved the opening. But I pretty quickly got lost in the details and didn't feel like the overarching story was moving forward so much as limping along. I just didn't connect to the characters or plot. This one wasn't for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced e-copy of this book! I reviewed this voluntarily and all opinions are my own.

This was a fun story - I thought the premise was pretty unique and unlike anything I'd read before, in that it's set in the Victorian-era marriage market but is not a romance, per se.

The characters were fun to follow and well-rounded, and I got a good sense of how each character thinks and what kinds of decisions they make. However, I got less of a sense of who each of the characters are, and I did find them to be lacking a bit in personal history. The characters all had realistic flaws which I always appreciate. The different POVs were used in a really nice way to advance the plot and there weren't a lot of characters with "filler"POVs.

The plot twists and turns were fun to follow and make guesses about - I thought one of the reveals was a little predictable, but the book as a whole did not feel that way to me. The overall direction of the novel was satisfying and I enjoyed the game. I did find it a little hard to follow at times, especially the flash backs. There were several times when I had to flip back a few pages to see where a flashback started. The pacing was good and I didn't feel it lagging at all; the final third of the book was particularly page-turning!

Overall, this was an enjoyable book, and while it didn't quite reach 5 stars for me, I thought it was a refreshing take on both a con artist book and a fortune-hunting marriage book.

Quick Read! I loved the plot of this book as it was super interesting! Victorian High Society is always such an interesting thing to see authors delve into and this book was no different!

I love books about high-society anything, especially during the Victorian era. This one includes a con-woman, so very exciting!

I appreciate the publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC.