Set six months after the end of the Thieves' Gambit, Ross is learning to how to move forward with the threat of her family's execution hanging over her head. Devroe, despite destroying Ross's trust in him, is still trying to win her affection. But something more sinister is at play, and Ross is stuck in a power struggle within the Organisation and control of the criminal underworld.

I enjoyed this one as much as the first one! It's a fantastic YA fantasy, following strong but flawed characters who are trying to do the best with the situations they're faced with. The plot of this book is excellently executed and I didn't see any of the twists in this one. Ross's development in this story after finally getting to see and experience the outside world is also lovely.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for an e-arc of this one! All opinions are my own.

💎🔒🎭 BOOK REVIEW - Heist Royale by Kayvion Lewis 💎🔒🎭

🌟🌟🌟🌟 (4/5 stars)

The Thieves’ Gambit sequel delivered another high-stakes adventure, but it didn’t quite steal my heart like the first book did.

This time, Ross and her gang are thrown into a cutthroat competition between the Count and the Baron, where lives are on the line. I loved seeing Ross’s character grow, especially as she navigates what it means to have friends versus allies. The exploration of trust, betrayal, and loyalty added depth, though at times, it felt slightly overshadowed by the sheer volume of action.

While Heist Royale entertained me with its twists, turns, and dangerous heists, it didn’t quite match the electrifying originality of Thieves’ Gambit. Still, the friendships, frenemies, and romantic tension made it a worthy follow-up.

If you’re craving clever schemes, dynamic characters, and a dash of danger, this one’s a solid pick. Just maybe reread Thieves’ Gambit first for that extra kick of context!

📚✨ Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster (Australia) for the ARC!

#EnemiesToLovers #HeistRoyale #YAReads

This sequel to Thieves Gambit was an exciting follow-up, plunging the gang into another high-stakes adventure. This time, it’s the Count versus the Baron in a deadly gambit where the winner gets to live. Ross and her crew from the Thieves Gambit are forced to pick sides, but with feuding mothers in the mix, Ross and Devroe end up on opposing teams. The challenges were thrilling, ranging from fun to downright dangerous, keeping me on edge as the group navigated through them. Relationships were pushed to their limits, and Ross’s journey of learning what it means to have friends added a heartfelt layer to the action-packed plot.

Another nail-biting instalment in the series, introducing new characters and impossible heists, but staying true to most of the original characters and the unique thrill that belongs to the first book.

This is a hugely enjoyable and absorbing crime novel. It’s aimed at a YA audience, but should appeal to a large slice of the adult audience too. It’s a sequel to “Thieves’ Gambit”, but can be read as a stand-alone.

Having said that, you’ll get more out of it if you read “Thieves’ Gambit” first. That also is a wonderfully entertaining novel, and it provides background information that isn’t always repeated in “Heist Royale”.

Rosalyn “Ross” Quest and Devroe Kenzie are serving the year they’ve promised to the Organisation behind the Gambit. They’re notching up daring crime after daring crime. Ross has tentatively begun to believe in the friendship offered by some of the other competitors in the Gambit, but she can’t let her guard down with Devroe.

Despite his frequent protestations of love, his mother is at the heart of a plot to kill Ross and her entire family. Ross and Devroe find themselves drawn into another thieves’ competition, one which will assuredly turn deadly. Both teens will have to decide where their loyalties lie.
This is a fantastically absorbing novel that works on many levels. There’s the daring heists, and the creative plots to pull them off. There’s the scheming and plotting within the organization. There’s similar scheming and plotting in both Ross and Devroe’s families.

And finally, and perhaps most importantly, there are the relationships between the teenagers. In “Thieves’ Gambit” we were introduced to Ross’ family motto: trust no-one. But trust is an integral part of relationships, and a particularly scarce commodity in a world of double dealing. This is an interesting exploration of what it means to trust, and how to build it (and betray it).

I enjoyed that the novel wasn’t focused solely on a romantic relationship (although there are some), but substantially on friendship. This gives Lewis the opportunity to explore different aspects of multiple relationships. Her strong characterisation makes each come to life, and consequently readers will care a lot about what happens to each.

Although there are a few tentative threads that could be picked up for another novel, this largely brings the story to a satisfying conclusion, both in terms of the plot and the emotional journey Ross has been on.

This is a highly entertaining novel, with an intelligent plot adorned by cleverly planned heists, and a strong emotional element. I just plain enjoyed reading it.

I loved this sequel to the Thieves gambit. Somehow it seemed to fall into place more easily than the first book, possibly because I already knew most of the main characters and it was great to see how their relationships changed and progressed. With suspense, romance, frenemies and regular heists there is plenty of action on every page and it’s hard to put the book down! While we do thankfully see more of Ross and Davroe and their enemies to lovers story; it is also the friendships Ross has with others including Noelia and Kyung-soon that I particularly enjoyed reading. Ross frequently learns and experiences more about the value of friends and loyalty including in several life and death situations, and learns she doesn’t have to follow her mums lead with trusting nobody. Clever writing with several scary moments and nice twists along the way! Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster (Australia) for my ARC copy in exchange for this review.

I enjoyed this one! I love a good heist and Lewis did a good job to make the second book different to the first (it did not feel repetitive). I loved getting more dynamics between already met characters and I did quite like the conclusion to this duology.