Book Smart Kate

Book: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 💫  Audiobook: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 💫 Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

by Krista and Becca Ritchie—Thank you,@berkleyromance and @prhaudio, for the #berkleypartner #gifted print and audio copies of this book, which made me say, “WTF did I just read?” in the best way possible.

Phoebe and Hailey are best friends, and their families have been tightly interwoven forever. But they aren’t the BBQ on the back deck/PTA meeting families. The Graves and Tinrock families are con artists. Long cons or short cons, they go where the money is – regardless of the danger or depravity. After a con goes terrible, Phoebe and Hailey want out. They run away to a Mystic Pizza-inspired small Connecticut town. But Hailey’s brother Rocky discovers their plan and insists on tagging along. Rocky doesn’t know how to live without conning, and Phoebe worries he’ll ruin their plans for a normal life. Also, she has a truly messed up history with him and might be (a little bit) in love with him. As they settle into their non-con lifestyle, they get involved in local dramas, truths are revealed, and the past comes knocking.

This book was so addictive. Writing a book full of morally unscrupulous characters and having readers become invested in them is tough. The Ritchies were wildly successful. There are six children between the Graves and Tinrock families, and I cannot wait to explore the intensely bizarre upbringing in future books in the series. This dual POV book (Phoebe and Rocky) bounces between the past and present, highlighting past jobs that inform how messed up the family is and the situation they have found themselves caught up in the present. The book flies by, and the last 30 pages are jaw-dropping.

The audiobook, a dual narration by Aaron Shedlock & Carly Robins, is a whole lot of fun as they unpack the slow-burn tension between Phoebe and Rocky while also lending emotion as the stakes get higher.

Do you like villains as protagonists in books? If not, what are you reading?