A quick read that was enjoyable but nothing overly memorable. Not sure if I would recommend to friends yet, will have to let it settle. Thank you to Net Galley for the book. Looking forward to seeing what Wendy Heard writes next! xoxo

Summer has taken Leo under her wing as they travel around California as free spirits. Summer is a skilled pickpocket, thief and con artist to pay their bills to support them. Leo wants to contribute to their livelihood, so when she gets the chance to be with a millionaire, she thinks this is her chance. But when she goes missing, Summer finds her way to the island where Leo was last seen. Will she be able to find her friend without blowing their covers?

This was a fast paced thriller that kept you on the edge of your seat. Good character development and an interesting plot.

You Can Trust Me is a fast-paced book told from the perspective of two female friends and con-artists who find themselves in a situation that will require all their skill and instincts to survive. I really like these two characters, Summer and Leo. I thought they were well-developed, as the story would sometimes shift focus onto their backstory, which seamlessly tied in with the action-packed plot of the book. Full of twists and suspense, this was a hard to predict thriller that I really enjoyed.

I was glued to this sexy, twisty thriller from the opening descriptions. The author's cinematic storytelling, vivid descriptions of scene and fast pace will keep readers guessing and turning pages. Short chapters alternate between dual points of view. Leo and Summer get swept away to an island where glittery venture capitalists, trophy wives, and start-up engineers all have hidden agendas. Best Friends Summer and Leo have their own plans, and well-honed survival instincts. Along the way, each comes to grips with past traumas and unresolved family rifts. This novel will appeal to fans of Emma Cline and Paula Hawkins, and to readers who love gritty, often unreliable, but ultimately inspiring female characters.

Book Review — “You Can Trust Me” by Wendy Heard (2023)

Categories — Thriller/Suspense, Best Friends, California, Rich vs Poor, Con Artists, Mystery, Dual POV

Pub Info — by Bantam in June 2023. Currently has 3.8 (4.9k reviews) on Goodreads and 4.1 (700) on Amazon

My Summary (No Spoilers) ⤵️

Two close friends are con artists that essentially pickpocket, scam, and steal their way through life in California. Through flashbacks, we see they both are dealing with trauma and grief, contributing to their choice on how to survive. When a plan to steal from a billionaire tech man goes wrong, however, one of the duo has to take dramatic action to save the other.

More Info (No Spoilers) ⤵️

This was probably a really good summer “beach read” as they say — I blew through it in less than 2 hours. The chapters are quick, and the pace explodes at one point.

📷 The story follows Summer and Leo — a duo of apparent stunning beauty and apt criminal skill. They grift their way through California and haven’t been caught yet.

🌊 They plan against a rich famous billionaire. He ends up taking Leo — the younger more adventurous one — to his remote, crazy weird tech island with no phone service. Leo can’t reach Summer, so Summer manipulates her way into going to the island with a fake date.

🌸 Weird stuff happens on the island — other weird rich people, weird servants, weird set ups in the rooms. All contribute to a creepy locked in atmosphere.

📷 All the while, flashbacks characterize the trauma and grief shared by the duo. This connects them in a healing bond of sisterhood and friendship and makes them sympathetic, although I don’t agree with their life choices 😂

There are described adult scenes, including typical violence and intimacy. Also parental abandonment and graphic loss of sister / grief, running away from home.

So, all in all, a decent few hours of entertainment and an interesting concept fleshed out against a backdrop of non traditional friendship. I liked how you couldn’t exactly know if they could trust each other at some points. I liked their friendship more than the rich guy’s story, but all in all, I’d suggest it!

My Kindle tells me I read this and I have vague recollections of aspects of the plot but I have no actual memory of reading it besides enjoying myself and flying through it.

You Can Trust Me is a fast paced story with an intriguing premise. I found the characters engaging and would like to see a continuation of their adventures. This is an enjoyable novel!!

I read this one a few months ago thanks to netgalley and random house. This was such a quick and fun read. It was easy to get sucked right into this story.

This was my favorite type of thriller: wild, dark, yet scarily believable. Without giving too much away, it follows two young women trying to meet rich men as they try to survive living out of their van in California. When one of them seems to have run off with a guy, the other feels betrayed and hatches a plot to find her, but she may be putting herself at risk. Creepy, contemporary, and thrilling, I can't wait to read other books by this author.

I would recommend this if you enjoyed The Guest by Emma Cline.

I liked this better than the last title I read by this author. I enjoyed the dual timeline and the questioning going on in summers head. In the end it’s always fuck men, especially rich possessive ones

I love this book so much! I wasn't sure about it at first, it didn't seem like it was for me but I pushed through and I'm so glad I did

This book is really good! This thriller was just want I needed. It is a quick read and the varying point of views abs timelines make it engaging even through the whole story line is a bit predictable. I could not put this one down!

Always have loved Wendy Heard's stories - never a disappointment. I enjoyed the alternating POVs and unexpected twists!

Thanks to NetGalley and the Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine/Bantam for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me.

Wendy Heard makes the best complex characters. Summer and Leo are no exception to this. This is the perfect book to say goodbye to summer with and is gripping from start to finish.

Con-artists and pickpockets Summer and Leo aren't living the most glamorous life, but they have each other. Both women have trauma in their backgrounds: Leo abandoned by her free spirt mother and Summer's sister was murdered. After years of small cons, Summer and Leo finally spot the big one: tech guru Michael Forrester. He's handsome, young, and has more money than most people will see in their lives.

After Summer is whisked away to his private island off the coast of California and dropping off the grid, Leo arrives at the island to find answers and to find Summer. The only problem is that absolutely everything is not as it seems.

I really enjoyed this read - the alternating perspectives made it easy to really get in the character's heads and there was a twist I did not see coming. I would absolutely read more by this author! Also, can someone please make this into a movie?!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Random House Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard is one of the best books I’ve read in the past year. Summer and Leo live in California, pickpocketing and conning their way through life. Leo decides to target a billionaire, getting close to him and seducing him and trying to get a big score. She is successful at meeting him and is soon invited to his private island where she promptly disappears. Summer is devastated and doesn’t know what to do, so she does what she is best at - she cons her way onto the island to search for Leo. The structure of the book caused me major anxiety in a good way. Summer’s chapters looking for Leo are a day behind Leo’s chapters. I raced through this book trying to figure out what happened to Leo and what was going to happen to Summer. Both characters were fully developed and had very interesting back stories. I would love to see another book with these ladies! This was such a fun read and I will be thinking about Summer and Leo for a long time to come. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This book lacked substance. The first couple of chapters had me hooked on but after that it was a downward spiral. Some plot "twists" could be guessed from a mile away. The conversations between the "bad guys" and the "good guys" felt very unnatural. Won't recommend.

I gave this one 2.5 stars rounded up to 3. I hate to give bad reviews and I typically would just put it aside and not finish, but I wanted to be able to review it for Netgalley.
The main issue was I didn't connect with the characters which is probably on me. I found it slow. I did like the connection of the characters at the end, but it took a long time to get there.

A total binge worthy, thoroughly dark, and deliciously twisty book, I just could not put this one down. Summer and Leo are twenty-something pickpockets and con artists. Living in sunny LA, they do what they need to in order to get by. Both come from troubled pasts, but they are content with their existence. Leo sets her sights on meeting Michael, a billionaire tech genius, and he whisks her off to his private island for the night. When Summer doesn't hear from Leo the next day, she begins to investigate and gets herself invited to an exclusive weekend on the island to try to find Leo. Things seem fine on the surface, but the longer she is there, Summer begins to believe that everything is not as it seems. The book is told from both Summer's and Leo's alternating perspectives, we get to know their pasts and what made them the people they are, as well as the wild events of the present. Are they wild! There is definitely some suspension of disbelief needed, especially for some way too convenient coincidences, but if you can just go with the story it is shocking, entertaining, and actually thrilling. There are far too few thrills in thrillers these days, but this one has plentiful thrills. The plot itself was thoroughly entertaining, keeping me spellbound throughout. Sharp, twisty good fun with a pair of spiky yet lovable female con artists who grift their way unabashedly through California's elite--but they meet their match when they get a tech billionaire in their sights, and one of the pair disappears.

Thanks to the author, NetGalley and the Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine/Bantam

More Like 3 and ½ Stars

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for my advanced copy of You Can Trust Me.

I enjoyed this one.
It was entertaining.
I listened to this one on audio.
Kelsey Navarro Foster & Natalie Naudus were the narrators.
They did a fantastic job. I found their voices to be similar so when multitasking it was easy to get confused as to who's POV I was following. I did enjoy that there were two POV's.
I also appreciated the backstory and the relationship between the two female main characters.

Why This Book Wasn't a 5 Star-

Some of the plot was just a little too over the top for me.

Overall- Recommend. I will definitely be reading more by this author.