Wickedly unique and twisted.
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The story started off a bit slow. It took some time to get the flow and figure out where it was heading. There is a lot of building of the scene and energy, but once it caught your attention, it was game on – literally.

This book is a trip! A con artist who has met her match. The catfights and overprotective responses from the “ladies” are on fire and the introduction of multiple characters will keep you on your toes, wondering how they will fit into the story.

Family drama can be droll but Croft has no problem with her characters playing the perfect parts in the twisted game. Snooty old money in-laws who will not accept her and Bea’s own family issues keep popping up to muddle the playing field.

Stone Cold Fox is a decadent read that is wickedly unique and deliciously twisted in a bitchy sort of way! I was looking for more in terms of the ending. However, this is definitely one to check out.

Am I supposed to root for Bea? Is she a hero? A victim? A Villian? Stone Cold Fox was completely unexpected in genre and in writing style. I fell right I into Bea’s story of finding the perfect husband and family and how she worked to make sure she got what she wanted. It was the perfect book to read by the pool on vacation.

Stone Cold Fox reminded me of the movie Heartbreakers with Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt! Not one hundred percent but close enough that I thought of the movie while reading this one. I love reading about different types of women (both good and bad) and the MC being a con woman was really up my alley! This is a great debut and I know many readers are going to devour it like I did.

This book was fantastic. The main character is definitely an anti-hero but I loved the complexity and background of this character. The story was intriguing and kept me guessing the whole time. It Had some fantastic twists I didn't see coming and was so well written that I wanted more when I got to the end. Can't wait to read Croft's next book!

Stone Cold Fox is going to be a book that tons of people will be talking about. The main character, Bea, is a cold bitch, to be clear. She is looking to marry into the 1% and has found her mark in Collin Case, a wealthy business man who comes from old money. She considers her new relationship with Collin to be sweet serendipity, until she meets his best friend…Gale. Ohhh Gale ain’t gonna let Bea into the fold that easy.

The story quickly becomes a cat and mouse game between girlfriend and best friend. I was glued to the pages, needing to know what would go down as the story unfolded. There is also a layer of mystery surrounding Bea’s childhood and her Mother, who Bea learned all her gold digging and petty ways from.

I haven’t been this simultaneously repulsed and intrigued by a character since I encountered Joe Goldberg in the book series, You. I finished reading this in 24 hours. I just had to find out where it would go.

This was such a guilty pleasure read full of inflated stereotypes, big egos, and shallow musings. Fans of shows like The Bachelor, Real Housewives, Love Island, etc. will enjoy this one. It’s like getting insight into the show villain’s mind and it’s hard to look away.

The very end of the epilogue 💀🐰 DAMN. I think this would make a great bookclub read just so you can discuss all the things…it’s a lot to unpack. From the first line, to the last, you’re in for quite the ride.

If you’re a mystery fan who finds unlikable characters interesting and are looking for a wild story, make sure to snag this.

4.5/5 stars rounded up to 5 for this review

Bea knows how to swindle a man. It is how she grew up after all…watching her mom take man after man for everything she could get out of him. Now that she. Is grown however, she wants to leave her mom behind, marry rich, and live their life. Lucky for her, she found Collin and he is head over heels for her. His family and best friend Gale however, are not impressed…

Who does love rich people behaving badly? I mean seriously, it’s one of the best tropes around. I found this one to be so much fun. While maybe morally we should have been on Gales side, I kind of hated her, and was glad every time Bea put her in her place. I listened to this one while reorganizing my office/ bookshelf and it was the perfect listen while I worked!

Stone Cold Fox
by Rachel Koller Croft
Pub Date: FEb.14, 2023
Berkley
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this great Valentine Day release book!
A perfectly wicked debut thriller about an ambitious woman who, after a lifetime of conning alongside her mother, wants to leave her dark past behind and marry the heir to one of the country's wealthiest families.
This book had me from the first page! Twists, riveting pacing, increasing tension between two women. Everything was so enjoyable about this book~! I highly recommend it and am looking forward to more books from this author.
5 stars

Stone Cold Fox was a fun cat and mouse book to read. You'll love to hate Bea, but you'll also be rooting for her at the same time as she tries to come to grips with her past and the only way she knows how to live. The scenes between Bea and Gale make the book, they both despise each other and will do anything to take the other down, and it is incredibly entertaining.

It was a really solid debut, and I'll definitely be looking forward to Rachel's next book. I did want a little bit more from the ending, it felt like everything was tied together a little too neatly.

Thank you to @berkleypub , @netgalley and @letstalkbookspromo for the #gifted copy.

Boy oh Boy Bea is a real treat and perfect for a Valentine's Day pub day. I read this one at record speed because it was THAT good. I loved the writing and the characters. If con artists are your thing, this is your book.

Mother and Bea have had many names over the years. They go from one con to another. Bea finally breaks free from her mother and creates her own new life. Bea is smoking hot and she knows it. She is dating one of the richest families in New York. Does her past catch up with her?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I’m almost positive that after reading the first sentence of Stone Cold Fox you’ll be able to determine if this book is for you. I apparently have zero morals and cackled out loud, so naturally SCF will be on my Top Ten of 2023 list.

Just as Stone Cold Fox is more than a pretty cover, our main character Bea is more than a pretty face. I couldn’t get enough of this campy tale of cat and mouse. The characters are complex and they each kept me on my toes. Bea is the epitome of someone you’ll love to hate and I found her narrative so damn entertaining. The writing is whip smart and propulsive and if you appreciate snark and rich people behaving badly Stone Cold Fox needs to be on your radar!!

PUB DATE: Feb 14 (this is exactly my kind of Valentine’s Day treat 😍)

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book; all opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for allowing me to be an early reader.

Bea is a total bombshell and the ultimate femme fatale. Bea is tired of swindling men for their money and all she wants is to live in domestic bliss with an uber-rich husband. So after a lifetime of searching for the perfect, she finally found one in Colin Chase. Getting a proposal from Colin won’t be a challenge to Bea, the only challenge will be Gale who is Colin’s best friend. Even though Colin only sees Gale as friend material, Gale is madly in love with him. Bea loves a good challenge and no matter how hard Gale tries, nothing can stop Bea from getting what she wants. However, when the truth of Bea’s past threatens to surface, Bea will stop at nothing to make sure it never happens.

Bea has to be one of the most Unlikeable main characters. She's snobbish, conceited, and a borderline sociopath. But even though I strongly disliked her, I loved this story! Her self centered antics and narcissistic ideas were pure entertainment. But the more you read the more you learn about Bea’s past and how she became the person she is now. Bea’s mother was a total narcassist who used her daughter in despicable ways all the while neglecting her emotional and physical needs. So of course by the end of the story, I found myself doing the unthinkable and rooting for her.

But Bea’s character wasn't the only thing I loved about Stone Cold Fox. The pacing was flawless and the plot was completely authentic. I also loved the underlying themes of mental health and misogyny. The writing was extremely brilliant and Rachel Koller Craft had created a remarkable debut novel with Stone Cold Fox.

I highly recommend this darkly funny and cleverly written book! Stone Cold Fox by Rachel Koller Craft will be available on February 14, 2023. A massive thanks to Berkley Pub and Netgalley for the gifted copy!

Picture it: It’s Sunday night and I can’t find a book that holds my attention. I opened countless e-galleys on my Kindle, stared at TikTok …. and finally let myself open “Stone Cold Fox.” I was immediately hooked.

I love con artist stories, and Bea’s may be my favorite one yet. Her inner monologue is biting and hilarious. I flew through the book but I didn’t want it to end. BUT THAT ENDING. Wow.

This was so perfectly crafted that it’s hard to believe it’s a debut novel. Rachel Koller Croft is going to be one to watch.

Preorder this one as a Valentine to yourself; it comes out Feb 14. I’m jealous of everyone who now gets to experience Bea for the first time.

Very intriguing book. It kept me on the edge of my seat. Looking forward to more books from this author.

We were pleased to share this title at our live Spring Book Preview event for the Modern Mrs Darcy and What Should I Read Next communities on January 10, 2023, when 1200 readers attended live and twice that many watched the replay in the following week. The PDF from that event is attached. Long story short: this was such fun! Not a likable character in sight, and I loved it that way. So much fun to read about the terribly rich behaving terribly. NYC setting was the icing on the cake.

Domestic thrillers often disappoint me. Stone Cold Fox is going to be a total hit. I read it in one day and could not stop reading. It has it all: great writing, compelling characters and a story you have not read before.

Bea is an ambitious marketing executive who is about to marry the son of an extremely wealthy Manhattan family. Colin’s best childhood friend, Gale, is not going to let that happen because she is on to Bea’s past. Bea is unsure of what Gale knows and the game of cat and mouse begins.

That story is interspersed with the story of Bea’s childhood if you can even call it that. Mother, if you can even call her that, is a long game con artist.

So many twists in this book and I saw none of it coming.

But, I have questions about that ending!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. 5

Thank you to Berkeley and netgalley for the free e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Perfect by the fire read. This domestic thriller has the fun storyline of the grifter trying to enter the rich family and the woman who tries to take her down. The lines are blurred on who you root for as it comes to a thrilling end.

This was another great debut for 2023! The book follows a woman who is plotting her life out to score her very wealthy boyfriend. Along the way we learn about her past as a con artist with her conniving and ruthless mother who oddly reminded me of Jeanette MCcurdys mom. I really enjoyed the narration by the main character and was always guessing about who really was in control. There are a few twists though I definitely figured one out quite early.

I recommend this for those that like psychological thrillers and unreliable narrators.

A slick and sexy debut!

The first 75% of this con artist, social climber domestic thriller/suspense had me a bit bored if I'm completely honest but things did pick up towards the end and had me interested in how things would shake down.

Okay on audio, I really think it would be been a lot better if Brittany Pressley had been narrating - she does such a good job at the unlikeable female protagonists, making them more sympathetic and relatable than they otherwise would have been.

Recommended for fans of books like this year's The social climber by Amanda Pellegrino, Janelle Brown's Pretty things or Marissa Stapley's Lucky - (other books with a complicated mother/daughter con artist relationship). Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

"A perfectly wicked debut thriller about an ambitious woman who, after a lifetime of conning alongside her mother, wants to leave her dark past behind and marry the heir to one of the country's wealthiest families.

Like any enterprising woman, Bea knows what she's worth and is determined to get all she deserves - it just so happens that what she deserves is to marry rich. Filthy rich. After years of forced instruction by her mother in the art of swindling men, a now-solo Bea wants nothing more than to close and lock the door on their sordid partnership so she can disappear safely into old-money domesticity, sealing the final phase of her escape.

When Bea chooses her ultimate target in the fully loaded, thoroughly dull and blue-blooded Collin Case, she's ready to deploy all of her tricks one last time. The challenge isn't getting the ring, but rather the approval of Collin's family and everyone else in their 1 percent tax bracket, particularly his childhood best friend, Gale Wallace-Leicester.

Going toe-to-toe with Gale isn't a threat to an expert like Bea, but what begins as an amusing cat-and-mouse game quickly develops into a dangerous pursuit of the grisly truth. Finding herself at a literal life-and-death crossroads with everything on the line, Bea must finally decide who she really wants to be.

Like mother, like daughter?"

Because sometimes grifters need to look within.

Thank you to the publisher for my copy of this - all opinions are my own.

This book is SO FREAKING GOOD, I am still thinking about it days afterwards. A deliciously deranged story about a con-woman trying to con her way into a straight life is exactly the kind of escapism reading that I didn't know I needed in my life.

I loved every single page of this book. The mental games, the manipulation, the cons - I know in theory that Bea is not exactly a good person, but that did not stop me at all from rooting for her to get away with her biggest con yet, marrying into BIG generational wealth.

The flashbacks to Bea's life growing up makes her a likeable character, while building this tension that something sinister is going to happen and you have no way to stop it. I loved her banter and ongoing battle with Gail, who is utterly detestable. Mostly, I loved her inner dialogue which SOMEHOW almost feels inspiring, like you too should approach your life with this devil may care attitude that seems to work so well for her.

Overall, I just SO enjoyed this one, and this will be VERY high on my top 2023 reads list, no question. Get this one!!