Once upon a time a con man met an heiress, married her, had kids….then kept on conning. Jillian Moorewood is the eldest, the responsible one, the one tasked with getting her family to go legit after her mother died. Taking her job so far as to go to jail to save her family, she hopes she’ll return home to find everything on the straight and narrow. Only to find out her family took her go legit or else ultimatum as a suggestion.

Although her life is in shambles, Jillian is determined to set her family straight. And with the help of her bodyguard and some unexpected allies she starts to get her life back.

Moorewood Family Rules is described as Ocean’s 8 meets Knives Out and that’s a pretty spot on description of the dynamics. And the cover is the perfect one for this book, I absolutely love it!

This was just such a fun, entertaining read. It’s got a little bit of everything: cons, family dynamics, quirky characters, and romance, it’s got something for everyone! I would have preferred a little bit more con aspects but the family dynamics were still very entertaining.

Although I don’t relate to being a part of a con family, I did relate to Jillian and her struggles of being the eldest and feeling responsible for her family. I just really liked Jillian’s character and also her relationship with Beck, their banter was great.

Thank you HK Dimon, Netgalley, and Avon for the review copies in exchange for an honest review!

Moorewood Family Rules was such a fun read! I usually don't enjoy third person books, but I really loved the writing in this book. I loved following Jillian and Beck. The plot twists throughout the book kept me on my toes. Obviously I was getting very frustrated with the Moorewood family, but ended up loving a lot of them towards the end (not Jay or Astrid though). Overall, this was such a good and fun read that I thoroughly enjoyed. I found the plot fun, and loved that we got a touch of romance in there as well as the mystery aspects. Such an enjoyable read.

This is a fun, quick read about a dysfunctional con artist family, unknown revelations, and revenge. If you're looking for a book that has drama, sarcasm, several smaller mysteries, and a desire to survive, this is absolutely a book for you!

Really sad that I couldn't do more than skim this after a few chapters. I didn't connect with the characters and although I liked the premise of the Family Rules, getting dumped into the family didn't work. The writing was choppy, especially in the internal monologues/thoughts of Jillian.The characters were okay, and although I liked some of them, I couldn't get over the repetitiveness and unnecessary POVs.

Overall, I wasn't a fan, though this fast and easy read will be fun for a lot of readers. Unfortunately, it wasn't for me. Dimon's writing style doesn't flow well, and her the characters felt immature and very limited by the roles they were cast in. I didn't get Knives Out or Ocean's 11 from this at all, just women's fiction with a dash of mystery and romance.

Moorewood Family Rules. Jillian was in prison for 3 years, but got out on good behavior. She went in for a white collar crime, based on the family business (stealing from the rich, but not in a Robin Hood sort of way.) Now that she's out, she is on a mission to figure out who sent the FBI on her, and to get the family to quit scheming. Along the way, her aunt and the business guru decide that Jillian needs a bodyguard because someone in her family is trying to kill her, or send her back to prison.

The synopsis of this book states that it is like Knives Out, which I can see because it is a family drama about crime... but I would have to disagree.I just.... didn't like it? Now, I did read an uncorrected proof, but I couldn't get over some of the mistakes. I felt like there were plots in this story and that I just didn't understand what was going on. I ended up skimming the end. It felt like the author was just dangling things in front of me and then closed it nicely? Just felt dragged out. Also SPOILER ALERT!!!!!! she has a weird relationship with the body guard??? That came to be towards the end of the book??? Felt real weird.

I've seen good reviews and maybe that was because they had a corrected proof and the story changed slightly, but damn I almost DNFed... whoops.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

There was lots of hype surrounding this book but I found it to be so poorly written, with such absolutely horrible dialogue that it was a struggle to complete

This book was not what I was expecting but I still had a nice time with it.

I really liked the premise of this book: a dysfunctional con-artist family; and a daughter who went to prison for them, now out for revenge. Told from two pov's: Jillian's - the daughter who wants the rest of her family to retire from the family business and go legit, and Anika's - her cousin who is in fact part of that side of the family that doesn't want to retire from the family business. I enjoyed the fact that we got to see both sides of the family and exactly what they were plotting. But I wish we got more.

Things to look forward to:
-Magnificent revenge plans
-A sweet bodyguard romance
-Sneaky great aunt behavior
-Rich, snobby white women
-A fun look inside the lives of con artists and their various schemes

I really hope HelenKay Dimon writes more in this world because I would love to go deeper into the Moorewood family lives and schemes.

I was really into this for the first half but then it became extremely similar and I felt like I was reading the same things over and over again. Ultimately, this one seemed like it didn’t know what it wanted to be and left me wanting more of *something*. The marketing for this is also confusing - we need to stop comparing every family drama to Knives Out. To me, it was for family drama with a hint of mystery and romance. I really enjoy the way Dimon writes and I am huge fan of her thrillers written under Darby Kane. I'll definitely check out more of her work as HelenKay Dimon.

I requested the ARC for this one based on the comps - Knives Out meets Ocean's Eleven. The family definitely had drama similar Knives Out but the similarities stopped there. I was looking forward to some schemes and thieving, and while our MC did have some tricks up her sleeve, this was primarily a novel about family drama. A fun surprise was the romance subplot, which got more space than I expected. I adored the relationship between Jillian and Beck. If you like complicated family dynamics with a dash of romance and crime, check out this new release.

This was a light hearted story about a family of con artists and their interpersonal drama. It’s nothing like Oceans 8 or Knives Out so don’t go in expecting that. There is no heist involved which I found disappointing.

The hijinks in this novel is unbeatable. This was fun, funny, suspenseful, and heartwarming. It is a story of self discovery and family drama. The chapters are short and always end in a fun cliff hanger so the novel is really easy and fun to read. Totally recommend this novel for a fun and easy escape from your world.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the gifted copy. This novel is out April 25th!

Moorewood Family Rules by HelenKay Dimon is a rom-com novel about a family of con-artists who get what they deserve. The book flowed easily and it drew me right in with the funny remarks and quick immersion into the plot. The different rules as chapter titles was hilarious and witty
 
We meet Jillian, fresh from 39 months in prison, ready to descend upon her unsuspecting family who put her there. She debarks from her helicopter on the family mansion’s spacious grounds in the midst of a party, where they are laying the groundwork to swindle and con their latest victims. They are none to  happy to see Jillian, but Jillian is less so. They had promised to go straight in return for Jillian taking the fall for them with the FBI. Now she’s back, she has their number, she holds all of the cards, and she’s had 39 months to contemplate her revenge.
 
This book was really engaging and fun since it is about a family of manipulative con artists. I have not read anything like this, so when I saw the premise of this book, I was immediately interested.  The book lived up to my expectations. The revenge aspect of Jillian's return gives this book extra zing. The supporting characters were written well and we get enough insight to understand them. The shadiness and ridiculousness of them made it that much more fun to read. While it was fun and flirty, it was also sharp and witty, which was perfection and I could not put it down! . I would recommend this book to others who love that light rom-com aspect!

Totally drawn in by the synopsis but the execution just didn’t work for me and it ended up a DNF. Take this with a grain of salt though - I’m struggling to find the right books for my mood lately so could very much be a case of wrong reader and not wrong book. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Ms. Dimon for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

I saw "Knives Out meets Ocean's 8" in the title and I was ALL IN. I love a good heist story, I love a revenge story, I love romance, I love a messy family, and frankly this book was poised for complete success. It definitely had all of those elements, I just wish it had... MORE.

It really wasn't a heist per se, so much as that Jillian (recently freed from jail on good behavior) wants to neutralize her family of grifters and con artists, which requires heist-like planning. It really wasn't revenge, as Jillian isn't trying to GET revenge, exactly, just enforce her desire that her family "goes clean or goes broke". It really wasn't romance, necessarily, as Jillian certainly LIKED her hunky bodyguard, Beck, but the romance element was weak and underdeveloped. And there was a messy family, certainly, but the way they were talked up (I mean, for pete's sake, they cut her brakes!), I expected way more than some half-hearted grumbling and conniving. As another reviewer pointed out - and I completely agree - this book could more accurately be described as contemporary fiction with a little self-discovery on the side.

That's not to say it wasn't fun: it WAS. I really enjoyed the book and I devoured it at top speed. It just wasn't precisely as advertised. For what it WAS: four stars. For what I thought it would be: three. Solid average score of 3.5, but I'll round up because I enjoyed it (which is really what ultimately matters, right?).

This family!!!!!! Y’all this family is one of kind. Jillian had just gotten out of jail after serving a few years, taking the fall for her family of scammers and con artists, I guess someone had to take the fall for all her family has done. Now that she’s back she wants to seek revenge on the person who set her up, and also clean up the family. She’s not a fan of their scamming ways, but she had also realized that someone in the family is trying to kill her to stop her. She gets a security guard to keep her safe, its that serious, but I couldn’t help but laugh at this whole set up. A family of con artists???? This book was too entertaining.

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this witty family dramedy about a young woman who, when released from a three-year prison sentence returns home to her grifter relatives, and then tries to force them to go legit. In a twisty, back-stabbing household, filled with cousins and relatives who all are looking to protect their own stakes in the family 'business', Jillian and her bodyguard, Beck, are trying to control the family.

I liked that none of the characters were trustworthy, and the budding romance between Jillian and Beck. I was intrigued from the beginning about what Jillian's plans were and how she was going to get the cousins and other relatives to comply. This was a fun, twisty novel, that kept me guessing until the end.

Thank you to Netgalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for the digital ARC of Moorewood Family Rules by HelenKay Dimon. The opinions in this review are my own.

The comparison to Knives Out does this book a disservice I think because they're really not similar at all. There also wasn't much mystery or romance here so this definitely read as more like women's fiction to me. I also did't care for the dual POVs. Not for me, sadly.

Moorewood Family Rules by HelenKay Dimon #twentythirdbookof2023 #arc

CW: discussions about death, suicide, cancer, drugs, prison time, con artists, dysfunctional families

This book was billed as Knives Out and Ocean’s 8 meets The Nest, full of scheming family members and their desire to hang on to their inheritance. That’s a very generous and untrue comparison. It was also kind of boring.

Jillian takes the fall for her family’s financial crimes and goes to prison, and now that she’s out, she’s determined to make everyone else go straight. Sounds interesting but nothing ever happened. The book was literally just talking about cons and scheming behind each others’ backs and then not actually doing anything. I didn’t care about any of the characters because they were all very flat.

The relationship between Jillian and her bodyguard was unearned and not believable. I found myself speeding through the book to get to the interesting parts of the family dynamic, and nothing jumped out.

Thank you to @netgalley and @avonbooks for the advance copy. (Pub date 4/25/23)

Jillian wants her family to go straight and they don’t want to!

Jillian Moorewood was hoping her family had finally went legal like she had planned before taking the fall and going to prison for all of the stuff that her grifting family had done. Jillian plans to put a stop to their cons but that changes when one of her family tries to murder her and now she needs a bodyguard!

I absolutely loved the line at the top of the cover about the family that steals together stays together because you get the feel of a movie where everybody especially your family has a plan to relieve you from your money.

I absolutely laughed at all the back talk between Jillian and Beck when he finally get to really know her family plus all of the Moorewood Family Rules!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm disappointed. I wanted more for this story. I wanted it to want more for itself.

This book really nailed the family dysfunction part of the synopsis. All the drama and one-upping and back-stabbing and general insanity made for an interesting ride. The problem is is that you know you can't trust anyone in a book about a family of con artists. So you're always looking for the trick, the big reveal and this one didn't deliver well. There was one mildly surprising moment and that's it.

The romance either needed to be a slower burn -- really dig into why Jillian likes him, trusts him, feels comfortable with him -- or don't have it at all. It felt half-baked and convenient as it stands. I had also thought there would be more conning but it was mostly a lot of talk.

We didn't need two PoVs here. Anika's PoV took away from the tension and distrust of some of the characters. It seemed more like lazy storytelling -- a way for the readers to see things they wouldn't see if this was told strictly from Jillian's PoV.

This book is readable and has a moment or two that I found entertaining. But on the whole, it's disappointing and not really worth the time.