The suspense really kept me on my toes… Leo and Summer are making their way through the world but in an unconventional way. They are homeless and they do small cons to survive. Leo wants a big score and hopes to find it in billionaire Michael! Leo disappears after heading to a private island with Michael and Summer has to try and figure out what happened… I read this over two days and had such a hard time putting it down. I highly recommend this for book clubs who are into mystery and suspense! Great read! Can’t wait to see what Wendy Heard puts out next!

You Can Trust Me is definitely a slow burn, but not in a bad way. The beginning backstory is definitely relevant, though I'm not sure that all of the leisurely island time really needed to be explored for that long. The ending "thriller fight sequence" is everything you want it to be, but it did feel like we took a long time to get there. Unlike some books, I was fully invested in these characters though I almost knew for certainty what happened to them in the end, so it's not super twisty, if that's what you're looking for. It's just a good 4-star straightforward read. My one complaint is that the ending wrapped up a little too quickly which made it feel like a messy bow on top rather than one that neatly finished with an ending I'm satisfied with.

Unfortunately this book fell flat for me. I was really invested in the beginning but I had a really hard time as it progressed.

You can read any book on the beach, but I will say that this is a perfect one! When I read that this book was a thriller for fans that loved Mia & Lucia on White Lotus, I knew I had to read it. This is Heard's adult debut and it is a page-turner. I loved the characters and was hooked from the start. Highly recommend, especially for summer!

'You Can Trust Me' is definitely a wild ride. This book will have you rooting for the crooks. In the grand scheme of things, the bad girls aren't so bad after all.

Summer and Leo, two nomads who make a living scheming the Cali elite, have their sites set on the biggest fish yet. When a self-made billionaire and philanthropist named Michael Forrester likes one of Leos insta-posts, the girls concoct a plan to stage a meet-up.

It doesn't take long for Leo to con her way into Michael's life and shortly after onto his private island. If Leo is successful, this could yield the biggest payout they have ever seen!

Something seems to go amiss, and Leo never checks back in with Summer. In fact, it almost seems as if Leo has simply disappeared. Summers mood flits between worry and annoyance. Is something wrong, or is Leo simply blowing her off? Could Leo finally have tired of the nomadic life?

Summer decides that she will visit the island herself and confront Leo. But shortly after arriving, it appears that Leo is no longer on the island...or is she?

What's really going on? Who is Michael Forrester? And who if anyone can actually be trusted?

Honestly, I really enjoyed my time reading this novel. I loved the relationship between Leo and Summer, I was on their team from start to finish. This book had some really unexpected twists and turns. I'm scared to say much more because I don't want to give anything away!! You definitely need to grab your own copy today.

As always thanks to the publisher and netgalley for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to Netgalley & Ballantine Books for an eARC of You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for Goodreads & NG.

This one follows Summer and Leo, best friends from different pasts. They live and travel around California in a Land Cruiser, one skilled at pickpocketing and the other a con artist. Leo disappears after involving herself with billionaire Michael Forrester. Summer infiltrates Michael's private island to find Leo - and it's nothing like they expected.

This was a great book to read in the summer. I enjoyed the friendship and loyalty between Summer and Leo, and I love that the author focuses a lot on the girls' backgrounds and how/why they got to where they are today. There ended up being a larger mystery and unveiling solved than the one in the synopsis, which was a welcomed surprise!

This was a fun summer thriller with a con artist plot. It has a smart twist ending and I really enjoyed the additional layer of social commentary throughout this book.

A delicious thriller with two best friends who con their way into a privileged setting only to find themselves as unwitting prey. Pulse-pounding and sexy, I highly recommend. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. #YouCanTrustMe #NetGalley

Whoa! Summer and Leo made my heart race! This is a fun, fast paced and action packed story about to girls without roots and their trip to a billionaire's private island. Not everything on the island is what it seems... but the girls fight to find each other and get off of the island alive. This took twists and turns I was not expecting and left me on the edge of my seat!

Special thanks to Random House Publishing; Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I really liked this one. Scammers, sheisters, users, give me more. I really grew to like these women who grew on me and .ore and more.

I love a good scam. Terrific storyline.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
I loved this one! It’s about two women, Summer and Leo. They were brought together by life’s circumstances, and they have become like sisters. They live in a van together, grifting all over the country. One day, Leo finds a huge catch, that can make them enough money for a lifetime. The problem is, when Leo goes to his private island, she goes missing 👀

This is a great beach read, beginning with the colorful pool cover! Two young women, sisters by choice, who are homeless scammers get in over their heads when one meets a billionaire with plenty of secrets. This is a super quick, fun read. You can't help but root for these criminals. I highly recommend this if you enjoy thrillers with different POVs.

I did not read this book through an educator's lens.

You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard started strong and drew me in. I appreciated the backstories of the characters and the alternating perspectives. Heard did a great job in developing the care between Leo & Summer. The plot was okay, but had some holes in it from their time on the island. It was a quick read.;

First of all this cover is fantastic! Summer and Leo have left their painful pasts behind. They are escaping the pasts by changing their future. This is a story about grifters, running a con and lies. I can totally see this as a tv series!
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Thank you #bantam and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was slow to start, but I found I couldn’t put it down once Summer and Leo got to the island. I really liked the twist/reveal. I would recommend this book to others.

I found it tough getting into this book. It started slow, picked up in the middle, then kinda went off the rails for me. Good storyline and I ended up enjoying the characters, I just wasn’t drawn in to it overall.

The storyline sounded amazing to this book, but it did jit live up to the hype for me. I was bored at times and then confused in others.

This story is told from Leo and Summer's point of view. There are also flashbacks to earlier in their lives before they met each other. Both being grifters, Summer teaches Leo the art of scamming and pick-pocketing. My first thoughts were Damn, these girls need to get jobs! But as I continued to read, I realized that a steady 9-5 isn't for everyone. While I still do not condone their mode of survival, I do understand why they do it. The girls have their sights set on billionaire tech Michael Forrester. When Leo meets Michael he seems different than other guys she has met. When he invites her to his private island for the weekend, it's like the icing on the cake! But when Leo doesn't let Summer know where she is going and doesn't keep in contact, Summer sets out to find her friend. I totally loved this story and the major twist in the book had my jaw hitting the floor. However, some of the scenes were a little to unrealistic in my opinion. I think the ending wrapped up nicely but with a little bit of maybe another book could come about with another adventure!

This was such a fun beach read! It was packed with action but didn’t lack on the character development. I greatly enjoyed the alternating POVs and timelines in this read. Highly rec for all thriller and contemporary fictions fans!

You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard
Random House
5 stars

I heard about this book on IG and once that I saw it was available to request on Netgalley, I went straight to request it!
Two con artists living life on the road and getting through life by deception and mastering it with finesse. The bond between Summer and Leo is amazing. At t first it seems like they grew up together, but as you read on you learn that they met each other in young adulthood and developed this deep and trusting bond. A bond that definitely evolved by the end of the book. Dual timelines are my favorite things when it comes to reading because I love to see inside a character's mind at different points in their lives and it always fun to find what the connection between the past and present in regards to the plot. This book was a lot of fun to read! This was the first Wendy Heard book I have read and will definitely be reading more of her books.
Thank you, Netgalley, Random House Publishing, and Wendy Heard, for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.