Veronica Ruiz is on the run for the first time in her life—though certainly not the last. After being falsely accused of stealing money from her college sorority, she packs up and heads to her cousin Ramón's apartment, planning to change her name and start over, away from backstabbing girls and university drama (and far, far away from her arrest warrant in Maryland).

At the local bank on the first morning of her new life, it occurs to Vero that she'd be a better bank teller than most of the current employees; she may not have much money, but what little she does have, she knows how to manage. Unfortunately, the only available position is a cleaning job and so, desperate for a fresh start, she takes the bank manager’s offer.

But nothing in Vero's world has ever been simple so of course, shortly after she begins work, she overhears a conversation between her new boss and a security guard: someone who works there has been stealing. Seeing a window of opportunity, Vero sets out to find the identity of the thief, present the evidence, and then push for the perfect job. All of which would be easier if her irresistibly infuriating childhood crush Javi wasn’t living in the same damn town.

A much anticipated peek into Vero's life before she met Finlay Donovan, this was a super short read. I enjoyed this look into her past, but I felt like a lot of the humor that is a hallmark of the series was missing. 3.5⭐

I received an advanced complimentary digital copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

After 3 great Finlay Donovan books, we finally get dome of Vero's backstory! She's calm, cool, collected, and very resourceful, as we already know, as she takes on a job at a local bank near Ramon's house after she drops out of college. We get more of the intriguing Javi and get to meet her mom.

I want more Vero now!

I love this short story backstory of Vero and how she came to work for Finlay. We got bits and pieces of it in other books but until now I didn't know the whole story. Vero has been spunky from the word "go". Thanks for the opportunity to read the mistakenly overlooked gem!

A fun novella! Not a must read for the rest of the series, but I'm glad I picked this one up. I highly recommend the rest of this series though!

I received this free e-arc through Netgalley because the newest book in the series is coming out in 2025. This book is a little shorter than the other books, but it gives us some backstory into Vero as we find out more about her. It's a nice look from her POV as opposed to Finlay as the usual narrator.

The e-book was formatted a bit weird with so many missing spaces, but I was still able to read it. I'm glad it wasn't a full-length book only for this reason. I think it could've been a longer book.

Listen, it’s not awful.

It’s just that the others are SO GOOD, you know?

Where's the Vero we've come to know and love?

Love love love Vero and what she contributes to Finlay’s series. Having a backstory for her really helped understand her character more and made her even more likable imo. She comes from such a crazy and interesting subplot.

If you read the later books in the series, I think it’s important to know as much as possible about Vero to understand some of the scenarios and misadventures she gets herself into. Especially with her love interests.

Thanks so much NetGalley and Minotaur books for the eARC.

How did Vero end up in the company of Finlay Donnovan? Who exactly is Vero Ruiz?

This book helped clarify some of the questions I had as a fan of the Finlay Donnovan series. And while I found it helpful in filling in some gaps, the story itself fell a little flat for me. Maybe it was because it was short and because readers already know at least some information about the characters. I enjoyed this, but not as much as the main books in the series.

I really enjoyed this short story! Veronica was such a fun character to follow. I love how hard she worked to find the culprit, and how things just fell in to place for her. The story clipped along at a good pace and kept me interested the whole time.

I enjoy Veros character a lot in the Finlay Donovan series, but admittedly I miss the banter between the two women. Vero is funny. Her humor always cuts the tension and makes the scenes so much more enjoyable. But I didn’t feel the same attitude from her in this novella. The plot felt pretty dry despite multiple opportunities to see her humor shine through. The tension between Vero & Javi is still so good tho.

I received an advance review copy for free from the publisher via Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Always love being in Finlay’s world and it was fun to get Vero’s backstory and see how she met Finlay

Thank you NetGalley for an e-copy of the book. Review live now on GoodReads and StoryGraph. The digital version gifted has numerous paragraphs missing spaces between words, making it challenging to read.

Vero has always been my favorite character in this series, so I loved seeing her get her own book! I wasn’t expecting it to be a flashback, but it worked for me. I appreciated her backstory being filled in a bit, and loved seeing more of her with Javi.

It was also really cute to see the first moment when Vero and Finlay met, and their famous friendship was born. A part of me wishes I could have read this book first, as a prequel to the rest of the series, so that I would have the added context to Vero and her relationships!

——

A huge thank you to Elle Cosimano, St Martin’s Press, and Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for a review copy in exchange for honest feedback!

I really enjoy short stories where the protagonist embarks on an adventure within a brief timeframe, and this one didn’t disappoint. I loved that the story was set in the DMV area, which is my home turf. It was wild and wacky to see the protagonist run away from school only to get caught up in a bank robbery in another state. The story was fast-paced, engaging, and funny. However, I wish the subplot about the stolen money at the sorority house had been resolved—it felt unfinished and left me wanting more closure.

Vero’s origin story!!! Yes, I absolutely loved it! She’s definitely a favorite character and I love getting a glimpse of her before she started nannying for Finlay! This is a super quick read and so soo worth it if you’re a fan of the series and Vero in particular.

3.5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley & St Martin's Press (Minotaur Books) for a copy! I love the Finlay Donovan series and this was a fun look into Vero's past.

This short story was a fun dive into Vero’s past and a great addition to the Finlay Donovan series. I enjoyed seeing how Vero solved the mystery at the bank while juggling her new start after fleeing college drama. Her determination and cleverness shine, making her such a lovable character. The banter with Javi added charm, and their dynamic was delightful. While I wish there was more detail about why Vero didn’t clear her name back in college, this novella gave great insight into her backstory and her first meeting with Finlay. A must-read for fans of the series!
Very grateful to the publisher for my copy through NetGalley, opinions are my own

This is listed as book 3.5 in the Findley Donovan series so I read it out of order, but that's okay as it's Vero's back story. It isn't full length but a novella so isn't fleshed out as much as a novel would be. However, it gives us info on Vero's life and explains how she met Findlay. It's a fun addition to the series.

Synopsis:
Veronica Ruiz is on the run for the first time in her life—though certainly not the last. After being falsely accused of stealing money from her college sorority, she packs up and heads to her cousin Ramón's apartment, planning to change her name and rebuild start over away from backstabbing girls and university drama (and far, far away from her arrest warrant in Maryland).

At the local bank on the first morning of her new life, it occurs to Vero that she'd be a better bank teller than most of the current employees: she may not have much money, but what little she does have, she knows how to manage. Unfortunately, the only available position is a cleaning job and so, desperate for a fresh start, she takes the bank manager’s offer.

Thoughts:
It was nice having a deep dive into Veronica’s background. But I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the others.

Would have probably enjoyed this more, had I read it before reading book 4. Didn't know that this book was part of the "Finlay" Universe. I'll have to read it again. at some point.

So this was a cute short story about Vero’s back story. It was fun to find out how she solved the mystery of the missing money at the bank and met Finlay for the first time. I still wish there had been more of an explanation as to what made her just flee her college in the middle of the night, rather than let everyone know she had nothing to do with the theft & finished her degree like a normal person would have.