Wendy Heard

OK, wow, I loved this book! YOU CAN TRUST ME is a riveting woman-power, pro-female friendship thriller, and one of my favorite reads this year. I adored the two lead protagonists, Summer and Leo.

Con artist and pickpocket Summer had a very unconventional upbringing, which lead to an adulthood as a loner, until she met likeminded Leo. Now the two women are inseparable, grifting and living free around California in Summer’s Land Cruiser. Until…

Leo sets her sights on a tech billionaire, show more hoping to scam some riches out of him, along with a fun night on his secluded private island. Except she doesn’t come home!! Now it’s up to Summer to con her way onto the island and find out what happened to her missing bestie.

The chapters alternate POVs between the two women, both in present day and the past, which kept the tension building perfectly. The twists were so good, and I definitely had a few jaw-dropping “what?!?” moments. I think some of it was a tad over the top, but still very fun. Highly recommended to fans of tense cat and mouse thrillers with compelling characters.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me a digital review copy of this book. Opinions are my own. show less

I started reading Hunting Annabelle not really having a clear idea of what it was about. I had made some general assumptions about a possible plot based on the title. Those assumptions could not have been more wrong.
Hunting Annabelle is a first person perspective novel that follows Sean Suh, a troubled twenty something Korean boy who was discharged to his mother’s care after he spent years locked up in a psychiatric hospital. Sean has been diagnosed as a schizophrenic and he also show more experiences vivid visual hallucinations in the form of auras. These are best described as a sort of energy field that exists around each person. Sean’s life is relatively simple, he spends his days in a theme park called the 4 corners. Every day he goes there and draws people he sees in the park. Life is bumping along comfortably enough when he meets a Annabelle, a beautiful college student with a unique copper aura. Annabelle and Sean spend the entire day together and Sean briefly allows himself to believe that he could perhaps have a future with someone like Annabelle. Love is never simple for someone like Sean though, especially since he still struggles with some very dark, carnal urges. Sean’s world is completely turned upside down when Annabelle is abducted in front of his eyes as they are leaving the Four Corners. Sean reports the abduction to the cops, but the cops fail to take the abdication claim seriously, and Sean is forced into investigating Annabelle’s disappearance on his own. The risks go up for Sean as the cops start to dig deeper and find that Sean himself is a viable suspect in Annabelle’s disappearance, and the alleged kidnapper appears to be subtly threatening Sean via handwritten notes that are carefully left behind in areas only Sean will find them. Sean feels compelled to solve Annabelle’s disappearance, but the harder he tries to better he looks as a suspect, and the little life he has strung together slowly unravels.

Sean is not a typical hero. He is deeply flawed and has enough dark urges in himself to be considered a predatory figure. His story is completely riveting and I had a hard time at times trying to figure out if I should cheer him On or fear what he is capable of. This is definitely a twisted tale, but it was fun to read and definitely had enough twists and turns to keep me interested. show less

Trust me, You Can Trust Me by author Wendy Heard is truly unique. “Heroines” Summer and Leo are likeable enough – except that they are grifters, thieves, con artists. Their actions aren’t admirable, or legal, but you can’t help cheering for them once they put it all on the line to save each other.

Their lifestyle is unusual, unstructured, unpredictable. But when you learn about their pasts you can begin to understand why. Summer was raised by the ultimate free-spirited nomad: there show more was no father in sight, her mother didn’t believe in birthdays or birth certificates, following society’s rules, or even last names. And once she decided Summer was a woman and no longer a child she “set her free.” Another word would be abandoned. Leo was raised in your run-of-the-mill suburban family, until her sister died. Then her parents shut down and shut her out. Her grief and guilt are so huge she hasn’t even shared the entire story with Summer, even though they are as close as the closest sisters.

Their lives are now their own. They do what they want, follow only the rules they wish to follow, go only to the places they wish to go, are not caged in or tied down, are free and in control. Free and in control, that is, until it starts to look like Leo may have chosen the wrong mark.

Summer is the pickpocket, the woman of a thousand disguises, who slips in and then zips out with credit cards, cash, wallets, jewelry, really whatever she feels like taking. Leo, on the other hand, plays a longer game, reeling in wealthy men, staying for a while and then leaving with photos that can be sold to the paparazzi, jewelry that can be liquidated, and any gifts she may have picked up along the way. She does her research and Michael Forrester seems like the ideal target. A self-made billionaire and philanthropist who is as attracted to Leo as she pretends to be to him (or may actual be). He takes her to his private island, and all is going according to plan until, oops, it’s not and she misses her check-in with Summer. Ever resourceful, Summer gets herself included in the guests for the business weekend on the island to find out what has happened to Leo. There’s a tiny bit of worry that Leo may have acted on her recent “I’m bored” comments and moved on or fallen for the rich guy. But Summer needs to see it for herself and make sure Leo is safe.

Suspense and anxiety are present in this story from the start as Summer is merrily picking pockets in a bar and barely escapes when the police arrive. It ramps up and up and up until you can hardly stand it. The story gets darker and darker as it moves along; picking pockets almost seems like a lark compared to the violent, cold, sick cruelty that follows. The plot is solid and the action is fast paced with more risk, danger and surprise around every corner. The story twists and turns and the coincidences revealed seem believable enough because you are already fully hooked; no way you are putting this book down until the very end.

You Can Trust Me provides a fascinating glimpse into both the world of those on the edge, the cons, as well as those firmly in the center, the ultra-ultra-ultra-rich. This is not light reading, but the power of female friendship and sisterhood in strong and compelling. Thanks to Penguin Random House for providing an advance copy of You Can Trust Me via NetGalley for my reading (and stressful!) pleasure and honest opinion. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own. show less

☆☆☆☆☆
“You Can Trust Me” has a flashy cover I couldn’t pass up. And it’s a perfect fit for this unputdownable and suspenseful read centered around the loyalty between the two strong female characters. Summer and Leo are characters you won’t easily forget!

Two talented con women are living off the money from their scams. Summer learned young how to pickpocket and she’s very good. I hate to say it, but I’m in awe of her talent! Leo likes a longer process. She uses her show more assets and talent to lure in wealthy men, slowly sucking out every penny she can get.

These two are such likable thieves! They enjoy the nomadic lifestyle they lead and are practically joined at the hip. They work jobs together and live together in a van that Summer customized herself.

Things go off track when Leo sets her eyes on a big fish. The date goes wrong once they get to his private island and she disappears. OMG…so much I didn’t predict! I was floored by how many secrets and twists Wendy Heard could cram into this story! The big reveal had me on the edge of my seat. The entire story was entertaining but it becomes nerve-racking as we reach the conclusion!

The only book I’ve read by the author was her debut and I loved it. I can’t imagine how I let her others slip by but I’m going to be more careful.

The audiobook has multiple narrators that are amazing in their roles!

#YouCanTrustMe #WendyHeard #audiobookreview #libbyapp #RandomHouseAudio #honestreview #thrillerfriendsunite #mysteryandthrills #thrillerobsessedbookishclub #justfinished #newrelease #igbookreels #thriller #suspense #mystery #lovetoread #bookworms #lovebooks #lovetoreadbooks #fortheloveofbooks #booknerd #bookreviewer #booksbooksandmorebooks #instabook #readaholic show less