“But careful isn’t an option. Careful is a luxury you have when your baseline isn’t chaos. When every decision isn’t determined by a calculated risk. In lives like ours, you grasp onto those who understand you, or you face every obstacle alone.”

This is the first book by Kristen Simmons that I’ve ever read and it won’t be the last. I own books by her but I’m not sure why I haven’t read them. This book is going to make me bump those up my tbr list.

Ocean’s Eleven meets Pretty Little Liars in this fun and mysterious school for Con Artists.

Brynn hasn’t ever had it easy. Her Dad passed away suddenly when he was shot at work and her Mom decided to strike up a love interest in someone who disrespects them both and does some underhanded things to make money. To say that Brynn’s life sucks would be quite the understatement. One day as she’s pulling her con on some unsuspecting people, a boy with a raven crest on his shirt starts to follow Brynn. She thinks it’s a coincidence at first but then becomes freaked as he starts showing up where she works.

She does the next best thing and starts to follow him. He lures her into a secluded spot where other teenagers are hanging out and then the games start to begin. The newbies are put through a test. They have to go to the Senator’s mansion and get the son to agree to a date with them and then they’ll get an invite to one of the most prestigious private schools. Brynn needed an out and this is her chance and she’s not going to blow this.

Brynn blows the competition out of the water and she now has her foot in the door, but at what costs? Secrets start to pile up and Brynn starts to feel the pressure of overwhelming proportions. Pulling Cons on people she’s starting to care about is harder than she thought. Can she figure out her home life and her life at school before they both come crashing down around her?

This book had a lot of shocking twists and none of them were suspected. It was a very clever read with characters that you wanted to pull cons with. I will say that there was more romance than I was expecting but I think it was a great addition to the story. Kristen knows what she’s doing and she’s a pro at it.

Even though I was sick while reading this, I couldn’t put it down. I needed to know what was going to happen. This book took more priority than me taking care of my illness. It was that damn good.

Vincit Omnia Veritas