I gave this contemporary (suspense?) a 3.8/5 stars. There’s two points of view of Meg and Kat and it also hops around in a specific decade of their lives.
Here are my thoughts while reading:
The story opens with tons of questions. Kat is possibly stalking Meg, who has been under the radar for years. Meg might be a con woman whose next target is a politician maybe?
Meg shows her POV at the same political event and does seem to confirm she’s a real estate con-artist of sorts. I’m unsure why she’s targeting Ron. He’s her mom’s ex. Maybe Ron conned them himself in some way and now she wants revenge. What does Kat have to do with it all?
Okay so after getting a bit further, Ron definitely screwed her over in some way. We spent some time seeing Meg’s past and how she got into conning in the first place to make ends meet. If you tell a guy what they want to hear, control is in your hands. The narration style is a bit unique but I’m compelled enough to learn how everyone’s stories meld.
Kat is a journalist who is more interested in Meg than others. She’s waiting to land her big story. But how does Meg eventually ruin Kat’s life?
I’m a little disappointed that the theme is sexual assault and men being assholes. Can there ever be a story when that’s NOT the case? Even the most recent romcom I read showed the heroine’s ex be emotionally abusive and a cop side character by physically abusive. Is this just every day in all domains? It’s so exhausting. Yet, I shouldn’t be one to talk because the entire concept of my next trilogy is Kyra “wishing away all males.”
Ugh Page 83 turned me off to the story. I’m nowhere near as interested now, even if the women get their revenge. This sucks. I usually only DNF if it’s a library book because if I buy a novel, I want to force myself to the end, but right now I really don’t want to keep reading.
I’m also wondering why Cory stayed with Meg if he thought she was so vapid and exhausting. He doesn’t seem to be getting much out of it. just sex doesn’t seem like it’s worth it.
Once we moved back to present day around Page 100 I found myself skimming. I didn’t want to have to read the way Kate processed the trauma of being drugged and date raped. I just feel icky and whether the women get revenge or not doesn’t matter as much to me anymore, I just want out.
At the halfway point, it seems as though Kat is kind of conning Meg to learn the full story but I’m unsure if Meg is aware and it’s like a double agent situation.
When the story diverts to 2 years ago, an in between time, I’ve lost interest and focus again. I’m tired of the nonstop lies and feel burdened and worn down by all the secrets. Nothing feels real and I’m tired.
I’ll hand it to the author for being intelligent enough to show how a con artist would work with the cleverness but the details of mortgages and real estate bore me.
I’m glad the heroines are two bad ass women making decisions on their own and figuring their shit out. But the recurring theme is “two women working together is a force to be reckoned with.” But they’re not working together. They’re against each other.
Well, the way it was wrapped up neatly satisfied me some but I wish the conversation about Nate was in person.
What was interesting was that their friendship still grew despite inability to trust each other. I liked that Meg purposefully picked shady targets but it wasn’t a surprise when the pattern was revealed. I felt bad for Meg’s life being so lonely. She probably could’ve kept in touch with Cal from her beginnings.
I’m glad at the end the author showed that Scott, despite being a short boyfriend from his addiction, didn’t fall in the same category as the other men.
I’m still not sure how I feel about Meg’s quote: “The difference between Justice and revenge comes down to who’s telling the story.” That could be processed a bunch of different ways.
In the end I hope Meg finds some friends wherever she ends up and Kat find closure from her night with Nate.
Check out my upcoming romantasy trilogy here
Cassie Swindon 