Heiress Takes All (Heiress Takes All, #1)

HEIRESS TAKES ALL is a delightful and consuming heist read. Since her mother left her cheating father, Olivia and her mother have been struggling to make ends meet. An iron-clad prenup left them with nothing and scrambling to bring in any income, leaving their lavish and wealthy life with her father behind. After her mother is injured, Olivia's thirst for revenge has increased - and she knows just what to do.

Planning the perfect heist takes a lot of time and effort, but Olivia has assembled the right team with motives she can work with to break into her father's safe where he stores his bank codes and clean out his off-shore accounts. The perfect time to do this will be during his third wedding. As they put the plan in action, obstacles will continue to arise, taking all of Olivia's creativity to improvise and hopefully still achieve their objective.

What I loved: This was a really consuming and engaging read with a steady pace. Although it takes place within a short amount of time, it felt quite quick and moved well. The heist is quite intricately and elaborately planned, which only added to the fun of it all. While it may not be realistic, the wildness of the plot and the heist really made it all the more enjoyable. It's absurd but in a really great way that makes it seem like anything is possible, along the lines of Ocean's 11. The story leaves off with a lead-in for a potential future book.

Olivia is an interesting character, and the story is only told from her perspective. She spent much of her life quite spoiled and now has seen life on the other side. Her thirst for revenge and willingness to do whatever she needs to in order to achieve her goals. There is a bit of a romance, but I found it to be pretty background. One of my favorite characters was Kevin, who is something else - he adds a lot of comedy into the story, and it really made added to the fun.

Major themes around revenge, trust/betrayal, and socioeconomic disparity were really strong. Cheating and/or dishonesty come into play in a few ways during the story and really erode relationships. A heist this elaborate can only happen with a lot of trust, and second chances are carefully considered. Revenge can be quite the motivator, but the best revenge doesn't always happen the way it is expected to.

What left me wanting more: I would have loved to get to know the other characters even better and had more development of the romantic relationships. However, on the flip side, this did keep the plot tighter and moving faster.

Final verdict: HEIRESS TAKES ALL is a delightful heisty read that will appeal to people who enjoy THE INHERITANCE GAMES, THIEVES' GAMBIT, and/or THE LEGACIES.