A review by theeditorreads
Don't Go Stealing My Heart by Kelly Siskind
5.0
Synopsis:
Clementine Abernathy is a philanthropic woman who donates to various charities for the betterment of orphan children, even if the donations are not quite voluntary. Living with Lucy the bearded dragon (a Pogona), what really scares her is that she may well die alone one day. Her next job takes her to Whichway, a town who has among its residents a certain Maxwell David. Posing as Samantha Rowen, she's there in order to get her hands on his Van Gogh. She's there to con a rich man who didn't deserve his millions.
Maxwell participates as a tribute artist at the famous Elvis festival of Whichway like clockwork every year, and this year he had to win it. His position as CFO of David Industries doesn't mean he is cool with approaching women and neither is he social media-friendly. While his no online presence poses a problem for Clementine, his relationship with the townspeople has her confused as to his rich and rude attitude.
The interesting thing to see will be who cons whom at the end. Will Clementine get his Van Gogh or will Maxwell be successful in keeping her heart?
Review:
A solid opening line introduces us to this romcom heist where the heist mistress is about to steal an 8.47-carat diamond ring. This is my first read by Kelly Siskind as well as my first story where the heroine is a thief. An orphan, Clementine learnt to steal from the high society from Lucien.
That the world is not black and white and that there is a lot of grey in between is something that the author successfully pulls into this third-person narrative from the beginning itself. In spite of being a thief, Clementine's past and her life instantly melted my heart and made me empathise with her. Her life made me weep. This story is a classic example of how every coin has two sides.
The story keeps getting better and better. I never imagined I would read about a tycoon in a romance who's an Elvis impersonator as well. And even though I'm no car aficionado, I loved the car references made by Clementine. A heroine who helps the hero with car trouble is the best kind! From their first interaction to their subsequent heart-to-heart, it was all so wonderful!
It was so funny to see Maxwell David the Third as a fumbling flirt. But what was more wonderful was to read about the protagonists unknowingly sharing common interests. And this story had a really interesting interest of theirs, which also resulted in me learning about something new! Another thing was the way the author has written about loneliness, which is a constant worry in the deepest part of our hearts, which took my breath away.
Maxwell and Clementine get each other's weird, and that is one of the cutest things in the book. At the age of thirty-one, Maxwell had enough on his plate, what with taking care of his family, working extra hours for his business, and preparing for a winning performance. At the age of twenty-eight, Clementine was in a tough place. Her past is a dark, dark place; with violent rivals, an unsavoury childhood and more pain than anyone should suffer, ever. At times, the story confused me as to why it was labelled a romcom, because there was thrill/danger too, throughout and more so towards the end. But it was never without a dash of humour, often laugh out loud funny.
The author successfully tied up all the loose ends but I think I wanted to read about their trip to India as well. Maybe because I'm from Delhi in India. But the epilogue at the end gave a nice closure. And I loved how the fitting title came about.
This was a unique read which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was just like Maxwell and Clementine said to each other, the story was beautiful. It drove home once again about how valuable our taken-for-granted life actually is. Kelly Siskind is a favourite now and I'd definitely recommend this one.
Thank you to InkSlinger PR for an e-ARC of the book.
Originally posted on:
Shaina's Musings
Clementine Abernathy is a philanthropic woman who donates to various charities for the betterment of orphan children, even if the donations are not quite voluntary. Living with Lucy the bearded dragon (a Pogona), what really scares her is that she may well die alone one day. Her next job takes her to Whichway, a town who has among its residents a certain Maxwell David. Posing as Samantha Rowen, she's there in order to get her hands on his Van Gogh. She's there to con a rich man who didn't deserve his millions.
Maxwell participates as a tribute artist at the famous Elvis festival of Whichway like clockwork every year, and this year he had to win it. His position as CFO of David Industries doesn't mean he is cool with approaching women and neither is he social media-friendly. While his no online presence poses a problem for Clementine, his relationship with the townspeople has her confused as to his rich and rude attitude.
The interesting thing to see will be who cons whom at the end. Will Clementine get his Van Gogh or will Maxwell be successful in keeping her heart?
Review:
The difference between getting caught and executing a perfect heist is planning.
A solid opening line introduces us to this romcom heist where the heist mistress is about to steal an 8.47-carat diamond ring. This is my first read by Kelly Siskind as well as my first story where the heroine is a thief. An orphan, Clementine learnt to steal from the high society from Lucien.
That the world is not black and white and that there is a lot of grey in between is something that the author successfully pulls into this third-person narrative from the beginning itself. In spite of being a thief, Clementine's past and her life instantly melted my heart and made me empathise with her. Her life made me weep. This story is a classic example of how every coin has two sides.
The end of her name smoothed into a song, and her pulse crooned in reply.
The story keeps getting better and better. I never imagined I would read about a tycoon in a romance who's an Elvis impersonator as well. And even though I'm no car aficionado, I loved the car references made by Clementine. A heroine who helps the hero with car trouble is the best kind! From their first interaction to their subsequent heart-to-heart, it was all so wonderful!
It was so funny to see Maxwell David the Third as a fumbling flirt. But what was more wonderful was to read about the protagonists unknowingly sharing common interests. And this story had a really interesting interest of theirs, which also resulted in me learning about something new! Another thing was the way the author has written about loneliness, which is a constant worry in the deepest part of our hearts, which took my breath away.
Tinder hookups had sufficed for a while, until the one-night stands exacerbated her loneliness, emphasizing what she didn’t have.
Maxwell and Clementine get each other's weird, and that is one of the cutest things in the book. At the age of thirty-one, Maxwell had enough on his plate, what with taking care of his family, working extra hours for his business, and preparing for a winning performance. At the age of twenty-eight, Clementine was in a tough place. Her past is a dark, dark place; with violent rivals, an unsavoury childhood and more pain than anyone should suffer, ever. At times, the story confused me as to why it was labelled a romcom, because there was thrill/danger too, throughout and more so towards the end. But it was never without a dash of humour, often laugh out loud funny.
The author successfully tied up all the loose ends but I think I wanted to read about their trip to India as well. Maybe because I'm from Delhi in India. But the epilogue at the end gave a nice closure. And I loved how the fitting title came about.
As though Clementine had a little sister and roots and soil and enough water to grow.
This was a unique read which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was just like Maxwell and Clementine said to each other, the story was beautiful. It drove home once again about how valuable our taken-for-granted life actually is. Kelly Siskind is a favourite now and I'd definitely recommend this one.
Thank you to InkSlinger PR for an e-ARC of the book.
Originally posted on:
Shaina's Musings