ARC Review: A Heist Sequel

‘Til Heist Do Us Part by Sara Desai

Publication Date: August 20, 2024

Summary from NetGalley:

It’s been a year since Simi Chopra’s motley crew pulled off a high-wire diamond necklace heist with the help of sexy rogue Jack Danger. After living it up on the reward money, they’re back where they started, struggling to pay their bills. So when a Chicago Mafia boss demands they return the jewels—plus interest, or else—they need to get the team back together…and fast.

Unfortunately, Simi soon discovers that the necklace is in the hands of Jack’s nemesis, a highly-skilled and supremely vengeful master thief who is not above a little blackmail to get even. (Did Jack really have to piss her off?) Now, the crew is forced into her working her con in order to get the necklace back.

As if Simi needed any more complications while trying to rob a billionaire’s mansion, she and Jack are on the rocks, someone else is after her score, and a gorgeous detective is hot on her tail. Simi better be careful or she’ll end up in the less fun kind of handcuffs.

ARC provided by Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley for an honest review.

Confession:

This was a fun second book in this series, but it seemed to be missing something that the first book, To Have and to Heist, had which made it a bit of a let down for me. I can’t quite put my finger on why this one felt different, it might have been my mood, but I would still recommend this one especially if you have read the first book.

Simi is back in full force and is struggling to keep not only her business afloat, but her relationship with Jack from quickly sinking. I still really liked Simi in this next book. I like how quickly she can think up a plan when the last one totally went off the rails. I also like her relationship with Chloe, her best friend and with her family. But it was her relationship with her crew that is really what makes me like her so much. She is just so loyal to them and will do anything to keep them from harm.

We got to learn a lot more about Jack’s past in this one, which really rounded him out nicely as a character. He to, will do anything to protect the ones he loves and cares about, and sometimes this gets him into trouble. I really do like the chemistry between him and Simi. They really click together as partners both in crime and in bed. Some nice steamy, hot sex scenes in this one, that were not overly graphic.

I think one of the things that I didn’t like about this one is that we didn’t see as much of the secondary characters as I would have liked. There was still some great banter between them all, but if you hadn’t read the first book, you would feel no connection with these characters. There was just a bit too much focus on Simi and Jack and not enough on the heist or other characters. But there was a new addition to the crew, Simone, who is in the first book but now is a more central character, who I really enjoyed and I loved how she worked with the rest of the group.

The plot was well done and nicely paced. I did like the whole set up for the heist and loved how they found themselves chasing the necklace all over the east coast. The banter between the characters was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed seeing them all work together. There are some great plot twists that were a lot of fun even when I knew they were coming.

This was a fun and cozy thriller with a great cast of characters. It could be a standalone, but I wouldn’t recommend it. You are much better off reading the first book, before picking this one up. The ending of this one does leave it open for a third book, which I am certainly going to keep an eye out for. Another great summer beach read, especially for those of you who have read the first book.