Heiress Among Thieves

Olivia Owens is back—and this time she’s going international. After successfully stealing millions from her rich father, Dash Owens, Olivia is invited to her grandmother, Leonie Owens’s, castle in Switzerland for Leonie’s 70th birthday. It will be a big reunion for the Owens family. Olivia accepts the invitation, but not because she wants to meet her extended family. Instead, she’s interested in Leonie’s legendary fortune locked away in the castle dungeon. 

Olivia, alongside original crew members Tom, Deonte, and Kevin, and newbies including Tom’s sister Grace and Olivia’s boyfriend Jackson, head overseas for Christmas break, hoping to pull off another robbery of the Owens family. But the Owens family has secrets, and Olivia’s plans are quickly thrown off the rails by conniving family members with their own agendas. 

Olivia isn’t the only one planning to steal Leonie’s fortune—most family members are there to get a piece, especially after Leonie reveals she’s dying and won’t be giving her riches to anyone. And competition isn’t the only issue. Olivia’s crew members struggle to get along, and Olivia struggles with her identity as an Owens. Will she turn out just like the rest of her selfish, wealth-obsessed family? Or can she carve her own path?  

Unexpected appearances of people from Olivia’s past throw a wrench in her plans, as does Leonie’s hidden agenda. All the while, a shadow organization called The Knives is intruding on the Owens family’s business. Suddenly, the stakes of Olivia’s heist go from dangerous to deadly, and it’s up to Olivia to protect her crew and steal Leonie’s fortune. The clock is ticking—literally—as the heist begins, as the clock counts to midnight on New Year’s Eve. Can the crew pull off this heist and avoid The Knives? Or will they be caught. . . or worse? 

Olivia Owens is back, but she’s not better. She’s actually worse, suffering from the same flaws as the first book, but now she’s also obnoxious. She’s obsessed with living large and having couture items, making her even less relatable than ever. Plus, her wealthy status muddies her motives, which are unclear to begin with. The first book, Heiress Takes All, made sense because Olivia wanted revenge on her dad and money to help herself and her mom. In Heiress Among Thieves, Olivia enjoys stealing just because she can. Plus, Olivia critiques her family for being insanely rich while aiming to become exactly that by stealing Leonie’s fortune. She is blind to her own motives. Olivia’s selfish desires for money and control overshadow and even counteract her intended character growth. She claims she doesn’t want to be like her family, but she doesn’t do enough to prove herself different from the other Owens. 

The supporting characters are no doubt the highlight of the book. This is especially true of crewmember Tom Pham, who is honest about who he is and his moral ambiguity. As a result, he challenges Olivia. Leonie spices up the book with her no-nonsense attitude and calculated manipulativeness, adding an entertaining element of ice-cold surprise. However, Heiress Among Thieves struggles to balance a large roster of characters. Olivia’s other crewmembers, while enjoyable, are hardly relevant, appearing only to conveniently fix a plot problem. Olivia’s many family members are hard to keep track of, and only one cousin is particularly provoking. Olivia’s boyfriend, Jackson, also contributes to the imbalance, as he is prioritized over other characters. He brings good tension and is supposed to be the reassuring boyfriend who guides Olivia away from the darkness. However, his efforts to help Olivia ultimately make her look bad, leading to an ending that seems more about shock value than meaningful character development.  

The castle setting, with the vault located in the dungeon, is a great location that is utilized well to create dramatic, intriguing, and glitzy scenarios for Olivia and her crew to operate in. However, Heiress Among Thieves lacks its predecessor’s charm, instead opting for a much darker tone. The sheer number of twists is overwhelming, to the point that it’s actually annoying—it feels like the authors couldn’t make up their minds while writing the book. Some twists are genuinely engaging, but they ultimately fail to matter because subsequent twists render them moot. Additionally, the book doesn’t do that much heisting at all. The con drags on too long, making the heist seem like a subplot while the characters spend time together and fall in love in Europe. It’s not that non-heist scenes aren’t entertaining—many are, as the absurdity of the Owens family drama is amusing—but this results in a loss of focus and direction. That said, the two heist scenes that are present are wonderfully wild and suspenseful, bringing back the first book’s fun, if only for a few chapters.  

In the end, Heiress Among Thieves attempts too much and is unable to balance the characters, twists, and subplots. In addition, the book fails to portray characters who act their age. Olivia remains a frustratingly unrelatable main character because she shows no significant character growth. The authors introduce important themes, such as reconciliation and forgiveness, friendship versus family, and the moral issues of money, but then leave them hanging. The refusal to make significant character progress or bring about any kind of impactful change makes it seem like the events of this book are merely designed to set up a third book. The entertaining array of side characters, small but excellent heist scenes, and striking setting don’t have enough page time to counteract an insufferable main character and a slow, unfocused, and, at times, counterintuitive plot. Readers looking for an entertaining heist story should skip the Heiress Heists Series and instead read the Heist Society Series by Ally Carter and the Thieves’ Gambit Series by Kayvion Lewis.  

Sexual Content  

• On the train to Olivia’s family reunion, Olivia and Jackson enjoy themselves one last time before they have to begin the heist plan. “I return to Jackson, finally kissing him deeply. He trembles beneath me—not, I know, just from our proximity.” 
• Olivia and Jackson put on a clumsy teenagers-in-love ruse to create a distraction, which is also a pleasure. “Jackson presses his kiss to my smile, and his hand slides into my back pocket. Laughing, we stumble down the center aisle.” This scene is described over two pages. 
• During her last heist, Olivia kissed crewmember Tom. Olivia says, “Yes I made out with Tom—only for revenge on Jackson. It wasn’t real, even if it was hot.” 
• Olivia and Jackson kiss. “[Jackson] softens to my touch. He kisses me back, sinking into it as he always does. Like he can’t get close enough. Like he wants me 100%. When we part, he keeps my fingers entwined with his.” This scene is described over one page. 
• Jackson verbally entices Olivia with innuendos, and Olivia, as a result, becomes flushed. “‘I’ll show you which of your parts intimidate me if you sneak into my room tonight,’ he whispers slyly into my ear. Heat rushes through me, sweeping the mountainous cold from my skin.” 
• During a game of truth or dare, someone dares Tom to kiss Olivia in front of Jackson, making Jackson, Tom, and Olivia uncomfortable. Tom ultimately refuses. “‘Kiss her,’ Mia says. Suffocating silence descends over the room. Jackson stiffens.” 
• Jackson and Olivia have a flirtatious moment in the hallway before going to a meeting with their heist crew. They get close, but they don’t kiss. “[Jackson] hems me in, pressing me flat to the wall with deliberate urgency. . . his hand finds the curve of my hip.” 
• Olivia gets into an argument with her crew, including Jackson. She finds him afterwards, where they make up, intensely making out while having a conversation. “I kiss him as if I can hold off heartbreak. Ferociously, without reservation. . . He kisses back as if it’s everything he can do to keep me here. I swallow the sounds he makes, his panting, his moaning.” This scene is described over four pages. 
• When Olivia returns from an excursion to Norway, she has a dramatic romantic reunion with Jackson, kissing and embracing him in front of her family. “Jackson grins into my kiss. It’s wonderful. . . my stomach swooping like during our flight’s ascent into the clouds, while Jackson’s warm scent surrounds me. Outside the frozen castle, I melt into him.” This scene lasts two pages. 
• Oliva accidentally interrupts crewmembers Abigail and Deonte sharing a kiss. “I walk in on Abigail locked in a passionate kiss with Deonte. His hands are in her hair. Her shirt is rumpled.” This scene lasts two pages.
• Jackson brings roses to Olivia’s room, leading to a passionate make-out session and implied sex. “With the warm memory of his kiss still fresh on my lips, the pounding in my heart changes. Fear into desire. I imagine his hands on me, his kiss on my neck—his caress obliterating every danger and doubt. . . ‘No,’ I say. ‘Stay.’” This scene lasts six pages. 
• Olivia apologizes for breaking up with Jackson with a desperate kiss. “I fall to my knees in front of him…I kiss him, pressing my lips to his with the vault of my heart wide open.”

Violence  

• Olivia discovers that her grandfather, Andrew Owens, didn’t die of natural causes but was murdered. Figuring out who killed her grandfather and avenging him becomes one of her motivations, especially once she realizes her extended family thinks her dad, Dash, did it.  
• Ernest Hensson, Olivia’s distant relative, is pushed off a ski lift. “There’s a figure up the mountain, splayed out in the snow. His angles don’t work, limbs warped wrong. He isn’t moving.” He is unresponsive for much of the book, but he does survive. 
• When Olivia’s cousin Mia and her heist crew are trying to break into the vault, they forcefully restrain Olivia and her crew. In an effort to escape, both Tom and Jackson throw punches against their captors. This turns into a fight with blood. “[Olivia] see[s] the man throw a punch, his fist hammering into Jackson’s face. Blood sprays onto Mia’s white sweater. Jackson goes down hard, pummeled under this man’s blows.” The violence happens in spurts across thirteen pages, and Jackson sustains bruises on his face.  
• Mia’s men try to break their way into the vault, causing a huge explosion in part of the castle with Mia still inside. Olivia rushes “to the stretcher, where I find Mia. Her sweater is no longer white. There’s blood smeared with soot on her forehead, bruising already purpling her neck. But she’s conscious. Awake. Alive.” Everyone comes out alive, but Mia and one of her men are very hurt. Mia has a severe concussion. This scene lasts three pages. 
• When Olivia is trying to negotiate her way into the vault with Leonie, Dash gets injured and shows up bloodied, warning that danger is coming. “Then a thud. Powerful. Hefty. He grunts, half gasps. Like he’s been hit. . . Dash crashes into the dungeon, his face bloody.” 

Drugs and Alcohol  

• Alcohol is served at Leonie’s parties and dinners, and is sometimes consumed by the underage main characters. 
• In a game of truth or dare, Mia dares Jackson to drink an expensive bottle of wine. Jackson refuses, saying, “I don’t drink.” Olivia does the dare on Jackson’s behalf. “While everyone watches, I finish off the potent red, then wipe my lips.” 
• Older members of Olivia’s family drink and smoke while she’s in the room. Olivia suffers “through my family smoking cigars and drinking brandy for the next hour.” 
• Olivia compares Dash’s concern for her engaging in this heist to being “hungover after a sleepover.” 
• Kevin grabs a glass of champagne to celebrate New Year’s Eve and successfully executes his part of the heist. Tom takes the drink away and then, “Tom hands him back his champagne, and Kevin takes a gleeful sip.” Kevin then “downs his glass.” 

Language  

• Profanity is used sometimes. Language includes hell, damn, shit, and fuck. 
• Variations of “God” are rarely used as exclamations.

Supernatural  

• None

Spiritual Content  

• None 

by Sarah Leberknight