Ava and Winnie are former college friends whose lives reconnect several years later. Ava is a former lawyer with a demanding child, and a hard-working doctor husband who is finding life a struggle since the death of her mother. Winnie is an entrepreneur working on the fringes of a criminal counterfeiting gang. Ava tells their story to a police detective, then halfway through the book, the narrative switches. To add anything else would spoil the plot. I really enjoyed reading this book, the writing style is gripping, Winnie and Ava are bright characters, the counterfeit scam is ingenious, and the plot twists come as a surprise.

Thank you Netgalley for an eARC of this book. I rate this book somewhere between a 3 & 4, perhaps 3.4-3.5. It was a fast paced novel about two former roommates who work together to capitalise on ... well capitalism though the counterfeit handbag trade. I liked the multi-dimensional characters and the author had a way with words to make us really feel some of the pain Ava was going through with her child, however there were a few things that made it difficult for me to give it a higher rating. First, the style of the book - no quotation marks, a large portion written as a confessional to a detective, didn't quite hit the right mark for me. Secondly, the ending seemed a little rushed. Without giving away any spoilers, it wasn't clear how the story "tied up".

That being said, it was an interesting an fast-read and I can definitely see a Netflix adaption!

So what I liked about this story was how the con played out. We have our protagonist, Ava Wong, classic unhappy middle aged mother, struggling with a child with some probably developmental delays and an absentee husband, courtesy of his residency. Winnie, our con artist, old college classmate reinserts herself quite cleverly into her life, providing comfort when the marriage gets out of hand, helping with the kid. She ropes Ava in very neatly into the designer handbag knockoff business until Ava doesn’t have a choice, or so we think. Until part two.
Part two was the book’s saving grace, the part which will make this a best seller. We realise that Ava is not so much innocent bystander, wrong place wrong time scenario but is an active part of the con.
Honestly I read the first line of the blurb, hustlers meets big little lies and my expectations were exceeded. I’m looking forward to reading the other books by Kristin Chen.

I picked this book because the cover has things in common with Kevin Kwan's books (Crazy Rich Asians etc.) - but really the similarities end there. The pace of this novel is relatively sedate; it's about a stay-at-home-mom who is semi-accidentally drawn into a complex counterfeit handbag scam. It's well written, has an unreliable narrator (a personal favourite device of mine!) and a great twist at the end. It would be a great beach read.

Addictive like Crazy Rich Asians ….. if you love a designer handbag you will love this book. Ava a struggling mum reunites with her college friend Winnie .. shocked how Winnie has changed glamorous dripping in designer labels Ava is sucked into Winnie’s world. What she doesn’t know is that Winnie is running a sophisticated hoax importing fake luxury designer handbags which she returns to stores … the plot unfolds in this amusing addictive story that kept me reading all night … loved it !

This was a simple, easy and quick read. The perfect type of book for your holiday, beach, pool kind of read. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

Why does this novel not really use a thing called speech marks when speaking? It is difficult to distinguish between when the main character has thoughts and what she actually says out loud. Yes, she admits ‘I asked’ and so forth after something is mentioned in conversation however it is very annoying as you are reading this novel when there is no proper grammar! I also found the characters to be very annoying.

Unpredictable Romp…
An unpredictable romp in which the reader meets Ava, a lawyer who tows the line and with a seemingly perfect lifestyle and then Winnie, a seemingly wealthy woman despite her former background and Ava’s former roommate with a now perfect life. When they meet up sparks fly but is this meeting really accidental? Have the fates intervened? Amidst shady dealings and the possibility of scandal will Ava really risk it all? Compelling and immersive with wonderfully fleshed out characters and written with elegance and a perfect dry wit.

This is the book I didn't know I needed right now. A caper, social commentary, lifestyle porn for days... this book is exactly the escapist fun I've been looking for these past few years. Highly recommend!

This was such a gripping read that was well written with an engaging narrative, compelling storyline and well developed characters that were so intriguing to me. It was mysterious, suspenseful and twisty, with a level of unpredictability that had me on the edge of my seat. I really liked it.

Let's meet the leading ladies of this book Ava is a law abiding lawyer who has simply ticked off all the boxes in life, she is married to a surgeon, has a amazing job as a successful lawyer and is now taking a break to raise their adorable toddler.

Winnie is Avas old college roommate who was once awkward, shy, quiet, academically challenged and one that people didnt really notice. But she has definitely turned her life around. She is now charismatic, wealthy and gorgeous. She wants everyone to notice her and she is ready to return to the town that once overlooked her.

Is it really a chance encounter when Winnie and Ava bump into each other at the local coffee shop? Or was it all predetermined to happen by Winnie? Who is involved in q shady business which is where she managed to make all her money and is in town to ask Ava a favour. Ava is struggling to deal with the quiet life of being a stay at home mother and is realised the the quiet life really isn't for her. But once Ava does one favour for Winnie it spirals into another and then another and another and soon she is deeper into a world that she knows nothing about and really more out of her comfort zone then she was before. But will Ava run? Or will she risk it all?


This is the first book that i have read by Kristin Chen and I promise you that it will not be the last. This book was explosive and thrilling. I really enjoyed it.