I am so glad I took a chance on this book because it was wonderful. Evelyn a.k.a. the Bird of Bordeaux is a master thief and I really liked her character. She is strong, smart and sassy and she takes no crap from anyone. The instant we meet the MMC, Jaq, I fell in love. I loved the tension not only with the story itself, but between Evelyn and Jaq as well. I think the concept was unique and the 1800's alternate France setting added an air of mystery and intrigue

I am a sucker for a good heist story and this one pays off. There is more I want to say here but I fear it would spoil some of the plot so I"m leaving it out. I felt the ending left room for the author to continue the story and I would be interested in reading more in this world.

Is this book perfect? No. It certainly has some flaws (particularly with the FMC and the way she describes herself as well as her conflicting decisions) but if you are willing to overlook them, I think you'll have a good time reading this book. I also wish we got to see a bit more of the magic and the descriptions could have been better.

Thank you NetGalley and ARC provided by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am not finishing this book. I was reading from the net gallery reader on my smart phone. I stopped at page 41. I was not enjoying this book. I did like the idea of the FMC, but there were a few things that put me off continuing:

The opening was confusing. It was difficult to determine who was speaking in the conversation until well into the conversation. A reader should be able to easily determine which character is speaking..

The FMC describes her own eyes as striking. She then describes her skin as tanned but then indicates that she doesn't spend any time in the sun.

The FMC describes her hair as a distinct shade of brown and falling in soft waves-no one describes themselves like that.

The FMC states that she needs to find a dress that didn't draw attention. Yet then chooses a dress that will stand out.

With no indication in the world building so far that people would have odd colored hair the author introduces who I will assume will be the MMC and he is not described as an elder person, but has a shock of white hair.

The premise is good but I stumbled through with the awkwardness of the examples given that made me cringe. I was only into the third chapter, and I became weary. .