As a book reviewer, I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher or author to facilitate this review. I received no other compensation, and all opinions are always 100% my own.
Olivia Owens grew up rich–living in a mansion with daily help, attending an exclusive school. All the ended abruptly when she caught her father with his secretary and told her mother. Her father, a ruthless and uncaring man, immediately divorced her mother, whose pre-nup left her with nothing, and kicked the two of them out of his life. Now they live with a lot of medical debt, both of them working multiple jobs, and Olivia attends a normal public high school.
Her father’s second marriage didn’t last long and now he’s marrying bride number 3, age 25, only 7 years older than his daughter. And Olivia wants revenge. She has concocted a plan to steal the codes to his online investments and recruited a talented bunch of friends to help her. There’s Cass, wearing all black, to hack into the computer; there’s Tom to play her dashing date and distract people; there’s former teacher McCoy to infiltrate security; there’s talented baker Deonte to smuggle phones in via his cake. What could go wrong?
Well of course, plenty, and I have to say that this book had more twists and turns than a snake doing a U-turn. Every step of the plan adds more complications that must be overcome last minute, including more people who want in on the action.
Heiress Takes All is young adult, but had some qualities that lift it above the norm for this genre. First of all, the teens were realistic in their abilities. It didn’t require herculean efforts of disbelief suspension to follow this crew, who are smart and quick-thinking, but not superhumanly so. Secondly, while the love interest is sometimes just a bit too eye-rollingly perfect, I did appreciate Olivia’s conflicted feelings towards her father and her ex-boyfriend. It’s a fun read, especially if you enjoy Young Adult adventures! I recommend it.