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A feisty lady thief keeps an FBI Agent on his toes and off balance in this urban fantasy romance.

I won an Amazon Kindle copy of this book through Goodreads Giveaways! These are unarguably my own honest thoughts and opinions.

When I’m not off in book-land chasing down serial killers, monsters, and fairy tales.. I tend to reach for urban fantasy. And, while this one may not feature any murderers or madness, don’t let that turn you away. If it’s law breaking you want.. our spunky female protagonist is the thief for you.

Meet a group of women who decided it was about time that the wicked get what’s coming to them:
Steal from the rich, expose their crimes, and give generously to the less fortunate.
After all.. Who doesn’t love a good anti-hero?

Spoilers are(definitely) likely!

(Disclaimer: This post uses affiliate-related links, you will not be charged in any way for clicking on them, though I may make a small commission.)

Born to Steal by J. A. Devereaux

Publications date: April 2018
Pages: 232
Genre: Fiction, Crime fiction, Romance novel, Urban Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of 4: Thief à la Femme 

First line: Leather. The very thought of it made her heart race.

A band of women create a group vested in bringing justice to those wronged.
Meet the Robin(s). Thieves who steal from the wealthy and return it to those in need. Collecting evidence of crimes along the way, their noble cause has swept across the nation, earning them fame and notoriety.

Rayla, the best thief in her generation of the Robin(s), is on a mission.
Delarion, a ridiculously rich businessman, has been up to no good. A lot of no good, with quite a few casualties, and they just can’t allow that to continue.
The Robin(s) are on the case!
After successfully breaking into the target’s home, Rayla heads off to burglarize his offices.. but has no real expectation of finding anything. Boy, was she wrong.

Enter the charming Luke Keltry, FBI agent, and second in command in the bureaus High-End Theft Unit. Gorgeous and determined, Luke has a soft spot for the beautiful thief, and he plans to be the one to catch her.

After a brief, but highly entertaining encounter between the two, the race is on.
Now.. she just has to frame the bad guy, keep her identity a secret, and stay ahead of the authorities.
Can Rayla stay ahead of the sexy Agent, Luke?
or will Keltry finally catch his prize?

---

Three Stars

The Robin(s) were all about justice. If a fair outcome couldn’t be attained through regular means—the law and courts system—the Robyn(s) took on needy causes, generally without the victims’ knowledge, to gain justice through alternate means. Technically illegal, the thefts were accomplished in the pursuit of righteousness—thus their “Robin Hood” moniker.

About the book:

Rayla: Impulsive. Materialistic. Confident in her abilities.. but it comes off as being full of herself. Trained since she was a young girl by her Gram, she’s supposedly the best thief of her generation, though.. I’m not sure we see that here.
So much of what we learn about Rayla’s life is just mentioned in passing. Her parents, her ‘best friend’, even the other Robin(s) are largely absent. I wasn’t impressed with the story revolving around Rayla and Luke’s “relationship”..

She could hear her grandmother chastising her now. “Low profile, Rayla. Always low profile when perpetrating a heist.”

Gran had tried her best, taught her well, but Rayla had a streak of rebel in her.

Luke: He’s truly a good man. But probably not the best FBI agent. Okay, yes, he does pull one over on Rayla a couple times.. And she still gets away.
He’s smart and catches on to Rayla pretty quickly.. even if nothing is done about it. Lack of evidence. Sure. Like that man couldn’t trap her and get the evidence he needs if he really wanted to.

Poof. He’d been deflated like a rubber balloon. The lady thief with serious bad-ass skills had taken him down.

He looked off dreamily, his bruised ego taking a back seat to his libido. Damn, she’s something special.

Gram: My favorite character and one of the founders of the Robin(s), Rayla’s grandmother is great. She’s quick, funny and protective of her beloved nice.. She knows Rayla’s interest in Keltry is a bad idea and makes sure there’s a plan in place(just in case shit hits the fan). Her and Rayla have a beautiful relationship.

She honestly hadn’t considered her grandmother would check into Luke’s background. Quite the oversight on her part.

“I knew you were taken with his extraordinary good looks, but honestly, Rayla…what were you thinking?”

The Robin(s): The Robin(s) are an elite group of secret lady thieves, a position passed on through families, indoctrinating each new generation to the cause. Steal from the rich to share with the less fortunate. Take down the corrupt who have evaded justice for their wicked ways.
Such a great idea.. It’s too bad the author didn’t do more with them.

This collaboration of thieves had brought more wealthy, supposedly upstanding white-collar criminals to justice than the FBI cared to admit, and they were nothing short of adored by the general public.

Delarion: Has avoided paying for his crimes one too many times, now the Robin(s) are stepping in, and this terrible ‘villian’ doesn’t stand a chance. He really is just an arrogant, entitled(not very bright) rich man who is too used to getting away with his wrongful deeds.

Every one of his secret, illegal ventures recorded in various documents inside that pouch and the real plans and specs for the housing projects, the evidence he retained for his hidden books, had been stolen by those damn vigilante thieves.

Overall:

Personally? I feel like this book could have been summed up and completed in the first three chapters. The pace is slow. The characters are undeveloped. And I just couldn’t get into it.. I spent too much time putting this book down just so I could get a break from the ‘wtf are you doing!?’ and ‘give me a break.. you just met’ moments. She knows better and he really should, too, but nooo.
I was excited to read this, I haven’t had a good sit down with an urban fantasy in a bit, and this just sounded like a fun read. Instead.. a complete lack of motivation prolonged the experience unnecessarily.

Liked: What the author was going for. The writing is good, the characters could use some more depth, but they are interesting. Luke really is a good guy, smart, too. I enjoyed his unexpectedly sneaky ways. You have to hand it to him, he’s driven. Gram was whip-smart and quick to give Rayla a good tongue-lashing.. but you could really appreciate the sweet relationship between them.

Disliked: Insta-love. Bogged down with unimportant details. Two dimensional characters. No real progress in the story. How is it that.. a book can feel like it took an eternity to finish, and nothing happened. It was a romance with very little action, almost no face-time with the ‘bad guy’, and a handful of really good(but unrealized) ideas.

I’m not in any way saying this book isn’t good, or that many others won’t enjoy it, but I prefer a little more story and action in my urban fantasy. This one just wasn’t for me. If you’re looking for a quick, character driven, (instantaneous)romance novel that you won’t have to really think about.. This fits the bill.

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