Lexi and Christian come from different worlds, yet they run into each other and have to work together to reach their respective goals. Alexandra is attending a private school and she has a group of friends she is pulling off adventures for the sake of an adrenaline kick. But then her life is shaken up as her farther is arrested for committing fraud at the bank he works for.

On the other hand there is Christian who is doing jobs for the Mexican mafia in LA. Though this is only on the outside as he is interested in literature and tries to get into UCLA. He and his gang, including family and friends, has to do the jobs in order to keep their families safe. The mafia has some kind of leverage over all of them in order to force them to rob banks.

On the latest job Lexi and Christian cross paths as Lexi wants to get money from her account and Christian running her over while escaping the robbery. Later on they discover that they will both need each other. She tries to find dirt on her dad’s co-worker and therefore she is playing an intern as somebody else. Christian needs the insights of the place from Lexi to make this job work which will get his crew out of their old lives. Lexi in return will need the gang to get the evidence she needs if there is any at all.

While planning their heist, they get close and have to make choices that is not just in their own interest and their respective gangs but also about the lives of the other party.

I got this ARC from NetGalley and was super excited to finally start reading it after my other obligations. I did not have too much experience with these kind of stories as this is not normally what I read so there is not much I can compare it with. But I found the description intriguing and this is mostly everything I need to want to read a book.

So under these circumstances, I really much enjoyed this title. It did not make it in the category favourites but it is a great read with lines that made me smile, passages where my eyes where wide open in shock, parts where I felt sorry or happy for the characters, and last but not least entire chapters that got my heart pounding in excitement.

The book is written from both characters perspective alternatively and I like a lot that the different upbringings and lifestyles were reflected in the different writing styles for them. The interactions between Lexi and Christian were nicely crafted but did not feel crafted after all. Their conversations were light when it was appropriate but also deep if needed. We get to see the characters reactions on satiations in the current or following chapters which gives a deeper insight in the protagonist’s inner feelings and struggles.

There is also some background information when it is necessary for the circumstances. We don’t see excessive world building other than the main locations but in my eyes that is not particularly important for the story’s progression. Also, I never had the feeling that anything that is attempted in the book is totally impossible so the reading went very smoothly and without me rolling my eyes.

The ending of the book had some, for me, very welcomed twists which I was not really expecting like this. It is fast passed and I certainly did not want to put the book down for anything within the last third of it.

Overall I really enjoyed the read if nothing else for both Lexi and Christian who both are not perfect but have secret fears and are sometime caught off guard by the situation. They, more than once, need to rely on their friends and family in order for them to take the right decision or at least not rush into something without much of a thought. I loved this fact, and also the general theme and YES, it had some elements reminding me of the terrific Ocean’s Eleven trilogy. It left me with a smile after completion because it was humorous at times, occasionally gave me reasons to think, enthralled me, and had me feel for the characters.