My name is Danielle. I’m eighteen. I’ve been stealing things for as long as I can remember.
Dani has been trained as a thief by the best there is-her mother. They never stay in one place long enough for Dani to have real connections, real friends-a real life.
But in the town of Heaven, everything changes. Suddenly, Dani must question where her loyalties lie: with the life she’s always known-or the one she’s always wanted.
Rachel, Helen, Sydney… Dani’s answered to them all. She’s a grifter, as is her mother. And she doesn’t know another life.
The first thing I liked about Dani was her yearning for stability. To have something she can call her own. It’s a common enough need that the people who crave new beginnings and endless moving from one place to another are viewed as weird. Her mother is one of those people. Of course, it might also have something to do with their lifestyle. Usually once you’ve robbed a house, you don’t want to stick around for long.
But Dani’s different from her mom. She doesn’t feel the rush from stealing. She doesn’t like chatting people up for information. However, Dani owes her mother everything. She loves her. So, she does whatever her mom tells her, even becoming someone new.
This book might be shelved as a teen contemporary romance, but while there is the presence of a boy, there’s more about Dani’s self-discovery than anything else, which I really enjoyed reading.
The boy is, well, he’s not a boy, exactly. But he is cute. And funny. And Dani can’t stop smiling at him, or talking to him, even when she finds out his occupation. I really liked their interactions. They were probably the best thing about this book. I wish I could find these perfectly quirky fictional boys that authors make up. *sigh*
Overall, I really liked Dani’s story. I liked the characters and the boy and I wish there had been more than there was. (That’s a common wish when it comes to YA, I find.) It was cute enough to make me read it in one sitting, so if you want something fun and flirty, but has an edge of sadness and earnestness, I’d recommend this book.