Lilibet Bombshell's Reviews > Moorewood Family Rules

Moorewood Family Rules was one of the first ARCs I requested for 2023, and it’s one of the ones I was most excited for. Was it everything I hoped it would be? No, but I’m not entirely disappointed because it sure was a lot of fun.

I love grifters. I love schemers and scammers. I love a good con. I really love it when the people who need to be put in check are put in check. I love watching everything about a good con come together, when all the disparate pieces finally fall into place. And this book is like a nice big pot of grifter stew with a side of bodyguard romance.

Therein lies the rub: I wasn’t completely on board with the romantic subplot. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it to a certain extent, but I thought it took away from the main themes of the book and the fun of the plot. I especially felt it took away from the motivations, goals, and power of Jillian, our protagonist. While it didn’t completely take away from her agency, it did give her someone else to hand power and decision-making over to, and that lowered my respect for her as a reformed con woman who is trying to turn her grifter family legitimate. It also made her look a little weak for putting her trust into a man she’s only known for a day or two after all she’s been through. Considering how paranoid grifters and players can be, I found it to be completely out of character for her to just accept this guy as a confidante, no matter how much she trusted the man who hired him for her (that is to say, implicity).

In short, for a reformed grifter who had been burned before by a lover and then burned by her family and gone to jail for it, she’s sure less paranoid than I would be under the circumstances.

The family dynamics in this book are very funny, though, and the highlight of the book. From inept younger grifters in the family who are hiding out overseas for fumbling their schemes, con men who are getting conned, clueless society matrons, slightly off-kilter elderly scheming great aunts who are obsessed with string cheese, and cousins who seem to think the most extreme measures should be the first resort instead of last, there are colorful and unique characters all throughout this book.

This is definitely more character-driven than plot-driven and I think that’s what threw me with this book. I think I wanted a little more of the family dynamic and the con plot in the place of the romantic subplot and was disappointed when that didn’t happen. While I felt Jillian needed a friend and someone to talk to, I didn’t think she needed a romance. She just needed an ally from outside the family. I would’ve loved to have seen more interactions and scenes involving the family and what Jillian was getting up to than yet another unnecessary romance.

I do think it’s a brilliant story and a ton of fun, though. It’s lighthearted, bright, and engaging. We all have weird relatives. This story just emphasizes how weird some relatives can truly be.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. Any views, thoughts, opinions, or ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: Contemporary Romance/Women’s Fiction/Romantic Comedy/RomCom/Comedy/General Fiction