Smash & Grab by Amy Christine Parker

Smash & Grab by Amy Christine Parker
(Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads)Published by Random House Children's Books on July 19, 2016
Format: ARC

Ocean’s Eleven meets the star-crossed lovers of West Side Story.Grab some popcorn and get ready for an adrenaline-filled heist!

LEXI is a rich girl who loves a good rush. Whether it’s motorcycle racing or BASE jumping off a building in downtown Los Angeles, the only times she feels alive are when she and her friends are executing one of their dares. After her father’s arrest, Lexi doesn’t think twice about going undercover at his bank to steal the evidence that might clear his name. She enlists her hacker brother and her daredevil friends to plan a clever heist.

CHRISTIAN is a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. The local gang has blackmailed him and his friends into robbing banks, and he is desperate for a way out. When the boss promises that one really big job will be the last he ever has to do, Christian jumps at the chance for freedom. In fact, he’s just met a girl at the bank who might even prove useful. . . .

Two heists. One score. The only thing standing in their way is each other.

I can’t think of a better comparison than the one that is on the summary… “Ocean’s Eleven meets West Side Story” encapsulates this story to a tee!

If you can suspend your disbelief for most of this story then you’re going to be in for a fun, adrenaline-filled story full of suspense, blackmail and characters who can’t help but fall for each other along the way!

Lexi loves the adrenaline rush she gets when her and her friends and doing a dare, but her father’s arrest puts their lives on hold. She’s determined to clear his name and get the evidence needed to prove that he wasn’t the one behind the crime that put him in jail and froze her family’s assets. With the help of her brother who is a master hacker and her other friends she has a plan… but she can’t do it without the help of Christian.

Christian is from the wrong side of town and he’s not exactly as he might appear. Threats against his family have forced him into robbing banks and he’s desperate to get out and pursue the future he never thought possible. He’s just got to do this one last job and then he can put it all behind him. When secrets are revealed and he’s worried he won’t make it past this one last job, he knows he can only do it with the help of Lexi and her friends.

Like I said, you need to use your imagination with this one because there are some things that you’ll just be thinking “no way… no way, no way, no way.” But if you can get past that, there’s a pretty great story here. I really enjoyed the star-crossed lover’s aspect of the story. Lexi and Christian are from two different worlds and neither are what the other expected. They are positive no matter how much they might be interested in each other, there just isn’t anything on the other side of this job for them.

I have to admit that it helped that Christian and his friends weren’t thugs… They each had their own story and reasons for being in the predicament that they were. Lexi and her crew were a bit more predictable and the dares that they did really seemed to come about from boredom and it really translated into what Lexi felt she had to do for her father and her family but again… suspend your disbelief because a lot of it just is unbelievable for anyone in the 16-18 age range.

If you’re looking for a fast, fun read… if you’re a fan of heist books and can put reality to the side for a couple of hours, I think you’re going to enjoy this one.

Thank you to the publisher for an early copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

About Amy Christine Parker

Amy always had a big imagination and would often pretend that her baby dolls were abandoned on her doorstep and she had to secretly take care of them without her parents finding out. Although she did not know she wanted to be a writer, she was often told by her teachers that she should become one. She was horrible at just about every sport except swimming and spent much of her waking hours reading.

After graduating from Southeastern University with a degree in Elementary Education, she spent half a year in a factory making dolls and planning her wedding. Afterwards, she moved with her husband to Atlanta where she taught for six years before staying home to raise her own children.

After nearly eight solid years of tending to her daughters, she finally realized her own mother and teachers were right all along. She was a writer and telling stories was her destiny. Since then she's published three novels and is actively working on more. She writes full-time from her home near Tampa, Florida, where she lives with her husband, their two daughters, and three very mischievous cats.

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