Stealing Marilyn Monroe

by Sophie Warren

[Leah]

I have a confession: I like to read books about con artists. There, I said it. It’s because I enjoy shows like Hustle and Leverage and White Collar (although, I sadly never finished watching White Collar sob). There’s something fun about rooting for the bad guys, especially when they’re not actually bad guys at all, but good guys, doing what’s necessary to beat the real bad guys. And in Juliet’s case, she has a very good reason for lying her way in to a nanny position to try and steal Warhol’s famous Marilyn Monroe painting – to save her dad, who’s in jail and being threatened by mobsters. TOTALLY REASONABLE, YO.

So, I obviously loved Juliet. I loved that she was willing to do something so drastic to save her dad, because that’s what you do, isn’t it? YOU DO WHATEVER IT TAKES. Although, honestly, I’d never have the guts to do something so audacious. I just like living vicariously through books and TV shows.

Stealing Marilyn Monroe was such a fun read and I liked that Edward and the kids Brendan, Benjamin and Cecilia actually had an impact on Juliet; that it wasn’t just a simple case of getting it, getting the painting, and getting out again. They made an impact, made Juliet re-think what she was attempting to do and very much made her even more like-able (although I liked her just fine before). Her flirtation with Edward, too, was so cute. Especially after the way they first met, not in the best of circumstances, but that was cute, as well.

Honestly? Art isn’t my thing. I don’t quite “get” the whole thing of buying art for millions of dollars. If I had millions of dollars, I’d spend it on actual, real stuff, not pretty paintings (which I know is probably awful of me to say, but art isn’t my thing). I also hated all the cliche art speak. Boy, did it make me roll my eyes, but since Juliet doesn’t actually spend too much time in that world, it’s not so bad and I contented myself knowing Juliet wasn’t like those la-di-dah gallery owners.

I thoroughly enjoyed Stealing Marilyn Monroe. It was cute, it was funny, it made me swoon a little bit, and it was delightful, despite the fact Juliet was a con artist – I love con artists and I loved Juliet, no matter what she did, and there was a lot to appreciate about the fact that she went to the Asher family as herself, not one of her many fake aliases. That set the plot up good and proper, because while I love a con artists, and love plots that revolve around con artistry, I do not like lies in my love stories, thank you very much. It takes away from the magic, but thankfully Stealing Marilyn Monroe ticks all the right boxes!