The Jewels of Manhattan by Carmen Reid

I had yet to read any books by Carmen Reid, it was only when I was looking for new Christmas releases for our Christmas competition when I came across her new novel The Jewels of Manhattan. After reading the synopsis I couldn’t wait to get started I had a feeling that it was going to be action packed with lots of glitz and humour.


Plot
Like all crazy plans, it was plotted out on a cocktail napkin.


1. Steal fabulous jewels
2. Sell for millions
3. Live happily ever after


Brilliant and oh so simple... when you're a few Cosmopolitans down.
Not quite so easy... if you've never stolen anything before, and you're dating a detective.The three Jewel sisters, Amber, Sapphire and Em, came to New York in search of the perfect life.


But do they have to steal their dream? Or can they resist the temptation?


A gorgeous, glittering, romantic tale for anyone who has ever dreamed of more sparkle.

My Opinion
I finished this book in just under two days which I found quite surprising as I can’t say I enjoyed every minute of the book, I can only say it is like when you taste something for the first time and you’r not sure if you like it so you keep going hoping it will get better, having said that there must have been something great about the book as usually I wouldn’t read pass the first chapter if I didn’t like the feel of the story.

Our main characters in this book are the three Jewel sisters Amber, Em and Sapphire. Each of the sisters are completely different and in my opinion all of their characters are developed well which is unusual in a book with three characters as I usually find there is one who stand out more than the others but this is not the case. The book gets off to a great start with Amber and Sapphire being in the wrong place at the wrong time in a jewellery store robbery but I did find that after a great start the story started to take a bit of a dip for me and as I was getting to know the girls I couldn’t see how these girls where going to carry of a jewellery heist as they just didn’t feel like the type of characters to do something like this. This is where the synopsis is a little misleading because it wasn’t all three sisters who plot and carry out the jewellery hoist.

The storyline is obviously not very believable but that for me is not a problem as I tend to find books like this easy reads but I think this would have been helped with a little humour involved but there is no humour in this book which makes the book feel a little flat.

All in all it was an ok read but it is not one I would be rushing to read again. I found it a shame as I loved the characters in this book but I just wasn’t keen on the storyline.