Excellent follow up to the first book in the series, The Deceivers. Kristen Simmons does an excellent job of raising the stakes the once again. Right when you feel like things are finally getting on track for Brynn, everything starts to go off the rails again. There are times when you will feel frustration for Brynn's choices, but when understood in the context of her life it makes sense. How does someone who has survived on the basis of lies and deception make any lasting or meaningful relationships? What is real, and what isn't? The only way to find the answers to those questions is to read Scammed and see what lies ahead not only for Brynn, but the rest of her classmates.

4.25/5 stars Ohh wow. What a freaking sequel. *This review is spoiler-free, even of details from the first book in the trilogy, EXCEPT in the synopsis I copied from Goodreads* Goodreads Synopsis: Brynn Hilder is living a life she never dreamed possible: She lives in a mansion, getting a top-rate education at Vale Hall. She has friends and an almost-boyfriend. Anything she wants, she can have. The only catch? To stay in this life, she has to help the director of Vale Hall take down the bad guys of Sikawa City by collecting secrets and running cons. Getting everything she wants and fighting evil doesn’t seem like such a bad deal. The thing is, she’s not so convinced anymore that Dr. Odin is really going after bad people after all. And the friends and almost-boyfriend that have made her life so different are all liars and con artists—so can she trust that any of it is real? The stakes are higher. The cons are riskier. And nothing is what you think it is. Again, WHAT A SEQUEL. I am literally in awe of the absolutely crazy, unpredictable roller coaster I finished today. HOLY COW!!! As I said in my review of the first book, The Deceivers (click the title to see my review), although I loved it, the plot gets too heavy by the end, and the “conning” is too focused on the drug trade; the craziness was a little hard to follow. That is absolutely not the case with Scammed!! All my favorite tropes are explored in this one in the ways I was hoping for the first, and I am SOOO freaking hyped about the tensions and the secrecy and the “who is lying to who” in this dang book! We get more of Brynn’s awesomeness and romance but with some more added complexity, and stunningly executed plot twists - I literally didn’t see any of them coming, and that is extremely impressive (I bow to Queen Kristen Simmons). I mean, I think it’s pretty obvious how excited I am, but I probably need to stop or I’ll get too excited and drop what I’m doing to go read the third book, Payback... Basically, if you like stories about con artists/fugitives/spies/etc. or shocking, action-packed contemporary roller coasters, this is definitely the series for you! If you enjoyed this review, you can friend me here on Goodreads and follow my Bookstagram/Pinterest/Twitter @ashton_reads. Thanks for reading!