Money Devils by Ashley & JaQuavis ARC Review

Money Devils by Ashley & JaQuavis
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From the New York Times bestselling authors of The Cartel series comes a new chapter in a world that only Ashley and JaQuavis know how to bring to life.

The LaCroixs are four beautiful Haitian American women bound by money and blood. On the surface The LaCroix Group is a venture capitalist company, but underneath it’s so much more. The four sisters run long cons, targeting wealthy, prominent business figures. They have a system. Find the perfect mark, create the problem, then present the solution. For a cost…

Sutton “Sutty” LaCroix, the eldest sister and an accomplished business maven, sits on the family throne as the CEO of the LaCroix Group and is the face of their operation. No one is as good as Sutton when it comes to finding new prey. 

However, when Sutton meets West, a young, black oil tycoon--a man who represents a life she and her sisters vowed never to live--she breaks all the rules. The LaCroix sisters have a pact—to never settle down and leave roots in one place. But Sutton falls in love with his good looks, charm, and old money. This means that West is a problem. When he inducts her into a high society of opulence, power, and generational wealth, Sutton finds herself torn between the love of her life and the love of her family. 

* A special thank you to the publisher for this review copy*

I could track my teenage years by the release of an urban fiction novel. I was always in Harlem standing in front of tables, exchanging dollars for plastic covered books that both wowed and excited my adolescent mind. I haven’t been back to the genre in years until now.

I’ve never read an Ashley JaQuavis novel, which surprises me considering I had to offload (see: sell) most of my urban fiction novels to make room for more books. I had over 100 urban fiction books in my arsenal, but somehow I’ve never read a book by this duo. Now that I have, I won’t turn back.

The Lacroix sisters are a group of four sisters bred into a life of crime—white-collar crime. Their father is in jail for a job slip up caused by the baby of the group, Ashton. But on the "right" side of the law is the oldest daughter, Sutton runs a PR firm that conducts its business by making of a mess of her client’s business dealings—and then getting them to hire her to fix it. The way it’s played out is seamless until love and revenge conflict/cloud their dealings. 

Let’s not waste time; Money Devils is a damn good book. The characters are off the wall. They’re unreliable, and they don’t make the wisest decisions, but that’s what made the book fun. The twists and turns were so unexpected; I had anxiety for the entire last 30 percent of the book. I was almost too nervous to finish, but I also couldn’t pull away. Money Devils is unputdownable. The prose is down to earth, but masterful it’s on purpose. No word, section, or moment is useless. 

There isn’t any unnecessary pomp and stance—just straight gritty, exciting storytelling. The characters are all vividly written, and nothing feels like they have left it unsaid or unexplained. I will say this if you haven’t read the Cartel series you might miss the character references-but you can easily read this book without feeling lost.

The book ends on a cliffhanger as to be expected considering it’s a series, but the wait will be the sweetest kind of torture. 

And the romance—West was just the businessman/bad boy that I fell in love with between the many pages of the many urban fiction novels I’ve read before this. However, he also gave me the contemporary book boyfriend vibes I love so much in my romance novels. I smiled so much when he was on the page; I had to bite my lip to stop because I was embarrassing myself. Lol. He was so smooth with it. 

“Guess I’m getting old. I’m normally in bed this time of night.” -Sutton

“Lucky bed.” -West

“I told you he’s your driver. When you need him, he’ll come anytime.” -West

“But I don’t need him,” she said. -Sutton

“Yeah, but I need you.” -West


Come on; he’s smooth! 

Adding in the romance added another layer to this already multi-layered novel. It has a little of everything: Romance, intrigue, murder, hood antics. It’s everything an urban fiction novel could and should be.

Let me repeat myself for the people in the back. Money Devils is an urban fiction novel, which means there will be “street” references. Please do yourself a favor and skip this book if this is not your cup of tea. There’s no reason to judge a book because of the genre it’s in because you don't like urban fiction. However, if Urban fiction is your jam, or if you’d like to dive back in, this will be the right direction to take. Money Devils will bring you right back. This novel is a winner, and I am eager for the next addition. Two thumbs up.