Book Review: To Have and to Heist | Sara Desai

I picked up To Have and to Heist by Sara Desai on a whim because it sounded like a fun title and the description sounded like a new twist on a contemporary romance novel (though after reading I would categorize it in contemporary fiction, with a dash of romance and mystery).

This book was positively delightful! Think of Ocean’s Eight meets The Wedding Planner meets Friends. The length is on the longer end at 416 pages (or 12.5 hours on audiobook) which was actually needed because this is combining a mystery heist plot with a contemporary fiction novel and splashing in a romance. The blend is perfect and I couldn’t recommend it enough!

To Have and to Heist | About the Book

To exonerate her best friend, one woman must mastermind a jewelry heist during the wedding of the season in this hilarious romantic-comedy caper from the author of The Dating Plan.

Simi Chopra is on a bad-luck streak. She’s lost yet another job, her student loan debt won’t stop growing, her basement apartment is a certifiable flood zone, and now her best friend has been accused of stealing a multimillion-dollar diamond necklace. To put it lightly, she’s desperate for a break—that’s right when Jack waltzes out of the bushes and into her life.

Jack is just as charming as he is mysterious. When he offers to help her find the missing necklace and steal it back, Simi jumps at the chance to clear her friend’s name and collect the substantial reward. But every good heist needs a crew. All she needs to do is transform a ragtag group of strangers into an elite heist crew, infiltrate a high-society wedding and steal the necklace from a dangerous criminal before the happy couple say “I do.” Meanwhile the bride is keeping secrets, a detective with a slow-burn smile keeps showing up at her door, and the ultimate robbery might not be the wedding con, but the way Jack is stealing her heart.

To Have and to Heist | Review

I am a picky romance reader because I like the chemistry to stay in the flirtation phase and have more plot to the story before heading into the steamy parts. To Have and to Heist executed on that vision in spades, and there was a point in the book where I almost considered this more of a contemporary fiction than romance—it had a lot of mystery and adventure to the plot and the heist storyline that drew me in stayed prominent through the end, as the romance unfolded almost as a side-story.

The story centers around Simi Chopra, who has been struggling in her career ever since she departed from the wishes of her parents and pursued a degree in business. Despite how much Simi loves her parents, she wasn’t passionate about science or medicine, and she isn’t interested in the string of men they bring over to set her up with. But even she must admit things aren’t working out as planned, as she loses another job and agrees to help out at her father’s custom suit business.

Simi is an incredible friend and fills her life with people who love her. She is there to help when her octogenarian landlady Rose finds her gentleman caller in a health crisis following a bit of extracurricular fun. She also drops everything to help her best friend Chloe when she finds herself caught in a museum theft that she accidentally helped thinking she was hired as an ethical hacker to assist in their security protocol. When Simi arrives, she finds her friend in a dire position, with the museum flooded with police. Simi is trying to help Chloe find a way out before the police nab her when a mysterious man pulls her backward into the bushes and holds her there.

Oliver Twist (who is actually named Jack) was there to steal the very same necklace that was stolen this evening. He informs Simi that he has just saved her from an arrest, but the two have an undeniable spark. When Simi eventually is able to break free to help Chloe, she finds them at the center of an investigation. Now, they must put a crew together with them and the mysterious Jack to steal the necklace back from a high society wedding before they find themselves in hot water with the police!

I loved Simi as a character. She loves candy, is an incredible friend, and is funny. Thankfully when it comes to the heist, she also has a lot of experience with over-the-top wedding celebrations in her middle eastern community. I liked that Simi didn’t question her life choices, but did find herself struggling to know what direction to take her life. This was a different take on this leading character prototype in contemporary fiction novels.

I would actually say the romance plot is the secondary story in this, though it may be the one you find yourself rooting for by the end. This was at it’s core a story about a group of people who come together because they aren’t sure how to find their place in this world or how to afford to get there. It is a book about friendship, perseverance, and trusting yourself even when life seems like it will never come together.

Absolutely a must read for contemporary fiction fans!

Other Books to Try

If you like the humor in To Have and to Heist, I highly recommend checking out the Bromance Bookclub series (start with the first one, The Bromance Book Club) by Lyssa Kay Adams. It will have you in stitches! If the theme of a main character who doesn’t have life figured out but is doing their best to try speaks to you, I definitely would try The Assistants by Camille Perri. This book doesn’t get enough love but I absolutely related to a lot of it!

Sara Desai | About the Author

Sara Desai has been a lawyer, radio DJ, marathon runner, historian, bouncer and librarian. She wrote her first novel when she was three years old and has greatly improved since then.

Sara’s diverse romantic comedy books have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, People, Oprah Magazine, Marie Claire, Pop Sugar, Bustle, Buzzfeed, Booklist, Hello Giggles, Publishers’ Weekly, Kirkus, Library Journal, Frolic, USA Today, Woman’s World, and Hello! Canada.

Sara lives on Vancouver Island with her husband, kids and an assortment of forest creatures who think they are pets. When not laughing at her own jokes, Sara can be found eating nachos.