My Fair Frauds, Lee Kelly
My Fair Frauds, Lee Kelly
List: $28.99 | Sale: $20.29
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My Fair Frauds
A Novel

Author: Lee Kelly, Jennifer Thorne

Narrator: Megan Trout

Unabridged: 10 hr 28 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Harper Muse

Published: 12/02/2025

Synopsis

A high society fraud and a scrappy swindler team up to take down Gilded Age New York in this tale of intrigue, drama, and female friendship.The Grand Duchess Marie Charlotte Antonie of Würrtemberg--a turmoil-plagued Germanic nation with closely guarded emerald mines--has taken Gilded Age high society by storm. Little does the upper crust know that Würrtemberg's mines are a sham and its "deposed duchess" is actually a con woman named Alice, a fallen woman out for revenge against the five ruthless robber barons who destroyed her father and left her family in shambles.Alice's long investment con finally clicks into place when she meets a scrappy magician's assistant named Cora, a drifter who has lofty aspirations of her own, a malleable young lady who proves the perfect debutante pawn to lure in Alice's final, and otherwise unattainable, target.With the help of insider and society maestro Ward McAllister, among others, Alice and Cora launch into the social season of 1884, scheming their way through grand balls, private dinners, and opera nights, ensnaring Alice's targets one by one. But as they hurtle toward their ultimate swindle, a sprawling orchestrated scheme at their fabricated embassy to rob their targets blind, pressures close in from all sides. Mutiny within the ranks, hidden moles, crises of conscience . . .This sting is sure to be the event of the season. Or else ruin Alice and Cora both.

About Lee Kelly

Lee Kelly is the author of City of Savages, a Publishers Weekly "Best of Spring 2015" pick and a VOYA Magazine "Perfect Ten" selection; A Criminal Magic, which was optioned and developed for a television series by Warner Bros.; The Antiquity Affair, co-written with Jennifer Thorne; and With Regrets. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in Gingerbread House, Orca, and Tor.com, among other publications, and she holds her MFA degree from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. An entertainment lawyer by trade, Lee has practiced law in Los Angeles and New York. She currently lives with her husband and two children in New Jersey, where you'll find them engaged in one adventure or another. Connect with her online at leekellyauthor.com; Facebook: @lee.y.kelly; Instagram: @leeykelly; X: @leeykelly.

About Jennifer Thorne

Jennifer Thorne is an American author of books for adults and young readers who writes from a nineteenth-century Cotswold cottage in the medieval market town of Minchinhampton alongside her husband, two sons, and various other animals. Born in a small town in Tennessee, Jenn grew up bouncing between her parents’ homes in various other states and countries, with books as her constant companions, before returning to New York as a teen to study drama at NYU. Though acting had been her lifelong dream, she found that she was more fulfilled by writing performance vehicles for her friends than acting in them herself. After a move to Los Angeles, she detoured into writing and never looked back. Connect with her online at jenniferthorne.com; Facebook: @JennMarieThorne; Instagram: @jennmariethorne.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Courtney on June 11, 2025

If you are looking for a gilded age novel filled with drama and some female empowerment then this is the novel for you. I will admit I wasn't sure what to think when I first started reading this novel but let me tell you by the time I was finished I was having the time of my life reading this. The c......more

Goodreads review by Elaine on November 25, 2025

Honestly, I wasn’t sure about this one when it began. Wasn’t sure I was going to like it. But I was happily surprised! Once the story really began to roll out, I was engrossed!! First of all, this takes place in the late 1800’s… so women were only good for one thing. They were not considered to have......more

Goodreads review by dianas_books_cars_coffee on December 02, 2025

I read this author duos book THE STARLETS last year and absolutely loved it, so I was definitely excited to read this one. All Cora O'Malley wants to do is buy back her family's Kansas farm. But her job as a magician's assistant doesn't pay very much, so she has also resorted to stealing. After a sho......more

Goodreads review by Trisha on November 24, 2025

The Gilded Age meets Money Heist with a dash of romance, found family, and a character cast oozing with clever, sensitive, and strong women. Do I need to elaborate more? A delightful book! Thanks to Harper Muse and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. 4.5/5🌟.......more

Goodreads review by Aliza on November 07, 2025

Thanks to Harper Muse and Netgalley for the ARC. My Fair Frauds by Lee Kelly and Jennifer Thorne is a Gilded Age novel set in New York, following two women setting out to con the elite in a tale of revenge. The main characters in this novel are a delight to read, Alice, a woman pretending to be a Gra......more

Quotes

'Kelly and Thorne's latest is a worthy successor to THE STARLETS (2024), a fast-paced, female-led caper with humor, heart, and historical detail. Devotees of TV's The Gilded Age will revel in the sumptuous setting and high-society drama, while fans of feminist caper novels like Kirstin Chen's COUNTERFEIT (2022) and Alex Hay's THE HOUSEKEEPERS (2023) will appreciate the dynamic between Alice and Cora.' Booklist starred review

In their follow-up to THE STARLETS, Kelly and Thorne once again demonstrate a rare flair for creating strong bonds of friendship between an unlikely pair of women in an entertaining, character-rich (real-life figures Ward McAllister and Caroline Astor make appearances) historical . . . VERDICT: Fans of HBO's The Gilded Age will fall hard for this entrancing mix of historical fiction and Ocean's Eight-flavored crime caper. Library Journal

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