Review: Under Pressure (No Pressure, No Diamonds #1) by Kara Greenan

In the dangerous world of high profile theft, love is often a fantasy the wealthy and naive are sold. Grifter Sebastian Walker sells love like nobody else, leaving a trail of vacated bank accounts, empty champagne bottles and broken hearts in his wake. The one heart he never meant to break was London’s.

Considered by many to be the greatest thief of his age, London favours a minimalist life, devoid even of a surname. He lives for the next job, liberating art from museum walls and prized treasures from collector’s vaults. When he and Sebastian collide in Venice on a con to steal a priceless copy of Michelangelo's David, the unthinkable happens: they begin to fall in love.

A long, lonely year later, Sebastian emerges as a new member of London’s team of world-class thieves. London knows he can’t trust him. Sebastian lies, better than anyone else, for a living. Sebastian wonders how he could ever entrust something as precious as his heart to a born thief. But as they team up for another perilous heist, they discover the true value might not be in the diamonds they’re stealing, but in each other.

There is something about a story that has a MC who is a thief that gets me. It’s the romanticizing of someone doing something so blatantly illegal and how much they get off on the thrill of it all. Them getting off helps this reader engage in the story and if you toss is a grifter, a professional con man as the thief’s love interest well then, just call me a goner. This book, this romance, this heist… I was gone for it so damn fast.

London is a thief, Sebastian a professional liar. Long story short, they'd never work out.

Told in dual POV’s as well as past/present storytelling, we get the story of London and Sebastian. As we first meet London, he is doing what he does best… balancing and planning as any young and infamous cat burglar would do when a huge heist is his next job. With his team of intelligent and bad ass misfits (Amelia, Hale and Frankie) they have the perfect plan to steal diamonds but are sadly missing one important piece; someone to distract the guards. When Frankie suggests they call in Sebastian Walker, London throws a fit and crawls out a window. Literally. He is all about taking the high road or at least the highest roads possible to get around town and he wants to get as far away from the idea of being near Sebastian again. Though he doth protest, he does it too much and we get the why of London’s unwillingness to work with Sebastian.

You see, London and Sebastian met on a job a year ago in Venice and while the men attempted to stay professional, that didn’t last long at all. I love that the story is told in both tenses as we see how the men are today and then we find out what really happened in Venice. We know from London, Sebastian walked away with only a word on a notepad and kinda broke London’s heart since he thought they were more than just sex. But after Sebastian walked away, London now wonders if their short term romance was just one of Sebastian’s cons.

Goodness. I loved being in both men’s heads seeing as how much they are lusting and longing after one another. Getting their first meeting from Sebastian’s POV we know there is the bit of hero worship for London as he is well known for his talents and we also know that Sebastian is good a being a grifter because he is devastatingly handsome and loves what he does. Actually, everyone on the team absolutely loves what they do even though it’s illegal and that made this so much fun.

Psst… If you are looking for a comparison for this book, this Ocean’s Eleven but, well better. To me anyway.

So, there is history between Sebastian and London and while we have the angst in the present, wondering if London will let his guard down to the pleading (seriously, I melt every time Sebastian says, or um, begs Please to London) and the story of why they are in the current position from the past. As we go back and forth, we learn so much about each of these men and why they’ve become criminals. Both London and Sebastian have less than stellar childhoods though one could argue Sebastian, with his ridiculous name with the fancy title had it better but that is just surface judgment. Regardless, the push and pull of the sexual tension and trust between these two was amazing. The chemistry was off the charts and the sensuality and just downright sexiness of both of them together, was smoking!

Honestly. There are some ridiculously hot scenes in this book that are totally rimming, I mean winning from every corner of UNF you can think of. I love what London likes and that Sebastian likes doing what London likes because it’s hot. Every freaking time it is and good lord, you can’t go wrong with the winning. *winks*

The heist is almost another character in this story and it’s so detailed, smart and action packed I couldn’t get enough. Even the other jobs they do before and the recon so they can learn to work as a team were so entertaining.  I mean, who knew running away from cops on rooftops and gondolas could be ultimate foreplay?  

We aren’t supposed to be seen. When you grift, all the focus is literally on you, that’s the whole con.

At the heart of this love story though is the trust between London and Sebastian that has disappeared. Yes, both men are criminals but you have London who is a cat burglar and Sebastian who is a con man. How would it even work for these two to have a relationship??? That lies solely in the artful storytelling of the author and I have to say she knocked it out of the park! I was worried really about them up until that last chapter and then she just knocked me on my ass and made me get way too emotional for a Tuesday at work.

Wow. What a fabulous debut from Kara Greenan. A fabulous start to a new series that I hope has Sebastian and London at each other’s throats and in each other’s hearts for a very long time.

Bring on book two. I’m ready.