Citi of Books - Legit? Scam? Or Legit but not worth it?

My wife received a call and e-mail from a rep at Citi of Books inviting her to participate in the 46th Annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books in April. It will cost her $899. (In addition to the lost income and flight costs)

I’m interested in hearing from our Author-Media colleagues who have had experiences with Citi of Books, participated in a Festival of Books, and so on.

(1) Is this a scam? (Which I suspect)

(2) Is it something that bears a lot of sales and marketing fruit?

(3) Is it a ploy to get money from hopeful authors but doesn’t satisfy the hopes?

The rep actually sent two e-mails, one had a review of my wife’s book and the other had a different book, though still addressed to my wife. There was some similar phrasing in the reviews, but the review of my wife’s book was pretty good. It could have been AI-generated. I don’t know.

What is your experience, my friends?