Superb debut!

I absolutley am obsessed with this book. When it comes to the banter and chemistry, I was sold. I really appreciate and adore the representation in this book as well.

Thank you for the free eARC Berkley Romance!

Rating: 4/5 stars

Ember is a Native American woman struggling to find a job when she decides to lie on her resume…and her lies quickly begin to spiral out of control at her new corporate job.

I absolutely loved the writing style of this one—Danica Nava is clearly an incredible new talent and I’m already so excited to see what she writes next. I also love the representation here…there are FAR too few novels with Native American MCs, and even fewer romances, and I am so very glad this book exists and will hopefully get the spotlight it deserves!

I’m not a huge fan of lying as a main plot point, so I had my moments of difficulty. That said, I thought it made a lot of sense here and even though I didn’t agree with all of Ember’s choices, I understood why she made them. As a recovering corporate lawyer, I also really enjoyed seeing Ember’s experiences with a corporate lifestyle and chasing her career dreams! Finally, there are some stellar secondary characters here, and I *badly* want Ember’s brother Sage to get his own book one day…

CW: Racism/sexism

I can't believe that this is the first traditionally published romance novel written by an indigenous author. As much as I love romance, this is an indication of how much more work there is to do in diversifying romance books.

Ember is a young woman at the crossroads of her life and career. She has been rejected from countless jobs, very likely because she is indigenous. So she decided to keep that out of her next application and to make up a degree she has not completed. When she gets the job, it turns out she is an incredibly competent worker and excels at her job. If you are someone who can't handle the heroine lying over and over again, sometimes for no apparent reason, this will not be the book for you. I was so annoyed at Ember until I realized that what Danica Nava is doing here is exploring the insecurities put on a young Indigenous woman by a racist and sexist colonial power structure. In that context, her lies are a tool of survival.

Danuwoa is a sweety pie of a hero. He is a mature man, sure of who he is and is unwilling to settle for less than he deserves. He loved the heroine but will not let her cross his boundaries without repercussions.

There is so much to dissect in this story, and I am so glad that it exists!

When a Chickasaw woman lies on her resume to get a job she never expects to find herself falling into an office romance. Ember Lee Cardinal wants a job but after dropping out of community college and having barely any work experience, she's facing rejection left and right, so she decides to take a "creative" aspect to her resume and lies about her qualifications and ethnicity. Ember is half Native American and half White, and writes that she is fully white on her resume. She is desperate to land her dream accounting job and surprise surprise she gets it. Yet things get complicated when she begins to fall for the hot IT guy, Cherokee Danuwoa Colson. Despite the no-dating policy at work, they begin a secret relationship... but Ember's lies start to pile up and if the truth gets out she's done for. Can Ember find a way to save her job and her relationship or will her lies catch up to her and cost her everything? This one was unfortunately a miss for me, I really wanted to like it but honestly the only thing it had going for it was that it had great rep but otherwise the storyline felt a bit lacking. It's a really simple office romance plot and honestly Ember isn't all that much of a likable character that I found myself rooting for. The romance just didn't feel like it was all there for me and the whole "lying" and being super under-qualified for her job wasn't really that great either. Ember lied to get a job that she wasn't even qualified for in the first place and honestly her resolution for the "work place dating" policy was not that great. I just didn't care all that much for the romance or the story by the end of the book unfortunately. While this one was a miss for me, if you like office romances maybe you'll have a better time with this one than I did.

Release Date: August 6,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group | Berkley for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Oh my heart! ♥️

I knew I was going to love The Truth According to Ember from the moment I read the dedication. It reads, “For every Indigenous woman who has ever felt invisible. I see you. I am you.”

Yes, 100% yes!

The Truth According to Ember is cute and funny while also being complex and full of heart. It’s full of swoon worthy romance, family, friendship, personal growth, resiliency and culture. It also explores racism, insecurity and micro aggressions in the workplace. Truly an emotional rollercoaster and a fabulous read!

This is my official request to the publishing industry for more of this - more Indigenous stories!! It made me so incredibly happy to see the Cherokee language on the page and gosh, I wish my grandmother was here to see it. ♥️

This is such a wonderful debut and I’m so excited to see what the future holds for Danica Nava!

Wado (thank you) Berkley for sending me an advanced copy of the first traditionally published Indigenous romance!

Thank you Berkley Pub and Berkley Romance for the free book and thank you PRH Audio for my #gifted listening copy of The Truth According to Ember! #PRHAInfluencer #PRHAudioPartner #BerkleyBookstagram #berkleypub #BerkleyIG #berkley #TheTruthAccordingToEmber #DanicaNava

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐚
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫: 𝐒𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐚 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

𝟓★

This book was absolutely amazing! I absolutely loved the representation in this book and cannot believe the lack of Native American rom-coms. Books like this are so important and I am so excited that Danica Nava is writing books with such important representation. This book was funny, witty, steamy, and an overall amazing rom-com. I listened to this book in one day because I could not stop. Ember was such a likable FMC and from the start I was so invested in this story. I thought Danuwoa was such an amazing MMC and he was just so sweet.

💜Workplace Romance
💜Forced Proximity
💜One Bed
💜Found Family
💜Indigenous Representation
💜Own Voices

🎧I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Siena East. I absolutely loved my time listening to East bring this one to life. She did such a phenomenal job and was truly so dynamic. I cannot recommend this one enough, and the audio is truly perfect!

This is a gem of a debut! Thank you to Berkley publishing for my digital ARC and PRH Audio for my complimentary audiobook.

Danica Nava's debut rom-com follows a charming and plucky Native American heroine, Ember Cardinal, and her series of white lies that lead her to a new career opportunity. Propelled from a low-wage job at a bowling alley to the corporate world as an accountant's assistant and then an water cooler gossip, I found Ember's perspective to be fresh and funny. Ember's connects with her IT co-worker, Danuwoa, another Native American and the two not only have sparkling chemistry, but a shared experience of facing blatant racism and micro-aggressions in the work place. Ember is determined not to let her attraction to Danuwoa threaten her new career trajectory, but unfortunately her web of white lies to both her bosses and Danuwoa might backfire regardless. This romance is full of banter, workplace drama, forbidden tension, and readers will easily connect to Ember's POV. Despite her missteps, Ember's journey was a reminder of how a young professional's years can be full of insecurities, angst and injustices, while also being a time of FUN, growth, and new beginnings. For any reader who has ever grown up in poverty, been a first generation college student, or faced racial/gender discrimination in the workplace, I think you will adore and root for Ember!

It was so fun to read a romance starring Indigenous characters! I really liked how the story felt lived in and grounded, and I always love when stories are, at their heart, about learning to lean into your community. I prefer my romances very couples-centric, and this one definitely focused on Ember's personal and career journey over the love story, which is pretty typical for rom-coms these days. Also, her incredibly bad judgment made it a little hard to root for her, especially when Danuwoa didn't have any big flaws himself. Nonetheless, excited to see what comes next from this author!

Ember is an aspiring accountant who had to give up her dreams and drop out of college to work and support herself. Fed up with her job at the local bowling alley, she fibs on her resumé in pursuit of an accounting assistant position at Technix, a role she gets after a serendipitous interview. There she meets Danuwoa, who becomes a quick friend and witness to her neverending missteps as she learns to navigate the corporate world. Through sheer luck, Ember finds herself rising in the ranks, but her excessive lies spin out of control.

Formally, this was a fine novel with cute moments and antics. There were a few scenes that played out a bit clunkily and the pacing was inconsistent, however, the book’s strengths lie in its cast of bright and distinctive characters who either rally around Ember or act as foils to her wholesome desires to simply work with numbers and make a good living. I felt deeply for Ember and was rooting for her as she fought to earn her position, pushed through mortifying accidents, and deflected racist microaggressions from her coworkers. I didn’t totally feel the chemistry between the leads, and often felt Ember’s career woes eclipsed the romance, but Danuwoa was a sweet love interest who was caring and reliable, and showed great patience for Ember as she continued to lie as a defense mechanism.

As this novel enters the public stage, I can predict the critiques that will descend upon it: Ember is stunningly inexperienced, gullible, quick to lie, etc. but it is important to acknowledge the systemic barriers Ember has encountered her entire life that put her at a disadvantage in the corporate world. We can criticize Ember for her choices and habits, but not without also confronting the inequities that she was born into. This book said, yes have your romcom, but don’t forget that even in the rosy tinted romance universe, not everyone starts out in a fair world.

3.25⭐️

The Truth According to Ember follows Ember, a young native woman who is tired of being rejected for job after job. Determined to find steady work as an accountant, Ember decides to embellish her resume and leave out her Indigenous background. However, when she finally gets hired, Ember ends up befriending Danuwoa, the only other native at the company; and worse, she finds herself falling for him when there is a no-fraternization rule. Unable to keep up with all her white lies, Ember must decide if being honest with the man she is falling for is worth losing her job.

This was a great debut romcom, full of banter, drama, and so much diversity! The romance was completely adorable, I loved how sweet and enamored Danuwoa was with Ember. The workplace environment was very central to the plot and I liked that it was a little messy and daunting to Ember; it felt very genuine and raw which can be hard to find in a romcom. I also appreciated how much insight there was into native culture and community, I loved getting to know Ember's family and how they came together to rally for her was so sweet. I will absolutely be reading more from Danica Nava in the future; we need more native and #OwnVoices romances out there!

This was a fun, fresh romcom! I’ve been prioritizing diversifying my romance reads, so requesting to review this one was a no-brainer.
It took me a little while to warm up to the main character, Ember. To put it simply, she lies—often and implausibly. A few seemingly harmless white lies spiral out of control, leading to chaos. The book relies heavily on the miscommunication trope, which can be quite frustrating for readers. Some of Ember’s lies are so bizarre that it’s hard to follow her logic. (Like, girl tell him you’re allergic to his cat, it’s fine).
I did end up liking her, though! Ember is funny and tough, with a lot to fight for and a fierce capacity for love. All of these traits make her a compelling lead. It’s hard not to sympathize with her, especially considering she was dealt a bad hand; many of her questionable choices become understandable in that context.
Danuwoa “Native Daddy” Colson made for the perfect swoon-worthy male lead. His calm steadiness balanced Ember’s chaos beautifully, and he came across as a genuinely good guy—no red flags in sight!
Oh, and the last line of the book? A banger if there ever was one.

Read this if you like:
•workplace romance
•Indigenous rep
•Forbidden love

This book was so good! I loved the indigenous/native representation is beautiful! I love how Ember puts on a brave face and does what she needs to do in different situations. The audiobook was stellar too, thank you PRH

Thank you Berkley Romance for the gifted book and Penguin Random House Audio for access to this audiobook! 

Ember is trying to break into the corporate world but after 37 job applications with nothing to show for it she gets a little creative on her job application. Ember embellishes her experience and education, and when it comes to selecting race she chooses White instead of Native American. When she finally lands her dream job in accounting she promises no more lies, but they just keep coming! First on the application, then about her home life, and when fellow Native and IT guy Danuwoa Colson starts showing mutual interest, Ember panics further over the no-dating policy. All she wants to do is move into the middle class and further her education, but between her growing feelings for Danuwoa and her increasing expectations at work, Ember is starting to feel stuck in a no-win situation.

Ember describes herself as a “recovering poor person” and I think that beautifully sums up her determination to change her circumstances. But as depicted in the story, she has the cards stacked against her from the start. The book was funny while also pointing out how challenging it can be to enter a corporate world when you don’t know the rules (written or unwritten). I was also reminded while reading that I am an obsessive rule follower, and each time Ember bent the rules I felt my anxiety rising! I enjoyed this quite a bit, and while the romance was fun, I think Ember’s individual journey was my favorite part!

This was a fantastic debut! Interesting and important Native American representation, fast-paced, funny, heartwarming, sexy, and romantic. Ember and Dan were so adorable and easy to root for and I loved all the secondary characters. Even the villains! I'm excited for Danica Nava's second book.

*OwnVoices
*Native American leads
*romcom
*little white lies lead to bigger lies
*workplace romance
*third act breakup

I have a no-lying policy that works well for me in my own life. I also had no trouble understanding why Ember chose to lie in the first place. Nor did I fault her for it. Reading all of it did stress me out though (it’s a veritable mountain of lies). Miscommunication and lies are typically not tropes I enjoy, but the synopsis lured me in.

The characters read very realistically - they’re flawed and fleshed out.

I adored Ember and was rooting for her through the entire story. She’s relatable (even in spite of all the lying) and her character growth in this was terrific.

An terrific debut from Ms Nava - recommended!



Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the DRC

Read if you like books with:
🤥 Cascading Lies
🦅 Native American Rep
🧮 Workplace Romances
👨🏻‍🦳 Racist White Guys
🎭 Workplace Drama

This debut gives lol moments, romance, workplace drama, racist white guys, and so much more all stemming from our FMC telling lie after lie as she is frustrated by her lack of career opportunities and ability to gain skills and advance her life.

I really loved how the authors note tied in the plot and how much of this story was based upon her life experiences and struggles with gaining a good job, and how the ethnicity question on job applications has negatively impacted her through Ember’s story.

For a romance, I really wanted more depth in the story from this aspect, but there was so much else going on into the story, that I can see why the romance took a backseat at different points during the story, as it was much more about Ember’s journey and felt more like a coming of age with a romance side plot.

Thank you to Berkley and PRHA for my gifted ARC and ALC in exchange for my review!

I love the Native representation and this gorgeous cover! This was the first romcom I've read with two Native main characters and I hope this is just the start. My main gripe about this book is unfortunately with Ember. Ember lies about, well, everything. I fear I am too anxious for Ember and her nonstop lies. I was constantly having to take breaks or cringing from secondhand embarrassment. I love the supporting characters but Ember was not a fun time for me. If you are looking for an office romance with lots of shenanigans and villains, this may be the book for you!

Many thanks to Netgalley & Berkley for the ARC.

The synopsis of this book really drew me in. A workplace romance about two Native characters? Sounds great! Ember Lee Cardinal really wants a better job and to be able to start her career as an accountant. The only trouble is she wasn’t able to finish college after she had to use her tuition money to help out her family. So maybe she tells a few lies on her resume and in an interview to get her foot in the door. Working at Technix she meets Danuwoa, he’s gorgeous, funny, and kind. Too bad the company has a no dating policy.

I thought this book really excelled when it was focused on Ember’s journey at her new job and exploring her background and relationships with different family members. But because so much time was spent developing those parts of the book, I felt like the romance was a little bit lackluster. Ember and Danuwoa did have some cute and steamy moments, but I never felt like I was fully invested in their romance. Also, because of some of the ways that the plot progresses I didn’t feel totally sold on them having a happily ever after at the end of the book. It seemed more like a starting point rather than being at a completely secure point.

I did still mostly enjoy the book and I would recommend it to others. I think if you go in knowing that the romance isn’t the largest focus of the book, then you’ll probably have a good time with it. Ember and Danuwoa’s experiences with racism and microaggressions in the workplace, exploring their cultures, and seeing the ways that Ember learns to accept help in the end were all great aspects of the book.

Ember, a Chickasaw woman, tells a few white lies to land an entry level job and ends up meeting a very handsome IT guy at the office. Their chemistry is off the charts! 😍💻

This novel is funny and light but also addresses the realities of racism the author faced in her life and career. The romance was absolutely adorable, and though Ember's lying stressed me out a bit, I still thoroughly enjoyed this Own Voices romance! 📖✨

Whenever I see a Native author with a mainstream published book, I go out of my way to read it. The fact that this time it's a Rom Com?! My favorite genre?! Score. I'm so lucky that I could read an early copy of Nava's debut novel. The book was funny, hit all the romance beats nicely, and even though it was a tad predictable, was a very enjoyable read.

Ember wants to be an accountant and to bring herself out of poverty, so she tells a few lies to get a well-paying job. At her new job, she meets sexy IT Guy Danuwoa. The two instantly hit it off, but Ember can't seem to stop telling little white lies. As their romance blooms, and she advances at her job, Ember has to juggle the lies she told with the truth she wants to live.

The romance in this book was top-notch. You could feel the chemistry between Danuwoa and Ember immediately. Rooting for them was easy. The tension at Ember's work as she navigated the lies she told in order to get the job was uncomfortable, and I think it was meant that way. The side characters were great, and I actually wish we got to see a few of them more than we did. I would have liked more interactions between Joanna and Ember and even between Sage and Ember. Native culture was prominent and Nava really could give social commentary almost subtly. I loved the way she wove in the racism and misogyny into the storyline.

The book has a lot of miscommunication between Danuwoa and Ember, which is my least favorite romance trope, which is the reason my rating was brought down a little. Plus, I was able to call out some of the book's end game fairly early on. But really, if you don't mind the miscommunication trope, this book was nearly perfect. This was a spectacular debut novel. I look forward to reading more from Nava in the future.