I have read several books lately by Indigenous authors and focused on Indigenous characters that were all about murder, addiction, and terror. I love that this is a romcom and shows more of a realistic, normal side of life (although it also shows the reality of the hardships the characters have experienced.)

For personal reasons, I hated the corporate setting. I’ve spent too much of my life in that kind of setting, and though I have been blessed to never be in as nasty a situation as Ember found herself, it was still a little triggering (can we add corporate narcissism to the standard list of content warnings)?

Danuwoa was an awesome book boyfriend and I loved their relationship. Ember could be a little frustrating with her bad choices, but she was also young (25). I would recommend this fun and spicy romcom!

Thank you to the publisher - I received a complimentary eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Truth According to Ember is the slow burn forbidden workplace romance of my dreams. It centers on Ember, a Chickasaw woman whose little white lies are adding up by the minute and her totally off limits coworker, Danuwoa. Importantly, this is a Native American romance, which is something that we shamefully do not see in mainstream media. I want more!

I loved this so much!! The writing is clever and captivating. The story is laugh out loud funny but it is also very heartfelt. The chemistry and banter between Ember and Danuwoa is so well done. I also loved the dynamic between Ember and her best friend and roommate, Joanna. And Walela!! I cannot forget Danuwoa’s younger sister, Walela!

On top of being a swoony romance and a story about self-growth, this book has a lot of important things to say. The story starts with Ember not getting any interviews until she identifies herself as white on her application and throughout Ember and Danuwoa (who everyone at work calls Dan because they cannot be bothered to learn how to pronounce his name) have to regularly deal with microaggressions at their corporate job. You can feel pieces of Danica’s own, very true story throughout this work of fiction, which she briefly shares in her author’s note. A really powerful read in the context of a beautiful love story. One of my favorites of the year!

I don’t know what Danica has planned next (I will buy it, whatever it is) but I am hopeful we get more of these characters with a Joanna and/or Sage (Ember’s brother) book(s)!

Thank you to Berkley & NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was really horrified to learn that this is apparently the first Native American romance that was picked up by a big publisher? If so, shame on the whole institution, because this was really sweet and funny. I will say that I personally got a lot of secondhand anxiety reading about Ember.

The whole premise of the story is that she tells a lie to get her somewhere, and then has to keep lying and it all snowballs. It all gets progressively worse to the point where I got genuinely upset at every single choice she made. But, many a 90's rom-com's meat was this premise, and I guess if this is your jam, you will laugh it off rather than have to walk off in a huff in 97% humidity just to get away from the book like I did.

You see where the story is going, there is a third-act break-up, family drama, a moment of questionable work messaging on Teams (minor spoiler, the romantic interest changes his name to 'Native Daddy' on HIS WORK TEAMS and I SCREAMED out loud ''WHERE IS YOUR HR DEPARTMENT, SIR?") there is representation of the inanity of corporate America, a chunk on imposter syndrome, and plenty of idiotic white men executives. Though I was hoping for a bit of a redemption arc, it's more of a forced slide when Ember finds herself. She has little choice in the matter, since all her lies have come home to roost, and we're back where we started on page 1.

It's a typical rom-com with nothing surprising...But I will say I loved the representation in this, and while the characters weren't my favorite (the poor romantic interest deserves so much better), I loved seeing the family dynamics and the world through Ember's (lying) eyes.

The Truth According to Ember begins in an extremely relatable way as Ember Cardinal is looking for a job. She desperately wants to be an accountant but without a degree and being Native American, no one seems to pay attention to her. On a whim, she decides to throw caution to the wind and apply for a job but identity as white since her father is white.

Ember ends up getting a call from a company about doing an interview. While on the way to the interview, she runs into an incredibly handsome man but then a baby spits up on her. Come to find out that the handsome man is Danuwoa who is the company’s IT guy. It’s clear from the start that Ember and Dan have a connection.

Ember ends up getting hired and quickly gets promoted but it leads to more and more lies. In the meantime, she’s getting closer to Dan. As he starts to get closer to her, Ember continues to lie and things eventually do blow up in her face. While Danica Nava does take us on a ride for a majority of this book, the last 25% really blew me away as she went for it and I feel like most debut authors wouldn’t have done that.

Aside from loving the relationship between Ember and Dan, I adored Ember and Dan’s familial relationships. Dan was incredibly close to his sister and seeing them interact was so fun. On the flip side, Ember was dealing with a strained relationship with her brother and honestly, it was refreshing to see. Ember also had a best friend named Joanna who was more like a sister to her and I just loved seeing their friendship on the page.

The Truth According to Ember was such a fun debut with an incredible romance, loads of great character moments and frankly, has one of my favorite covers of the year. Let the cover convince you to buy and from there, you’ll be in for an even bigger treat.

Quick synopsis:
Ember feels tired. Tired of getting turned down for jobs and tired of bailing out her brother, her dishonesty snowballs when she lies on an application for an accountant position and gets the job.

Overall thoughts:
I loved The Truth According to Ember. As the title hints, Ember constantly stretches the truth. I wasn’t sure going into this book that I’d love the story for that reason. I’m not a huge fan of the miscommunication trope, so I worried it might consume the plot. The miscommunication trope is there, but it worked for me. I think Danica Nava’s characterizations made that aspect of the story less of an issue. Ember’s dishonesty is maddening, but her personality is genuine. Danuwoa comes across as a gentle giant who sees through Ember’s facade. Ember and Danuwoa’s backstories captivated me and had me flipping pages rooting for their romance. I couldn’t believe this was a debut. I will be searching for more from Danica Nava.

Recommended to readers who love:
📚 Chickasaw and Cherokee representation & own voices romance
📚 forbidden romance
📚 Katherine Center, Abby Jimenez, Sophie Cousens

Rating: 4.0

Disclosure:
Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley
for the Digital Review Copy of The Truth According to Ember. All opinions are my own.

Reviews will be posted on IG, Blog and X on pub day.

This was a lot of fun! I was afraid Ember's lies would stress me out - and they did! - but it's because she's such a relatable and easy to like heroine that I was rooting for her the whole time. Danuwoa is also an A+ romance hero, and I loved that this story had authentic Native rep. Looking forward to more books from Nava.

“Learning life’s lessons.”

Desperation makes people do stupid things, especially when you’re young. In this book when life seems completely against her, Ember fights back and lies her way into an executive position at a tech startup. Only the truth eventually finds a way into the light and the real heart of the story is when she finds out what truly matters to her in this solid debut outing.

I enjoyed this fun romance that included some of the issues of just existing as a native american in a start up space. This was closer to 4.5 for me, I wish it had been a little bit shorter but other than that I really enjoyed it and cant wait to read more from this author.

I don't usually go for books that hinge on a main character lying - too much anxiety for my poor nerves! But the charm, warmth, and specificity of this story and these characters won me over. They're complicated, messy, prickly, and real. And the steam is top notch! The book perfectly balances the seriousness of the racism, classism, and microaggressions that Ember and Danuwao encounter with the giddy, electrifying romance blooming between them. Highly recommend!

ARC Review: The Truth According to Ember
Pub Date: August 6, 2024
Thank you to @berkleyromance for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Truth According to Ember by debut author Danica Nava is a romcom following Ember, a Chicksaw woman trying to find her path. She's having trouble finding a job and decides to tell some white lies on her resume and application. And low and behold, she does get an interview! Her white lies continue as she starts succeeding at her job and even finds a potential love interest in the IT guy, Danuwoa.

I loved so much about this book! I thought that the representation of poverty that Ember experiences felt really realistic - she had to drop out of community college to bail her brother out of jail. It's not often that you see a main character in a romance struggle for money in this way and I really appreciated seeing that. I thought the indigenous representation was wonderful to see in a traditionally published book and I truly do think I learned some things.

I liked the relationship between Ember and Danuwoa, even though if it did come a little bit out of nowhere for me. The spice was well done too!

My main issue with this book is totally a *me thing* in that it really stresses me out when characters lie! I spent a good portion of the book just being generally stressed and wondering how it would all work out. I did end up liking the conclusion but I just don't love feeling that way through a lot of the book. There was also some slightly clunky dialogue at times that maybe could have been polished a little more.

All in all, a really strong debut that makes me excited to see what this author will do next!

This is such a great romcom, though it certainly has stakes (and if you get anxious when characters lie/there's miscommunication, buckle up). It's so cool to see an Indigenous couple centered in a trad. published romance, and it's also cool to see a MC who comes from a working-class/non 4-year-college background. The plot is solid and gives great, albeit difficult to read, commentary on white overt and covert racism, while the romance itself is fully swoon-worthy.

This book may be the beginning of rom com books with Indigenous representation and I certainly know it won’t be the end. While this story had me laughing and kicking my feet, it was had strong topics about stereotypes, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, racism, and microaggressions in the workplace. Ember’s character was relatable and endured so many trials both in her family, working, and personal life. I think she is going to be a trailblazer for all the deserving and worthy Indigenous women in romance to come. I think this book is importantly, entertaining, and messy in the best way.

This book had a lot of laugh out loud moments, fueled by Ember's inner dialogue and ever growing lies. I truly enjoyed reading her story and seeing her growth. But the romance with Danuwoa was the best part! He was such a great male love interest. Some of the racism and painting all white men as such, was too heavy handed. Overall, I liked this debut very much!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for access to this arc!

I really enjoyed this debut book by Nava. I thought the situations she described were realistic and based on her own experiences.
However, I was very tense as I read because Ember created a fine kettle of fish she had to climb out of due to her fabrications.
I winced as I saw where Ember’s decisions were taking her and felt helpless because I knew what would happen.
What I particularly admired about Ember was her ability to pick herself up and learn from her mistakes.
As for Danuwoa I would engineer lots of computer problems if he was the IT guy!

When her job search doesn’t go well Ember may have padded her resume with some little lies. Also no one needs to know she’s Native so she checks Caucasian on her application. It works! She starts her new office job with the big paycheque and the hot native IT guy and things are starting to look up! But Ember learns all lies catch up with you eventually…

This is a fun, and steamy rom com! Ember is very endearing but also you will be yelling at the pages for her to make better choices! She is very naive in the corporate world and encounters racism and misogyny.

I really liked the side character of Ember’s best friend and the story line with her brother. This is a great debut and I’m excited for more from Danica Nava!

Thank you very much to Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an advanced reader copy!

The Truth According to Ember is a debut novel that features a Chickasaw woman named Ember. She has dreams of pursuing a career in Accounting, but the job search is proving to be difficult. With no success, she decides to tell a small lie and secures her dream job. This one small white lie transforms into multiple lies, and soon she finds herself trapped in a web of deceit. Adding to her complications is a handsome coworker named Danuwao Colson, who seems to be the perfect man but is off-limits. And thus ensues a forbidden romance with him. I truly enjoyed Ember's goofy voice, and I loved seeing her relationship with her best friend develop. The chemistry between her and Danuwao was electric. I was blushing and giggling reading about their encounters. I could deeply relate to Ember's struggles and empathized with the difficulties she faced. The casual racism and stereotypes that she and Danuwoa encounter in the book are unfortunately all too real. I found it inspiring to read about how Ember grew into herself and learned to confront her truths, no matter how challenging they may be. Danuwao was an incredibly supportive and loving partner to her. My only regret is that I did not get to read the story from his perspective as well. Nevertheless, this book was a lot of fun to read, and I am eagerly looking forward to reading more works by this author!

Ember is such a relatable character. She gets in he er own way a lot and some things start to spiral out of control. I really enjoyed this book can’t wait to read more.

The Truth According to Ember was my first book by Danica Nava, and I loved every second of it. The banter, the relatability, the representation, and the romance all worked for.

Ember was a very relatable character in her sense of wanting to help everyone, get ahead in life, and ultimately put herself in situations that didn't need to happen and that had me laughing and tearing up. She has a fierce love for her family and her culture, but it took going through what she did in this story to really truely understand herself and where she fits in in those two areas.

Danuwoa was dream worthy. He really is up there as a book boyfriend for me. The way that he was unashamed of his heritage was a great juxtaposition to Ember. He challenged her, was patient with her (too a point), and ultimately showed her that being herself was the best version she could be. He also showed her that she didn't have to do it alone.

There was some predicatblity in the story and some areas dragged on a little bit, but overall this was a quick and fun read. This story is the perfect romcom to close out the summer with and I can't wait until other people have the chance to read it.

Ember's journey to understanding herself was enjoyable to read. The use of Oklahoma as a setting was great and helped to frame the larger story.

This is such a good debut! I liked Ember a lot and Danuwoa was the perfect love interest! (I wish we'd gotten to see his POV but I always want to hear from both members of the relationship so that's entirely a me thing 😂) I also want to go home and make Ember's fried bean burritos because those sounded so good!

I really like that the story is somehow lighthearted and romantic while also tackling serious topics with care.

I can’t wait to see what this author does next!