The Truth According to Ember is a workplace romance about imposter syndrome, nepotism, and finding your place in life and family. I loved that this is the first Native American romance written by a Native American author that is traditionally published. Set in Oklahoma City, our couple, Danuwoa and Ember, work in the same office, but Ember is not always honest about her thoughts or life. This is one to pick up if you like romance, and it is a fantastic debut novel for Danica Nava

The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava is a delightful read filled with heartwarming moments and hilarious mishaps. The story follows a charming and endearing heroine who captured my attention from the very first page.

RATING: 4/5 STARS

The truth (according to me) is that this book was a fantastic debut by Danica Nava! This is the first romcom I read with indigenous rep, and I thought it did a great job of navigating serious discussions around race and diversity in a lighter fictional setting. Danuwoa was a solid, warm, and swoony lead and I enjoyed the development of his relationship with Ember.

Absolutely loved this. I loved how Ember was represented, the push and pull between her identity and what the working world expected of her. The challenge of having to represent herself in a way that meant bending the truth to be able to get ahead. The challenges of balancing family life and expectations with what she wanted to achieve. All of it. LOVED!

This book was fantastic! This is the first Native American romance by a Native American woman that’s being published by a big publishing kiss and I quite honestly can’t wait for it to be everywhere! I love an office romance SO MUCH! Everything was so high stakes so the tension was good! The story was really about Ember finding herself and trying so hard to fight a system that works against her.

I did love Ember though, so much. She’s just the girl who is stable!! She’s gonna fix the problem!! But she also is struggling! And it wasn’t easy but her story arc was so good!! The end was absolutely perfect!

I LOVED Ember and Danuwoa!! The way he was NOT MESSING AROUND. He was such a freaking sweetheart!! I loved how they were fast friends!! I did really appreciate that he could for the most part see through her little white lies and then eventually really called her out on it. Besides all the work drama, that was her wake up call and she desperately needed it.

I will be so honest the lying was making me so NERVOUS! The whole time!! And it shooed throughout the whole book! They just kept piling up!! The less serious ones did leave room for some comedy which was much needed. But I was stressed.

Thanks so much to Berkley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

I love that this is an indigenous romance written by an indigenous author! I don't think we have enough of those in the romance world and I'm so glad that this was written. It just wasn't my cup of tea, unfortunately.

This was fine for me. All of Ember's lying stressed me out and brought me out of the story a lot. I feel like I didn't see a lot of her personality because she was so concerned about being caught in her lies.

What a fun, sweet book! It does such a good job of making Ember sympathetic despite all her lies. Her love interest is wonderful and her family feels real. There are a few awkward or embarrassing moments, but nothing that crosses the secondhand embarrassment line into book-ending. The workplace dynamics are a realistic combination of awful and amazing, like everywhere I've worked, which gives everything that happens real weight. Going to recommend this one a lot.

3.5 stars

Unusual rom-com featuring Native American lead characters. This isn't necessarily the focus but we get a few unpleasant glimpses of the constant racism that still exists.

I had a little trouble with the two main characters. Danuwoa is almost too perfect: gorgeous, ripped, patient, pleasant, smart, funny, etc. etc. He literally seems to have no faults. Ember, on the other hand, has many admirable qualities but is also a hot mess. She is determined, and smart, and hard-working. But -- every time she opens her mouth a lie falls out. Obvious lies, unnecessary lies, stupid lies, embarrassing lies. But she can't seem to stop. And at times she exhibits stunningly clueless bad judgment -- a head-scratcher because she is very bright.

She tells herself several times that Dan deserves better than her and I had to agree. Of course, everything gets worked out in the end. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Choosing to read this book, I was looking forward to a romantic comedy featuring Indigenous characters. This book had this and more! I truly laughed out loud at multiple points, but Ember's story also had serious issues she faces with finding an office job and the pressure to be someone she isn't. I found myself rooting for Ember and feeling the highs and lows of her story. I really enjoyed this book and I am so excited to read more from Danica Nava!

This was a good romance read. I liked the way the relationship between the MC and the love interest developed. It grew genuinely and their dialogue was great. I really enjoyed learning more about Native culture and hearing it all through Ember’s voice.

All her lies made me so nervous. I knew it was all going to blow up in her face, but what a bummer. Excellent happy ending, though!

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title. I’ll definitely be recommending it to romance readers.

First I want to thank Berkley for the eARC! I LOVED this book! This maybe my favorite romcom that I have ever read and that's because it was so much more than that. The main character, Ember was so funny and charming, despite her constant lies (I cannot even count how many times I shook my head and whispered to myself, "Ember, what are you doing?"). If it wasnt for Danuwoa not putting up with her bs, I don't think I could've tolerated it. He was perfection and their chemistry was through the roof (they banter was top tier in my book!) I loved seeing Ember's character arc evolve while she navigated the mess she made with her lies (big and small) and just the way she had to navigate through the workspace microaggressions, sexism, and racism. This book was so much more that just an office rom com and I would love to read more native stories by natives like this. I am so looking forward to reading more from Danica Nava!

What an incredible debut! Danica Nava is just beginning, I can't wait to see what else she has in store for us! The Truth According to Ember, from its cover to its story to its author, is utterly charming. I'm charmed! It was such a fun read and I am going to need so many more Native American romcoms. Stat. I will say this right now: I support Ember's rights and wrongs. I can't wait to recommend this book to everyone.

Want a native rom com? Here it FINALLY is!!! Ember is trying to succeed in a world that wasn't built for her to succeed. So she finds a way. Enter the beautiful, long haired native man. High jinx, lust, lose him, love (rinse, repeat). A perfect beach read, sexy, juicy, funny and oh so modern native.

Author Nava asks the same question that I have been asking myself as a romance reader, "Why are there no Native American rom-coms?" This romance debut is a breath of fresh air and a much needed representation that was glaringly missing. So often we hear about the traumas and trials that Indigenous folks face, while completely valid and true, but it steers us dangerously close to the one story narrative. We need to hear about stories of joy, humor, and heart which is established in all its glory in "The Truth According to Ember". From Ember's realistic financial woes, landing a job as a woman of color to the grin inducing banter between Ember and Danuwoa, I had a really hard time putting this book down and I can't wait to pick up Danica Nava's second book.

✘ some of the asides or references made were less-than-universal (e.g. i happened to have watched ever after (1998) recently but that might not be true for most)
✘ some of the side characters were a bit flat

✔︎ at first i thought the native cultural references were a bit heavy-handed but yknow, a lot of readers might be learning a lot of these things for the first time and i think it still worked well
✔︎ this fulfills not only a great protagonist and romantic lead fantasy pairing, but also let's be real: you get to live out awful scenarios of racism and sexism but get to see ember and danuwoa say the things you wish you had thought of in the moment
✔︎ nava shouts out george lucas in the acknowledgements - i respect this and feel the same way lol

many thanks to berkley publishing group and netgalley for the advance reader copy.

A very fun and sexy romance! Ember and Danuwoa were very loveable characters. The story had substance outside of and in addition to just their romance. Ember and Danuwoa had real-life relatable problems and well-developed relationships with supporting characters. I thought the Native rep was well-done, and I’m really excited there’s a book in this genre with Indigenous characters and representation of genuine Indigenous joy.

As an Oklahoman librarian I will proudly be purchasing copies for all the libraries in Oklahoma County. Thank you for writing this Danica Nava!!

I was so excited to see a romance novel featuring two Native characters, and I loved learning from the author's note that Danica Nava really put a lot of her own personal experience into this novel (which is sounds like she wrote while getting an MBA, while pregnant, and maybe also while working??). Main character Ember Lee Cardinal is increasingly frustrated with her financial situation - she works at a bowling alley but dreams of being an accountant, and she gets dozens of rejections for entry level jobs that would help her get the experience she needs to build a career. She's also in dire financial straits thanks to using up her savings to pay for her younger brother's bail. Getting desperate, she decides to do a bit of an experiment - she fudges her experience a bit on her resume (claiming an Associate's degree when she has really just taken a few classes and taking some liberties with her job title at the bowling alley) and she changes her answer to the ethnicity question on applications from Native American to white (half true, because her dad was white), and suddenly she finds herself with a job as an accountant at Technix, a firm in Oklahoma City. Her little lies start to pile up, and things get extra complicated when she starts hooking up with her co-worker, IT guy Danuwoa, another Native employee. Unfortunately, that's not allowed, and when they get caught Ember is blackmailed by her super gross and very unethical colleague. As she tries to keep up with the lies she has told, Ember also navigates complex relationships with her friends, family, Danuwoa, and herself. A great debut with quirky and interesting characters and a forbidden workplace romance plot. Content warnings for tons of microaggressions and other forms of racism.

Gorgeously written with characters full of depth and tenderness. I am so excited for everyone to get their hands on this on August 6 :D Danica Nava's writing is getting better!

Plan to buy this book, plan to read this book, and then clear your calendar because you won't want to stop reading this book. Everyone will be talking about The Truth According to Ember for months and years to come, and for good reason. Danica Nava has created the most relatable, relevant romcom characters that do not pull their punches, literally and figuratively. You will laugh and you will cry as Ember Lee tries to get ahead while moving around the American job and education systems that penalize and exploit Native peoples.

Then I challenge you to find the native nation closest to you and donate to their community or learn more about their history and traditions. I subscribe and follow Native News Online https://nativenewsonline.net/donate, which focuses on important news and events centering Indigenous lives.

To state the obvious first: I'm shocked that this is really the first Native romance novel by a major publisher. MORE, PLEASE AND THANK YOU.

Ember is a hot mess (albeit well-meaning!) and I love her for it. Even though her lies made me anxious as hell (the email fiasco!!!), it was genuinely rewarding to go along for the ride of her cleaning up the mess. There was a lot going on as far as workplace drama — and rightfully so, as there's great representation of the all too common sexist and racist bullshit — but sometimes I found myself wanting more of the romance itself. Despite that, Danuwoa was dreamy as only the hot IT guy can be and the relationship grew in such a sweet, natural way. The plot as a whole was well-paced and kept the tension without any of Ember's problems seeing trivial or just there for drama's sake.

My *only* complaint is that because I'm used to dual POVs in romance, I wanted to be in Danuwoa's head as he fell for her! But Ember was so likeable and well-written that I didn't mind after the first few chapters.

I'm surprised this is Danica Nava's debut -- I'm looking forward to more from her. ♥

(Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!)