Genre: Contemporary Romance

Format: Audio

4🌟 - I liked it!

I have never read a Native romance before, and I thought this was such a good debut! Love a workplace romance and thought Danuwoa was such a sweet MMC! This book had a good mix of humor and tackled on bigger themes of racism and microaggressions in the workplace. Can’t wait to read more by her in the future!

So happy I got to chat with my #seasonsoflovebookclub girlies about this one!

A great pick for my local romance bookclub! We appreciated the Native rep and hope to see more from publishers in the future!

I read about one romance book a year. And I am glad that this was the one that I got to read. I was very stressed by the choices made by the main character, and the love interest is almost too perfect... but overall I had a really good time with this book and I think it had some substance besides just a romance which is what really made a difference for me.

I would consider reading another romance next year by this author!

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC.

This novel was frustrating by design. Ember is a pathological liar and it drove me crazy. However, she justified her lies in a way that gave you pause and really made you look outside of your own experiences and question whether the lies were necessary. I enjoyed this uncomfortable feeling I had as she continued to lie and how it affected her quality of life. The romance was beautifully written. They slow burn will-they-won't-they, the coupling, and complications that came with it were very believable. I enjoyed the hard growth Ember had to go through in this novel to become who she needed and deserved to be. Even the family and found family aspects were done with care. Great job!

I absolutely adored this. What a perfect romcom! I could totally see this as a screenplay. Thanks, Danica!

It's a fun book. The heroine is clearly VERY flawed, so you have to handle that with care given the situation she's putting herself in. We're kinda in our era of fmcs doing questionable things, and Ember really put herself in a situation where she's forced to lie all the time. She reads like a teenager at times, but I think we just want mature heroines, and maturity looks different depending on your raising and such. I look forward to what this author does next.

Unfortunately this one was not for me. I had a hard time with the main characters constant lying. It was always the silliest things. Also, this book read very much like a YA title. I enjoy YA books, but when I am reading a book about full grown adults, I expect a little bit more maturity than this had.

This was a pretty great office romance, romcom, but it was so much more. Not only was it an #ownvoices novel, but the first by an indigenous author that I’ve read. It was set in a location I would not have actively sought out to read about but it ended up being an important backdrop to the story.

I appreciated how the author not only pointed out and focused on how women are still discriminated against in office settings, but just how much worse it is for BIPOC women and people of the lgbtqiap+ community. While this is fiction it is still an important read. Excellent book.

3⭐️
"I want you to have all my ugly truths"

*insert that meme that’s like “why you always lying , why the fuck you lying mmmmmm oh.my.god STOP FUCKING LYING"*

From the perspective of someone who lives outside the U.S. but consumes its media daily, I’ve noticed that Native Americans seem to be the least represented minority in mainstream media—and I don’t mean that in a weird, whataboutism, oppression-olympics way. So, it’s incredible, albeit embarrassingly overdue, that The Truth According to Ember is the first traditionally published rom-com written by a Native author , starring Indigenous characters. Nava’s author’s note at the end deserves five stars alone. It was so powerful and well-written.

The book itself on the other hand?…..not so much

I loved the cultural representation and the commentary on the struggles indigenous communities face like : fetishisation , systemic socioeconomic barriers , overt and covert racism etc. Ember’s motivation for lying about her ethnicity on her job application was (unfortunately) very realistic .However , she did lose me when she started lying about dumb shit .

The unnecessary fibbing got old very quickly and hindered her character (imo) . I’m all for messy , complex characters but within reason ! . I felt for her and her situation but her immaturity was so embarrassing . I didn’t understand nor believe that Danuwoa genuinely liked her other than the book telling me that he did to further the plot. I don’t like defending men but if I was his friend , I would tell him to dump her - the red flags she displayed were crazy.

Furthermore , I wished that someone in the editing processes of this book asked Nava to elaborate or flesh out Danuwoa and Ember's relationship because it was unsubstantiated . There was a severe lack of chemistry and we were just told and told and told and then boom they are suddenly in love??? Where was the evidence to support this ? They had cute moments but it didn’t go anywhere.

Additionally, the stakes of their forbidden office romance felt very wishy-washy. While the consequences (losing their jobs) were serious, they acted so recklessly. Plus, their uninteresting dynamic just looked like poor decision making instead of unbridled passion . Ember just lies and lies and Danuowa, with heart eyes, gently calls her out. Side note but I will say that the conflict resolution was nice!

In conclusion , I appreciated the sentiment behind this story . It's incredible that stories about natives are finally getting the chance to reach a broader audience . I will probably read Nava's sophomore novel Love is a War Song and I hope that she executes the romance better but her debut didn't quite hit the mark

Audiobook review
3\5⭐️

I looked into the narrator, Siena East, because she was new to me. She’s a comedian and actress, but I think this was her first audiobook. I might be wrong, but if I’m correct, explains why it was quite evident in her performance.

East’s narration was very inconsistent. There were high highs: I liked her voice (it wasn’t breathy or nasally, which is a big thing for me) and how she gave the side characters distinct voices .
She was great during the comedic bits, and had bursts of interesting line delivery. But she would quickly slip into this borderline monotonous cadence.

She voiced frustration and panic well but struggled with sadness and flirtatious banter. It an was unbalanced performance and, like the book, was one-dimensional. I’m not asking for her to overact, but she sounded like she was reading a textbook whenever Ember would talk about how much she liked Danuowa. She no longer embodied the character, but was just someone reading
which isn’t all that fun to listen to.

So cute, and at the same time I wanted to shake Ember for the choices she made. I loved seeing the traditional beats of a romance applied to a lesser represented group within the genre. I loved the contemporary struggle that alot of people could identify with. The desperation of wanting to get a job, being thrust into more responsibility than what you truly desired, and navigating authenticity for you and your romantic partner. Absolutely adorable read.

This is the romance novel you didn't know you needed. And the book you'll be recommending to everyone!

Author Danica Nava isn't afraid of difficult stories, keeping it real while also bringing humor and spice to the story.

Ember is the most relatable character. I feel like I know her. Like I want to know her! Perhaps it all feels so relatable since I live and work in Oklahoma, just like Ember.

And Danuwoa is the leading man we all need. I mean, he's good with tech!

"I'm a grown man and I don't need protecting." Mmm.

I absolutely loved the drama and laughter that filled this story, right to the very end. A must-read.

So great to have a Native American romance set in Oklahoma with a 25-year old FMC who's just trying to catch a break and get her life on track. This one's gonna be most relatable for readers just breaking into their first office jobs. If you've been around a minute, you're gonna see the office politics, casual racism, nepotism, and her ultimate downfall coming from a mile away.

Ember lies her way into an accounting job at a start up in OKC. On her first day she meets Danuwoa, also Native, who works in IT.
She ends up getting promoted to executive assistant when someone goes out on maternity leave. She was already on thin ice having only partially completed accounting work at a community college and then she finds herself scheduling, doing expenses, and coordinating a team building event in Santa Barbara.

I had real reservations about the lying premise (just a personal thing about hating liars and people who lie to get ahead.), but I came around and was rooting for Ember. With a brother and estranged dad in jail, she's mostly been raised by her auntie. And the two of them are always picking up the pieces. I loved the supporting characters -- Ember's BFF Joanna is hilarious, Danuwoa's sister Walela is a delight, even Tito, her brother's annoying buddy is a crack up.

Ultimately, I loved that Danica Nava was willing to expose what it is to be mixed, how checking one box over another, or having a certain look, or a certain sounding last name can open doors that are otherwise closed to you. I loved that she brought a Pretendian into the story, that she showed the casual racism in the workplace, I can't wait to see more from Danica. Maybe Joanna will finally get knocked off her feet by a new man.

4.5 rounded up!

Ember just wants to get a job, a few lies on her CV can't hurt. But then the lies start spiraling out of control. Add in a hot co-worker who she shouldn't be dating, and family drama for one of the funniest rom coms of the year!

This is for my fellow corporate “ I gotta work to live, and affording rent is my dream” girlies!!! I felt so seen reading this. Romances with characters in the real world are so refreshing, I loved being able to identify with a character on so many levels. The stress of everyday life, the pure joy of that first adult paycheck? Everything in this felt super fresh and relatable.

It was easy to love Ember through all her mistakes. Also, Danuwoa was so sweet and passionate, I loved they way he was so focused on her and their relationship from the start.

As much fun as this was to read it also spoke frankly about real family issues, including parental abandonment, jail time, and poverty. These issues aren't handled flipaantly, but with real care. I can't wait to read more romances from this author!

I raced through this romance and loved every second (even as I dreaded what I knew was coming toward the end). These characters are so lovable and complex and relatable, and I really appreciated how this story navigated racism, Indigenous experiences, and classism. I'd recommend to just about everyone who loves a character-driven story!

Ember gets a job as an accountant and thinks things are finally looking up, when she finds herself in a difficult situation involving her coworkers. While she's trying to hide her romance with Danuwoa, the IT guy, she's also dealing with a blackmailing coworker and this leads to Ember's job being at risk. Overall, this had potential as Ember was competent at her job and good at learning new things and yet it was really difficult watching Ember constantly lie and make things even more complicated than they needed to be. Will be interested in the author's next book, just hoping for different characterizations.

I'll start this off by saying I think the fact that this book exists is important. I think getting romcoms and coming of age stories by and about Native people is so badly needed. But this book just really wasn't it for me.

We follow Ember, an 20-something student who lives on her resume to get an accounting job. There she meets Danuowa or Dan, who works for the same company, and sparks begin to fly. Really dulled down, boring sparks, but sparks.

At first, Ember felt like a clumsy yet relatable character dealing with her own baggage and just trying to make a better life for herself. But she just really drove me crazy after a while, and not in an engaging, intentional way. It really hindered my connection to the story.

For a romance, things never get where they should. Dan just felt so perfect that it kept him at a distance. It never felt like any real vulnerability got to unfold. I just didn't feel anything - not giddy, not invested at all.

A ton of this book is focused on Ember's day to day at her job & her financial woes. I was actually looking forward to this part, thinking it would help build her character a lot more, help me relate. And maybe it's just me, but this was so triggering and depressing to read about. Like one chapter literally opens up just with her talking about her credit card debt.

Sad to say this didn't click for me. I say if you're interested, definitely give it a chance and pick it up! Romance is so subjective and I think giving books like this a chance is critical to getting more of them out there. Just not a fun read for me, though.

Thank you Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for an ARC.

Thank you, Berkley for my gifted copy.

I am pretty disappointed with this one. I so desperately wanted to love it and really want more Native romances/all genres frankly, but this was not it. Ember spent SO much of the book lying. It went beyond a few lies simply to prove her worth and ended up making her a pretty dislikable character for me. She was so smart, so watching her do things so monumentally idiotic made me legitimately hostile.

I also wanted Joanna, and their friendship fleshed out because I felt like Joanna was simply a party girl and that was her whole personality. Even Danuwoa felt really flat to me, and they lacked chemistry.

This started out so promising, but I really wish this had a stronger editorial hand and more rewrites before we got to the final product. So many elements are there, but none of it worked together.

I went into this book not knowing anything about the plot, and I wish I had known a little more. The plot follows Ember as she starts telling one little white lie after another to improve her life (and at the beginning, it did seem justified!), but the lies start piling up and threatening her new job and potential new relationship with hot IT guy Danuwoa. The thing that frustrated me the most was Ember's complete inability to stop lying. She would rattle off lies about inconsequential things that were totally transparent. It felt more like an episode of a Disney Channel show where the 13-year-old main character learns the value of telling the truth rather than the way an adult woman would act. I also didn't really buy the chemistry between Ember and Danuwoa. This book would have massively benefited from being told in dual perspective, so Danuwoa would be more fleshed out and we would understand what he sees in Ember.

I did like the commentary on office culture and how difficult it is for anyone who isn't an old white man, but ESPECIALLY indigenous people, to get their foot in the door. I loved how hardworking Ember is and her dedication to her friends and family. I loved seeing Native American culture celebrated in this book, not by making a big show of things, but by showing the everyday lives of Ember and her community. As a debut novel, this was fairly good, and I hope to see this author continue to grow. I don't think this story would have been totally my taste no matter what, but I will look out for Danica Nava's future work.

I really enjoyed this book! I liked Ember as the main character, and I also loved her relationship with her best friend (they were so funny together). I also really liked Danuwoa as the MMC and love interest! I thought Ember and Danuwoa had great chemistry, and I really enjoyed them as a couple. I do think it was a bit insta-lovey which isn't my favourite, but I did enjoy this book overall, and would definitely recommend it! :)

What a breath of fresh air! I'm always a fan of workplace romances, especially in tech, and this had me giggling from the get-go. I immediately connected with Ember's voice and love a so-called "unlikable" female character. Danica Nava's debut was one of my most anticipated romances of the year, and it did not disappoint. I can't wait to read more of her work!