A Tale Told by Traitors" by Renee Dugan is an engaging fantasy adventure with political intrigue, secret identities, and a touch of slow-burn romance. The story follows Lionyra Vara, a baker with a hidden past as the lost heir to Amere-Del. When she’s forced to return to her homeland, she teams up with Ryker Kassian, a pirate with his own troubles, leading to an adventure full of betrayals, shifting alliances, and personal growth.

Dugan’s world-building is solid, and the characters—especially Lio and Ryker—have an interesting dynamic. The plot has plenty of twists, though the pacing slows down in places, particularly in the middle. While it doesn’t quite reach five-star territory, it’s still an enjoyable read with strong themes of loyalty and identity.

Overall, it’s a good choice for fans of character-driven fantasy with political intrigue and adventure, even if it takes a little patience at times.

If you like enemies to lovers, pirates, and found family, this is the book for you. It is a standalone, but I recommend reading the first one, A Story Spun in Scarlet, not only because it is also a great book, but because I think the things you learn in it will enhance your reading experience with this one.
The character development, the surprises, the plot twists, the heartache, the swoony moments, the banter - between friends as well as love interests, the pacing, was all perfection.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

The balance of action and romance is perfect, exactly what I look for in a book. The tone is great and the characters are fun and diverse!

Thank you for the ARC

Amazing story line and plot like the first one. Couldnt finish it fast. I finished reading it sometime ago but don't know why haven't updated my reviews here. anyway the author did an amazing job and the cover of this series......so good. I want them on shelf.

One thing i did not enjoy was the romance because probably i am not very keen into that, but love the world building and the overall plot of the book.

I once again loved the tone of the story and the writing style of the author. I loved how there was always something going on like we as readers don’t have a time to get bored or distracted.

I think what I loved the most about the stories other than the characters is how it makes you introspect about yourself and your life

4.5 stars

I loved this book. It was an action packed adventure that also had the element of romance. Who could ask for more?! I loved the characters and their complexity. I think the author did an amazing job on this one. I can't wait to see what is next. I definitely recommend this one.

Thank you Net Galley ARC

Lio is on a mission to find Tristah to warn her about what is coming. When Lio finds herself kidnapped by Lucretzia who is uploaded to take her bake tonShadewyle, she befriends a pirate named Bash. She later finds out the truth on who he is and he helps her on her mission to make sure Tristah is safe. Lots of traveling and fighting and one character lost a finger for information.

DNF at 36%
This wasn't a bad book exactly, and there were moments where I quite enjoyed it, but it is just far too long for me, personally. I read a good 200 pages before I DNFed, because I wanted to find out where the story was going, but at some point I just admitted to myself that I wouldn't be able to read 400 more pages of this. I liked the world the story takes place in, and the main characters were interesting, but there was never anything that truly had me hooked. Logically, I also didn't quite understand the whole Delina thing, like why would the Del ever agree to hand over power to some orphan that he picked up off the street. Maybe this is explained later on, but if so, the book would've really profited from having that explanation early on.

Absolutely loved this book! The mix of action, romance, and adventure had me hooked from start to finish. Lio and Ryker are such complex, relatable characters, and their chemistry is chef’s kiss. The pirate cities and looming revolution made the stakes feel so real, and I couldn’t put it down. If you’re into swoony romance and epic fantasy, this is a must-read.

I had read A Story Spun in Scarlet so I had been anxiously awaiting this book. I loved it. I thought the story was amazing, the characters were great. Loved everything about it.

A fantasy with pirates and the heir to a kingdom in hiding? Count me in! I cannot even begin to describe how much I love (and sometimes envy) Ranee's writing style. Her prose and the incredible detail with which she crafts every single sentence make the book a beautiful experience.

Characters are another one of Ranee's strengths, and I had such a fun time getting to know them in this story. If you're looking for a fantastical adventure with heart, this one is a must-read. Definitely recommend!

Yes! A book that leaves you smiling for all the right reasons! Well developed characters, great world building, a plot that leaves you guessing and biting your nails, tension that is chef's kiss, relationships that make sense but are developing at the same time. This book has it all. I did not read the first in the series, so now I need to pick it up. But I will be reading the next.

I am so happy to be able to meet this book because I am a huge fan of pirates and adventures. At the first time, I was surprised that this is the second book of the series, but I let myself go through the story and find it's a page turning even I get hit and miss of the world-building in some parts (it just because I didn't read the first book). The writing style is captivating, all the characters is well-written. I love all the characters here, I wish I could read the first book before read this one.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wave Walker Press for providing me the ARC, and thank you so much to the author for writing this amazing adventure of pirates, I have to say that finally I find a good-reads here.

I’ve never read anything from this author before, but I absolutely love, love, love pirate themed books and I just KNEW I had to pick this up.

At first, it really took me a while to get into the story. It’s clear this author knows how to weave a world. But the complex history, lengthy number of characters (and their name pronunciation) threw me for the first 150 pages or so.

However, the author intricately combines each character story, development and a vivid world and I was sucked in. It’s not often I enjoy a book with romance as a main plot point without it venturing into the adult target audience, however this firmly remained in YA and yet still had me absolutely swooning. Found family is an absolute favourite trope of mine, and this had it in abundance. I could not get enough of these fantastic characters at all. Imagine my delight realising that although this is a standalone, there is an another released before this!

As I read this book as an ARC, I jumped into it unaware that it was the second. While this put me at a disadvantage initially with the many world building details, A Tale Told by Traitors had a storyline that had me intrigued to keep reading at every turn. I was fully invested in the characters and found myself blindsided by several of the plot twists. The one aspect of the book that I didn't love was the ongoing parallels drawn between the main female protagonist and her propensity towards baking. Otherwise, it was a worthy read full of action, adventure, pirates and "princesses." Reminiscent of The Princess Bride, this voyage is worth taking.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I did appreciate how the author incorporated imagery associated with cooking to hone Lio’s identity as a baker. Unfortunately, I struggled a lot with this book overall. I thought I would enjoy the book because I liked the premise that Lionyra was the lost heiress of Amere-Del. However, the pacing felt off and I couldn’t connect with the characters.

Amazing adventure full of twist and turns and the right amount of pining and romance!
4.5 stars

"Sometimes it takes strong people a while to heal, too... and we're the strongest there is. So we'll find our way thought this, all of us, together."

A Tale Told by Traitors is the second book in a series of sequential standalones each focusing on a new romantic fantasy adventure.

We meet back up with Lionyra Vara at the moment when her past catches up with her and she is taken back to a life she fled 6 years ago, back to the regime of Amere-Del, where she is to take her place back as Delina. She is taken aboar The Athalion, where she meets characters who are more than meets the eyes, including deckhand Bastyan... or is he really a deck hand?

This book was twistier than a fancy french braid, action packed, filled with tension and adventure, well developed characters, meaningful relationships - some that flourish and end too soon, some that live on, and get stronger and stronger as the story goes on.

This was my first Renee Dugan's book and it will definetly not be my last. I fell in love with the characters, sailors and pirates alike, grieved with them, laughed, swooned, got angry, threw my book across the couch, and overall really really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the ARC!

Lionora Vara is an immigrant in Mithra-Sha and is running her bakery. There is nothing else she loves more than kneading dough, creating breads and treats and to listen to the stories being told in her shop.
To save her best friend she has in this new town she is risking all and is losing as her biggest secret gets revealed. She is not who she pretends to be. She is the sole heir of the ruling regime she fled from and now she is being dragged back in chains as her biggest fear and thread is used against her. The only person in the world she loves most and feels like a sister is also again back in the castle of her biggest nightmare, her decoy. So she willingly is being brought back in cuffs on a ship which shall bring her back. Once they succeeded to escape their fate and again she must find a way to save both of them.
Ryker Kassian is a pirate but hates how other captains run their ship and how they treat their crews. The debts he and his crew he selected to save every one of them from their former fait have with the old pirates are extreme. So when rumours are getting more and more that the Delina, the heir of the ruling regime is seen he is taking on the challenge to find her and request a ransom for her which is needed to buy out his crew.

This is a second book in the series but from my point of view can also be read without knowing the first (which is my case) as this story concentrates on a new character.
Wow, I did not expect this world building. Also the writing style I liked at lot.
What an adventure we are reading about here! We have a great pirate story here with lots of action which I really enjoyed. All the fighting, the decoy and unfortunately also the loss of characters I really liked is for me really good written. I also liked how much friendship and love means in this story, the fight for freedom and to do the right things and what everybody is willing to endure and do for it.

Lionora has different names in this story and I think this is very well showing how she is changing. Some of her actions I can´t really understand during the story but in general I liked to read how she is changing, is setting new priorities and how she is fighting for the ones she likes and loves.
Ryker also has different names he got during the years and I liked his character right from the start. What a captain and how he is fighting for his crew! I really liked his character.
Also all the characters we have in the book, and we talk about quite a lot, I really liked all of them. The ones I hated and I hoped would die due to their cruelty and what they did to others, and also the ones I really liked and hoped only the best for and that they would survive and succeed in their fight for freedom and the right course.
Also the romantic we have in here is in my opinion perfectly set into this world and storyline and giving hope when all seems lost.
The twist and turns, the decoy, the battle, ... we have here kept the story for me on a great level and I wanted to keep reading.