The Truth According To Ember by Danica Nava | Book Review

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A Chickasaw woman who can’t catch a break serves up a little white lie that snowballs into much more in this USA Today bestselling rom-com by critically acclaimed author Danica Nava.

Ember Lee Cardinal has not always been a liar—well, not for anything that counted at least. But her job search is not going well and when her resumé is rejected for the thirty-seventh time, she takes matters into her own hands. She gets “creative” listing her qualifications and answers the ethnicity question on applications with a lie—a half-lie, technically. No one wanted Native American Ember, but white Ember has just landed her dream accounting job on Park Avenue (Oklahoma City, that is).

Accountant Ember thrives in corporate life—and her love life seems to be looking up as well: Danuwoa Colson, the IT guy and fellow Native who caught her eye on her first day, seems to actually be interested in her too. Despite her unease over the no-dating policy at work, they start to see each other secretly, which somehow makes it even hotter? But when they're caught in a compromising position on a work trip, a scheming colleague blackmails Ember, threatening to expose their relationship. As the manipulation continues to grow, so do Ember’s lies. She must make the hard decision to either stay silent or finally tell the truth, which could cost her everything.

It flabbergasts me that it took until 2024 to get a big five published OwnVoices Native rom-com! However, congratulations to Danica Nava for making history with The Truth According To Ember. Friends, I truly enjoy this book. It was a fun romp with delightful characters and a superb romance with some real serious threads too. So, all of the things that instantly appeal to what I like to read. After finishing up this book, I immediately went and added Love Is A War Song to my wishlist — and plan to order it during the next B&N preorder sale.

Danica Nava’s The Truth According To Ember follows Ember Lee Cardinal who is a Chickasaw woman who is working a dead end job at a bowling alley with her best friend. Ember dreams of working in accounting, however, she has not finished college and does not have a degree. Also, Ember keeps checking the box for Native American on her job applications. One day, she decides she is going to check the box for white instead. It turns out, she lands a job interview. While on the way, she meets a very handsome Native man, Danuwoa Colson, whom she expects to never see again. Only, he’s going into the same building as her, and it turns out he works for the company she wants to work for. So, Ember lands the job, but its only after she lies about her ethnicity as well as actually having a degree. But, reflective to real life, she didn’t actually need the degree to do the job, she just needed it for the foot in the door and learns by doing. 

Ember lands a sweet promotion because she has grit and is smart and hardworking. However, she’s also still lying about a few things and those lies just may come back to bite her in the ass. And as time goes on in her new job, she has to continue fighting her attraction to Danuwoa — given there’s a rule against fraternization within the company. So, Ember is navigating a whole lot.

I truly ate up The Truth According To Ember. Although Ember has some struggles with honesty, it isn’t from a place of being a deceitful person. It’s because she has some shame and humiliation, initially around some aspects of her life. She’s in poverty. She doesn’t live the middle class lifestyle. She did not graduate college. Ember also has a brother who was recently incarcerated. Her family history is tough too. But, she has some wonderful supports as well — her best friend, her aunt, her community. I very much enjoyed reading about Ember and inhabiting her world for a little bit. Also, Danuwoa is the best. He is for sure a worthy love interest for Ember. Danica Nava’s debut is wonderfully paced, interesting, and has sparkling chemistry between the love interests. I cannot recommend this book highly enough, please add it to your TBR immediately!

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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