Starred review from June 10, 2024
“This story started as a question: Why are there no Native American rom-coms?” writes Nava in the afterword to her delightful debut. Ember Lee Cardinal, an enrolled Chickasaw citizen in Oklahoma City, Okla., has been working in low-level, poorly paid positions when she gets the exciting opportunity to become an accounting assistant at tech startup Technix—that is, if she fudges her résumé a bit. After adding some fraudulent qualifications and listing her race as white, she lands the job. Enter Technix’s Cherokee IT specialist Danuwoa Colson (whom Ember’s ebullient roommate Joanna dubs “the Native Daddy of our girly fantasies”). Their attraction is immediate, but Ember’s dealing with a litany of pressures in her personal life—her irresponsible brother, Sage, skipped bail after a DUI and forfeited Ember’s hard-earned college fund—and inter-office dating is discouraged at Technix, so the relationship should be a nonstarter. But as Nava ratchets up the sexual tension, will her characters be able to resist? The author delivers some delicious rom-com moments while also sensitively portraying the overt and covert racism her characters face. There’s also a helpful guide to tribal language. With wit, smarts, and abundant heart, this office romance is a triumph.
June 1, 2024
In Nava's debut, Ember Lee Cardinal, a Chickasaw woman, is turned down for job after job, leading her to fill out an employment application claiming she is white. She is hired and falls for Danuwoa Colson, an Indigenous IT colleague. The two date secretly, against the rules, but the truth is going to cost them. Prepub Alert.
Copyright 2024 Library Journal
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from August 1, 2024
A Chickasaw woman fudges the truth on a job application and soon finds herself unable to keep up with her lies. Ember Lee Cardinal is unhappily working at a bowling alley, stuck plunging toilets when she knows she's capable of more. She desperately wants to be an accountant, but she doesn't have the money to finish her degree. After yet another job application is rejected, she has an idea--what if she tells a few little white lies on her application? She exaggerates her qualifications, saying she has a degree when she really just took a couple of classes, and lists her race as white instead of Native American. And it works--she gets the job. Ember finds out that it's actually possible to learn these accounting skills on the job, and soon she's so successful at work that she earns a promotion. But it's not all number crunching and spreadsheets; Ember also can't help but notice Danuwoa Colson, the company's Native American IT guy. The two of them get closer, and Ember realizes that he's everything she's been looking for in a man, but their company explicitly forbids interoffice dating. Also, Danuwoa doesn't know she lied about some major parts of her application, and soon Ember finds herself lying even more. As their feelings get stronger, Danuwoa becomes impossible to resist...but Ember will need to be honest, with the people around her and herself, if their relationship has any chance of working. As an enrolled citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, Nava brings a sense of realism and heart to her debut. Ember's journey is about her career and her romantic life but it's just as much about accepting her family, her history, and the help of everyone around her. Nava blends deeper themes, like Ember's fraught relationship with her brother and father as well as the racism she experiences at work, with fun and always welcome rom-com tropes like "just one bed." Ember and Danuwoa's intense sexual tension leads to plenty of steamy scenes and a relationship that's both enjoyable and satisfying to read. A captivating romance that effortlessly balances laugh-out-loud scenes and heartwarming family moments.
COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.