If it was somehow unclear, this is a Cinderella retelling. I've read several takes on her story and figured this would be a nice, light read to add in between some heavier things and an easy way to mix in more fantasy. "Thief Liar Lady", though, was like Cinderella but make it Game of Thrones, and I was into it.

Ash is about to marry Prince Everett after meeting at the ball and having a whirlwind romance. Their love story has captured the hearts of a nation on the brink of war in desperate need of fairy tales and sent her from life as a scullery maid to living in the palace. She's having some trouble adjusting, but not because of the culture shock. Because she seduced the prince using magic as part of a scheme with her stepmother to infiltrate the palace, and the part of the demure lady she's playing is just that: a part.

Ash may have used her stepmother's plan to get here, but she has her own schemes on how to influence the nation and it's enemies and alliances now that she's in a position of power. If only the hostage prince, Verance, a royal ward as a condition of a peace treaty, would stop being so observant and distracting ...

I enjoyed the political scheming in this book and that it wasn't afraid of getting a little dark, in what felt like a realistic way when it came to getting and keeping political power. The first 2/3 of the book were set-up heavy and bounced back and forth between timelines to explain how Ash got to the palace, where she was already living in chapter 1. I enjoyed getting to know the characters, but I wish the last 1/3rd had been as fleshed out--as I got closer to the end I kept being worried that I'd missed this being a series because it felt like there was no way things could wrap up that fast. They did, and I liked the ending, but I wish it hadn't been so quick. A lot happened, and I wanted the chance to see everything play out and all the characters react fully.

That being said, this was a fun surprise, and I'd love to see more retellings from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, & the author for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.