Thief Liar Lady

The princess is in control in this thrilling Cinderella heist romantic fantasy

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Pub Date 13 Jul 2023 | Archive Date 13 Jul 2023

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Description

Happily Ever After is a total scam, but at least this time the princess is the one controlling the grift - until her true love arrives and threatens to ruin the whole scheme.

I'm not who you think I am.

My transformation from a poor, orphaned scullery maid into the enchantingly mysterious lady who snagged the heart of the prince did not happen - as the rumours insist - in a magical metamorphosis of pumpkins and glass slippers.

Instead, with the help of a touchingly tragic past and the some highly illegal spells, my stepsisters and I infiltrated the ball and captured the attention of the prince. I became a princess, secured our fortunes, and ensured we'd all live happily ever after.

But of course, there's always more to the story. Now my magic is running out, war is looming, and a handsome hostage prince - the wrong prince - is distracting me with his magnetic charm and forbidden flirtations. I'm in danger of losing control of the delicate balance I've created . . . and that could prove fatal.

There's so much more riding on this than a crown.

Happily Ever After is a total scam, but at least this time the princess is the one controlling the grift - until her true love arrives and threatens to ruin the whole scheme.

I'm not who you think I...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781529912463
PRICE £16.99 (GBP)
PAGES 400

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Average rating from 37 members


Featured Reviews

A Cinderella retelling in which there is no damsel in distress needing to be rescued by her prince charming immediately piqued my interest. With deception and intrigue, romance, politics, spies, and plenty of twists and turns there wasn't much to not enjoy about the book. It takes a little while for the plot to unfold and ensnare you in its trap but once you reach that stage it's difficult to put the book down.
The only real qualm I had about the book was the character development. If all of the characters had been given the same depth and intrigue as Lord Verance the book would have been even more captivating.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinions

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If Cinders went to the ball, not thanjs to her kindly fairy godmother, but actually thanks to the plans of her magical step mother; and if, once she captured the heart of her Prince Charming, she then worked to help a rebellion against his family; and worse, found herself dangerously attracted to an exiled prince held hostage by her husband to be and his family; now wouldn't that make a great, not quite so happily ever after story?
Thief, Liar, Lady is a really different and altogether much more enjoyable take on the traditional Cinderella story and its heroine is far more resourceful and complex than I can ever imagine little Cinders being!
Thank you Netgalkey and Random House for an e arc of this title... and I am hoping D.L Soria is working on a sequel!

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I absolutely loved this book! The premise immediately hooked my interest and it was filled with twisty characters and such intense plot!

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We all know the story of Cinderella, but what if it didn't happen the way we were told? What happened after Cinders moved to the Palace?

This was such a good story. A fairytale romance (or was it), a scheming stepmother and the politics of a country. Ash is thrust into the heart of it all and she must navigate life as a future princess, while carrying out her stepmother plan to help her stepsister gain their own places in society. All while completing her own mission to free Eloria.

I was thoroughly enraptured by this book. The way it unraveled as the story went on, with unexpected twists and turns. I will be recommending this one to any who will listen.

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— 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 —

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Thief Liar Lady
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: N/A
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): D. L. Soria
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Fairytale Retelling
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 13th July 2023
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: 13th June 2023
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 4/5

“What makes something true anyway?” I pondered aloud. “If it happened one way, but the whole world believes it happened another—then which matters more, in the end?”

Thief Liar Lady is a contemporary take on Cinderella, if Cinderella was a con artist hell bent on putting the world to rights with a thousand wrongs.

Whilst this novel is brimming with political court intrigue and the stakes are consistently high, I actually found the pacing quite slow. My enjoyment of this book came in highs and lows, sometimes I was gripped and other times I was bored. I think that this is in part due to the inability to connect to any of the characters. Whilst I enjoyed Ash, our main character, I wasn’t that deeply emotionally invested in her, or anyone else, because everyone told so many lies and were constantly hiding their vulnerable, truthful parts of themselves.

What really elevated this book for me was the romance and the twists at the end. The romance wasn’t linear or predictable and considering this is a Cinderella retelling, with happily ever afters being a foregone conclusion, I thought that was really refreshing. I never knew which direction the book would be heading in.

My sincerest gratitude to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

—Kayleigh🤍
@ Welsh Book Fairy🧚‍♀️✨

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This is a reimaging of Cinderella, where Cinderella is a schemer trying to win influence to improve the standing for herself, her step-sisters and increase the influence her step-mother has. But Ash has other motivations as well, namely to help the cause of her real mothers people and spy from within, using lustre (enchantment magic to manipulate emotions to achieve her goal...

I really liked this! It had the feel of a regency novel in its tone and was easy to read, but with all the twists and turns you expect from a fantasy novel. It was nice to read a standalone for once and it was satisfyingly wrapped up at the end. It didn't shy away from difficult topics either - people should be warned that it is quite descriptive about how it feels to have sex with someone you don't want to and there is child death and animal cruelty.

4 stars - a really good read and I sped through it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

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I was very excited I got to read an e-arc of Thief, Liar, Lady by D.L. Soria, as she is one of my autobuy authors. Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley, but this hasn’t influenced this review.

This book had all the right ingredients: Cinderella turned upside down, a long con, court intrigue, magic, love and feels sneaking in, and PLOT TWISTS. Many amazing little plottwists that swift your entire view.

We start off with the classic fairytale story, where Cinderella is engaged to the prince of her dreams, when slowly we begin to understand how Cinderella and her scheming stepmother and stepsisters used a little magic and the power of suggestion to make the prince head over heels for Cinderella, feelings that are not exactly replicated by Cinderella herself, she’s in it for the bigger picture: making a better life for her and her family. And maybe some other factors play in. But she soon discovers that it might not be so easy to keep the prince interested, and to keep playing the docile damsel really wears on her feministic nerves.

Ok I have to say I love all the feminism! I’ve never read a book where it is so clearly shown when something’s off, when she’s dismissed basically because of her genitals and damsel status. She always calls it out in her head and that helped me so much to realise what the males are doing is basically wrong. Like dismissing her opinions with “just focus on the wedding and not boring politics”, or grabbing her arm all of a sudden. I know it’s really a little thing, but having read a lot on feminism but I never really get it when it happens in real life, this was so helpful to discover the misogyny in my own life. Ok this was longer than I wanted it to be, back to the story.

I really loved Ash as a character, she’s basically a con artist with a good heart underneath, which makes her so interesting! The plot is amazing and well thought out, and the pacing was perfect, never a dull moment. The characters had a lot of depth, and there were many themes beside feminism woven into the story. The use of magic was original, and while sometimes it wasn’t entirely clear to me what the rules were, it was very interesting and very limited, so there was no easy magic fix anywhere to be found.

The worldbuilding was good, it was a fairytale setting but with depth on the politics, so while we don’t see much outside the palace, it does feel like a rich world. Because of the young characters, romance plot and fairytale setting, it had the feel of a YA book, but that’s not a bad thing in my opinion. I love YA, and would love to see more YA fantasy tropes enveloped in adult fantasy, with the depth and maturity and darkness of adult fantasy added (and trust me, it is quite dark at times), and for me this book delivered exactly that. I did hope for some more diversity, as Destiny Soria is known for that in her books, but that wasn’t the case here.

All in all, I really liked this book, the almost ending wrecked me and I cried actual tears, so that’s a good sign: I really really cared about these characters (especially a certain hostage prince).

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4.5 stars

When I saw the cover and read the synopsis, I knew there was a high chance I would love Thief Liar Lady. And I was right. It had its mistakes, but it was so much fun! Cinderella is far from my favorite fairytale. I always thought Cinderella was too kind, too forgiving. That's why I was happy that Ash was none of these things. I loved the palace intrigue, the schemings, and the politics. The worldbuilding was simple, but I enjoyed that too.
I wish that Ash hasn't been so indulgent with Everett (He was far from the dashing Prince Charming), and in my opinion, Rance could have been a more cunning character. The ending was a bit rushed, but it was a very enjoyable read!

Also, why is the word thief in the title? Ash wasn't a thief.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone, Del Rey for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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A delightful, refreshing retelling of Cinderella! It plays around with the Western lore and basic plot of Cinderella and reinterprets some of the major themes/topics associated with the rags to riches story. Namely: kindness and empathy, agency and resilience (inner strength). The novel goes on to distinguish itself by making deeper examinations into honesty, loyalty, and family and expanding on the theme of social class divisions to look at international divisions and political conflicts.

As a book cover design enthusiast, I have to say: the visual arrangement of the title is smart, considering Ash's character description. Speaking of, I like that despite having a compassionate core deep down, Ash doesn't exude goodness and innocence. She's a little bitter, snarky, observant. It makes her interactions with the "wrong" prince quite interesting and tense (cough cough).

From the various Cinderella retellings I've read and heard of (e.g. Cinder by Marissa Meyers, Geekerella by Ashley Poston), this will surely stand out from those retellings as a subtle, sneaky, politically charged interpretation of Cinderella.

Thanks to Netgalley and Del Ray for providing me with the e-ARC/DRC in exchange for an honest review.

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free ARC in exchange for a review.

I love a retelling. And I always love a Cinderella retelling. Thief Liar Lady feels to me like a grown-up, more twisty version of Just Ella, which I adored as a kid.

I really enjoyed figuring out Ash and her connection to the rebel network and her grandmother. It was revealed slowly like most of our information about her but never in an annoying "not since the accident" way.

Even though Ash sometimes makes dumb decisions <spoiler> like giving a crazy, unknown element rebel her actual full name while trying to be undercover </spoiler>, I really enjoyed her as the protagonist. Rance makes a fun romantic interest, and I liked the depiction of Everett's complacant yet darkening nature.

There were a lot of twists and turns I completely didn't expect but I massively enjoyed the ride. Nothing felt out of place, and I loved following the plot.

I really want more of Ash and Rance, and I'd love to read a sequel. Five stars!

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This was an interesting retelling and started off as the tale of Cinderella we all know. That developed into a much more complex story or war, politics, rebellion and Ash/Lady Aislin trying to seduce a Prince to save a beaten down Kingdom. There is an interesting magic system called Lustre which is used with spells to bend people’s will, a love triangle and some strong woman. Verance and puppy are also a delight bringing some lightness and grumpy sunshine vibes to the story.

I loved Ash’s story and her determination though it wasn’t entirely clear why she had went down this path other than her stepmother had made her.

‘Only a nobody can be anybody they want.’

I would have liked a more fleshed out explanation as to the reasons Ash had decided to go down this path. I would have also liked to more about the people of the rebellion and the magic system.

Overall I found this an easy, enjoyable read that made you feel warm and fuzzy by the end. 3.5/4 stars.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this in advance in exchange for an honest review.

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I adored this book so much it left me feeling no other book could compete.

I chose it purely because of the cover being so amazingly pretty, then I realised it was a Cinderella retelling. I'd committed to reading it already though. So despite my concerns that it wasn't really my thing, I set to it.

At first I nearly gave up. I don't know if I was in a mood or if I was too tired but I struggled with the first couple of chapters. I went back to it the next day determined to give it a fair go and boy oh boy oh boy am I glad I did!!

This book surprised me in so many ways. I can't even begin to describe how magical I found it to be.

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Thief, Liar, Lady was an intriguing fantasy novel, perfect for fans of Little Thieves.

We all know the story of Cinderella, right? Except what if the real story is nothing like we’ve been led to believe.

I absolutely adored this twist on the Cinderella story, where instead of a romantic escape from an abusive family, the prince has been ensnared by careful magic. Oh, she’s still escaping an abusive family, but that family still have their claws in her and they were in on the plan all along. Add one rogueish, seemingly carefree, foreign prince and weave in a little political machination on the side.

I was constantly surprised and enchanted by Thief, Liar, Lady. The way the narrative came together was wonderful, and seeing Ash realise that everything was not perhaps as it appears, and also that being whisked off your feet by a handsome Prince may not be the fairytale you always imagined was really interesting in a Cinderella retelling.

I worded how all the plot lines came together and were concluded, and found I couldn’t put it down for most of the second half of the book.

Overall, Thief, Liar, Lady was and enchanting and different take on a Cinderella retelling, and I would read more by this author in the future.

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