I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Lola St. James is the world’s best kept secret. When her father’s loss in the Liar’s Dice Tournament—a high-stakes competition where players are forced to gamble with their deepest secrets—made her a target, she was rescued by the Thief, the notorious leader of the Tentacles. But the Thief’s kindness came with a price: Lola’s heart. In the years that followed, she and the Thief formed a bond like no other, able to feel each other’s emotions because of their shared heart.

Now, living under the pseudonym Astra, she is determined to prove herself and become a full-fledged Tentacle. But when a critical heist goes sideways, the only way forward is for Lola to compete in the Liar’s Dice Tournament herself. Lola is confident in her ability to pull off any heist, but the Thief's mysterious brother, the Liar, runs the game and he turns out to be more than she bargained for. As her attraction for him grows and illusions run wild, she will be forced to confront the secrets of her past, the truth of the brothers’ shared history, and the lies she tells herself.

Short and Sweet Review

When Lola’s father lost the Liar’s Dice Tournament he also lost Lola. Lola was rescued that night by The Thief but in exchange for her new life she had to share her heart with him. Lola has since been going by Astra and she wants to become a member of the Tentacles, the group The Thief is the leader of but first she has to prove herself and to do that is to complete a heist. The heist should have been easy but goes sideways and the only way to make things balance out is for Lola to enter the Liar’s Dice Tournament. The Liar is actually The Thief’s brother and Lola quickly learns she’s in for more than she bargained for.

Den of Liars is the first book of a new exciting series. This book spent a lot of time unraveling the characters past and explaining the magic that we see during the tournament. Lola is our main character and she’s really out to prove herself worthy to become a member of the Tentacles. Lola has been with the Thief or Enzo since the night he rescued her, they share a heart so their connection to each other is strong. Lola goes into the tournament to prove that she’s capable and she ends up meeting the Liar or Nic who is Enzo’s brother and they have a strained relationship. Lola knows she shouldn’t be but she’s drawn to him, it was interesting to see the tension between the two especially because she’s kind of on a short leash with Enzo being able to feel everything she does. The tournament and the rules to it were interesting, to enter you had to give away one of your secrets and if you get eliminated that secret is shared to the whole world. The book had an Ocean’s Eleven vibe going on and I loved getting immersed in this world. There’s a lot of twists and revelations that’ll change allegiances and make characters make rash decisions. The ending is a cliff hanger and it’ll leave readers wanting the sequel immediately.

Overall, this was a good book and held my attention from beginning to end. I’m excited to see what’ll happen in the next installment and see what other magical elements are incorporated and how our characters deal with the secrets they learned in this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good heist but with some elements of magic involved.