💜 Max Monroe 🌺 ONCE UPON A LIE 👠

  

ONCE UPON A LIE
Max Monroe

• 20 October 2026
• standalone

• The Protectors #2

★★★★★

4.5 Stars

An undercover cop. A mobster’s daughter. The best love stories start with a lie in this funny, emotional, suspenseful rom-com by New York Times bestselling author Max Monroe.

Valentina Cordone doesn’t need a prince—she’s got a thriving bagel-and-book shop in Nashville, game nights with her quirky crew, and a perfectly good life. But when her attractive new neighbor shows up with effortless charm and an award-winning smile, she starts to reconsider.

Detective Shane Maddox went undercover to surveil a mob boss’s daughter. What he didn’t expect? That she’d be a lovable ray of sunshine, nothing like the crime princess he imagined. He planned to get close but walk away untouched. Instead, he’s falling hard…and realizing she’s in more danger than she knows.

Torn between duty and desire, Shane keeps his identity secret while protecting Valentina from her family’s criminal empire. As the truth explodes, he must prove his love is real while keeping her alive—no small feat when she won’t take his calls.

Even though the prince is a liar, he can’t risk losing his princess.

Sometimes fairy tales don’t start with once upon a time. They start with once upon a lie.

Valentina + Shane

We already met Shane as Dom's bestie in the first book.

Now it's his time to find his HEA.

Which won't be easy because it all starts with a lie.

He's supposed to go undercover to find out how deeply Valentina is connected to her dad's mafia empire.

What the cops don't know - she is so not involved. She doesn't even know it exists.

She's happily running her bagel/book shop!

Dom moves into Valentina's apartment building to get close to her - which in itself is quite the challenge with its weird residents and the super insane HOA boss lady. LOL!

Let the fun times begin...

That was adorable and hilarious!

I really loved reading this.

It was a bit too slow-burnish and I wasn't in love with things as much as I wanted to. I don't like lies - who does? And this starts with a lie and Shane has to lie to her for almost the whole book. I really didn't love that. She was so sweet and happy and he felt so guilty and ugh. It just broke my heart! But I still loved reading this. It was so sweet and funny and sparky.

I also again - like in the first book - didn't love the nine year age gap.

But I loved the bestie and the dog and the apartment building with all its ridiculousness.

Like I already said in my review for the first book in this series: I found my favorite Max Monroe genre:

Super Hilarious Romantic Mystery Suspense!

ONCE UPON A LIE was a crazy fun and sweet suspensy mystery rom-com! Run to your nearest book dealer for your own Shane - this one is so mine!

↓ Links to the Books & Author ↓

 

The Protectors #1

 

More Max Monroe Books:

coming 12 January 2027:

 

Dickson University #1

 

Book #2

 

Book #3

 

Red Bridge Book #1

 

Red Bridge Book #2

 

Red Bridge Book #3

 

Midnight Book #1

 

Book #2

 

 

 

 

Winslow Brothers Book #1

 

Book #2

 

Book #3

 

Book #4

 

OG Billionaire Collection #1

 

OG Billionaire Collection #2

 

OG Billionaire Collection #3

 

BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES!
Book#1

  

Book#1.5

  

Book#2

Book#2.5

Book#3

   

Book#3.5

  

Book#3.6

Standalone Holiday Rom-Com

 

Single Dad Standalones Book #1

Single Dads Book #2

 

Book #3

Hollywood Series Book #1

Book #2

Book #3

Billionaire Collection Book #1

  


Book #2

  

Book #3

  

Book #4

  

 

Football Series Book #1

Book #2

Book #3

Book #4

Standalone Sex Says

  

Book #1 in the Twisted Fairytales series:




The #StoneColdFox Trilogy
Book #1




#Book 2

Book #3

The Girl in the Painting

  

About five years ago, a dynamic duo of romance authors teamed up under the pseudonym Max Monroe, and, well, the rest is history...

Max Monroe is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of more than thirty contemporary romance titles. Favorite writing partners and long time friends, Max and Monroe strive to live and write all the fun, sexy swoon so often missing from their Facebook newsfeed. Sarcastic by nature, their two writing souls feel like they’ve found their other half. This is their most favorite adventure thus far.