Truth and Tinsel

A Marriage in Crisis Romance

De: Maya Alden

Narrado por: Kingsley Rose, Ryan West

Duet performed by Kingsley Rose & Ryan West

She stopped begging for his love. Will he start fighting for hers?

Mia Winter spent six years unconditionally loving her husband, working hard to fit into his world, which didn’t make room for her.

Aiden let the weight of family expectations blind him to the woman who gave him her whole heart, and he made a terrible mistake, one his wife witnessed.

This Christmas, Mia is done holding onto…nothing, which is what she feels her marriage is. Under the tree, she puts only one gift for her husband, divorce papers, wrapped very nicely with a bow and everything.

She leaves him, taking her broken heart and her dignity (plus a chunk of his fortune) with her.

Aiden knows he’s lost the woman who was his reason for living—and if he doesn’t fight for her now, he’ll lose her forever. He wants a second chance, but Mia’s love isn’t unconditional anymore. If he wants her back, he’ll have to prove he’s the man she—and their future—deserve.

Truth & Tinsel is an emotional marriage-in-crisis romance and features your favorite tropes:

• Marriage in Crisis
• Betrayal & Grovel
• Other Woman Drama
• Infidelity (a kiss)
• Holiday/Christmas
• Complete Standalone
• HEA (between the main couple)

Trigger Warning: In this story, the hero shares a kiss with another woman, witnessed by the heroine. If infidelity is painful or triggering for you, please take care of yourself and skip this book. Your well-being always matters more than a story.

©2025 Maya Alden (P)2025 Maya Alden

What Groveling Should Look Like

My first 5⭐️ read of 2026! Also new to me author! I absolutely LOVED Mia and Aiden’s story. It’s raw, emotional and just felt relatable, with the exception of Aidan’s family money. Aiden betrays Mia in one of the most heartbreaking ways, and I have to say the man worked to prove himself. Infidelity is in my opinion something you can rarely come back from, but he did it. The biggest thing is because he took accountability and put in the work. Mia saw this coming for the last couple of years, but nothing prepared her for seeing her husband kiss another woman. But how she plotted and executed her departure was seriously GOLD. She chose herself and I loved her for that. She stumbled in her grief and was so honest, I loved her for it all. I loved that this showed what love looks like, can turn into and what you can do when you put the work in. I felt every emotion while listening to their story and it was a beautiful story.

Read: Audible 🎧
MMC: Aiden Winter
FMC: Mia Winter
Spice: 2🌶️
Tropes: Marriage in Crisis, OWD/Infidelity (emotional/kiss), Second Chance, Holiday, Betrayal/Groveling

Emotional listen

These narraters did an excellent job of bringing these characters to life. This story was emotionally. Some parts made me teary eyed. This story of a couple who lost their way then found themselves again. Also found a new family of friends. You will love listening to this book. The narrators did an awesome job. I recommend everyone listen to this book you will not be disappointed.

Marriage in Crisis’s Second Chance

It blows my mind when people pick up a book knowing the tropes and then complain about the tropes. It clearly says: cheating, OW drama, marriage in crisis. If those aren’t for you… don’t read it. Simple. Because I? I ate this UP.

Mia catches her husband kissing his associate and that moment is the final push she needs to walk away. They used to be perfect, but somewhere along the way he chose the family business over their marriage and became someone she barely recognizes. When she serves him divorce papers (ICONIC scene), it finally cracks his blinders. He starts to see just how toxic his family and he himself have become.

Desperate, he begs for 8 dates to prove they still belong together… in exchange for the divorce. I really enjoyed this book. You get emotion, grovel, angst… everything I LOVE in a book!

Tropes:
Marriage in Crisis
OW drama
Age Gap
Angst
Grovel
Slow Burn

⚠️TW⚠️
Cheating- kissing
Toxic family
Death of a parent figure
Infertility

Truth and tinsel

Loved this book. The Christmas showdown was epic! Aiden knows he screwed up by kissing another woman, and starts to see how he and his family have treated Mia badly. He does the work to show he has grown

Very Good

I've read all of Maya Alden's work because I love the angst. BUT I always find it had to rate more than 3 stars because of the direction she takes her heroines in the third act. They always start off traumatized, always meek, and when the love interest comes along he is ALWAYS the worst possible man (irredeemable IMHO). Then the heroine proceeds to make concession, after concession, after concession. Rinse repeat. But not in this book. I was riveted to all the drama here, and impressed by the heroine (Mia) she didn't take any crap, and she was ruthless in her self care. Plus, when it came time to forgive the hero (Aidan actually earned it) she did that graciously too. Overall this was a great marriage in trouble story. The emotional explorations were on point. The side characters added depth. And best of all the hero became so sooo devoted. He lost his way and found it again perfectly.