Cold Hard Truth by Anne Greenwood Brown

🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:

Emmie O’Brien is a former good girl now on the fringe. She spent a crazy year involved with Nick, her mom’s drug dealer; after her arrest she was lucky to go back to her old life. But she’s haunted by the choices she made—first, to be with Nick, and then later, to testify against him. Max Shepherd is a senior varsity hockey player with serious anger issues. His grief over the death of his girlfriend causes him to see injustice wherever he looks. When they meet in community service, Max is drawn to Emmie’s calm energy, but Emmie knows better than to get too close to anyone. When friends of Nick show up seeking revenge, Emmie is forced to come to terms with her past, while Max has to control his protective instincts. They must trust one another, especially when Emmie’s situation takes a dangerous turn.

*This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

I had my doubts about this book but it turned out to have more depth to it than I thought that it would. I thought that Emmie's past was an interesting focal point to the story. I would have liked for the author to have gone into even more detail about it because it seemed so different from what I have seen before. The lengths that Emmie went to for her mother and that fact that she didn't blame her mother at all was saint like to me....or just naive. It was hard to get a complete read on Emmie for much of the story. I wasn't sure if she was in a relationship with Nick or if he was forced onto her. That aspect of the story was confusing and I wasn't sure if it was meant to be or not. I also had a hard time believing the "dangerous turn" portion of the story because in the real world things would not have gone down that way that I know of. I did think that the rest of the danger involved in the story was believable and therefore served to bring more tension into the book. I thought that Max was an interesting addition to the book because he was a flawed knight. He had anger issues that made him act without thinking but he only wanted to help people. He was also not a typical jock which I found refreshing. I enjoy when a character surprises me and doesn't turn out to be who I think they are at first glance.