Cold Hard Truth

February 1, 2018
Emmie O'Brien will do anything to help her meth-addicted mother get a fix, including robbing a convenience store with her boyfriend, Nick, who also happens to be her mother's dealer.When they're arrested (note to Nick: never put a brand-new driver behind the wheel of the getaway car), Emmie strikes a plea bargain that includes testifying against him. The threat of payback hovers over Emmie as she returns to high school and tries to get her life back on track. Enter hotshot varsity hockey player Max Shepherd, who also lives in the shadow of a past trauma. Emmie hate-likes Max from the start, ogling his muscles while simultaneously thinking he's a conceited jerk. Meanwhile, Emmie's calmness intrigues Max; just being near her tames his violent, reactive nature. Though she repeatedly asks him to stop touching her, Max continually invades her personal space, refusing to respect her boundaries and refusals. Despite this, Emmie gradually warms up to Max as they become close friends and eventually fall in love. The third-person narration alternates between Emmie and Max. The prose is lackluster, the characters bland. Everyone appears to be white with the exception of a minor character who is black.The cold hard truth: skip this one. (Fiction. 15-18)

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February 1, 2018

Gr 10 Up-Emmie is living with her dad again after a traumatic year with her mom. She took a plea deal requiring a lot of community service and testifying against her mom's drug dealer, Nick. On her community service, Emmie meets bad-boy hockey player Max. He is instantly taken with Emmie, who isn't interested. After a series of encounters, Max and Emmie's feelings for each other grow, following a predictable relationship plotline. Imprisoned Nick looms large as his friends continue to threaten Emmie. Max and Emmie are slow to trust each other and reveal their troubled pasts, yet are ultimately able to overcome their fears together. There are descriptions of drug use and nongraphic discussion about rape and assault. Brown creates balance between the thriller aspects of Nick's revenge and the romance between the teens, which keeps the narrative engaging. VERDICT A good purchase for libraries seeking redemptive bad-boy romances.-Cyndi Hamann, Crystal Lake Public Library, IL

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2018
Grades 9-12 Emmie O'Brien spent a year in chaos while living with her drug-addicted mother. After some time in jail, Emmie tries to return to a normal life, living with her dad. Her first day back at her old school proves unexpectedly interesting when she meets Max, a hockey player who takes a strong liking to Emmiemuch to her chagrin. When her mother's drug dealer, Nick, comes for revenge after Emmie testifies against him, she acknowledges her intense romantic feelings for Max and realizes how much she needs him. Brown's latest is brimming with passion and suspense as Emmie and Max fight their demons of emotional abuse and anger management and become closer romantically. Reminiscent of Katie McGarry's Say You'll Remember Me (2018), the book reveals Emmie's emotional abuse from Nick that she has to overcome as she tries to open her heart to Max. With a gripping plot from the beginning, Brown's enticing novel reads from both Max's and Emmie's perspectives as they both slowly reveal their pasts.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)