ARC Review: ‘Cold Hard Truth’ by Eva Simmons
I received a complimentary copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Cold Hard Truth
by Eva SimmonsSeries: Twisted Roses #3
Published by Self-Published on May 17, 2024
SubGenres: Contemporary Romance, Dark Romance
Format: eArc
Pages: 389
Source: the author
Audience: 18+/Adult
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Years on the run taught me fate always catches up. And that’s what happened when Sage Jackson found me.
My destiny. My keeper. My father’s enforcer.
Sage owes the club a favor, and now that I’m back, it’s his time to pay up. My freedom for his. A task he’s happy to accept when I’m the reason his father is dead.
Sage swears to protect me.To guard me.To keep his hands off me.
He thinks showing me his dark side will make breaking the rules easier to resist.
But the truth is, he isn’t the only one with scars and secrets. And I prefer being at the mercy of a beast over the boredom of dating a prince.
After reading Sage and Lyla’s story, I was an emotional mess, and I needed a few days to think about what to write about in my review of this book. I’ve read pretty much every one of Eva Simmons’s books and loved every one of them in different ways. Cold Hard Truth, though, tugged on my heartstrings and broke my heart at times, and I can, without a doubt, say that Sage and Lyla’s story will be the top favorite in the Twisted Roses series. This is coming from someone who loved the first two books in the series, but there was something about Sage and Lyla that I will never be able to get over what they endured to have their HEA finally.
After reading Cold Hard Truth, I now understood why Sage was the way he was in the first two books and why the others gave him a hard time. He was trying everything to forget what happened in the past and also get over the one girl who walked away from him years ago. Now, the girl who broke his heart is back, and someone is determined to finish what they started years ago. It’s up to Sage to find out who wants to hurt Lyla and protect her, especially since she’s the Twisted Kings MC President’s daughter.
Lyla’s character was a strong one, and I felt for her, especially after what she endured. She knew from the beginning that her life would never be easy and that her father’s enemies would always target her, which is why she escaped when she did to get away from it all, including the one person who would do anything for her. She never thought she would be pushed back to the MC world when someone was out to harm her again. She’ll be forced under Sage’s protection by her father, and it won’t be easy for either of them. The issue is those feelings they had for one another will come back in full force, and this time, there’s no stopping it, especially when fate has plans for them.
Eva gave us past and present moments between the characters and how they ended up meeting. What I loved most, though, was how Eva is setting up for her MC series, which is coming later in the year. The Twisted Kings MC is a central part of the story that plays a significant role in the characters’ lives. She’s only touched a bit about the Twisted Kings in the previous books in the Twisted Roses series, but in Sage and Lyla’s book, we get more into the MC world and the characters to come.
I’m going to admit that I was not prepared for what happened in this book, and I wish I had had tissues on hand. Eva’s writing style, which is raw and emotionally charged, made the events in the book even more impactful. I ended up rereading that chapter to make sure I was reading it right because there was no way Eva would do that to her characters. No way, but she did, and I wasn’t well afterward. I needed a hug from my husband, who didn’t even ask why I needed a hug because he already assumed it was due to the book I was reading.
Eva is one author who definitely makes her characters go through a lot before they can eventually have a HEA. I don’t even know how she managed to write and get through the scenes in this book because if I was crying, she had to be crying, too. I can’t wait to see where Eva takes us in the last book in the Twisted Roses series, especially when she gives us a sneak peek of what is coming.
Sage and Lyla’s forbidden love story was heart-wrenching, action-packed, spicy, and unforgettable. I give it five stars, but I wish I could give it more.
If you haven’t read the Twisted Roses series, you are missing out.
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About Eva Simmons
Eva Simmons writes hot, heartbreaking romance with complex heroines, and broken, dirty-talking bad boys who fall hard for them.
When Eva isn’t dreaming up new worlds or devouring every book she can get her hands on, she can be found spending time with her family, painting a fresh canvas, or playing an elf in World of Warcraft.
Eva is currently living out her own happily ever after in Nevada with her family.
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My obsession with reading started over 30+ years ago when I went to my first Scholastic Book Fair and found R.L. Stine's Fear Street series. Later, I came across Anne Rice's novels at my public library when I was fourteen when my obsession with vampires started. I was the girl who preferred to be a vampire over a princess any day. My husband says I would leave him a heartbeat for a vampire that looked like Spike or Angel (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries. (It's true, though, and he's accepted it.)
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