Book Summary

Tessa Young is a good girl. She is smart, kind and hard working. Her life has always been easy and safe, and she liked that. Tessa was never looking for excitement or thrill, until she found herself in a room alone with the gorgeous Hardin Scott. 

What seemed to be an innocent game of truth of dare may end up being more dangerous than Tessa could have imagined. 

Hardin’s British accent, bad boy persona, cocky attitude and tattoo covered arms immediately intrigues Tessa. But, Hardin is a bad influence. He makes Tessa bend the rules and discover a rebellious side she never knew she had. Hardin also made it clear to Tessa that he does not date. He rarely shows his emotions, and it makes Tessa want to discover the real Hardin Scott, the one underneath all the tattoos and piercings. 

They may constantly fight and annoy each other, but there’s an undying spark that neither of them can deny. Torn by her feelings, Tessa must figure out whether Hardin is worth the potential heartbreak or not.  

Personal Opinion

I read this book after I had watched the After movie, and I loved the movie because the storyline was simple and realistic. I fell in love with Tessa and Hardin’s relationship and wanted to know more about it, so I read the book with high expectations. 

Hardin Scott is not the type of guy I would usually like to read about. I don’t typically like guys with tattoos and piercings, but Hardin’s bad boy vibe was really intriguing. I found myself wanting to know more about his mysterious character and having so many questions about him. Why was he so rude? What happened to make him so emotionless? Is he capable of loving someone? I could relate to Tessa in the way that we both wanted to figure Hardin out. 

I am still not sure how I feel about Tessa’s character. Part of me really liked her because she was so normal and relatable, but I love a strong female role and she wasn’t that. My favorite female characters are stubborn, confident and stand up for themselves. Tessa would let Hardin say rude remarks towards her and she would not defend herself, which irritated me because I wanted her to put him in his place. She also fell in love with Hardin too quickly for my liking. It took me basically the entire book to finally love Hardin but Tessa liked him from the moment she saw him which I don’t find super appealing in a character. The build-up in a relationship is the best part in a book, but the build-up between their relationship felt nonexistent. I felt like they had just met and then all of the sudden she was confessing her love for him. 

While I still liked the book for its simplicity, I just wish their relationship took more time to develop. Overall, if you like romantic novels then you would enjoy this easy read. It did not fail to keep me entertained and intrigued by the spark between Tessa and Hardin.