Review: After Math by Denise Grover Swank
After Math
by Denise Grover Swank
Publication Date: March 12, 2013
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: New Adult
Synopsis:
Scarlett Goodwin’s world is divided into Before and
After.
Before she agreed to tutor Tucker price, college
junior Scarlett was introvert, struggling with her social anxiety disorder and
determined to not end up living in a trailer park like her mother and her
younger sister. A mathematics major, she goes to her classes, to her job in the
tutoring lab, and then hides in the apartment she shares with her friend,
Caroline.
After junior Tucker Price, Southern University’s
star soccer player enters the equation, her carefully plotted life is thrown
off its axis. Tucker’s failing his required College Algebra class. With his
eligibility is at risk, the university chancellor dangles an expensive piece of
computer software for the math department if Scarlett agrees to privately tutor
him. Tucker’s bad boy, womanizer reputation makes Scarlett wary of any contact,
let alone spending several hours a week in close proximity.
But from her first encounter, she realizes Tucker
isn’t the person everyone else sees. He carries a mountain of secrets which she
suspects hold the reason to his self-destructive behavior. But the deeper she
delves into the cause of his pain, the deeper she gets sucked into his chaos.
Will Scarlett find the happiness she’s looking for, or will she be caught in
Tucker’s aftermath?
My Review:
My Rating: 4/5 stars
I really enjoyed this book. So much that I devoured it in a span of just a few hours. This was one of those books where my stomach clenched at every sign of trouble/conflict. The two main characters are so completely broken due to their pasts and I was just waiting for the anguish and heartbreak.
I'm so glad Denise Grover Swank went in the direction that she did. My heart wouldn't have been able to take it any other way!
I really felt for Scarlett. She is shy, antisocial, and succumbs to panic/anxiety attacks. These things really prevent her from truly living and experiencing life. She is a mathematics major and she loves the stability and set of rules that comes with Math, all things that she didn't have in her younger years living with her mother and sister.
She meets Tucker Price and her world is completely turned upside down. She recognizes a kindred soul and can't help but feel compassion for him. She sees beyond his cocky, arrogant demeanor and is able to strip him down to his barest defenses. The two really struggle with letting the other in, but still manage to form a friendship. I think their friendship played a huge part in the book because relationships are built on trust and had they not built that foundation first, they never would have gotten to where they did.
Oh Tucker. I love him and I want one for myself. I loved her dedication at the beginning of the novel: "To my daughters: May you find your own Tuckers". Sure, he made mistakes, as guys most often do, but for the first time he found someone he could open up to and share the pain of his past with. He loved that Scarlett always told him the truth of what she thought and that she didn't like him because he was some big shot soccer star. She liked him because of his vulnerability and his tenderness to her.
There is another guy in the novel who is interested in Scarlett and I really like that she recognizes that as nice and good of a guy that he is (though I didn't think so- I thought he was pushy and a jerk) she didn't get the butterflies and the tingles that she thought was supposed to come from kissing a guy you really like. I really respect that she keeps him at arm's length because deep down she knows she *should* have those feelings.
All in all, I thought this was a beautiful book of falling in love, learning to overcome your past, and move forward to find healing.
About the Author
Denise Grover Swank lives in Lee's Summit, Missouri.
She’s a gypsy who can’t live in one place too long or stay in one genre. She
writes contemporary romance, urban fantasies without vampires and werewolves,
young adult science fiction, and romantic comedy mysteries set in the south.
Denise has six children, three dogs, and an overactive imagination. She can be
found dancing in her kitchen with her children, reading, or writing her next
book. You will rarely find her cleaning.
4 comments
ooo this sounds really cool! Defo going to have to check this one out! :)
ReplyDeleteTheir meeting is definitely reminiscent of Wait For You by J.Lynn, and I was little irked by that, but otherwise it was a quick, light NA read!
DeleteI missed out on the blog tour for this one but I think this is a book I would really like too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my WOW!
BTW- I really love your blog design :)
Thanks Nereyda! :)
DeleteLeave me some comment love! And I will get around to commenting back!
My blog is an award-free blog, however, as I just do not have the time to follow-up.