College Romance Part I

When I finally looked up from my Kindle after a week of binge reading the first four books of After by Anna Todd; I found my house a mess along with a neglected husband. Saying I was addicted to this series would be an understatement. I read whenever possible, and I mean whenever! I read while getting ready in the morning, during my lunch at work and especially when I got home. I put off any of my responsibilities for the week to focus on Hardin and Tessa’s story. I had to know what happened next! When I finally looked up from my Kindle after a week of binge reading the first four books of After by Anna Todd; I found my house a mess along with a neglected husband. Saying I was addicted to this series would be an understatement. I read whenever possible, and I mean whenever! I read while getting ready in the morning, during my lunch at work and especially when I got home. I put off any of my responsibilities for the week to focus on Hardin and Tessa’s story. I had to know what happened next!

Anna Todd started the series on Wattpadd, and with enough readers she was able to transfer her story into five novels. The tale began as a fan fiction based around Harry Styles from One Direction. Harry Styles is a sexy singer, I won’t attempt to lie to you. However, One Direction was after my time for boy bands. N*SYNC and Backstreet Boys will always have my heart. When the story was shifted to a novel, the main character’s name was changed. Thus, was born our beloved Hardin Scott. Oh, and was I charmed by Hardin Scott! Anna took the physical features of Harry Styles (tattoos and long hair included), kept his British accent, and gave him a couple facial piercings. Since I’m no longer a young 20-year-old, I imagined Hardin a little older for my own selfish reasons. I attempted to keep the persona of Anna Todd’s Hardin Scott in my head, and for the most part I could apart from the facial piercings. I know we’ve seen the repeated cliché of the young innocent virgin meets the mysterious bad boy (50 Shades of Grey, Twilight, Cruel Intentions, etc.). Let’s be honest it sells!

The first book in the series is about an innocent new college student, Tessa Young meets an older corrupt British boy with a past, Hardin Scott. The series is full of dramatic fights and followed by heated sexual scenes. I like to call a series such as this a ‘guilty pleasure’ since there were some moments that were so fiery, heat would rise to my cheeks. I would have to take a moment to look up from the novel and look around the room, because if anyone knew what I was reading, they would think I was a sex-crazed woman.

The fights between Hayden Scott and Tessa Young reminded me so much of my college romance. The kind of romance where you want to spend every waking hour with one another. The kind of first fights where one of you dramatically runs out the door, and then you wait for your lover to run after you. You drive each other crazy so much so, that someone punches a wall just to get out how passionately they’re feeling. Looking back, it seems so melodramatic, yet at that moment in time this was your perception of love. You’re in love, and you’re supposed to fight like hell to stay together. Even though these stories seem a little extreme, I think everyone can look back to a time in their lives when we had an intense, maybe even toxic relationship, and that’s what makes this story so relatable.

Written by Meagen Carone

Edited by Kristen Smith