Subtext or Switch

Garrett can build an application from scratch. Apparently, he can’t read a book.

At thirty-one, Garrett has the career, the talent, and none of the academic credentials employers insist he needs. Going back to college should be a formality.

Then Introduction to Literature hands him a D-plus.

His only hope is Maren Hale, the brilliant nineteen-year-old goth sitting three rows ahead of him. She understands symbolism, unreliable narrators, and exactly how to make a stubborn programmer pay attention.

Her tutoring sessions take place in a candlelit office inside her family’s funeral home. Her methods involve difficult questions, ruthless corrections, and a leather switch Garrett should find much more alarming than he does.

The better his answers become, the more interesting his rewards get.

Garrett only wanted to pass the class.

Now he wants to be Maren’s favorite student.