Amber Kuhlman Thielman:Scandalous

MainCharacters

Renee Lyon: Renee is a determined and resilient nursing student with a traumatic past. She is compassionate and dedicated to her studies and her patients. Her past experiences with bullying have made her strong, but also cautious in her interactions with others. She has close relationships with her roommates, Jami and Carly, and forms a complicated connection with Jason, a fellow student.

Matt Nelson: Matt is one of Renee's high school bullies. He is confident, charismatic, and often manipulative. Despite his past actions, he shows moments of vulnerability that hint at a more complex character. He is closely associated with his friends, Aaron and Jake, who were also involved in bullying Renee.

Renee and Matt's Development: Renee and Matt's relationship is fraught with tension and unresolved issues from their past. As they encounter each other again in university, they are forced to confront their shared history. Renee's journey involves overcoming her trauma and finding her strength, while Matt's character arc explores themes of redemption and self-awareness.

Main Themes

'Scandalous' explores themes of trauma, recovery, and the complexities of human relationships. Through the interactions between Renee and her former bullies, the novel delves into the impact of past experiences on present behavior and the possibility of forgiveness and personal growth.

Hot Chapters

Chapter 1: Renee

The party was loud. Too loud. Music blasted over the speakers, vibrating the house’s walls until it was physically and emotionally jarring. The smell of liquor and marijuana hung in the air, assaulting my nose and throat. I didn’t want to be there, but I would be for him. I shouldered my way into the crowded kitchen, scanning the faces to find the one I was looking for. He said he’d be here waiting for me.

Chapter 2: Renee

“Lyon, we’ve got a two-car collision. Three injured victims and one DoS. ETA, five minutes out.” “Got it.” I took the last bite of my apple and tossed it into the garbage pail behind the desk before following my attending physician, Doctor Shaffer, into the ambulance bay. Pulling on a pair of medical gloves, I grabbed a gurney and wheeled it through the doors just as the ambulance pulled up, lights flashing.

Chapter 3: Renee

The sky was darkening when my last class ended, and I walked to my campus housing in the cold. My fingers were numb and tingling, even though our house was less than two blocks from the largest lecture hall on campus. It was only autumn, but in Denver, fall was cold. Like, freezing.

Chapter 4: Matt

“Hey, handsome, could I get you another round? On the house.” I looked up at the bartender who had spoken. She was cute, this one, a hippy of sorts, with dark dreadlocks and striking blue eyes. She was smiling at me, dimpled cheeks dramatic under the pale light of the barroom. I glanced at the name tag near her perky breasts—Alyssa.

Chapter 5: Renee

I was ready to go home before we even sat down, but I’d promised myself that the start of my senior semester wouldn’t be as lame as high school was. I could be a whole new person here, someone extraordinary, someone fun. No more know-it-all, Four-Eyed-Lyon, school loser, and village idiot. God, I hated high school.