Review/Giveaway ~ Hard Knox by Nicole Williams

Title: Hard Knox
Author: Nicole Williams
Series: The Outsider Chronicles #1

Genre: NA Contemporary Romance

Published: August 12th 2014

Knox Jagger. The name inspires resent in every male at Sinclair University, want in every female, and contempt in Charlie Chase.

Charlie can be summed up in three words: independent, independent, and independent. To Charlie, Knox epitomizes everything that’s wrong with college males: prolific one-night stands, drunken senseless fights, and a body that hints at prioritizing gym time over study time.

As an up-and-coming writer for Sinclair University’s newspaper, Charlie’s tasked with getting to the bottom of who’s been dropping little white pills into girls’ drinks at parties. In an ocean of All-American boys sporting polo shirts and innocent smiles, Knox is the obvious suspect. As evidence piles up against the bad boy of Sinclair, Charlie becomes more and more certain it isn’t Knox. But when her drink is dosed at a party and she wakes up on Knox’s couch the next morning, Charlie’s left with more questions than answers when it comes to Knox Jagger.

How can Charlie ever hope to uncover the truth behind a guy so closed off he’s become . . .

Hard Knox.

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I have read some of Nicole Williams’ books before, so I was keen to start this new series of hers. She introduced me to some amusing characters that continuously bicker and had me in stitches more often than not.

Charlie is a strong, independent girl and she really doesn’t let things affect her. She is the type of girl who has strong opinions and will get answers to her questions no matter what. She is studying to become a journalist and while on one of her assignments, she meets Knox Jagger. He has the reputation of a bad boy; always in trouble and has girls always vying for his attention. When Charlie finds herself it trouble, Knox is the one who swoops in to save the day.

I enjoyed the way Charlie and Knox interacted; they often verbally sparred with one another and I would chuckle about it. You could see a great connection forming with them and I had my fingers crossed that they would get their act together. Knox turned a little alpha-maleish on Charlie, and it wasn’t until I got his full story that I understood why. Getting to see Knox’s full picture showed me what a great guy he really is. It also showed that you need to get to know someone properly and not just to believe the rumours, because they are often not fully true.

While I really enjoyed the read, I felt that it was a bit start/stopish for my liking. Big gaps of time were skipped over and so the book seemed a little rushed to be finished. I understand that the author wanted to wrap the story up in one book, and to others it might be fine, but I would've like to see more in this time. I also picked the culprit early on, and just wanted to yell at Charlie to keep her wits about her. The seriousness of the storyline had me hooked though and I was flipping the pages to see how it all ended. Hard Knox was a great beginning to the Outsider Chronicles and I am looking forward to more.

Complimentary copy provided by the Author in exchange for an honest review.

I’m the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the CRASH series (HarperTeen, S&S UK), LOST & FOUND series, UP IN FLAMES (S&S UK), The EDEN TRILOGY, and a handful of others. I write stories about everyday kinds of people who find themselves in extraordinary kinds of situations. I tell love stories with happy endings because I believe in making the world a better place, and that’s one tiny way I can make it so. I’m one of those people who still believe in true love and soul mates, and would rather keep my head in the clouds any day over having my feet firmly on the ground.

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Nicole is running a giveaway on her FACEBOOK PAGE.
Head over there to enter the Rafflecopter to win 
A signed copy of Hard Knox
and 
A $50 Amazon Giftcard!
Click HERE to go directly to the giveaway.



Other reviews featuring Nicole Williams

Lost and Found series
Lost and Found #1
Near and Far #2
Finders Keepers #3