Fault by Nicola Hudson

This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.

Fault by Nicola Hudson
Series: Define #3
Published by Self-Published on October 21st 2016
Genres: Coming of Age, Contemporary, Issues, New Adult, Romance
Pages: 237
Format: eARC
Source: Author, Purchased from Amazon
Buy on Amazon US • Buy on Amazon UK
Goodreads
five-stars

Nobody’s perfect.

We all have our faults.

GRACE DAWSON is desperate. Her father is dead and her mum is in prison for killing the man who attacked her. She is about to turn eighteen and homeless. Her options are limited. Life is bleak.

NOAH CARTER is twenty-four, a writer, and burdened by his family responsibilities. Forced to live in the same small town he grew up in, he knows it would be wrong to wish for a different life.

When Noah offers Grace a place to stay, it is an act of generosity that she has little choice but to accept. As they spend time together, their feelings grow beyond friendship and they become increasingly important parts of each other’s lives. But it’s not just their lives they have to think about and the challenges they face threaten to overwhelm their relationship. Both make mistakes but can they overcome their own faults to forgive each other’s?

FAULT is a story about love, loss, family and forgiveness. It’s a story about life.

fault
noun [folt]
1. A flaw or defect which prohibits perfection.
2. A weakness or defect in character.
3. Responsibility for a mistake or wrongdoing.
4. (verb) To find error in; to blame.

Fault is the third novel in Nicola Hudson’s Define series but can be read as a standalone from Curve and Heart, although it does contain spoilers if read out of sequence.

Reviewed by Joanne

*I received an E-ARC in exchange for review*

Fault is the third and final book in the Define trilogy. Each book is written as a standalone story, but as it includes the same characters in all three books, and possible spoilers, I would recommend you read them in the order they were written.

This is Grace’s story, and what a story it is! Grace has already been introduced in Heart, as Jake’s younger sister. I already knew she didn’t have the best of childhoods from that short glimpse, but in this story, she faces even more heartache. At 17, on the cusp of her 18th birthday, Grace is at rock bottom and more alone than ever.

I was drawn into the story from the first page, it hits the ground running as it starts off with a pretty harrowing scene, leaving Grace with nowhere to go, and no one to turn to. Separated from mother and her younger brother Josh, and held in limbo by the welfare system due to her rapidly approaching birthday, she is completely on her own. Her only release from the horrible situation she is in comes in the form of a part-time job, and a perfectly lovely young man called Noah.

Ah Noah, what can I say about him? Well, just like the other leading men in Nicola Hudson’s books, he is perfect book boyfriend material. Hudson writes wonderful men. Period. Noah is 24, and a writer. And like Grace, life has also dealt him a few bad hands. He could be bitter, but he isn’t at all. He’s kind, thoughtful, and very sensitive to Grace’s needs. He’s there to be a friend, someone for her to lean on, a shoulder to cry on and provide much needed support. And of course, the closer they get, they begin to develop feelings that are more than just friendship.

Now, I also have to mention Max. Oh, how I loved Max, Noah’s father. I loved the relationship between father and son, the way they interacted was so touching. He didn’t have much dialogue, but when he did have something to say, it made an impact. I also loved seeing the characters from Curve and Heart make cameos in this story. Cass and Flynn are my favourite couple from this series, and it was nice to see them pop up again.

While I was sad to say goodbye to the characters of this series, I have loved every moment of this journey. I have laughed, I’ve swooned, and I’ve cried. Nicola Hudson has created wonderful characters, people that I fell in love with, and who stole my heart.

About Nicola Hudson

Nicola Hudson is a British writer who discovered what was becoming known as New Adult fiction the same week she downloaded the Kindle app; within a week she was hooked into a one-clicking frenzy. After reading Hopeless by Colleen Hoover and Easy by Tammara Webber, the urge to write her own novel, but with a British slant, was overwhelming.

Her first novel, Curve, was published in 2013 and her second novel, Heart, was published a year later. Although romance is an important part of Curve and Heart, readers will know that Nicola also writes about serious, some may say dark, issues and their impact on young women. This theme continues in the final book of the Define series, Fault. She works full-time with teenagers and so it seemed like a natural step to write about them as well.

Nicola lives close to Birmingham, England with her husband and cat. When not writing, she is reading. When not reading, she is probably reading about reading, flicking between social media sites and Goodreads. Probably with a bar of chocolate at hand.

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