Outcast

Wiltshire University #1

by Lucie V. Ande

When I entered the lottery to have my application fee waived for a shot at attending Wiltshire University I never thought I would get in. I mean, Wiltshire University is THE University; you know, the one that people would literally cut off their left arm to get into. No really, it was a thing. There was this whole expose a decade ago about a kid who cut off their left arm thinking it would make them a shoo-in with the admissions board. It didn’t. He ended up at Duke. It's a real cautionary tale. Anyways, when the acceptance packet arrived, I thought it was a fluke, or I was on a reboot of Punkd; I was totally not signing that release. Well, either Ashton 2.0 is playing the long game, or my acceptance was real. Either way, I left my two best friends behind to become a Gryphaera; everything was falling into place for me to have an amazing life.

Was. I’ve been at Wiltshire for a few weeks now and my only friends here are the ladies who swipe my ID card in the dining hall. I mean, you know us girls with our besties, we are always all “Next.” “Hi! Sorry, I had my ID just a second ago. Boiling out there today, huh? Ok, well, thanks. Have a nice day!”. I dare you to claim I'm not killing it in the friend department. Fine, it's pathetic; I know. Not as pathetic as lying to everyone back home about how great things are here at Wiltshire. Oh, and I somehow got myself evicted from my dorm, like, while I was at class; or I walked right into a quarantined building. I'm a little fuzzy on the details. Is that a side effect of the plague? I should google that... Plus, bonus, someone is leaving me taunting voicemails and cryptic notes. See! Killing it in the friend department! That's how I found myself scouring the isolated underground tunnel of Wiltshire’s historic bell tower, because a note told me to. Have I mentioned I'm totes brilliant? That’s where I meet him; in the tunnel, not in the blinding light of my brilliance. That’s where my life really changes.

Outcast is the first book in the new Wiltshire University series; a New Adult/Young Adult, slow burn, reverse harem.

585 pages

Available on Kindle, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Google Play Books. The links for Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Google Play Books are currently connecting you to the respective storefront. Search: Outcast (Wiltshire University Book 1) to get to the book or follow these links:

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Genres: Slow Burn, College, Contemporary, Mystery Thriller, Contemporary Romance

585 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 29, 2019

Reviews

[Marguerite (M)]

My first RH in months and I enjoyed it. Incredible, right?

Outcast has been on my tbr list for a while now, since its publication I believe. But as it was not on KU and my broke ass can definitely not afford to buy everything I would like to read, I checked regularly until the world SALE came knocking on my door.

Outcast is nothing original if I am being perfectly honest but it goes with a scenario à la Ghost Bird I always enjoy: Girl meets boys when having a rough day and boys decide to adopt her like she's a stray puppy. Sign me in.


+ the number of pages is probably my favorite thing about the book: 500+ pages are not the average in the RH world.

+ the heroine is sometimes pretty smart and leaves the RH damsel-in-distress usual mold. She does stand her ground against the Overbearing Caveman and no, she will not accept a designer purse from a total stranger especially when said total stranger has a girlfriend -or not, we still don't know.

+ she's also sometimes dangerously dumb and would most likely be the first character to die in a horror movie if it wasn't for her Female Lead Halo.

+ the book has a lot of friendship and does not entirely revolve around her future band of merry men. Cali has her best friends from forever she chat with often and her new multi genders clique. Cali is not only the protagonist but also the real center of Outcast and her life is not written just for her harem.


As entertaining as the story was, I had a real issue with the writing and particularly when it came to Hoyt and Braxton. Not that the writing was bad -far from it- but sometimes a bit too heavy, especially in the beginning. But reading Hoyt and Braxton was torture as all of their sentences were written with their accent: I had to skip most of their dialogues to push back a growing headache. Perhaps was it due to my non English speaker native status and my unfamiliarity with the different accents? But in any case, it was very difficult to decrypt and not a very fun moment.


But all is good as I am for sure looking forward the next book!

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wait, what? I'm the first review? Does my kindle explode with confetti? No? I guess I need the $500 kindle for that.

Ok so I LOVE this book! Like I was all up in this book when I should have been doing other things like sleeping love this book. You've got Cali, your FMC who finds herself totally isolated at her college, which is like a rich ivy league type school. For some reason people want her gone and move her out and she doesn't start making friends until she has to track down all her stolen stuff. There a bunch of guys from to different groups and I can't tell who is going to make the cut, or maybe they all make the cut, but I hope not because I'm not really feeling all of them. Cali has a pretty solid back bone even if she does come across insecure at times. She isn't ultra rich like she describes the other students at the school, but I get the sense she is like regular middle class. She had everything she needed for school even if she is worried about money, so this doesn't seem to be one of those poor broken orphan is rescued by rich guys who can't get enough of her type of thing. Plus she mentions parents, so definitely not an orphan. She doesn't want to call her parents when things go down, but her best friends from childhood seem to feel like she should. So I guess that means she isn't abused and seeking any love and affection she can get, and she is definitely super close with her friends from home, so that's good. I always cringe a little and have to actively.ignore the voice screaming in my head that says no! These people need therapy before they can be in any relationship in so many reverse harem that seem to like to throw battered and broken people together. We don't know a ton about the guys, maybe they are the broken ones? Or no one is broken?

Oh, and for two of the guys their accents are written out so some of the words are written differently, like you and to. This took a hot second to get used to, and I was definitely like wait what a couple of times while I figured it out, but I wasn't noticing it by the end, and there are some long dialog sections where having the accents was nice because I didn't get lost with who was supposed to be speaking now. So I guess I kind of break even on this.

Mild spoilers ahead.

The book is super long, like more than double the normal reverse harem (well it says it's a reverse harem but nothing happens yet, but it also says it's a slow burn, so ok) but there are a lot of characters so I'm ok with it being longer and setting up all of the characters and the world. I hate when everyone meets and they are instantly like oh my god I love you and we are meant to be together as a group even though it flies in the face of every societal norm we've ever experienced. I love RH, you just need to take me along for the journey so I'm like well of course she is going to be with all of these dudes! It's the only logical path at this point. Anyways, it's long but it does a good job of not feeling like it's long just to be long, it's long because I'm getting to know the characters as they get to know each other along the way.

There are a few things that I'm like wait what who does that. Like Tanner bringing Cali to his place and then the guys all wanting to hang out with Cali and give her things. Like ok, maybe if you are a guy and you see a cute girl in need you are like oh you can stay at my place, but the whole and we all want to hang out with you? But I'm nitpicking, the characters obviously have to have some catalyst that pushes them together and weirder things have happened in college then a bunch of guys all wanting to hang out and buy things for a cute girl.

Oh and a couple of times Cali is all oh they could never like me. Ok, I get it, we all have insecurities, but still... at least she doesn't paint herself as the ugly duckling that no one likes and that no one has ever wanted, I always cringe so hard at that, she is just like I'm average and these guys are not. Ok. Fine.

And the school seemed waaaay too dismissive oh what happened, but then again I guess Cali doesn't end up where she is if everyone isn't like meh, so I guess that had to happen.

I was super stoked to see no man buns. I've had a lot of run ins with man buns recently. They arent sexy. Ever. Even on Jason Momoa (He makes an appearance, it's relevant). Can we all agree no more man buns ever.

Ok, back on point, I really enjoyed this book and I cant wait for the next one. If you're looking for a fast read, this isn't for you. If you are looking for sex around every corner, this is not your book. If you like slow burn RH you are probably down for this.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this had potential, but there were definitely some stumbling blocks for me. I can honestly chalk this up to that I think this is the author's first book, so I'm not going to write her off. But I think there is some room to grow.

The obliviousness of the heroine was annoying, frankly. Edging on TSTL. Every time someone did something nice for her, she immediately jumped to the conclusion that they must be making fun of her. When she meets Hoyt without either of them realizing who they were, when she finds out who he is she immediately jumps to that he must have been screwing around with her. Or when others on campus gossip about the prank played on her without knowing it happened to her, she's mortified and nearly sick that someone might know it happened to her. Why?? I guess "immature" is probably the best word I can come up with for her.

There was a good 2o-25% of the book in the middle that absolutely nothing happened. She woke up, got dressed, went to class, bought clothes, etc.



Basically the thread of the plot just wandered off for a bit, and I really started to skim after awhile before I tuned back in when things actually started happening.

There's lots of hints dropped that something is going on--the big mystery. Both about who played the prank on Cali, and also weird stuff happening. Like the cards in Cali's room, and how Tanner's car was so clean the morning after, the mysterious note-leaver in the beginning, etc. This was interesting, but it just trickled off onto nothing. It's like the pieces were laid down, but then they didn't start to tie together. Even if the mystery isn't actually revealed until subsequent books, the reader wants the clues to start forming into *something*.

And last, and this is entirely a personal pet peeve because some people like this, I *hate* when characters with accents talk phonetically. It is so hard to read!!

[Al · Rating 3 out of 5]

In actuality, I would give this book a 3.5. I like the evolving mystery of who played the prank on Cali. I loved all of Tanner's friends that we met. I want to be bffs with Bree, because she seems like a really cool person! I love how kind Tanner and (most of) his friends are.

The only thing I didn't like was Cali herself. She seemed very inconsistent. One minute she was snarky, the next she was needlessly apologizing for Tanner's and the guys' help. She also kept insisting that she had absolutely no clue as to why the girls in her dorm would do this to her. She was just a sweet, innocent person who no one had ever had a bad thing to say about her, ever. It drove me up a wall. She also seemed to vilify almost every other female she interacted with until halfway though the book. My theory (to the reason why the prank was pulled) is because she either came across as high and mighty because of how oblivious she is, she possibly "took" the scholarship away from someone else, or her parent's have some enemies. Also, we know next to nothing about her parents, which makes me wonder if they're secretly in the mob or some other shady business.

I loved how the guys were each their own individual with their own hilarious celebrity look alike code names. I can't wait to see how their characters develop in this series!

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up on a whim and boy am i glad i did. I fell in love with is book. It just sucked me in and i was up till 3:20 am this morning finishing it up. Cant wait to read the next one.

[Meg Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes you should buy this book and then get transported into this world what's fantastic writing and characters experience college all over again it was some mystery some intrigue and a lot of great characters

OMG it was so good. Now one of my favorite series. What a fantastic, well written, Slow Burn, that like puts you right into the story and puts you back into college LOL . So glad I read it and that it was a long book like double the size of decently sized to books I mean triple the size of some that I've seen put out. But it's great to have a long book especially when it's a slow burn like this it makes it extra satisfying. Now the great thing about a slow-burn is the character building this book does a wonderful job of introducing characters and giving them their own personalities introducing the world of this University taking the character from someone who is friend listened and Outcast so to speak what's a lot of people I think can relate to at the beginning of college some people may be instantly make friends or no people but at first for other people it's hard you know during the first couple weeks so I think this is a really good job of portraying that and it starts out with our main character having a so-called prank put on her but I think there's way more than that and that's how she starts meeting the guys that help her during the scavenger hunt of getting her stuff back let's and spread out all over campus one thing I like is they don't just hold it in they do like report it and everything. That's what's great about this book it doesn't frustrate you with why didn't they go to the administration why didn't they do this type of thing. It starts out with her talking in her head a lot which is important I think to give you a sense of the character then it goes into her meeting the guys in the friend group of upperclassmen that help her. But that's not it they're not just going to introduce her and build the harem after this initial encounter and her kind of getting her stuff back together she ends up deciding to put herself out there more because she made friends with them and got help from them and after that incident realizes she needs to try a bit harder to put herself out there and starts making girlfriends and other guy friends and starts getting that college experience which I really liked what they did there with that. So then there's some other guys that seemed to be into her so that's an interesting dynamic. She's kind of got two sets of friends as the series goes on and then she's got her home friends even they are very well developed. This is the type of book that kind of transports you into the world it transports you back to college you feel like you're right there with the character which makes it immensely satisfying to read because you've totally get lost in this world. It is so well written I love the series takes its time to get to know the characters and you can tell you know you definitely know the main character has crashes you can tell there's crashes around but they take the time I mean she calls some of them like Superman and a hybrid of Aquaman in Thor LOL my point is is that it's developing relationship she's developing these friendships and there are definitely precious and falls and there's characters you're wondering are they going to be part of this because they seem to be with somebody but maybe they're not they are some scholarship students but is the prestigious school and there's a lot of rich people so we're getting to know more into how connected some of these guys are and then there's somebody trying to sabotage her with a lot of stuff going on in that respect so there's just a lot of stuff going on a lot of plot in between getting to know all these characters and getting to have the college experience kind of through this character the series is just so enjoyable when I say it transports you it really does that transports you into this different world into college life at this prestigious School oh I forgot to mention there's a rivalry between the two universities in the town which is something else they say they have to be careful about and our main character has encountered them before so there's just like a lot of of potential of places for it to go a lot of stuff already happening and then create the world and characters where you want to sit back and read about the characters going to games and doing things together like going out for a drunken  pancakes at 3 a.m.. I will say so far Tanner is my fav I believe I'm also really liking the character from her class as well that isn't in that other guy friend group but I mean I like them all sorry this is a long rambling review I just really love this story and want to convey how much I enjoy books like this where it is so well written that you're invested in the characters where you'd be happy about reading the characters doing anything when it gets to that point when an author is able to get you so interested in the characters you want to read about them you know going for pancakes because it feels like you're there you get lost in their world and transports you with them.6stars so well-written excited for more

[Isabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a solid premise and an interesting read! I enjoyed the beginning and the characters, and I’m intrigued enough to go into book 2. I also loved that she had supportive friends, and the way the texts were done.

My main cons to this were:

- that the middle got a little repetitive with day to day mentions. I don’t mind a few of them, but some of it was tedious.

- i hated reading the dialogue of the male characters with accents. There is absolutely no need for it to be spelled out in that way because it made it awful to read and understand half the time.

- while i liked the fmc, i felt like she was really insecure when she may not even have been written to be? I think it was meant to come across as shy but just came across as very insecure, to the point where i couldn’t understand how she’d make some of the conclusions that she’d make. The fact that she was also apparently completely oblivious to everything around her got to be a bit strange.

This definitely could do with another round of edits but it still wasn’t a bad read overall. I am curious as to who ends up in her harem, what the backstory to all the guys are, what the fmc’s background is, and what the cliffhanger will entail.

I feel like there was the start of some possible OW drama, but I hope there’ll be no OW drama or cheating in future books.

[Mabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this. Sweet guys, excellent banter and a likeable heroine, this has it all. Only reason I am not giving it the full five stars is because this book is in desperate need of an editor. Too many typos and run-on sentences, as well as some unnecessary repetition – should the book be fixed for these details, I would be glad to change my rating because I truly loved this book and desperately wish to read more in this series.

[Rena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved everything about this book - a new favorite :)

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!!! MORE MORE MORE PLEASE 🙏!

[Siri · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 ish stars
I had a hard time to come into the book, but later on at the end of the book ish i started to enjoy it. I feel like it´s kind of a mix of Ghost bird series by CL stone & a lil of Peyton´s Path by SM oliver. It was such a slow burn read, i have mixed feelings about that
We meet potential men who´s going to be in our MC, Calis harem, Finn, Colin, Holis, Braxton, Hoyt, Knoxx, Tanner (and the teacher?) I am 99,99 % sure that Finn, Braxton, Hoyt, Knoxx & Tanner is going to be with Cali,those 5 guys is so into her, if not i am getting the hell outa of here. I love how stubborn she is and that she a bit innocent and just being her clueless sometimes herself ;) When she argues about money, omg i am dead it´s hilarious. Her friendship is goals and i love their convos, they are so fucking funny together.
I just have to say that i had a hard time enjoying Hoyt & Braxtons sentences cuz they were written with their accents. It might be cuz i am not a native english speaker or it might be cuz i just get annoyed xD i always have to read those lines more slowly so my brain can catch up, lmfo
I wonder what happend with Calis parents, at first i thought they where dead but they is alive. They are not the usual parents atleast.

[mirba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing ever happens

So, the book is decently written, it has very good dialogues, nice characters and all but... Nothing ever happens, like aside from the first and the last chapter, the rest of the book is about blatant normalcy of college life, literally nothing.
Also the heroine is supposed to be this highly intelligent person, but she does not behave like one.

(Spoiler warning)
Clear clues are left around that she ignores, like the card.
The guys are manipulative to a borderline pychostalker level that I thought they would get caught for it, especially in the beginning so many red flags went up in my head, they calmed down a bit in the middle of the book but then the very intelligent heroine did not notice the dresses-bree play.

[Nora · Rating 5 out of 5]

So just finished this book. Slow burn RH but wow. This is Cali her story. A prank got really bad when students moved all her stuff out. She meets great guys that help her. It's good and she has some time alone. I like her not being too dependent and I like that texts look like texts and handwritten notes like that too. It's awesome and i liked it very much. Looking forward to book 2

[Taylor Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

So so good

This book was amazing I love how strong Cali is. Even with all the crap she is going through she still stays true to her stubborn self! The guys are amazing and just as stubborn and sweet. Minor cliffhanger though definitely looking forward to the next book!

[Jade Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so mad at myself for reading this so fast! I really love the characters they are freaking amazing! And wow the storyline!! I need more! I highly recommend it! Just freaking wow! Excited for the next book!!

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Going through book withdrawals need book 2

Oh my god neeeeeed book 2!! Cannot wait o see where everyone goes and what happens next! I don’t even know if I can pick a favorite guy love them all!

[Laura Power · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. The characters are well developed and likeable. I just wish I didn’t have to wait for the next one. Please be out soon!

[Sherri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent series

Could not put it down. I can't wait to see where this story goes. Awesome book! It is a must read!

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun read! I can’t wait for book 2!!! The characters are amazing, and I love Ande’s writing style! I finished it in 2 days 😍

[Stfnie · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. RH apparently. So. I wanted to give this a shot and overlook that this was a first book? I dunno, I thought I read that somewhere. But I couldn’t get into it because I felt too frustrated -so it might be a good book storywise, but I really can’t tell.
What annoyed me was
-the few pages a thought. Lots of inner dialogue where one ‘problem’ contained multiple pages of really detailed worked out thought process. I guess it is important that the reader understands everything+the character, but also try have a little faith in the reader?
-the instant opinion about Tanner. I get that she’s suspicious, I would be too but instantly he’s a ‘douche’, ‘caveman’ etc.
-Tanner is almost begging on his knees to prove he’s a decent human being and though I like the thought of good men being out there, I think the way this character is portrayed isn’t what you should want in life either. Coupled with her own outrageous reactions and judgements, this feels like a overcompensation that portrays her as immature and even a bit of a bully.
-there’s so much inner dialogue in between communication of Tanner and Cali that, irl, there would be pauses for minutes. Our minds don’t work like that.

“Sorry I keep sticking my foot in my mouth. I swear I’m usually much more charming than this.” -Tanner.
Dude, you’ve been charming enough. You’ve done nothing wrong really. She just projects her experiences and men’s bad behavior on you and wants you to take responsibility for it, so she feels empowered and better and safe.
Unfortunately, on a surface level is might appear as feeling empowered and safe, but deeper down it’s just coping.

[Lakerea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the book

While there are many things that have annoyed me about this book, I still like it and want to read the next. There guys in the book are all nice and there are some funny points. The harem is SLOW and I mean SLOW to build. This it’s over 600 pages and there wasn’t a date or even a kiss. The MC spends at least 200 pages of this book apologizing and rejecting nice things done for her and it got annoying FAST. Her insecurities and constant self doubt is not fun to read. This book is a long read but I feel like nothing really happened. The book was finally starting to get somewhere when the book ended in the middle of some interesting things. I just purchased this book in September 2020. I assumed book 2 would be out or at least had a release date since this came out June 2019. After searching everywhere, there’s no mention of book 2 and after the cliff hanger, I’m going insane.

[Morgane Le Coz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating : 3,5

I have mixed feelings about this book.

What I like :
The secondary characters
The boys
The story
The banters (made me laugh out loud)
The logic of a lot of it. Things make sense. If some crime happens, yes you contact the police and head of university.

What I disliked :
The FMC sometimes. She was very frustrating and kinda bitchy sometimes. Especially for people who wanted nothing more but to help her.
The length of the book. It felt like a diary at times, I really don’t need that much detail of mundane random stuff.
The way the story started with something big that was kind of on hold until the end.
And finally the biggest ick : THE MISTAKES! Please have this proofread, the amount of missing letters, missing words, grammatical errors etc are embarrassing.

But despite that, I enjoyed the book !

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read

I loved every minute of getting to know the characters of this book. It’s really going to be hard waiting for the next book! I really wish I knew when it was coming out! Highly recommend it.

[Jammin Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok read

Look I thought that the main female character was a bit of a flake.
She wouldn’t stop apologising for everything and she argued about everything as well.
I liked that it was a long novel
I might read the next book

[Summer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slowest of slow burns but I enjoyed it.

Also, loved all the references to my top list of hottest guys, number one show BtVS aannndd the saved by the bell episode that I'll never forget about caffeine pill addiction.

[Meara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these characters

I love these characters! The boys are great!! The fact that the author actually writes like the accents is awesome. I can't decide which boy I like best. And poor Cali... man she just D
Doesn't get a break.

[zahra]

unfortunately didn’t realize this was a reverse harem until Braxton showed up, was hoping it wasn’t when tanner kept mentioning his guy friends but unfortunately I was wrong, plot was really interesting otherwise so I’m disappointed ☹️

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found by fluke but I could not put it down. Cannot wait for next book

[DOA · Rating 1 out of 5]

0 stars

This is not good.
I thought it was written by a tween.
Really juvenile and poorly written.
Some editing problems as well, like typos and the like.

[Carol Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read!

Great story! If you're looking for a slow-burn, contemporary, with lots of story to go with it, this is the book for you!