Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry

Title: Nowhere But Here (Thunder Road #1)

Author: Katie McGarry

Publisher: HarlequinTEEN

Release Date: May 26, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

An unforgettable new series from acclaimed author Katie McGarry about taking risks, opening your heart and ending up in a place you never imagined possible.

Seventeen-year-old Emily likes her life the way it is: doting parents, good friends, good school in a safe neighborhood. Sure, she’s curious about her biological father—the one who chose life in a motorcycle club, the Reign of Terror, over being a parent—but that doesn’t mean she wants to be a part of his world. But when a reluctant visit turns to an extended summer vacation among relatives she never knew she had, one thing becomes clear, nothing is what it seems. Not the club, not her secret-keeping father and not Oz, a guy with suck-me-in blue eyes who can help her understand them both.

Oz wants one thing: to join the Reign of Terror. They’re good guys. They protect people. They’re…family. And while Emily—the gorgeous and sheltered daughter of the club’s most respected member—is in town, he’s gonna prove it to her. So when her father asks him to keep her safe from a rival club with a score to settle, Oz knows it’s his shot at his dream. What he doesn’t count on is that Emily just might turn that dream upside down.

No one wants them to be together. But sometimes the right person is the one you least expect, and the road you fear the most is the one that leads you home.

Over the last few years, Katie McGarry has easily become one of my favourite authors. Anything she writes, I will happily read and it is almost guaranteed to become a favourite book. I was so excited when she announced her new series, and I absolutely loved the first book, Nowhere But Here.

Emily has been perfectly happy with the life she’s led so far. She has good friends, goes to a good school and has parents who take care of her. She’s always wondered about her biological motorcycle club member father, but she has never had a particular desire to see what his world is like. She’s happy sticking to their annual visits and leaving it at that. When Emily is forced to spend her summer vacation with her biological father’s family, she discovers that everything she was told might not have been the truth. Spending time with her relatives and the motorcycle club, Emily ends up with more questions than answer. And the one person willing to give her some answers is Oz, the boy her father has assigned to watch over her. Oz can’t fail when it comes to keeping Emily safe. If he does, he’s never going to become a member of the Reign of Terror, the motorcycle club that is his family. Looking out for Emily shouldn’t be too difficult, except she’s dead set on finding answers to her questions and Oz can only resist her for so long.

I can’t even begin explain how much I love Katie McGarry and her books. Ever since I stayed up way too late reading Pushing the Limits, I’ve been absolutely hooked. Anything she writes, I will read. Literally. When she announced her new Thunder Road series, I immediately wanted to read it. I was intrigued by the idea of a story set in the world of motorcycle clubs. It definitely sounded new and different. So to say I was excited at the idea of reading Nowhere But Here would be a major understatement. When I finally got a copy of the book in my hands, I literally dropped everything and read it right then and there. I couldn’t have put the book down if I had tried. The story drew me in right away. I became curious about everything that was happening, finding out about how everything worked in the motorcycle club, and, you know, the romance that was waiting to happen between Emily and Oz. But I’ll get to them momentarily. The story in Nowhere But Here was just engrossing and it got me even more excited about the Thunder Road series. I’ve already gotten so attached to the characters, and I can’t wait to see what happens to them in the next books.

Oh man. I absolutely loved Emily and Oz. Emily had clearly lived a very sheltered life so it was interesting, and at times even entertaining, to see her dropped into the world of motorcycle clubs. She was so out of her depth, but at the same time she was doing her best to make it seem like she was comfortable in her new environment. And I loved seeing her growth over the course of the story. I loved seeing her find her place with this family she hadn’t known for most of her life because she finally saw that they cared about her, even if they often didn’t show it in the most traditional ways. And I loved that Oz was there to help guide her through it all. Though granted at first, Oz wasn’t exactly excited at the prospect of having to spend his summer basically babysitting Emily. But even when he wasn’t particularly nice to Emily, I already loved Oz. I loved his loyalty to his family and the motorcycle club, I loved that he was ready to do just about anything for the people he cared about. And I loved how much he grew to care about, and love, Emily. And Oz and Emily together? Well they just made me happy. Beyond just Emily and Oz, I loved so many of the other characters in Nowhere But Here. With all of Katie McGarry’s books, the secondary characters are always just as great as the main ones. And as I’ve already said, I’ve already gotten so attached to people like Chevy, Razor and Violet and I can’t wait to read all of their stories. 

I wasn’t surprised in the least when I read Katie McGarry’s Nowhere But Here and completely fell in love with the story and its characters. I loved every single page of this book and I can’t wait to see where McGarry takes the characters and the story next.