Review: Nowhere but Here by Katie McGarry

Nowhere But Here
(Thunder Road #1)
by Katie McGarry
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Publication Date: May 26th 2015
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 496
ISBN: 9780373211425
Genre: Young Adult | New Adult | Contemporary
Source: Netgalley

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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 the 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. (Goodreads)

How can I even begin to tell you how super excited to was for Katie McGarry’s Nowhere But Here?? I absolutely adore her Pushing the Limits series, and I was super excited to see what she was going to do with this Thunder Road series. When a book contains hot guys and motorcycles, you can definitely count me in for reading it. I’m super thrilled to say that Nowhere But Here definitely did not disappoint.

The story is told from alternate viewpoints between Emily and Oz. I know I’ve said this many times before in my reviews, but I absolutely adore when stories are told this way, as the viewpoints give us SO much more information. As you read the story, you just can’t help but sympathize with Emily for all that she’s been through. She finds out that her whole life is basically a lie and no one will tell her the truth about it. This was SO super frustrating for me, but Emily handled it so much better than I would have, and I couldn’t help but admire her for that.


I am more than a little in love with Oz. While he did a few things in the beginning of the book that made me want to smack him, I fell more and more in love with him the more I turned the pages. The romance between these two characters is definitely not insta-love. These two characters clashed from the moment they met, and while the attraction was definitely there, they resisted for as long as they could. But once they started to get to know each other, there was no more fighting it. There were some really sweet moments between the two throughout the story, and the sexy-times are super swoon-worthy.

There are some really awesome secondary characters in the book as well; some that we get to know and love pretty well, like Emily’s biological father, Eli, and her grandmother, Olivia, and then there are some characters that we meet briefly, but who make a huge impression, and I can’t wait to read more of their stories in the next books.

The storyline for the book was completely consuming. I knew I was going to love the book because I have a thing for bad boys on motorcycles, but I didn’t expect the book to be so well detailed. McGarry definitely put a lot of thought and research into this book, and I definitely appreciate that. I was completely hooked on the story, and while it came to a close nicely, no cliffhanger-ending at all, it still left me wishing that I had the next book(s) in my hands already.

Overall; Nowhere But Here is an excellent beginning to what should prove to be another awesome series by Katie McGarry. I’m going to be impatiently waiting to get my hands on the next book in the series and books 3 & 4 as well! If you like Katie’s Pushing the Limits series, I know you’re going to love the Thunder Road series. If you’ve not checked out any of her books, I highly recommend that you do so! They are super great.