We are absolutely thrilled to bring you the
Release Day Launch
for Katie McGarry's
NOWHERE BUT HERE!
A Young Adult Contemporary Romance
and part of Katie McGarry’s
Thunder Road Series,
published by Harlequin Teen.
Grab your copy today!!
Amazon ** Kobo ** BAM ** Barnes & Noble ** iBooks ** IndieBound
Add it to your Goodreads Now!
About NOWHERE BUT HERE:
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.
NOWHERE BUT HERE Excerpt
From Emily's Point of View. Set up: Emily is riding a motorcycle for the very first time and she's riding it with Oz.
THE MOTORCYCLE ACCELERATES AND THE FEW inches
I had established between me and Oz: gone. My body slides forward,
colliding into his, and we click together like two puzzle pieces. Heat
rushes up my neck and onto my cheeks. My thighs are too close to his,
too tight against his body and this is way more intimate than I have been before with a guy.
Even when the two of us kissed.
Oz
veers left, away from Olivia’s, away from the main road, and the entire
motorcycle pitches to the side. My heart thunders and my fingers
clutch not only at Oz’s belt loop, but at the material of his jeans, and
his hips.
Oz glances at me over his shoulder as the bike straightens out. “Lean with it, Emily.”
Right.
Lean with Oz and the bike. Got it. The narrow road curves ahead and
this time when Oz and the bike tilt, I move along with it. Oz releases
one of the amazingly high handlebars and massages my knee before
returning his hand to the grip. Whether in reassurance or to affirm I
mastered the curve I don’t know, but either way, I sit higher.
The
wind whips through my hair and onto my face and I shut my eyes for a
brief second and pretend that I’m flying. There’s something energizing,
something hypnotic, something inside me that begs to burst out of a cage
in search of freedom.
The
motorcycle kicks forward and our speed increases. Beams of sunlight
filter through the towering trees and green foliage blurs together as we
fly over the road. From head to toe, my body vibrates with the loud
growling of the powerful machine.
My
knee still tingles from where Oz laid his fingers on me and I’ve never
been more aware of my hands in my life. I should let go of Oz’s body,
but I can’t. Belt loops weren’t enough and my fingers have somehow edged
up and onto his sides. Oz is solid. Yes, definitely solid. Every inch
of him that I touch is tight muscle.
Oz
is a year older than me, but somehow he seems older, wiser and hotter
than any other guy I’ve known. Just the way he rides his bike creates
this overabundance of confidence.
Warm
sensations I’ve never experienced before blossom through me. We enter
another curve and I lean with him. I like how in sync I’ve become with
Oz and the motorcycle. Like we’ve merged into one.
The
purr of the engine deepens and Oz eases the bike to a stop. His feet
hit the ground and he turns the machine off. It’s as if all sound in the
world ceased, or maybe I’ve gone deaf because there’s no way anything
can be this still or silent.
The
wind picks up and the silence is frightened away with the roar of the
trees bending. Both Oz and I shift with the flow of air and Oz doesn’t
move the bike until the breeze gentles.
Oz
kicks down the stand and the bike tilts, but not too much. He sets a
hand over the fingers that I laced together across his stomach. Oh,
hell, I’m plastic wrapped to him. I drop my head onto his shoulder and
it places me closer, and closer is not what I need.
I go to unglue myself, but Oz squeezes my fingers, sending a jolt of electricity up my arms. “You okay?”
I have to clear my throat to speak and that just sucks. “Yes.”
Oz
slides his fingers against mine and a fluttering occurs in my stomach.
It’s a light fluttering. Ticklish even, and my survival instincts scream
at me to get off this motorcycle.NOWHERE BUT HERE Trailer:
What I thought about Nowhere But Here
There are secrets in Katie McGarry's new Thunder Road series. Lots of secrets. When Emily goes to Kentucky with her mom and step dad to attend her grandmother's funeral, she finds out just how many secrets surround her and her strained relationship with her biological father, a member of a legitimate MC called the Reign of Terror. She wants to get back to Florida and her safe life as soon as possible, but when a rival MC causes trouble and puts Emily at risk, she ends up staying with her "new' family.
Eighteen-year-old Oz is waiting anxiously for his ticket to his future -- a place in the Reign of Terror MC and a job with their security company. But before he can move forward with his dream, he's assigned to keep Emily safe while Eli, Emily's father, deals with the rival MC. Oz begrudgingly accepts his new assignment, and with it comes the blossoming of a real relationship with Emily as he slowly falls for her over the course of his assignment.
When all the secrets are eventually exposed, none of them are left untouched by the truth in a very exciting conclusion to the story.
This is classic Katie McGarry-- there's a slow build to romance between these young adults and some real adult issues to deal with. I loved the story in Nowhere But Here and while there were times that Emily got on my nerves, and Oz sounded older than eighteen, I felt the chemistry between these two. I was also very intrigued by Oz's group of friends that I assume will get their story later in the series. The last 40% really took off for me with lots of action and revelations, and even a few tears.
As with most series, there's quite a bit of world building at the beginning of Nowhere But Here, and I did think that slowed things down for me in the first 60%, but the action at the end more than makes up for the slower paced beginning. By the final pages, I had totally fallen for Oz and Emily.
Great start to the series, and I'm looking forward to more stories from Thunder Road!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
About Katie McGarry:
Website ** Twitter ** Facebook ** Goodreads ** Pinterest ** Tumblr ** Instagram
