Review: Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry

Title: Nowhere But Here (Thunder Road #1)
Author: Katie McGarry
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release date: May 26th 2015
Source: Netgalley
Format: eARC

Rating: 4/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

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. 

I´ve read the first three books in the series Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry and I enjoyed them, some more than others, so of course I could not wait to read the Nowhere But Here, the first book in the new series Thunder Road, which apparently will consists of 4 books..

Nowhere But Here is told from the point of view of Emily and Oz, alternating between them. Emily is a girl, that has lived a sheltered life without running any risks and is happy to live in her comfort zone, she lives in Florida with her mother and her adoptive father to whom she loves and looks after like a hero and once a year, she gets to see her biological father, whom is a motorcyclist who belongs to a club called the Reign of Terror, she doesn´t know much about him or his family, she keeps him at arm's length and she´s happy to keep it that way.

Meanwhile Oz is an 18 year old guy from Kentucky that since he can remember, his dream is to belong to the club Reign of Terror like his father and work for the security company owned by one of the club members. And his dream is getting closer, because one of the stipulations is to finish high school (he just graduated), so his future looks just as he dreamed, or at least that is until his path crosses with Emily´s and his life gets complicated.

Emily and Oz meet because due to a misunderstanding, Emily travels to Kentucky in the summer and very reluctantly ends up staying a few weeks with Eli, her biological father and one of the most respected members of the club Reign of Terror. I liked that the romance is not instant-love, because when they initially meet, they don´t like each other, but end up spending some time together and they get to know each other, which leads them to act on their attraction.

The truth is that I don´t know a lot about motorcycle clubs (just what I´ve seen on TV), so I do not know if the book is realistic or not, its problems and if the part about how the motorcycle club is managed by its member is like that, because it was quite sexist.

Nowhere But Here is a book of 496 pages so I didn´t read it in a day or two, but it´s very entertaining, with a slow budding and tame romance, if I compare it with Pushing the Limits, besides it has less drama and angst, but I liked how at the beginning the main characters can´t stand each other, but Oz cannot stop flirting Oz at any time. Now I´m looking forward to read the next instalment, that apparently will be Razor´s story.