BOOK REVIEW - NOWHERE BUT HERE by KATIE MCGARRY - THUNDER ROAD # 1 - YA BIKER CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE - HARLEQUIN TEEN

By: Katie McGarry
Published By: Harlequin Teen
Released : Available Now
Details: Digital copy via Net Galley for honest review, 496 Pages

RATING: 4.5 OZ STARS!

Blurb: Goodreads

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 neighbourhood. 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.


BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:

Katie McGarry is one of my fave YA authors, I love her Pushing The Limits series.

Katie has ventured into YA biker contemporary romance and I really enjoyed Nowhere But Here.

I haven’t read a book in YA that covers the MC romance before and I really liked how she has done her homework and explained terms in her story to the younger reader who may not be familiar with how a biker club works.

“You didn’t say what old ladies were.”

“Wives or serious girlfriends of club members. It’s this special designation that means you belong to a guy and no one can mess with you without serious consequences.


This is a book an adult would enjoy too. I read adult MC romance and I liked the way Katie brought this adult life into a YA age bracket.

“If I get a rope and tie it around my neck, will you help push me off a cliff?”

“I’m serious,” I say. “I don’t understand why you want to live like this. You’re supersmart and superawesome when you want to be. I’m just saying that the rest of the world isn’t cloak-and-dagger. It’s easy and peaceful.”

Oz scratches the sexy stubble along his jaw. “Know what I don’t have to deal with in my world?”

“Sanity.”

He grins. “I could say the same about your world...”



This is a big book and it is a little slow going but I soon realized why. Katie is cleverly getting the reader invested in the characters and the relationship dynamics. There are many, with Emily the main female lead learning about her family and what will become a different type of family to her.

Katie is letting us get acquainted with the Reign of Terror club and its characters, we need time to watch Emily learn these people and what they will mean to her.

There are a lot of dynamics to take in and absorb with Emily and Olivia, Oz, Eli her biological father and her step father among other characters.

Violet is a character I want to know more about too. We see her only in one light in this book.

“Don’t let the pretty muscles fool you,” she says, catching me ogling. “Oz is married to the club and we both know that once you’re married anything else becomes the dirty mistress.”



We get to see the politics involved in the biker world because they do live by their own set of rules and their world isn’t that of a civilian.

I really enjoyed watching Emily and Oz together and am quite curious about Chevy and Razor.

Amazing how someone so innocent and beautiful can wreak so much havoc.



I think this first book in the series needed the slower pace for a reasonable amount of the story line because a foundation for the series had to be put into place. What I really liked was seeing the pressure put on Oz to succeed at being prospect and becoming a full patched in member. I liked watching what is expected of the male and what the club means to them all.

Katie brings the right edge to this YA biker romance. You can't write in this genre and not bring the romance, but it's toned down, but still exciting in its YA way. She brings the hard knocks, she doesn't shy away from it.


MC books are the flavor at the moment and have been for some time now and bringing a YA one into the mix in a very adult world I thought was clever and I highly recommend Nowhere But Here.

Michelle