Nowhere But Here by Renee Carlino : Book Review

From Goodreads: A Chicago reporter in her mid-twenties unexpectedly finds love in Napa Valley when she’s assigned to spend a week with a famously reclusive genius.

Kate Corbin has lost her spark. From the outside, her life seems charmed. She has a handsome, long-term boyfriend and a budding journalism career at a popular Chicago newspaper. But in reality, her relationship is going nowhere, and she’s quickly losing motivation for what she once believed was her dream job. When her boyfriend dumps her unceremoniously, Kate loses all hope of finding love.

With no living family and few friends, Kate confides in her boss. Trusting that the hungry, ace reporter is buried somewhere deep inside, he gives Kate the opportunity to jumpstart her career. The assignment: to interview the famously reclusive R.J. Lawson, a wealthy tech genius who disappeared years ago but recently reemerged as a Napa Valley vintner. The week takes an unexpected turn, however, when Lawson refuses to divulge any information. Desperate for a lead, Kate turns to Jamie, a vineyard hand who shows her the romance of wine country—and stirs her aching heart. But his connection to Lawson is ambiguous, and when Jamie disappears before the end of the week, Kate is left to investigate another story: the truth behind the man who stole her heart.

USA TODAY bestselling author Renée Carlino explored love and heartbreak in her beautifully written debut Sweet Thing, and her newest novel does not disappoint. For fans of Colleen Hoover, K.A. Tucker, and Katja Millay, Nowhere But Here is a stirring and satisfying romance that you won’t want to put down.

Date of Publication: May 5, 2014

Publisher:  Atria Books

Date Read: January 2017

Number of Pages: 320

Setting: Napa Valley San Francisco/ Chicago

Source: Book Outlet

Get your copy here: Book Depository and Amazon

 

 

I love Renee Carlino, I really do. But Nowhere But Here didn’t do it for me. Well, we have our fave authors but it doesn’t necessarily follow that we have to love everything they have written. There will always be something we could not fully connect to or identify with, and this was that book in my case. Reading Nowhere But Here was a struggle, and I don’t mean it to say to ward people off or smear the book, at the end of the day it is always the reader’s choice whether they would like to read a book or not. Reviews are just guide, or something that could cushion the blow, perhaps a warning. It is all up to the person if he wants to read it or not, if yes, then great, if not, then let’s move on with our lives. This is just my perception about the book, you may disagree with me, but I think we are all entitled to our own opinions. After all that’s what book reviews are for. So, let’s continue, shall we?

Nowhere But Here was a poor attempt on being romantic, so much so that it was already bordering cringe-worthy. I couldn’t count the times my eyes rolled so hard, or the times I had to pause to gather whatever modicum of patience left in my body. I had to read through all that, and I tell you it was a struggle. I just couldn’t grasp the story, there was something off about it. I do understand that a lot of people enjoyed reading this book, and I’m truly glad they did. I guess this book just isn’t for me. I’ve had a lot of issues about it, and I was looking for a redeeming quality but found nothing. The cringe-worthy parts went on and on and I never thought I wouldn’t see the light at the end of that grueling tunnel. It was cliche at best, nothing I’ve never seen before. It doesn’t offer anything new on the table. It was forgettable.

The characters were weak and annoying to a fault. Let’s take into consideration our female protagonist – Kate Corbin, I found her character to be boring and too dramatic, too much self pity and all that jazz. I was mentally saying “Oh sweetheart, get over yourself already. You’re being unbearable by the second.” And now our male protagonist – Jaime, he was okay. Nothing astounding or remarkable. He was a cliche character at best. The do-gooder, and too-smitten guy which to be completely honest is bordering creepy. And don’t get me started with the sex scenes, I mean, I don’t know if it is just me or the cheesiness of this book is just too much. These two are horny bunnies that couldn’t last the day without sex . I’m not a reader who is easily affected by steamy scenes – but with this one, oh good lord – I have no words. There are a lot of instances in the book that was so off-putting, I had to bite my tongue to get through all of it. And for the love of everything that is holy it was INSTALOVE! Goodness gracious they barely know each other.

It wasn’t the most original storyline. Mediocre is what it was. And that twist? I’ve seen it coming from the moment Jaime opened his mouth. Why does this book felt like it was written by a different person? You have to understand where I’m driving at. The three books I have read by Renee Carlino instantly became favorites, but with this one I was surprised that every fibre in my being loathed it.

“Love is a thing that you can’t take out of you. Once it’s there, it doesn’t go away, no matter what. Love can morph into hate and resentment, but it will always be there, buried under the bad feelings.”
― Renee Carlino, Nowhere but Here

Before We Were Strangers by Renee Carlino: Book Review

Synopsis from Goodreads: From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Sweet Thing and Nowhere But Here comes a love story about a Craigslist “missed connection” post that gives two people a second chance at love fifteen years after they were separated in New York City.

To the Green-eyed Lovebird:

We met fifteen years ago, almost to the day, when I moved my stuff into the NYU dorm room next to yours at Senior House.

You called us fast friends. I like to think it was more.

We lived on nothing but the excitement of finding ourselves through music (you were obsessed with Jeff Buckley), photography (I couldn’t stop taking pictures of you), hanging out in Washington Square Park, and all the weird things we did to make money. I learned more about myself that year than any other.

Yet, somehow, it all fell apart. We lost touch the summer after graduation when I went to South America to work for National Geographic. When I came back, you were gone. A part of me still wonders if I pushed you too hard after the wedding…

I didn’t see you again until a month ago. It was a Wednesday. You were rocking back on your heels, balancing on that thick yellow line that runs along the subway platform, waiting for the F train. I didn’t know it was you until it was too late, and then you were gone. Again. You said my name; I saw it on your lips. I tried to will the train to stop, just so I could say hello.

After seeing you, all of the youthful feelings and memories came flooding back to me, and now I’ve spent the better part of a month wondering what your life is like. I might be totally out of my mind, but would you like to get a drink with me and catch up on the last decade and a half?

M

Publisher: Atria Books

Date Published: August 18, 2015

Date Read: September 15, 2016

No. of Pages: 320 pages

Source: Kindle version

Setting: New York

This has got to be my favorite Renee Carlino book!

Well, at least out of the three I have read by her. (Sweet Thing, Swear on This Life and Before We Were Strangers).

The blurb! Oh my goodness that blurb! I don’t know about you, but the blurb simply drew me in. It was my fantasy put into paper. I have always fantasized about chance meet-ups at places you only see in movies, like coffee shops, train stations, and all these common places. It was a common place to meet someone, yet in reality it never really happens, have you wondered about this? I am so fixated about this idea that what if that someone meant for you is just sitting right across you in a subway on your ride home, or the next person in line while you’re getting your morning coffee at an over-priced coffee shop, or that someone you bumped into when you were running late to catch your 9am meeting, those simple yet unrealistic way of meeting someone. This was what my fantasies are made of, and reading Before We Were Strangers’ blurb had ignited this fixation on chance meet-ups. I knew I had to read the story and eventually find out where it will take me. And it got me here, writing this review that hopefully could give justice to this beautiful book.

If you haven’t noticed already, I have been binge reading Renee Carlino books. The very first book I have read by her was Swear On This Life which I loved to bits! Back then I made a vow that I would read everything she wrote and will ever write. Before We Were Strangers is the third book I have read by her, and again it blew me away. I will say it now, I loved this one a hundred times more than Swear On This Life. This might be my favorite Renee Carlino book! I suffered the proverbial book hangover over this one. It was all I was thinking about for days on end. I immediately wanted to reread it after I finished. That’s how good it was for me. Before We Were Strangers is the kind of book I have been craving for so long. This is the kind of book that made me fall madly in love with reading. This is the kind of book I live for.

We follow the story of Matt and Grace (Matthias and Graceland, loved this), two senior college students who started out as good friends. Their characters are relatable and likable. We have Matt, who is into photography and we have Grace who plays the cello, just by this premise alone you could very well tell that you are in for a good story. A good boy and a good girl, well that doesn’t happen often in new adult books – more often than not it will be about a brooding boy with issues he wants to keep hidden and a broken girl with past she’d rather forget, which we all know too well. Before We Were Strangers is different, it is more than a story, it embodies second-chances and life choices. It will make you see things in a different perspective. Matt’s character has always been a likable one, he is as real as the next person you come across with.What drew me in was the fact that he was latching on to something he lost before. Grace on the other hand was a reserved girl but with care-free vibe that you would not miss. She knows fun when she needs to, and knows the weight of responsibilities on her shoulder at the same time. I love that Grace’s character was not the usual whiny female protagonist. I love love love their adventures, the way they portrayed New York, it sounded so amazing I wanted to book a ticket to New York and just relive what they did. And don’t get me started with the free breakfast as their dinner meal whilst wearing their sleepwear! Gahhhhd I want to hug Matt and Grace!!!!

The One That Got Away stories always have a special place in my heart. It was in the way that the story transitions, it is looking at it in a different light, oh the what might have been(s) and the what ifs, these are the stories I automatically gravitate towards. Before We Were Strangers pulled me into an embrace that I wouldn’t want to remove myself from. The character development was impeccable, you grow as the characters grow, you feel their regrets and pain and you share their joys as well. There was something so innocent and pure about Matt and Grace’s relationship, it was never rushed, it has its own perfect timing. I loved how the book transitions and pave its way to an engaging course where readers can pick bits and pieces of themselves along the way. It was just so beautifully written and so heartbreakingly true.

The story is told in an alternating point of view, which was something I really like in a book. We are taken into this confluence of the life Matt and Grace had back then and the life they have in the present, how much of it have changed and how much of it they regret. It was a series of choices one after another but not without fate working its way that led them to where they are. It was the embodiment that you never know where life will take you or where you will end up no matter how much planning and plotting you do, it is just the way things should be – of how destiny do its magic. And there is some sense of comfort in that thought. It was like grabbing uncertainty and giving it a hug. This was what this book is all about, it kinds of give you the taste of what happens when you lose someone you loved without knowing how or why and then at some funny stroke of luck you find them again, with the same intensity of emotions you had back then, and realising that things lost will always find its way back. This book will bring you to a journey of a love that was lost and found again. It will fill your heart with warm and fuzzy feeling, much like watching a good romantic film. This book is screaming to be made into a movie, it has the perfect setting, plot and twist with characters you can fully relate to.

I see now the writing style of Renee Carlino, she always put things into perspective. She writes books not only to tell a story but to give out a scenario of what could have been, her books are reassurance that in life there is no such thing as too late, that taking chances is a part of the choices we make day in and day out, that everything will lead us back to where we are supposed to, however long the journey or how rough things were. This realization hits me hard, and I will forever seek that wisdom her books give.

This is definitely one of the best reads I’ve had this year. Without a doubt I will be recommending this one incessantly to people and probably begging them to read it as if their lives depend on it.

“You can’t re-create the first time you promise to love someone or the first time you feel loved by another. You cannot relive the sensation of fear, admiration, self-­consciousness, passion, and desire all mixed into one because it never happens twice. You chase it like the first high for the rest of your life. It doesn’t mean you can’t love another or move on; it just means that the one spontaneous moment, the split second that you took the leap, when your heart was racing and your mind was muddled with What ifs?—that moment—will never happen the same way again. It will never feel as intense as the first time. At least, that’s the way I remember it. That’s why my mother always said we memorialize our past. Everything seems better in a memory.”
― Renee Carlino, Before We Were Strangers

 

Sweet Thing by Renee Carlino: Book Review

Synopsis from Goodreads: “You have to teach your heart and mind how to sing together… then you’ll hear the sound of your soul.”

Mia Kelly thinks she has it all figured out. She’s an Ivy League graduate, a classically trained pianist, and the beloved daughter of a sensible mother and offbeat father. Yet Mia has been stalling since graduation, torn between putting her business degree to use and exploring music, her true love.

When her father unexpectedly dies, she decides to pick up the threads of his life while she figures out her own. Uprooting herself from Ann Arbor to New York City, Mia takes over her father’s cafe, a treasured neighborhood institution that plays host to undiscovered musicians and artists. She’s denied herself the thrilling and unpredictable life of a musician, but a chance encounter with Will, a sweet, gorgeous, and charming guitarist, offers her a glimpse of what could be. When Will becomes her friend and then her roommate, she does everything in her power to suppress her passions—for him, for music—but her father’s legacy slowly opens her heart to the possibility of something more.

Publisher: Atria Books

Date Published: August 30, 2013

Date Read: September 6, 2016

No. of Pages: 320 pages

Source: Kindle Version

Setting: New York

 

Love and Music, what could go wrong?

And because I made it my life’s mission to read all Renee Carlino books, I immediately followed Swear On This Life by Sweet Thing. I understood that Sweet Thing was one of her earlier works, but I could not help but compare. Renee Carlino truly evolved as a writer. Her writing style was so much better in Swear On This Life. But that doesn’t mean that Sweet Thing wasn’t just as good, let’s just say Sweet Thing had potential, but kind of did not live up to its promise.

The prologue was the first thing that captured me, it was set in this tone where you can already feel a good story is about to unfold. In Sweet Thing we follow the story of Mia Kelly and Will Ryan. I am the kind of reader that doesn’t dwell too much on the blurb. I want to go ahead reading a book as blind as possible. There is really fun in that. As I was reading this book, I thought it was just another typical NA story. A goody girl falling for a guy in band, how many times have we read a book like that? But this book, despite it being a little mediocre had redeeming qualities as well. It focused on life’s choices, on life’s ever present predicament of choosing what you want and choosing what is right – which more often than not are two different things. In this book we see the struggle of a girl who thought she had it all figured out, and ending up somewhere she did not plan. We are taken into this journey of self-discovery and the constant pursuit of passion despite all the reasons not to and despite all the setbacks.

This book is perfect for readers who enjoy stories about music, this one is brimming with it. I loved how music is incorporated in this book, I loved how it played an important part in forming Mia and Will’s story. It kind of reminded me of the movie Begin Again, but the similarity of it ended there and nothing more. Mia and Will’s story was painted in such a way that readers should be patient in reading it. Or at least be patient with Mia. Mia’s character had goals she had worked so hard for to achieve, but then when reality hits her, she was lost completely. Her character was in a crisis, for lack of a better term. She was always at war with what her mind dictates and what her heart desires – happens to the best of us. It worked for me for quite sometime, but then as the story progressed, I found her character to be a annoying to a fault. There was this sick cycle of one-step-forward-two-steps-back that Mia’s character kept on doing, and to be completely honest, it was a little frustrating to read. Will on the other hand, is as sweet as ever. He was a free-spirit with a huge heart. I loved that his character was carefree, a stark contrast to that of Mia, maybe that’s why they clicked.

I am always drawn to books with New York as its setting. More often than not, books set in New York end up being a favorite. I don’t know about you, but the premise of New York alone is enough for me to pick a book up. Same reason with Sweet Thing, I loved how the city was portrayed in this book, again back to the Begin Again feels. There is just something so real and yet so magical about it. Mia and Will’s story could be anyone’s story. I loved that Renee Carlino made it into something believable and relatable. Her writing style is beautiful too. I think that’s one of the reasons why I kept coming back to her books. She has a way with words that would just hit you, something that connects to your body and soul – and not every book could do that.

Sweet Thing is about finding who you are amidst all the chaos, it is knowing what you want and going for it. It was real portrayal of life, love, loss and everything in between. It is not just a love story, it was about friendship and family too. It was always something more than meets the eye. Renee Carlino will now be a staple on my shelf.

 

“You are your experiences and your fears and the love you let yourself feel. You are your degree and your talent and your passion. You are your pain, your joy, and your fantasies.”
― Renee Carlino, Sweet Thing

Swear on This Life by Renee Carlino: Book Review

Synopsis from Goodreads: When a bestselling debut novel from mysterious author J.Colby becomes the literary event of the year, Emiline reads it reluctantly. As an adjunct writing instructor at UC San Diego with her own stalled literary career and a bumpy long-term relationship, Emiline isn’t thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of a young and gifted writer.

Yet from the very first page, Emiline is entranced by the story of Emerson and Jackson, two childhood best friends who fall in love and dream of a better life beyond the long dirt road that winds through their impoverished town in rural Ohio.

That’s because the novel is patterned on Emiline’s own dark and desperate childhood, which means that “J. Colby” must be Jase: the best friend and first love she hasn’t seen in over a decade. Far from being flattered that he wrote the novel from her perspective, Emiline is furious that he co-opted her painful past and took some dramatic creative liberties with the ending.

The only way she can put her mind at ease is to find and confront “J. Colby,” but is she prepared to learn the truth behind the fiction?

Publisher: Atria Books

Date Published: August 9, 2016

Setting: San Diego; Ohio

Date Read: August 12, 2016

Source: Kindle Ebook

 

 

From the moment I read the very first chapter, I knew right then and there it will become a favorite.

 

Swear On This Life is the first book by Renee Carlino that I have read, and now I have made it my life’s mission to read every book she has written and will ever write. That’s how attached I was. I have been hearing about her books before but I wasn’t intrigued enough to actually pick and read one, until this book. To be honest I just skimmed the blurb, I picked out words here and there and just went for it. So happy I did. You see, there is something about books about readers and writers that appeal to me so much. Put that in a book and I am practically sold. It is true, the very first chapter captured my attention, so much so that I could very well feel that even at 12% I am sure it will be included in my favorites list. I just knew nothing could go wrong with this one. And that’s how you write a book people, you hit all the right spots in the very first chapter and captivate the readers like the proverbial moth to the flame. First chapter and I was a goner! I swear it was all I was talking about, it was all I was tweeting about, it was all I was snap chatting about, it was bordering annoying but I just couldn’t help it, I was so smitten over a book I literally cannot deal with other people or with life.  I just wanted to stay in bed and just read the day away. It is as if I was latching on to every word and the anticipation of what’s to happen was killing me.

The story isn’t definitely something you come across often. It wasn’t a cliche, if anything it was unconventional and very unique. I was thinking of what best word to describe it and the word bookception (yep just like the movie Inception) was the only thing that came to mind. Very fitting if you ask me. It was a book about a book with another book inside it – I am serious. What is better than that, tell me! I loved how Renee Carlino intertwined the lives of the characters in a way that is not in the usual course of a novel. There was juxtaposition of the old selves and the new selves of the characters through a book inside a story, it was so original, hats off to Renee Carlino for thinking outside the box. That alone made the book so appealing to me. I have not read anything like it. I loved that it was very plot driven and very well written. I have highlighted a lot of passages.

Emiline’s character perfectly embodies a person who has been torn with the choices she makes in life. I somehow see myself in her. Isn’t that the point of a book? How a part of yourself could relate to the story no matter how different it was from yours. How you will be able to realize that everything you experience in life is not unprecedented, that a book magnifies bits and pieces of yourself through the stories of others. Jase on the other hand was as human as any character should be. There was beauty in his character, the persistence and how patient he was with Emiline, and yes he even went out of his way to write a book just to reach Emiline and make her realize everything. Renee Carlino made relatable characters. I love love love that both Jase and Emiline are big readers, goodness, I was so happy to see myself in a character!

The book didn’t have the shocking, heart-stopping twist, but it proved that a good book doesn’t need one to be able to become a worthy read. We are taken into a journey of two kids who were faced with difficulties in life and were forced to grow up fast, whatever that was about to unfold, Renee Carlino made sure that the readers become a part of it. It is as if as Emiline reads the book, the readers read it with her. There was something so beautiful about it. That’s why this book became a favorite.

Swear on This Life is something relevant and very eye-opening. It wasn’t a simple case of the one that got away story, but it was something more than that. The book will make you realize the choices you have made and its impact in your life. Swear on This Life speaks in volumes, it speaks of regrets and having to live and deal with your demons the best way you know how. It was more than a just a story, it teaches you a lesson or two. Something you would actually stop and ponder on after you read it. It was taking the leap of faith and trusting where your feet will land.

Everything felt lighter, like the planet had been catapulted into the cosmos and we were spinning freely through space and time.

Renee Carlino, Swear on This Life