Nowhere But Here

I’m continuing to make my way through Renee Carlino’s backlist and I picked this one because the blurb sounded really exciting. A reclusive genius, sign me up!Unfortunately, this book felt a little tedious to me because I didn’t believe in the connection between Jamie and Kate and I figured out the twist in the very first pages. I don’t mind an insta-love story, but I desperately need the author to make me believe it. That didn’t happen for me. Instead, their relationship almost made me uncomfortable in the beginning, with Jamie’s quick use of the word “baby”. It gave me the wrong kind of spine tingles.I enjoyed how both Jamie and Kate were lonely and self-reliant characters, however. It endeared me to them and made me root for the happily ever after. The push of the secondary characters helped move the story forward, creating a few funny moments and nice friendships.“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.”For me, this book was just ok. The story felt rather surface-level and even cheesy at some points. Though, it’s quite hard to live up to the greatness that was Before We Were Strangers. I wish I could say more, but I find 3-star romances the hardest to write reviews for.

Audiobook ReviewWhat did you like best about this story?Life has a way of knocking you down and then stripping away nearly every ounce of your self-confidence, strength, and joy. I enjoyed the process of Kate gradually getting her mojo back despite her weariness.Who was your favorite character and why?My favorite character is Jamie. He is a genuinely nice and humble man who enjoys working hard and appreciates the little things in life. Jamie is also good with his hands (in the wine fields and in bed—just sayin’). I love his persistence in pursuing Kate.Is this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?No. This isn’t a book that swept me away to the point that I was fully engrossed and couldn’t stop listening. I happily and easily reconnected with the characters when I was able to continue listening to the audio, though.Have you listened to any of Amy Landon’s other performances before? What about her performance did you like or dislike?This was the first audiobook I’ve listened to that was narrated by Amy Landon. I have to say that I enjoyed the way she voiced Jamie—with lots of feeling and without sounding like a male cartoon character. Her portrayal of each side character, in fact, is distinctive and believable.Would you listen to another book narrated by Amy Landon?Definitely.Any additional comments?The plot is fairly predictable, but the strong relationships between all the characters make up for it. If I could change one thing about the story it would be to immerse the reader in the more sensory aspects of Napa Valley. I had a clear vision of being a guest at the inn, but I wanted to feel intoxicated by the sites, textures, tastes, and smells of the winery itself.

I enjoyed every page of “Nowhere but here”.You take 1 struggling young lady and you send her off to Napa valley for the story that will get her back on track. Add some wine, an amazing location, a sweet, interesting and completely genuine man in the picture as her guide and watch life happen.Katy is in a rut. She relieves the same ordinary day for the past few months…she feels alone and trapped in her life…feeling scared that this is all she will ever get… she longs for more- but also she is scared to want more. As a perfect get away from her life- she gets a story. This means traveling to Napa Valley to interview a tech wonder-boy turned wine maker… she takes the opportunity and tries to focus on the task at hand..but nothing goes as she planned it.The wine-yard is a place of wonder…she discovers all the wonderful people that work there and make the place so special- and she is drawn to Jamie.Jamie is her self-offered tour guide. He is funny, mysterious and sensitive and she can’t stop thinking about the things she would do to him or let him do to her… struggling between the interview gone bad and all the feelings she has for this mysterious man…she decides to go with her feelings.Suffice to say that their journey is interesting, intense and so full of hope and wonder. Life doesn't always go as planned- and things get complicated at some point. But while you continue reading you get to understand each character’s emotions and reasons for acting the way they do.Both Jamie and Katy went through a lot. Both of them are scared of getting hurt, but when they are together there is no other place they would rather be.This book is excellently written. You feel you are right there in the valley, taking in the sun, tasting the sexy wine, jumping around in the barrel with Kate. You are there on the lonely train, in the night life takes a turn for her, in the day they face each other with no more fear.You are there when they realize the poets were right…and you finish the book hoping that the poets were right in your life’s story too.I highly recommend this book. It is sweet, real and gives the reader a little ray of sunshine- hope that there is a someone to connect your souls to out there.

I want to start by saying I LOVED this book!! After reading so many dark, drama filled books this story was just what I needed!! That is not to say this book didn’t have its share of angst and drama, it was just different. There was always an undertone of sweet love that kept all the bad feelings at bay.Kate Corbin was a journalist living in Chicago. After losing the last bit of “family” she had, Kate’s chose to listen and believe the words of a lonely preacher-type man she saw daily on her train, which were: “You’re all you’ve got”. Her writing suffered and she had lost her spark. Jerry, Kate’s boss, decided to send her on an assignment to interview a techie billionaire and vineyard owner R.J. Lawson in Napa Valley.Kate literally crashed into Jamie, a vineyard worker upon her arrival. Jamie was charming and handsome and there was instant attraction. Jamie was tall and lean but muscular. He had brown hair and green eyes. He was absolutely charming and flirty.After meeting with the arrogant and jerky R.J., Kate spent her time on the vineyard with Jamie. Jamie seemed to have his hand in every bit of the vineyard. From cleaning the pools and rooms to working with the grapes. Jamie was evasive about himself but was always so sweet that Kate ignored it. They spent time day and night getting to know one another. Jamie took Kate to dinner and after a romantic night they ended up together in bed.After their fourth day together and night spent in bed, Jamie disappeared from her room not to return the next day. Hurt and feeling used Kate left Napa and returned home to Chicago. Kate felt duped by everyone at the vineyard and wrote a scalding story of R.J. Lawson.That’s when the s**t hit the fan! A huge secret was revealed and Jamie ended up in Chicago trying to win Kate back, swearing he would not give up on the love he had for her. Tragedy strikes and secrets are revealed, testing whether a 4 day tryst could be the basis of a forever love….You MUST read this book to find out!!!Jamie and Kate’s four days together in Napa was so romantic and sweet, that I just fell in love with this couple. Often, with these book boyfriends that we read about, I focus so much on the guy that I don’t really relate to the girl, but not in this case!! I so identified with Kate even though I have never even remotely been in a situation like hers. Renee Carlino made a female character that was so relatable and likeable that even though I totally have the HOTS for Jamie in a big way I so wanted him and Kate to be together and find happiness!!Oh and I should say that when Kate came home heartbroken from Napa there were some seriously funny scenes in here!! I laughed really hard and out loud!! She did some really crazy funny things in her sadness; it was such a gift to laugh like that instead of just depression. Another reason I loved Kate!“There have been no women before you and there will be no women after you” ---Jamie“I’ll be a different man if I can’t have you. I will never breathe as deeply as I did when I was with you. I’ll never see the range of color on a perfectly cloudless sky. I will never smell anything as sweet as you or hear a voice that fills my heart up as much as yours does.” ---JamieSeriously people… Aren’t those some seriously swoon worthy words?!!Nowhere but Here left me with feeling happy which all too often I don’t get at the end of a book! I most definitely give it 5 Lip Smacks!

I'm writing this review after reading Nowhere but Here for the second time. At first pass, I got the surface love story, at second pass I got the complexity of the love story, and I GOT the characters. Renee Carlino writes amazing characters, and very complex ones at that. These are protagonist with rich and slightly damaged psyche's who are innately emotional and created by circumstances that are way beyond their control. Our main characters Kate and Jamie, meet and spend four days falling in love, only to spend months recovering from things that go unsaid.At first I didn't connect with Kate. I couldn't understand how she could cheat herself by settling for a detached and uncaring boyfriend (Stephen) and by a job that doesn't challenge her(writing about lip gloss). She's merely floating along. Her inner dialogue tells us she knows this and she is scared that she is on the verge of settling into her complacency. When we meet Kate, she is on the receiving end of a message from the universe, embrace life or live in obscurity. She's given a chance to break out of her hum drum existence and start to live, to really take chances and find a memorable path. Enter Jamie, he is one enigmatic character and his perseverance drives much of the plot.In my first read through, I was intently focused on the story-line. I had a superficial image of Kate and Jamie, and I read to see what happened TO them. On my second read, I focused on how they made things HAPPEN - on how the characters influenced their outcomes. Sometimes it's a love hate with them. On my first pass, Kate frustrated me to no end. It seems that all these events and secondary characters are all things/people that she merely reacts to and with. At times she comes off juvenile, making decisions without having all the facts. Ok, she does that, there is really no disputing that fact, and I wasn't sure she got the lesson, even as things play out in the storyline.But, during the second read through, Kate comes to life, and I wonder how I missed it. She's still frustrating at times, but what I thought was juvenile, was really a nuance of her character and the cumulative events in her life that make her how she is, endearing.I can't share out too much about my thoughts on the plot without giving things away. However, I can say that this is a big story, with lots of activities and plot drivers that take the storyline where it needs to go. And when you think something might be superfluous, guess again.That was the other benefit of reading this twice, seeing the multiple pivot points of the plot, the nuances of the storyline that developed the characters.Renee's writing is lyrical and profound. There are so many nuggets of beauty with the sweet and heartwarming phrases being delivered mostly by Jamie: "There have been no women before you and there will be no women after you" ~ Yes, Renee knows how to write a charming , sensual, and genuine male lead. On the other side of the coin, the introspective verbiage comes mostly from Kate's inner dialogue, choice words used by Jamie to influence the outcome he wants, and from the secondary characters that help lead Kate along the path of realization.My takeaways (aside from the angst I felt and the breathtaking intimate scenes), the messages delivered in Nowhere but Here are follow your intuition, never ignore it (you may be wrong on the whole, but there is usually some truth to it), learn from your mistakes, (we all make them and that is something Kate and Jamie end up doing a better job of by the end of the story), and lastly, something that I firmly believe in was echoed through the pages ~ you can't get something from the universe that you don't give ~ BE the person that you want to have in your life. Mimic the actions & and words and maybe, just maybe, it will come back to you. And there it is, Nowhere but Here is a book about Hope.I HIGHLY Recommend Nowhere but Here in the fiction genre (Romance and otherwise)