Review and Excerpt: LONG WAY HOME by Katie McGarry

LONG WAY HOME

Thunder Road Series #3

by Katie McGarry

Publication Date: January 31, 2017

Published by Harlequin Teen

Pages: 448

Source: Publisher | Purchase

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Synopsis

Seventeen-year-old Violet has always been expected to sit back and let the boys do all the saving.

It’s the code her father, a member of the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, raised her to live by. Yet when her dad is killed carrying out Terror business, Violet knows it’s up to her to do the saving. To protect herself, and her vulnerable younger brother, she needs to cut all ties with the club—including Chevy, the boy she’s known and loved her whole life.

But when a rival club comes after Violet, exposing old secrets and making new threats, she’s forced to question what she thought she knew about her father, the Reign of Terror, and what she thinks she wants. Which means re-evaluating everything: love, family, friends . . . and forgiveness.

Caught in the crosshairs between loyalty and freedom, Violet must decide whether old friends can be trusted—and if she’s strong enough to be the one person to save them all.

My Thoughts

Yes, I am here to sing praises for another fantastic book by Katie McGarry. Sharing my love for her books is like having my favorite song on repeat. I can't ever get enough if it. LONG WAY HOME is Chevy and Violet's story and oh have I been waiting to know more about this girl. I loved Violet for her fiery personality in the previous Thunder Road series books and couldn't wait to read more about her. And Chevy.

What I liked:

• The story went in a direction that I never imagined, but one that is prefectly fitting for the environment
• Really understanding and relating to Violet. Violet knows who she is and what she wants and the sacrifices she makes to stay true to herself in the this male dominated environment are admirable. 
• Violet's relationship with her brother and how she tries to encourage him to become self-sufficient
• Sweet Chevy 
• The crossover/connection of characters from this series and the Pushing the Limits series

I love how the intimacy and the tenderness and the delicate ways they show their affection for each other are written. Readers get just enough to understand the connection. It gives me goosebumps.

"I extend my arm, hand up, and she laces her fingers with mine. Our thighs are locked tight and I lower our hands so that they rest on both my leg and hers. Peace. This is the closest I've felt to peace in months."

What I'm most drawn to in the Thunder Road series and especially in LONG WAY HOME is the idea of family. Blood relations don't have to make you family, your friends are you family too. 

"Families and friends don't abandon you if you decide you aren't exactly like them. They love you regardless of the path you choose."

Memorable Quotes:

"Loving him was easy, It's life that's hard." - Violet does love Chevy easily. Without even saying it, it is evident in everything she does. It's there in the way she trusts him, and it's there when she had to let him go.

"I'm secure in who I am and other people's definitions don't define me." - this is said by Chevy's mom. And this could have just as easily been said by Violet.

I enthusiastically recommend LONG WAY HOME to readers - both teens and adults, because of the storytelling, the heart, and the characters. 

I'm sad this is the end of the series, but I know that rereading it will be just as delicious as reading it for the first time.

Disclaimer:  I received this e-ARC as part of the InkSlinger Blog Tour in exchange for my honest review.  I was not compensated in any way other than the e-ARC provided. I've purchased a finished copy for my own personal library. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

READ AN EXCERPT

CHEVY

“Chevy,” Cyrus calls near the entrance, “We need to talk.”

Damned knot in the tug-of-war-rope and I’m starting to feel frayed. Mom doesn’t blink as she waits for me to say something. To tell Cyrus he can wait. To tell her what she wants to hear. But as much as I love her, I’m also drawn to the club. She’s right, I do want both.

“I’ll be back to pick you up later,” I say.

Mom throws the towel she had expertly throttled into the sink behind her, walks to the other side of the bar and the strobe light casts a red haze around her. If I didn’t know her better, I’d buy the flirty smile and the way she giggles in happiness as she leans on the bar to take a drink order. But that’s not her real smile and that’s not her real laugh. It’s part of her job, part of her act, because that’s what working her requires—performing.

With a kick to a barstool, I head for the exit. Cyrus walks out into the night and I follow. Once outside, Cyrus turns to me and his warm breath creates a cloud in the cool night. “We’ve had some trouble tonight with the Riot.”

The Riot would be a motorcycle club north of us in Louisville. They’re pissed at the Terror for myriad reasons, the main one being we’re a legit club and they deal in illegal. They’re also angry at one of our main members, Eli. They feel he stole their daughter and granddaughter from them. Eli didn’t steal a thing. Can’t call someone’s free will in walking away from crazy a crime.

Life sucks for the Riot and I’m fine with that. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah. Everyone’s safe, but we’ve had word that they’ve ridden past the boundary lines we set with them a few months back. It’s all rumor and no one on our side has confirmed it. Could be someone’s overactive imagination, but I’ll feel better knowing you’re off the road.”

I’m under eighteen, still a kid to him. Cyrus used to act this way with my two best friends, Oz and Razor, but both are eighteen and full members of the club now. The babysitting twists my gut, but then again, I’m not ready for the decision eighteen will bring. “How about Violet?”

“I’m on my way now to look for her. She’s also not answering her cell.”

Yeah. A lot of that going around. “If she took Stone to the game, she would have headed straight home. I’ll check on her on my way to Mom’s if you want.”

This gives me the excuse I need to see Violet. Because I won’t be able to sleep without knowing she’s okay. So I can thank her for what she did for me with the note. To gauge whether or not Violet is waving the white flag.

Cyrus lays a hand on my shoulder. “I’d appreciate that. I need to head back to the clubhouse to take care of some business. I’m serious about what I said though. Me and a lot of guys would love to hear about the game.”

I know they would and I’d enjoy being with them, but Mom’s already sore that I walked out on her to talk to Cyrus. “I’m beat. After I check on Violet, I’m crashing.”

Cyrus gives me a fast pat and a hug. We both mount our bikes and start our engines with a growl. My grandfather takes the lead and I follow him as long as I can before taking the path that leads away from him and toward where Violet lives.

Don’t Miss the First Two Titles in the Thunder Road Series! 
Grab your copies today!

NOWHERE BUT HERE
Read my review

WALK THE EDGE

Read my review

Katie McGarry Bio:

Katie McGarry was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan.

Katie is the author of full length YA novels, PUSHING THE LIMITS, DARE YOU TO, CRASH INTO YOU, TAKE ME ON,  BREAKING THE RULES, NOWHERE BUT HERE, and WALK THE EDGE and the e-novellas, CROSSING THE LINE and RED AT NIGHT. Her debut YA novel, PUSHING THE LIMITS was a 2012 Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction, a RT Magazine's 2012 Reviewer's Choice Awards Nominee for Young Adult Contemporary Novel, a double Rita Finalist, and a 2013 YALSA Top Ten Teen Pick. DARE YOU TO was also a Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction and won RT Magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice Best Book Award for Young Adult Contemporary fiction in 2013.

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Katie McGarry’s LONG WAY HOME – Review & Excerpt Tour Schedule:

January 23^rd

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Girl Plus Books – Review & Excerpt

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January 24^th

Book Boyfriend Reviews – Review & Excerpt

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January 25^th

Always YA at Heart – Review & Excerpt

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Mythical Books – Excerpt

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The Sisterhood of the Traveling Book Boyfriends – Review & Excerpt

January 26^th

A Bookish Escape – Review & Excerpt

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Crazii Bitches Book Blog – Review & Excerpt

Dark Faerie Tales – Review & Excerpt

Guilty Indulgence Book Club – Review

SnoopyDoo's Book Reviews – Excerpt

January 27^th

Bookshelf Adventures – Review & Excerpt

Little Read Riding Hood – Review & Excerpt

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The Silver Dagger Scriptorium – Excerpt

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January 28^th

Abibliophobia Anonymous Book Reviews – Excerpt

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Greyland Reviews – Excerpt

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Waiting on Wednesday: LONG WAY HOME by Katie McGarry

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

LONG WAY HOME

Thunder Road #3

by Katie McGarry

Publication Januray 31, 2017
Publisher: Harlequin Teen

 448 pages

Add to Goodreads

Seventeen-year-old Violet has always been expected to sit back and let the boys do all the saving.

It’s the code her father, a member of the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, raised her to live by. Yet when her dad is killed carrying out Terror business, Violet knows it’s up to her to do the saving. To protect herself, and her vulnerable younger brother, she needs to cut all ties with the club—including Chevy, the boy she’s known and loved her whole life.

But when a rival club comes after Violet, exposing old secrets and making new threats, she’s forced to question what she thought she knew about her father, the Reign of Terror, and what she thinks she wants. Which means re-evaluating everything: love, family, friends . . . and forgiveness.

Caught in the crosshairs between loyalty and freedom, Violet must decide whether old friends can be trusted—and if she’s strong enough to be the one person to save them all.

WHY I'M WAITING

• It's a book by Katie McGarry
• Violet is a favorite character of mine in this series. She's been on the outskirts and now I'll get to find out why.
• Did I mention it's a book by Katie McGarry? Enough said.

Release Week Blitz: WALK THE EDGE by Katie McGarry - Review and Giveaway

   

One moment...That’s all it takes to change your life.

What happens when your entire future is on the line because of one reckless moment? This is what Breanna Miller and Thomas “Razor” Turner have to face in Katie McGarry’s WALK THE EDGE. Blackmail, family secrets, future plans on the verge of collapsing, two people who aren’t supposed to be together fall in love, and the power of social media in defining who you are when you’re not even sure who that person is yet…Join the Club and and immerse yourself in the world of the Reign of Terror. Pick up WALK THE EDGE today!

   

One moment of recklessness will change their worlds

Smart. Responsible. That's seventeen-year-old Breanna's role in her large family, and heaven forbid she put a toe out of line. Until one night of shockingly un-Breanna-like behavior puts her into a vicious cyberbully's line of fire—and brings fellow senior Thomas "Razor" Turner into her life.

Razor lives for the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, and good girls like Breanna just don't belong. But when he learns she's being blackmailed over a compromising picture of the two of them—a picture that turns one unexpected and beautiful moment into ugliness—he knows it's time to step outside the rules.

And so they make a pact: he'll help her track down her blackmailer, and in return she'll help him seek answers to the mystery that's haunted him—one that not even his club brothers have been willing to discuss. But the more time they spend together, the more their feelings grow. And suddenly they're both walking the edge of discovering who they really are, what they want, and where they're going from here.

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MY THOUGHTS

I'm in complete awe with how Katie McGarry continues to write stories that touch my heart. Her books are some of my favorites, and I don't think you can have too many favorite books and I'm happy to add Walk The Edge to that ever-growing list. 

What I liked about Walk the Edge:

• Defining the meaning of family - sometimes you have to seek out your family and sometimes they find you
•  The importance of relying on other people, depending on other people. You can't solve your problems all on you own and it's ok to take a chance and trust that there are others who are on your side. There is strength in that.
• The love and openness between Razor and Breanna - all of their feelings were new and overwhelming and exciting and they didn't shy away from it. It was a joy to experience them falling in love with eachother
• How McGarry explores a complicated relationship Breanna has with her sister, Clara. It is more that just sibling rivalry. 

Memorable Quotes:

"I'll tell you what," he continues. "If you want wild -- if you want a kiss that breaks the rules, I'll give you one, but not here, not now." - Razor is smooth. And oh, the promise of what's to come!

"No, I'm saying that I'm not okay with hurting people even if they've hurt me." - Breanna knows pain and knows that inflicting it on others isn't going to make her feel better. This is just one of the many reason to love her.

"The pressure of her delicate fingers us heavier than most weights I've lifted. It's like holding on to a promise and it causes me to be nervous." - Razor's connection to Breanna and here you can tell that she's someone who is important to him.

As easy it is to fall for Razor and Oz with their heart-stopping, swoon-worthiness, it's just as easy to fall for and admire the girls. They are fierce and filled with strength and courage and compassion. And passion. I've loved getting to know Breanna and am so glad that Emily from Nowhere But Here made a reappearance. And Violet - I'm just itching to get to know her story. 

I loved Walk the Edge. I'm invested in the characters and their stories and want more. Always more. 

And don’t miss the first book in the Thunder Road Series,

NOWHERE BUT HERE!

    

"There's something about McGarry's writing that's totally enthralling. Her characters are vivid, flawed and riveting, making this is a truly amazing read!"
~ RT Book Reviews 

"Katie McGarry is a master of her craft! Raw emotion, pure grit, I hang on every word. Her characters are real people with real problems and I cheer them every step of the way. Ready for a new addiction? Look no further than Katie McGarry's books."
~ Gena Showalter, Bestselling author of Firstlife 

"I finished WALK THE EDGE by the amazing Katie McGarry. It was SO good that now I feel bereft. I already miss Razor & Bre - I need to know more! She is by far my #1 favorite author. She paints a picture with the words, puts you IN the story... LOVE."
~ Lori Foster, New York Times Bestselling Author

 

DON’T MISS THIS AWESOME INCENTIVE OFFER FOR AN EXCLUSIVE ECHO AND NOAH SHORT STORY!

Order WALK THE EDGE, Register your Order by April 1st and receive an exclusive Echo and Noah short story and a chance to be in the next Thunder Road novel! Register at https://offerpop.com/campaign/796530.

About Katie McGarry: Katie McGarry was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan. Katie is the author of full length YA novels, PUSHING THE LIMITS, DARE YOU TO, CRASH INTO YOU, TAKE ME ON, BREAKING THE RULES, and NOWHERE BUT HERE and the e-novellas, CROSSING THE LINE and RED AT NIGHT. Her debut YA novel, PUSHING THE LIMITS was a 2012 Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction, a RT Magazine's 2012 Reviewer's Choice Awards Nominee for Young Adult Contemporary Novel, a double Rita Finalist, and a 2013 YALSA Top Ten Teen Pick. DARE YOU TO was also a Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction and won RT Magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice Best Book Award for Young Adult Contemporary fiction in 2013.

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