I found this to be an interesting read and liked the various issues touched upon (self-acceptance, religious intolerance, institutional sexism). I liked Corinne but, at times, I was frustrated with just how much she did/accepted to stay in Enoch’s life. I think that telling the story from both POVs would perhaps have helped to shed light on Enoch’s character as I found it hard to warm to him.

I tried really hard to get into this one but simply couldn't. I think the premise is really neat but I felt the book didn't have nearly enough dialogue to keep me entertained.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of CORINNE by Rebecca Morrow. This book wasn't shaped quite like a traditional romance, but I related to the in-depth look into being raised in an evangelical church (I wasn't, but in a conservative one for sure). I thought showing the difficulties of a relationship where one person has left the church and one has decided to stay despite many struggles was so real and valid and not something often shown. Also, the star-crossed romance between Corinne and Enoch just made my heart hurt so much and I was so invested in them getting to be together. Once that romance really got going, I couldn't stop reading this book. Corinne was real, rough, flawed, funny, and so relatable as a narrator. I was completely sucked in.

I was looking forward to this book for so long that at some point it got easy to over look it, and so part of me is really happy that I finally made myself sit down and read it. I'll say that over all I have pretty positive things to say about my experience having finished reading this.... It's not perfect though.

I think that the book definitely relies on finding a reader that is familiar with growing up around or in a somewhat restrictive environment, and to some degree deconstructing some of the things they learned in said environment. Overall though I don't know if the book examined the impact of that to the degree that I expected, or if the romantic arc followed a trajectory that I wanted.

The premise of the book sets up a lot of interesting potential in the past timeline. The chapters we get in their childhood were uncomfortable to read at times, and as we got near to the point where we were going to flash forward things got a little predictable. I will say that the events of the story after the flash forward weren't as predictable until I realized we were going with a more standard romance angle and so of course there were just beats of a romance novel the story was going to have to hit.

Again, overall those beats were fine. Like the deconstructing, everything after the flash forward fell a little flat to me. The character dynamics and the way that the story played out just never really hit the highs it could have. In the flash forward chapters that was definitely more disappointing as the bulk of the book is told after what happens between Corinne and Enoch as children, so the page time there could have been utilized in better ways as far as I was concerned. I did enjoy the story though, it was a cute time, and I was able to fly through this one. So to people that already were interested I think it would be worth the time spent reading, for most readers though I think the odds are higher this won't be a banger.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for gifting me a digital ARC of the debut novel by Rebecca Morrow - 4.5 stars!

Corinne met the love of her life when she was a teenager and one night caused her to be cast out from her fundamentalist church and family. Years later, when she came back to Kansas to help her mom, her family slowly allows her to be a part of their lives. But she also meets back up with Enoch, the boy that changed everything.

I really loved the slow burn of this novel. I thought it was so interesting how the church ruled so much of their lives and made them question their very core. Typically, the way that the women and men were treated so differently in the church was highlighted here. I loved the interaction between Corinne and Enoch, from the games they played to the rules they set for each other. I think the graphic sex could have been edited down - it was very repetitive and didn't add anything to the intimacy between these characters. But I was drawn into this book and the beautiful, funny, touching world the author created.

my thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Corinne is a slow-burn second chance at love romance set over a 15 year period,. The book opens when the main characters are in their senior year of high school. The eponymous main character Corinne had first met Enoch Miller when she was a young girl. They have attended the same strict fundamentalist church and their families are close. Her family struggles--with family issues, with finances. Corinne may be part of the church but she's peripheral as far as the friend groups in the church and isolated at her school.

Financial woes come to a head for her family and they lose their house. The Millers--upstanding church members in all ways--take them in. Enoch, an up and coming stalwart of the church, set to be married to a girl who exemplifies all the tenets of their church. Corinne can only pine for him from a distance.

But as their enforced proximity in the Miller home stretches from days to weeks to months, Enoch and Corinne grow closer--game nights morphing into clandestine looks, touches and much much more.

But it's not to be. Everything falls apart and Corinne finds herself alone, shunned by the church that called itself her family. She strikes off on her own, makes a life for herself, moves on.

15 years later she's broached the divide with her family and moved back home. She has no interest in being part of the repressive and oppressive church ever again, but she is content to be a part of her family again.

A chance encounter brings Enoch back into her life and this time he isn't going to let happiness elude him. The second half of the book gives us a chance to get to know Enoch better, as he struggles with what his church expects, and demands, of him and what he wants to choose for himself. How he seeks happiness and love with Corinne, with the backdrop of the overbearing tenets of a church and a congregation that does not easily forgive or forget.

I liked both Corinne and Enoch. I am unfamiliar with this type of church environment so it was a learning experience reading about it through these characters. The conflict between church and individual. acceptance and adherence to doctrine, intimacy and distance, was well delineated. I had to suspend my belief a bit, with the idea these two had been pining for each other over all these years, but it happens, it's not unheard of, and their chemistry was definitely evident.

I appreciated how Enoch was attempting to claim his own life and determine his own destiny, in the confines of his religion and relationship to God but also pushing the boundaries and making a place for himself that allowed his life and Corinne's to find a common touchpoint.

Overall it was an engaging book and held my interest. There were definitely times where the writing got repetitive and the descriptions of Enoch's body mass were a bit overdone. I think I would have been fine with less open door but I understand there was a point to it, in contrast to the repression they both had experienced for so long.

This was a fascinating book to read! It's a Romeo & Juliet kind of theme with religion instead of social status separating the two. Corinne has known Enoch since they were in school together and then her mother and brothers move in with his family when her father dies. They bond over board games but little else as he has the beautiful, rich girlfriend at school and Corinne is overweight and self-conscious. Years pass, things change and she has a good education, a job, and a place to live...and still crushes on Enoch. That's all you need; the story will suck you in! Lots of sex but nothing too cringe-worthy so enjoy this modern tale about love, family, forgiveness, and redemption. Will make you laugh, maybe cry...but it's so worth it!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Read if you like:
⬗ Forbidden Romance
⬗ Second chance love
⬗ Spice

4.5★

Summary: After being cast out of the fundamentalist church she was raised in and shunned by her family, Corinne Callahan leaves the town and life she knows to build the life she wants. But after her mother falls ill, Corinne finds herself back where she started. And then there is Enoch Miller, the boy she never forgot. As they once again grow close, she must reconcile the past she left behind and the future she imagines.

Thoughts: Wow. This book wasn’t at all what I imagined it to be. A modern day retelling of Romeo and Juliet, it hooked me from page one and never let me go.

Rebecca Morrow is a pseudonym of an unidentified New York Times Best Selling Author. Whomever he or she may be, they have a very strong sense of the various aspects of life in the fundamentalist church. Although it was hard at times to read how strict and demanding the church was of it’s congregants, I really appreciated the knowledge I gained from it.

The relationship between Corinne and Enoch, spanning over 15 years, was exquisite and the author’s prose in some of the most intimate of scenes was incredibly beautiful. Her repetition of names as well as her flashes of past to present showing that in essence, time stood still, all create an intensity to their relationship that had me fully invested in the outcome.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this beautiful book in exchange for my honest review.

Corinne by Rebecca Morrow is now one of my favorite contemporary romances. Told from the point of view of Corinne, initially as a teenage girl whose family converts to a strict and unforgiving church, and then as a grown woman attempting a relationship with her family despite being cast out of the church. When she runs into Enoch Miller, her former best friend, first love, and the one who told the secret that got her cast out, the budding relationship between her and her family is threatened. Still, Corinne finds herself intrigued by who Enoch has become, and questions whether their relationship is worth risking everything she's built.

Often times I'm put off by realism, wanting my novels to be more of an escape. Corinne, however, provides a template for how to live an honest, real, and more-happy-than-not life with someone whose world is fundamentally different than your own. It felt sincere and didn't break my heart like I feared it would.

The beginning of the novel is reminiscent of Sally Rooney's Normal People, telling the love story of two young adults with a secret romance where one is clearly taking advantage of the other. As the story transitions to their adult life, however, Corinne and Enoch take the plot into their own hands. By the end of the novel, I was captivated by these two strong-willed people who fought every moment to keep what's most important in their lives safe.

I could go on for days about this book, but I don't want to spoil it for others. Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Corrine was a really moving story that was complex and moving, but difficult to read at times. I really enjoyed the push and pull of the relationship between Corinne and Enoch. Their love for each other is so strong that it spans years apart. Their love is also complicated and wrapped so tightly in family and the church, and it’s unclear whether it will survive. It was hard to watch Corrine get pushed out of her family at such a young age while Enoch was not. However, I enjoyed watching Corrine take ownership of her life and find a way to forgive her family and reclaim her love for Enoch.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC. I enjoyed this novel and would recommend it to fans of Collen Hoover.

This book was such a conundrum. It was about religious fundamentalism, but it contained excessively graphic, anatomical descriptions of sex. I’m not sure what to think of it. I am not posting a review on Goodreads or giving it a rating. (I’m giving it 3 stars here because I have to, but I don’t know if that is the right rating.) It was well-written and a page-turner, but I can’t think of many people to whom I would recommend it. I am also burning with curiosity about the true identity of the author.

Thank you for the opportunity to read it.

This was an amazing debut! Corrine was a novel that was hard to put down, and that made me fall in love with the two main characters, Enoch and Corinne from the very first few chapters. As someone that grew up in a fundamentalist environment, this book just felt so familiar to me. I don't know if someone that hasn't experienced fundamentalism would bond as easily with the characters, but it would still be a very highly emotional read. The only thing I have to complain about is that it was too long, I felt. Over 400 pages, and I felt like it would never end, but that did not take away from my 4 star rating. The love that Enoch and Corrine experienced from a very young age was just beautiful to read about. I look forward to more from Morrow!

Rebecca Morrow is a new-to-me author with this story. She definitely has a unique style of writing and voice. I wasn’t sure I would like it at first, but it really did grow on me after a few chapters. But by the end, I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about the entire book, and I can’t quite put my finger on what I’m ambivalent about. There’s a good bit of emotion revolving around the fundamentalist religion this story is set in. But the back and forth between the main characters in the “present” part of the story did drag and honestly got old after a while. I have an idea regarding what the author was attempting to portray, but it fell a bit short and read more like trying to tackle the same issues repeatedly without any growth on either character’s part. I skimmed a good bit from about halfway through to about ¾ of the way into the book. That said, all in all, I enjoyed the story and look forward to more from this author.

Corinne is a compelling story about deeply complex, imperfect people living in the world of a challenging fundamentalist religion. The book begins with Corinne and Enoch as teenagers. Corinne does not fit in anywhere except on rare occasions with Enoch. She is eventually cast out of her fundamentalist church after an indiscretion with Enoch. The discrepancies and unfairness about the treatment of girls versus boys is front and center.

Corinne is thrust out into the world for 13 years and lives a life she couldn't have if she had not been cast out. She goes to college, dates men, and starts a career. After 13 years, she choses to go back and try to build a relationship with a family that has not supported her. She inadvertently reconnects with Enoch Miller and begins a tentative and tenuous relationship. She is fully aware of the consequences of her choices and is honest to the extreme. Enoch has his own struggles. There is a constant push and pull between his church and his relationship with Corinne. It is interesting to see them work through the tangles and knots of their familial relationships and fundamentalist backgrounds to try to achieve fulfilling relationships with each other and their families.

The sex scenes are an interesting juxtaposition to the fundamentalist religion. Corinne and Enoch are both a bit naive and awkward, yet at the same time they are open to explore. These scenes are an important part of the story as they highlight the characters struggle with worldly pleasures and feelings of shame and guilt from their fundamentalist religion. They also showcase Enoch and Corrine's growth as they communicate their wants and needs. I also commend the author for the plus-size and non-traditional beauty inclusiveness.

The book was not perfect. At first, I was put off by the third person narrative, but I grew more comfortable with it as I continued reading. It added to the "otherness" that Corinne and Enoch feel in their lives. The pace is slow in parts with some boring dialogue as Corinne and Enoch seemed to discuss every mundane detail. A bit of editing would have helped with this.

I would recommend this book to someone who likes an unconventional, character-driven story with surprising depth.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

n Corinne, Rebecca Morrow tells a compelling and complex story about her titular character and her life. Corinne was raised within a fundamentalist family where the way of life was clear, even if she sometimes took to the sidelines. But something changed for her when she got to know Enoch Miller. This relationship results in Corinne being cast aside by her family and rejected by her church.

At just eighteen, Corinne goes on to build her life away from all that she knew and once wanted. Her story is told over the next fifteen years in this novel.

Readers will be fixated on turning the pages and seeing how life turns out for Corinne and how she works out her feelings for Enoch. What will happen when she returns to her community? Read this one to find out.

Highly recommended for lovers of literary, general and/or women’s fiction.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

This novel surprised me a lot-- in a good way. It was a raw, unflinching look at religion and relationships. and the messy, complicated fractures one's faith and church can cause. Even though the novel was 400+ pages long, never once was I bored. It was real and honest. Happy to recommend!

I can never say no to a book about fundamentalist religions so I was really intrigued by this one. This book did an excellent job of highlighting how differently girls are treated by religious elders and the alienation/guilt that can occur. I appreciated how a religion was never actually named as it applies to many fundamentalist sects. I was not prepared for the amount of sex though! This is definitely a sex heavy book so prepare yourselves. At times, it felt a bit repetitive - I can only read a character’s name so many times before I am sick of it. Overall, this is a unique take on love, absolution and forging your own path.

I started this book not knowing much about it. I didn't realize it was based on a woman, a girl really, being cast out of a fundamentalist church. So there is a lot of 'churchy' things in the book. Don't get me wrong, I learned a lot about fundamentalist churches and how they operate from this story, but I just think this wasn't that great of a fit for me. I think differently and it was hard watching Corrine and Enoch bend to the ways of the church, at the cost of their happiness.

Like I said, I learned a lot from this book. I think the characters were interesting people and this kind of conflict is real and happening to a lot of people in the church. I'm sure this will be a very enjoyable read for the right audience... it is a powerful story. I wish the author all the best.

Corinne is a second chance romance that takes place in two halves. In the first half, Corinne and her family are part of a fundamentalist church and Corinne never feels accepted or like she fits in. The closest she has to a friend is Enoch, whose mother is best friends with her mother. After Corinne's family is evicted from their home, they move in with Enoch's family to live in their basement. On Saturdays (bible study day), Corinne's family is invited upstairs to be a part of Enoch's family and play games and eat pizza. What begins as innocent hand holding turns into more, and Corinne is kicked out of the church for engaging in sin after Enoch confesses to the elders. Enoch, of course, is forgiven and remains a member in good standing with said fundamentalist church.

In the second half, Corinne has attended college, dated a couple guys, and found a job that she enjoys. When her mom gets sick, she returns home to be near her and hopefully continue to repair their relationship. She attends a family gathering and is surprised to see Enoch there - now divorced but still a member of the fundamentalist church. They reconnect and rekindle their relationship, but, like Romeo and Juliet, they find many obstacles in the way to happiness.

I am not sure how I feel about this book. The writing style is engaging and I read most of the book in one sitting. I had difficulty believing that Corinne would agree to meet Enoch in the second half with no hesitation, since he was the catalyst for her life going down a very different but arguably better path. He is still a member of the church so doesn't see anything wrong with what he did or the hypocrisy of why he was unpunished while Corinne was cast out. This is very normal in the fundamentalist church but in my opinion Corinne should have been more upset about it as someone who now resided in a secular environment.

The romance is very open door. The first half is holding hands under tables and a few stolen kisses, but the second half is very explicit in its romantic encounters. In fact the second half is almost entirely romantic encounters. It made the book feel tonally dissonant. Since the first half was very drawn out, the second half feels a bit rushed and shallow. My biggest complaint, though, is that the relationship felt unbelievable. It's a secret love affair - all codependence and no substance.

As someone who is a Protestant (very non-fundamentalist) Christian, it made me cringe to see the word "Christian" ascribed to the church depicted in this story. I wish that the fundamentalist denomination had been named rather than just referred to as "the church". The majority of this story was intertwined with religion, and it was not painted in a positive light (for good reason).

I did enjoy aspects of this book, but I cannot wholeheartedly recommend it.

Can you go home again? Should you go home again? Those are the questions facing Corinne, who left her church and Kansas community in 1992 and built a life in Boston. Now 13 years later her mother is ill and she's back, back to face Enoch, her teenage love and the reason she was cast out. Enoch has his own problems- his wife Shannon has come out and he's struggling in more ways than one. Is this a second chance romance? The first part of this book, which focuses on their teen age years, was interesting to me for the ways the church rules their world. Regrettably, they both seem quite immature when we join them again in their 30s and very much focused on their sex life. I liked parts of this a great deal and other parts were meh. Corinne, however, is a compelling character. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC A good read.