DNF at 40%

While I enjoyed Morrow's writing style and the snarky side comments from the narrator, I just couldn't get into this one. I didn't care about Corinne (or really even like her). And I hated Enoch. Their relationship felt so toxic that I just couldn't get behind their "love" story. I do also think this book could have used a lot of editing. It could be at least 100 pages shorter.

I was drawn to this story and how the MC had to overcome her religious upbringing to live the life she wanted. As someone who has dealt personally with religious zealots, I can empathize with Corinne and realize how much of a struggle she was facing.

4.5 Stars

This book came across my radar back in November 2021 via a marketing email that piqued my interest. It spoke of forbidden love and intimacy...and there were loads of it! It's ironic that this took me more than half a year to pick up and read- then wound up being such an enjoyable page-turner. It's a story about a couple of 18 year olds finishing up high school who are involved in a church with a strict moral code. The main female character of Corrine is one that I found very real and appealing. She's not the most beautiful or popular girl in town by a longshot. She doesn't have a lot of money or pretty clothes, she's short and a tad pudgy, and she's a bit of a rebel by nature. She's also secretly in love with Enoch Miller, one of the Elders in the church. The Elders get to monitor the church parking lot, quietly take attendance of the congregation, and monitor the church basement when people go down there to (allegedly) use the bathroom. Corrine always sits towards the back of the church and uses the two allotted opportunities to go downstairs for bathroom breaks. Sometimes she extends them by wandering around the carpeted rooms, and occasionally Enoch Miller would encounter her as he trolled the terrain. Enoch was like a huge rectangle, tall with cherry red hair and full lips. Not traditionally handsome in the general sense, but he was Corrine's "person" as if he was imprinted on her. However, it was common knowledge that he was promised to marry the incredibly gorgeous Shannon Frank. Shannon had beautiful clothes, was popular and when the time came to gather in groups and congregate after mass Corrine always suspected she was whispering about her. Corrine's church uniform consisted of a ratty black sweater and a long skirt- the only "nice" outfit she really had.

The story quickly heated up when Corrine's family temporarily moved in with Enoch's family. Corrine's stepfather had abandoned the family, leaving her mother and siblings in need of shelter. They took up in the Miller's basement, and tried to stay to themselves and not encroach on the Miller's privacy. However, Bonnie Miller announced that Corrine's family should come upstairs and join the Millers for dinner and bible study one day a week. Eventually, Mrs. Miller encouraged the eldest children, Enoch and Corrine to get out some board games to enjoy until bedtime. They had quite a few in the closet such as Monopoly, Clue and Operation, to name just a few. Standard Monopoly play was too boring with the regular rules, so they would make up more complex rules which expanded to the use of other games. The younger children were more interested in Nintendo so were immersed in videogames, but Enoch and Corrine thrived on playing their customized Monopoly game. Soon there were several board games laid out permanently in the living room that were games in progress to be picked up after bible study night. Enoch and Corrine's relationship deliciously unfolded into stolen moments of a sizzling romance, all the more exciting for its forbidden nature. Even though they were part of the same church, Corrine's family were viewed as being from the wrong side of town, and besides, Enoch was set to marry Shannon. The secret and furtive romantic meet ups made for a riveting read, fearful that they would be caught.

There's a tipping point moment in the story and then it catapults to 14 years later when Enoch and Corrine are in their 30s. There is a lot of yearning and explicit intimacy in this novel, both physical and conversational. I enjoyed the dialogue and the two main characters. They were both very likeable and fleshed out characters, quite different but the same in their shared, undeniable and enduring love for each other. I rooted for them the whole way, as they navigated their intense feelings and the rocky road of outside forces to its resolution. This was an unexpected joy to read, and I will be looking out for future novels from this author.

Thank you to the publisher St. Martin's Press for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for an ARC of this book which I voluntarily read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

CORINNE is not my usual read. To be honest, I don’t think this book is anyone’s usual read, because it isn’t very often that authors dive into this world of such strict Christianity in a romance/women’s fiction novel. However, I’m fascinated by these people who put religion, God, and the church above all else, so I gave CORINNE a try and was completely engrossed by the story.

Corinne and Enoch Miller meet when they’re children when Enoch’s mother invites Corrine’s—a sometimes single mom struggling to take care of her children—to her church. Yet, while they seem to click, Corinne and Enoch don’t become close until they’re both eighteen and Corinne’s family come to live in the Miller family basement after being evicted. One night a week, after their bible study is finished and their mothers leave the kids alone to play games, Corinne and Enoch slowly become more intimate until they cross a line that Enoch, a future church elder, feels so guilty over that he feels he must repent, leaving Corinne cast out from her family and the life she’s always known. But! Their relationship doesn’t end there. Corinne returns thirteen years later, college-educated and working successfully in her field—in the hopes of repairing her relationship with her family only to run into Enoch who still has a strong hold over her heart.

Reading the synopsis, I was expecting to hate Enoch, the man who had so badly betrayed our main character that she was forced into “worldliness,” changing her entire life without really facing any consequences himself simply because he’s a man. Yet, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I liked him and was rooting for she and Enoch to figure out a solution so they could be together. Both Corinne and Enoch are products of their religion, unable to quite escape the beliefs that had been drilled into their heads, but their experiences truly affected them in a way that they’re able to distance themselves from what many, who aren’t as tied to religion, would consider strict and unfathomable.

CORINNE takes the reader on a rollercoaster of emotions, and though it may be a tough read for many considering our world today and how tied religion is in regards to law making, I hope readers will give this second-chance love story a chance.

I can’t stop thinking about this book. I connected with this story so much. I understood their feelings and the rationalizations they made. Growing up, I went to a church with some of the same ideologies and I know the damage it caused in our marriages and future relationships. I feel validated somehow, knowing that someone else recognizes the impact these uber strict churches can have on someone’s entire life. It truly is a form of abuse and trauma. It never leaves you. No matter the distance you go from it or how much therapy you get.

I gave the book the highest rating because it provided an ugly truth in a really subtle way. It reads like a memoir but it’s actually fiction. You might argue that it didn’t need as much sex as it has but I think it helped the reader see that “Godly” people have the same desires and internal struggles that we all do. I like how it shed a light on the lives of these church leaders outside of the church and normalizes sex in a way that the church fails to do. I remember being 19 and feeling dirty and sinful whenever I had sex with my husband. That was red flag #1 that something was messed up in my brain and I knew why but I couldn’t get rid of those thoughts for years.

So, yes, it was explicit but I never felt like it was smutty. The sex was part of the message. It might not be as impactful to someone who didn’t experience the same upbringing. Just know that I will be recommending it to those with the same lives experience as mine. It’s undeniably profound for people like us.

I kept hoping to find an emotional connection as a way into this book, but it didn’t happen for me. I definitely can see how it will appeal to some readers, but it never clicked for me.

I started off really loving this book. I didn’t want to put it down. I thought the young love blossoming between Corinne and Enoch was so cute and Corinne’s thoughts/reactions were so realistic to how a teenaged girl would be with a crush. However, the back and forth arguments over issues you thought were resolved or at least decently enough to keep the love story going was frustrating and I lost most of my interest after that. The length of the book is a bit excessive for the story being told. I did enjoy reading a book with a strict religious perspective on it though. It was interesting to experience how the main characters navigated their lives with unwavering loyalty for God.

I could never really decide how I felt about these two. Whenever I felt like I figured it out, I’d flip back the opposite way. Ultimately, I sat right on the fence in the end which makes it strange how much I appreciate this book in hindsight.

I am not 100% sure what I think/feel about this book. So this review might be all over the place. This book made me really take a deeper look than I usually do to with a love story/romance. I am still processing Enoch and Corinne’s story. I love books like this that challenge my thinking/beliefs and make take a deeper look at how I feel on what I read. I couldn’t put it down once I started and I enjoyed Rebecca Morrow’s writing.

I liked how the book explored the struggle between loving someone and struggling to reconcile that love with a persons fundamental beliefs. It explores two teenagers coming of age set against their families religious beliefs and then 13 years later when Corrine and Enoch meet again. Corrine was excommunicated out of their church and cut off from her family and what she knew and the boy she loved. She built a good life for herself outside the church. She moves home over a decade later to be near her family and try to rebuild whatever relationship her family will let her have with them. She runs into Enoch and they start to rebuild their relationship too.

I felt both Corrine and Enoch’s struggle between loving each other and Enoch’s and Corrine’s family church beliefs. At times it was awkward and sad and the way that Rebecca Morrow wrote their story, you feel every moment of it. On the flip side, you feel their happy moments too and see the patience Enoch and Corrine had for each other as they worked through what they call “the hard stuff”. You really rooted for them. I will say I loved how their relationship played out and how Rebecca Morrow developed it.

This book was a different love story than I usually read, but I enjoyed it. It was not a light love story but challenging and beautiful one.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Rebecca Morrow for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

As a reader who is drawn to novels about forbidden relationships, Corinne certainly grabbed my attention. Complicated relationships prevailed in this book, and I was intrigued right from the start.

The book takes place over the span of fifteen years. We meet Corinne as a teenager. Her family has hit some hard times. She and her mother and siblings are living with Enoch Miller’s family. The Millers are loyal members of the fundamentalist church in their hometown. Corinne has always existed on the sidelines of the congregation. She has never fit in and been completely accepted. Corinne’s relationship with the church is not as steadfast as her mother’s or the Millers’. While she attends church with her family, she is more interested in Enoch Miller. It was always Enoch Miller.

The church’s strict rules meant that she was supposed to quash her feelings and desires, but temptation is powerful, and sometimes it proves to be too much to resist. Unfortunately for Corinne, the repercussions for her actions were far greater.

When we see Corinne years later, she is university educated, has a good career, and wants to try to repair the damaged relationship with her mother and siblings. Corinne wants to be back in her family’s good graces, but she doesn’t want to be part of the church, and she is still considered an outcast for her “worldly,” secular lifestyle. Enoch Miller is also still a fixture in his hometown and church. And while Corinne has tried to forget about him, he still holds a place in her heart. It was always Enoch Miller.

Rebecca Morrow has written an intriguing book. While the dialogue was simplistic between the two main characters, their relationship was anything but. It was messy, complicated, and laden with desire, not only for one another but to do the right thing. This was a perfect example of the heart wants what the heart wants.

I enjoyed my time reading Corinne. It was well written, thought provoking, and it made me feel a plethora of emotions. Did I want Corinne and Enoch to be together? At times, yes, and at other times, no. But I always wanted Corinne to find her own sense of peace, happiness, and acceptance.

*4 Stars

I’m torn as to what my thoughts are on Corinne. While I did like the premise of how love and wanton abandon can be hindered by strict religious upbringing, I could not appreciate all the eroticism behind it. And there was quite a bit of intimate details, which I thought took away from the drama.

The characters in the story didn’t appeal to me. They all seemed brainwashed with tunnel vision. The “my way or the highway” mindset. The main character, Corinne was the only character that seemed to have a balanced compass.

Storywise, I just didn’t like the flow. The sentences were abrupt and that allowed for a staccato-like tempo, which carried through the entire novel. Not the worst women’s fiction, but not the best. Two and a half stars, rounded up.

I received a digital ARC from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

Main Characters:
-- Corinne Callahan – 18 at the beginning of the book, 32 when we return to her story, had to create a life for herself as a “wordly” person once she was cast out of the church
-- Enoch Miller – also 18 and 32 throughout the story, he was never cast out of the church and has plans to be an elder in the church like his father was

Let me start with a few “housekeeping” type comments before I get to the actual review.

This book grabbed my attention first with the title and the cover. To be honest, there are so few times I see my daughter’s name spelled the way we spell it, that Corinne immediately caught my eye. I requested it based on the description and the rave review from a bestselling author calling this a modern day Romeo & Juliet, and I’m a sucker for Shakespeare. This didn’t feel like Romeo & Juliet at all to me.

The description indicates that the book is set over 15 years. It’s not. It’s set over about two years with a 13-year gap. We don’t see anything that happens between 1992 and 2005. We get snippets of what happened, but we don’t experience it through the book. We’re told about it after the fact…in 2005.

My opinion of this book is in no way a review of the fundamentalist Christian church described in the book. I make no judgments about how others believe or don’t believe, practice or don’t practice.

Rebecca Morrow is a pseudonym for “a New York Times bestselling author.” From what I can gather, she is typically a fan of fantasy and science fiction (at least based on her Twitter profile @WordsofMorrow). My guess is that this is her first attempt at something outside of that genre, so like many authors before her, she opted for a pseudonym to separate her previous work from this work. Based on how I felt about this book, that might have been a good call. Oh…and I think she might actually be a male author trying to write women’s fiction. I don’t know, obviously, since I can’t find anything to reference who Rebecca Morrow really is, but some of the writing feels like a guy trying to write what he thinks women will like.

Now for the review…I didn’t like this book at all. (I’m guessing you had probably figured that out by now.)

When the book begins, Corinne and Enoch are members of the same fundamentalist Christian church. Everyone has their place, and there are strict expectations of behavior. Enoch’s mother was actually responsible for bringing Corinne’s mother into the church, so they are good friends, and their families had spent some time together when the children were younger.

When Corinne’s stepfather leaves and they can’t afford to stay in their home, Enoch’s mother offers for the Callahans to stay in their basement until they can get on their feet. The Callahans try not to impose too much, but eventually Mrs. Miller invites them upstairs to join in for family Bible study and dinner. One of Corinne’s sisters typically has dinner at a friend’s and sleeps over. After dinner, Enoch returns from his girlfriend’s home. While their younger brothers play Nintendo. Corinne and Enoch make up extravagant board games using multiple games and their own rules (Monopoly, Parcheesi, Simon, Operation, etc.) while their mothers talk in the kitchen. Over time, Corinne and Enoch develop a secret attraction, which would be frowned upon since Enoch is expected to marry another girl.

The first almost 20% of the book focuses on this relationship. Secret hand-holding under the table, covert touching while their younger brothers aren’t looking. Eventually Enoch begins to kiss Corinne once everyone else has gone to bed. Corinne and Enoch being alone without a chaperone is technically forbidden by the church, and especially since Enoch is going steady with someone else. Finally one evening, Enoch and Corinne have sex. The next day, unbeknownst to Corinne, Enoch talks to the elders of the church and repents, and Corinne is cast out and shunned.

Fast forward to 13 years later, Corinne has been to college, has a job, and has moved back to Kansas because of her mother’s health. She is still cast out of the church, but she is slowly finding her way back to her family. Then she sees Enoch, and the other 80% of the book is a very loooooooooooooong slow look at their lives as adults. Too long…and too slow…and very, very awkward.

***SPOILERS*** SPOILERS***SPOILERS***

1992: acquaintances ➡ friends ➡ secret hand-holding ➡ secret touching ➡ secret kissing ➡ sex ➡ shunned.

2005: acquaintances ➡ secret friends ➡ secret walks ➡ secret meetings ➡ secret touching ➡ secret dinners ➡ sex sex sex sex sex sex sex ➡ wedding ➡ sex.

Yup…that’s about it.

***END SPOILERS***END SPOILERS***END SPOILERS

Corinne and Enoch seem like very one-dimensional characters to me. Their dialog is awkward. They don’t even really seem comfortable with one another. The author talks so much about Enoch’s knees cracking when he stands up that I half-expected something to happen to him because of it. But no, nothing. Completely irrelevant but had to be mentioned several times. Corinne has such self-loathing that I’m not sure how she allows anyone to love her. (“Corinne had wide hips and fairly giant thighs and an even more giant ass.”)

Corinne constantly thinks of Enoch as “Enoch Miller,” as if she knows so many men named Enoch. And if I had to read “Enoch, Enoch, Enoch,” or “Corinne, Corinne” one more time…. 🙄🤮

Definitely not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book for review.

The book is okay. It's mostly about living in a strict Christian household. A simple mistake like breaking the rules than you're cast off. For Corrine, after being cast off from everything, she has to relive her life and reunite with Enoch.

this was very intimate book and gave me similar vibes to normal people. corinne was interesting but very slow. i liked the family dynamics but i did not like enoch. personally, it wasn't very engaging and the ordeal with the church wasn't really my thing. overall, it was okay.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of this book. Let me just say, I requested it because of the cover and a blurb that compared it to a Romeo and Juliet retelling. Once I got over the fact that this book really has nothing to do with Romeo and Juliet (should have known Jodi Piccoult has no idea Romeo and Juliet isn't truly a romance, but very much a tragedy), and the thing that keeps the lovers apart is an extremely fundamentalist Christian church denomination, I actually really enjoyed this. The trauma of being a part of a church like the one Enoch and Corinne was raised in might be hard for some to imagine. Maybe it seems odd how even these grown adults feel the need to hide things from their families. But if the reader has any knowledge of how deeply ingrained "sin" and "repentance" and all the indoctrination that can come from being involved in a church like this, it's not unbelievable at all and was pretty fascinatingly written by Morrow. Also, kudos to writing sex positive, safe sex, awkward sex, real sex with condoms and periods and literally ALLLLLL the things real people have to deal with in real life AND doing it for a plus-sized female character and a male with glasses who isn't the classically handsome, chiseled man but someone with a real body and real insecurities as well. Seriously. Thank you.

This was an easy five stars for me. So much of Corrine’s life is intensely relatable to mine. I was concerned that I would find the similarities to be triggering but Morrow handled everything with such intelligence and humor that the experience was actually somewhat cathartic. I loved following Corrine through life’s ups and downs. I loved watching her learn to trust herself and love again. Everything about this was beautiful. That being said, there is essentially no plot and the stream-of-conscious bits can get a bit rambly. I personally loved it, but I could see it being off-putting to some.

Wow talk about Shakespeare - a very modern Romeo and you know who. A girl whose church throws her out - but she is in love and will do anything for that love - very Clever beautiful story

This book was ick and a huge NO for me because I could see, smell and taste and picture everything from the first part of the book (especially the skating rink) but I just had to finish it to see how it would end.

This book is about Corinne and Enoch and starts out in 1992 when they are 18. They belong to a very strict church and end up falling in love, have sex, which of course isn't allowed, Enoch repents which causes Corinne to be expelled from the church. She moves away for college and doesn't look back mainly because she doesn't have a choice.

The other 3/4 of the book is set in 2005, present day. Corinne has moved back to try and make amends with her family. She runs into Enoch of course and they begin another relationship in secret because 13 years later she's still in love with him. He decides to leave the church and be shunned to be with her, yet he still goes to church on Sunday even though no one can speak to or associate with him.

This book drug painfully slow and most of it is about the two of them having sex which is so awkward and their conversations as adults are even more cringy. 

This book is exactly why I'm against organized religion. How anyone can call themselves a Christian and act like that towards other people just makes me sick.

This book is an emotional and intimate look into a relationship with many struggles while being steeped in love. I found Corinne's inner thoughts and feelings to be so authentic and genuine. The relationship between Enoch and Corinne is romantic without being saccharine. This is an amazing look at love in a legalistic, strict church environment that uses shunning instead of grace to correct its members. I just loved this book to pieces!!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for access to this arc.

I feel like I owe an apology to NetGalley who was generous enough to let me read this book before its release date. The apology because I just could NOT finish it! You have to give me credit, however, for making it 50% of the way through, as that felt like somewhat of an ordeal.

I did not care for the main character, Corinne, and cared even less for the language she used and the graphic sex she described. I guess this was supposed to be a love story, but it was a mighty strange kind of love. I expected more from Rebecca Morrow.