Corinne

This book wrecked me! Be prepared to be emotionally Invested until this book is finished. A page turner and spans over a few years. Many twists and turns and the perfect book if you want to spend a long day on the couch stuck in a book :)

This was such a unique read about growing up in an ultra-conservative, religious household. When Corinne and her young male friend, Enoch, cross a line, he feels so guilty he confesses his sin to the church and casts Corinne out of the church, her family, her community. While Corinne finds her inner power, she is drawn back to her old neighborhood with the desire to reconnect with her mother. What she finds in a love story so powerful, nothing can stand in her way.

Thank you, NetGalley for an advanced copy of this novel.

Corinne shatters your heart into a million pieces. Romeo & Juliet were teenagers separated by rival families-Enoch and Corinne are adults torn apart by religion. Their angst at being separated is surpassed only by their love and determination to be together. The writing is poetic, the characters honest and real. But make no mistake-Corinne is fiction at its erotic best. But it's not the graphic nature of Corinne that makes you gasp, it's the steely resolve of two people who make you believe love really can conquer all.

In love and harshly separated by church rules, Corinne and Enoch suffer for their love. From teenage love and angst after thirteen years of being apart, the church still rules over Enoch. How they find each other is a touching and sad tale of love and commitments.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

In love and harshly separated by church rules, Corinne and Enoch suffer for their love. From teenage love and angst after thirteen years of being apart, the church still rules over Enoch. How they find each other is a touching and sad tale of love and commitments.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What a wonderful story about two people who have grown up together and faced some challenging times. It made me swoon. It made me think. It made me cry. I loved it.

Thanks for my review copy, St Martin Press. All opinions are my own.

I truly enjoyed reading "Corrine". I found that it was difficult to put this book down because I was so drawn into the conflict between the two main characters. Corinne and Enoch have a complicated relationship. Both were raised in a fundamentalist church. Enoch's deceased father had been an elder in their church hence, Enoch felt a lot of pressure to live up to the expectations of his family. Corrine's family had moved in with Enoch's family after being evicted from their home. Corrine has always felt like she didn't belong. At the age of 18, while still in high school, Corinne was cast out of the church and had to leave behind her entire way of life. Corrine blames Enoch for the drastic turn her life took. She recognizes that being cast out was the best and worst thing that ever happened to her because she got to lead a secular life but lost out on relationships with her family. Ten years later, Corrine is back and is trying to forge a tentative relationship with her family. The story focuses on the concepts of forgiveness and sacrifice. What are you willing to sacrifice for the person you love? How much are you willing to do in order to obtain forgiveness? Excellent story!!!

I was very much surprised how much I ended up liking this book, given the summary and big focus on church relations and excommunication from the church. (Not a religious person in the least).

Morrow did a fantastic job of making the characters feel very much real with the simplicities of a budding/reconnecting relationship over years apart.

Also, gorgeous cover.

“That had never seemed fair—it wasn’t fair, she’d paid so much for so little.”

Wow. I devoured this. By the end of the first chapter, I was hooked. I loved the romantic build-up in their initial flirtation, and can definitely relate to the fumblings of teenage love. As a love interest, I liked Enoch (despite my inability to pronounce his name) and I loved Corinne.
If I were to critique any part of this book, it would probably be the middle. Some of it dragged a little bit, it felt a lot like the way Corinne described her senior year — a lot of blur as she waited for Enoch to come see her. Either way, this book definitely captured my attention.

(☆ ☆ ☆. 5 stars)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

A tale as old as time... two people longing to be together when there are many things in their way. Corrine delves into strict religion, oppression, double standards, basing one's worth in connection to the apporval of others, a lasting desire, plenty of what if's and what will be's. It was a great read fully of some lusty twists. I felt for Corrine. She left The Church but her heart was still inside it longing to be with her old love. A decade and some years later, she runs into her past and it presents some challenges. I was rooting for them and was pleased with the ending.

I was given an ARC of this novel from St. Martin's Press through Netgalley in exchange for my review. As a book reviewer, I read so many books-so many really good books, but still many of them are all but forgotten when they are finished. Corinne, was in a word, unforgettable. This book was so different but so compelling. The main characters Corinne and Enoch were so layered that I just couldn't stop thinking about this book long after it was over. It would be an excellent book for book clubs as this is certainly a book that you want to talk about as you are reading. This is a top notch read and I highly recommend it!

Corrine is a book we will be talking about this summer. Written in a style that is both direct and heart trobbing, it's a story of love, disappointment and renewal. Corrine and her family are members of a fundamentalist church. She loses her virginity at 16, but not in a cruel or criminal way. But, to another member of her church, Enoch Miller, someone she's adored and been attracted to for years. When other members of her church find out, she is cut off..from the church, from Enoch and from her family. After 15 years, they meet again, and return to the relationship they've both always wanted. Can they have a life together and can her family accept her? This is a moving story and speaks to what people are willing to do if they truly love and trust each other. It's also a story of faith and how beliefs affect people's lives outside the church. Some parts are sexually graphic, but important to the story. So worth the read. I will be thinking about Corrine and Enoch for a long time. Thank you St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book which will be published 7/12/2022. I definitely recommend it.

What first drew me to this novel was the beautiful cover, and once I read the synopsis, I knew it was just the book that I wanted to read right now. The story was both heartbreaking and beautiful, and I found that the two main characters were so well written that they practically jumped off the page.

Corinne Callahan grew up in an extremely strict church that she was ultimately cast out of during her teenage years because of her "worldly" relations with Enoch Miller, the church's golden boy. Although this caused Corinne to be separated from both her church and her family, she does not regret it because of the deep love that she had for Enoch. Fast forward thirteen years later, Corinne has built a great new life away from the church, but she can never truly forget Enoch Miller and her teenage years that they spent together.

I'll be honest, I was hooked from the very first page. Young Corinne's story was saddening to read, and the time the author spends describing Corinne's relationship with Enoch allows you to feel truly immersed in their story. I found Corinne as an adult to be very relatable, and I felt that I couldn't put the book down until I knew exactly how their relationship was going to pan out in the end. I did find that the last quarter of the book felt a little repetitive and drawn out, however, it was still a captivating and unputdownable read.

My review will be posted on my blog (instagram.com/bekakatereads) closer to the publication date. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

An incredible book on many levels-as a examination of the complicated interpersonal lives of anyone trying to pull themselves away from the morass of fundamentalism, as a love story starring two physically imperfect people, as an exploration of what it means to be in a committed relationship. It's beautiful. Definitely five stars.

A deliciously wonderful read from the very first page! Rebecca Morrow knows how to weave a story. It's a timely novel with the ex-mo (and similar) movement on tiktok and felt like I was reading a friend's story!

I wasn't quite sure what to make of this book when I started. Corrine was so out of place in her life. She really didn't feel that she belonged anywhere. Enoch was so at ease with his role in the church and his belonging. I enjoyed watching them become closer as they played games each Saturday night. My heart broke for Corrine when she was cast out. I truly didn't know how I felt about Enoch after this happened. I felt he used her and then cast her aside. When they meet back after 13 years, I couldn't help but fall for Enoch a little bit. He was very sure of his faith in a church that really seems a bit too rigid (in my opinion), but he was just as sure of his love for Corrine. I loved that they fought to be together and knew it wouldn't be easy. The ending was sweet and satisfying.


Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book. All opinions expressed are mine.

Morrow is a pseudonym for a "New Year Times Best-Selling Author" and that's such a cop-out to me. I need to know who this person is and how they captured so many aspects of fundamentalism and romance so well. I can seriously see myself so often. The stolen kisses in my father's garage with one of the more "secular" members of our church. The fascination with boys in the church, even though they weren't always the cutest, but to me they were BOYS so yeah.

The head coverings, the authority of all males in the church over me (a female). The strict adherence to dress codes, the training of how to answer questions about our faith, the judgmental training - oh my judgement was sky-high. I waver between massive anxiety attacks and fear during the reading of this book and just awe at seeing it placed on a page. I've seen reviews where it seems unbelievable about how these characters are so child-like in nature or say too many "I love you's."

But that's what happens when you are raised in a church that refuses to discuss these things in an open, listening manner. When even saying "I love you" is portrayed as a sin unless sanctioned by the church.

If you struggle to understand the impact of fundamentalism on those who have managed to escape it, read this book. Many of the things both Enoch and Corinne struggled with mentally and physically are a part of our daily lives.