Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Swear on This Life
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
From "USA TODAY" bestselling author Renee Carlino ("Before We Were Strangers"), a warm and witty novel about a struggling writer who must come to grips with her past, present, and future after she discovers that she s the inspiration for a pseudonymously published bestselling novel. When a bestselling debut novel from mysterious author J. Colby becomes the literary event of the year, Emiline reads it reluctantly. As an adjunct writing instructor at UC San Diego with her own stalled literary career and a bumpy long-term relationship, Emiline isn t thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of a young and gifted writer. Yet from the very first page, Emiline is entranced by the story of Emerson and Jackson, two childhood best friends who fall in love and dream of a better life beyond the long dirt road that winds through their impoverished town in rural Ohio. That s because the novel is patterned on Emiline s own dark and desperate childhood, which means that J. Colby must be Jase: the best friend and first love she hasn t seen in over a decade. Far from being flattered that he wrote the novel from her perspective, Emiline is furious that he co-opted her painful past and took some dramatic creative liberties with the ending. The only way she can put her mind at ease is to find and confront J. Colby, but is she prepared to learn the truth behind the fiction?"
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
review
dainarmb
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image
Mehso-so

New Bingo board template thanks to Canva. I stayed up until 2 a.m. last night to finish "Swear On This Life" by Renee Carlino. I had high hopes for it as it sounded like a book that would capture the feeling I had as a teenager reading Dessen YA novels. Sadly, something fell flat. The book was more of a healing arc than a romance read.

#BookSpinBingo

blurb
dainarmb
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

Hoping for the tagged book to be my #BookSpin read for June, but I guess we'll see! Here's my June list, with my library holds doubled up again.

@TheAromaofBooks #BookSpinBingo

6 likes1 comment
review
sammisho
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image
Pickpick

I really enjoyed this cute story about first loves reconnecting after many years. I am a hopeless romantic, and strongly believe in fate so this was right up my alley. A little overly complicated at times, but a perfect read for my lazy Sunday.

And my last #newyearwhodis book! Thanks @veehabib! @monalyisha

monalyisha Cute! Love that you kept it going. 💖🙌🏻 6y
sammisho @monalyisha I was on hold foreeeeeevvvver for this one! 6y
48 likes2 comments
blurb
sammisho
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

Left over birthday cupcakes for breakfast

BookFreakOut Breakfast of champions! 6y
Megabooks 🎂👍🏻 6y
britt_brooke Perfect! Happy birthday! (edited) 6y
See All 6 Comments
CrowCAH Woohoo you enjoy your bday as long as possible! 🎂 6y
Laughterhp Your socks look so cozy! Also, Happy Birthday! 6y
LauraBeth Happy Birthday! 🎉🎉 6y
48 likes6 comments
review
Kryssy14
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image
Pickpick

This was my first book of 2019! And I couldn‘t put it down. Immediately it is easy to read and flows so nicely. The characters are relatable and the hardship is palpable if you have personal experience. A beautiful story! I got to meet the author who is amazing and so down to earth- it‘s not surprising that she is as relatable as her books!

RaimeyGallant Nice review. :) And welcome to Litsy! #LitsyWelcomeWagon Some of us put together Litsy tips to help new Littens navigate the site. It's the link in my bio on my page in case you need it. Or if you prefer how-to videos, @chelleo put some together at the link in her bio. @LitsyWelcomeWagon 6y
AlwaysForeverReading Welcome to Litsy!!!💜💙♥️💙💜 6y
3 likes2 comments
blurb
Lexicon1982
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

Absolutely amazing meeting Renee Carlino! Hearing her stories, and her being so relatable was awesome! This is the first Renee Carlino Book I have read and in love with her writing. I felt so infatuated with Jase/Jackson and Emiline/Emerson that I could not put this book down! To call this book a “romance” is too limiting, this is more about how two people‘s lives are magnetic and intertwined by fate. Beautifully written and highly recommend!

BookwormAHN Welcome to Litsy 😺 6y
CrowCAH Wow great pic! Welcome to the Litsy family!!! 6y
See All 9 Comments
Purrfectpages Welcome to Litsy! 6y
Lexicon1982 @CrowCAH thanks was super fun meeting her! 6y
Kaylamburson Sounds like an amazing night! Welcome to Litsy!!! 6y
Lexicon1982 Thank you all for the warm welcome! 6y
Eggs Welcome to Litsy 🤗📚 6y
23 likes9 comments
quote
veebib
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

"It‘s like reading a good book. The kind where you don‘t want to skip pages to see what happens at the end. Each moment is a story in itself."

*I loved this book from the first page, it was one that I didn't want to put down and when I had to put it down I couldn't wait to start reading it again.

3 likes1 stack add
review
MrsGreen
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image
Pickpick

Easy read, made for excellent discussion at book club! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars

review
Purrfectpages
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image
Mehso-so

This is my second Renee Carlino book and l have to say, the little things that bothered before bothered me here as well. Don't get me wrong, Carlino writes stories that keep you interested, but I never have a strong sense she knows where she wants her own stories to go. It's almost like she flips a coin and decides along the way. Yet while her writing is so unpredictable in so many ways, it's also oddly predictable. Does that make any sense?

blurb
Purrfectpages
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

I already had this one in my collection, so I‘m giving it a shot next. I‘ll let you know what I think @Hollie !

Hollie I hope you enjoy it! 😘 7y
52 likes2 stack adds1 comment
blurb
Kristyngansen
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

Tell me about your book clubs. I‘m reading this one for an online reading group. Do you belong to any reading groups? Online or in real life?

Also, shout out the best book you‘ve read with a book club this year. 📖 #bookclub 🙂

CocoReads In my real life group we had 2 favorites. 7y
AmyG Our best was The Heart's Invisible Furies. I read it for here and my actual book club. 7y
See All 10 Comments
Kristyngansen @CocoReads Everything I never told you is a great one! I just finished her other book last week! I‘ve added Pearl to my list - it sounds great! 7y
Kristyngansen @AmyG oh, that is so on my list. I got it from BOTM but I haven‘t had a chance to read it yet! 7y
DivineDiana I belong to two real life book clubs and one from Litsy where we send books around the country to our members. Had a Book Club meeting today and everyone loved the book 7y
Kaylamburson I'm in one real life book club with my sister's co-workers, although I'd love to join another one that's a bit more book focused. It's gotten better, but originally they only read half a book every two months 😂. I did #LitsyBuddyRead last time with Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, and that was definitely my favorite book club read! 7y
Kristyngansen @Kaylamburson I know what you mean! I am in two real life book clubs, and sometimes I am the only one who read! I am happy to hear you liked Eleanor Oliphant - I grabbed it in my BOTM box this month! 7y
Kristyngansen @DivineDiana that sounds like a wonderful book. I‘ve added it to my tbr! 7y
Kaylamburson Yes, that's the worst! Why am I even reading the books they pick if no one wants to discuss them for more than five minutes. But I'm so glad you got Eleanor!! It's definitely one of my favorite books this year!! 7y
28 likes1 stack add10 comments
review
Audrey
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image
Mehso-so

This book is very readable. I wanted to know what happened despite being irritated with most of the book. But, there are so many problems with it. The biggest is that the "novel" within the novel, is not good. It's supposed to be a first novel and a literary darling. It's not written well and the story line is melodramatic. There were other smaller issues, with plotting, dialogue, inaccurate facts and borderline stalking behavior.

blurb
Purrfectpages
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

There have been so many books written about lost love, it's impossible to tag all of them. Here's a sample of a few on TBR. Anyone read any of these? #lostloves #jubilantjuly

review
JennyTheBish
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
Pickpick

Beautiful and captivating book! Page turner that you won't want to put down.

Hollie I loved this one! It made me ugly cry, but I loved it! 7y
5 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
Hollie
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

This one was #tearinupmyheart when I was reading it. An adjunct writing instructor starts reading a new bestseller and quickly realizes that it is her painful childhood written on the pages and that the new hot mysterious author is her childhood best friend/first love. She's furious that he would write HER story. I burned through this book and ugly cried at the end. I think it just hit me in the feels at that time! #90sinjuly

Robothugs Oh wow. This book is going on my TBR immediately! 7y
Cinfhen Sounds great 👍🏻 seems a bit like a book I just read & loved 7y
Hollie @Cinfhen I just stacked that one! Thanks for the recommendation 😀 7y
43 likes2 stack adds3 comments
blurb
Purrfectpages
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

Here's a bunch of life related titles off my TBR list. Anyone read any of these? #life #junebookbugs

Zelma I liked the Rob Lowe memoir, but his first one is much better. Both are especially good on audiobook since he reads them; his voice is great for listening. 8y
Purrfectpages @Zelma I read the first one. I'd imagine he has a good voice for audiobooks. 8y
42 likes2 comments
review
schakarin
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image
Mehso-so

My expectations for this book were pretty high and I'm sad to say that it didn't really meet them. The writing felt very off and the story didn't have a natural flow at all. Overall, this was quite disappointing for me.

blurb
dll
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

91° with a breeze on this beautiful afternoon. finally found some down time to sit and read this book! (and shout out to my love for the bday gift!)

1 like1 stack add
blurb
imajod
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

My read for the plane back home. Making sure I don't finish my April #girlybookclub selection the day of like I did last time haha.

Sace Is the girly book club in real life or on social media? 8y
imajod Real life. In lots of different cities in the country and around the world. Look it up! 8y
MrBook Belatedly, welcome to @Litsy ! We hope you enjoy your stay 😊👍🏻. 8y
3 likes3 comments
blurb
beyondbookish
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

Currently Reading 📚

1 stack add
blurb
Sara_Planz
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

@Hollie Thank you so much! The Jane Austen socks are so perfect and can you believe I have not read any of these books!!!! You are the best and I love my #cupidgoespostal gifts!!!

Hollie I think you're gonna love these books, I stalked your have read stack to make sure! I chose the Lawson book because she's from your home state, but also because it made me laugh until I cried. Enjoy! 💕💕💕 8y
Gayan The Jen Lawson book is probably the funniest thing I have ever read. I am going to see her next month. 8y
Sara_Planz @Hollie I cannot wait to dig into all of these! Perfect assortment for me! Thank you again so much. 8y
See All 7 Comments
cathysaid The Lawson book...gut-achingly-funny! 8y
rubyslippersreads NEED those Jane Austen socks! 😍😍😍 8y
Reviewsbylola I got a Rita Septys book too! 8y
LeahBergen I want those socks!!!! 😍😍 8y
97 likes7 comments
review
Reggie
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
This post contains spoilers
show me
post image
Pickpick

I gave this a pick because i'm a sucker for happy endings but i found the main character very unlikable, even after you find out about her childhood. The premise of girl reading a book that happens to be about her, written by her first love who she hasn't seen in 12 years is great. Just execution and some story choices bothered me. Like the lets say Trevor is an addict out 30 pages from the end to give Emi an out. It was alright.

blurb
Reggie
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

This book and almost all the others recently read have made me realize is that bad parent characters make great books. And if a main character has good parents, there is a price they pay.

blurb
Hollie
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

#inthemoodforlove #seasonsreadings2016
You guys, this love story hit me right in the feels. It's about an aspiring writer who picks up a bestseller and is sucked into the story...only to realize the mysterious author is actually her childhood best friend and first love and this story is about her!! She's pissed that he would write about her traumatic childhood and she hasn't seen him in 10 years, oh but that changes...read it with tissues handy!

20 likes1 stack add
review
That-Bookish-Hiker
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
Mehso-so

I loved Renee Carlino's characters in Sweet Thing and expected the same chemistry and story telling in this book but didn't find it. I had a hard time liking Emiline. I found some of her interactions with people around her cold and distant. That could have been because of her past but it made it hard to connect with her. I liked the story told within the story more than the actually story.

blurb
That-Bookish-Hiker
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

Saw this on Facebook and had to share it on here. ☺️

MrBook 😂👏🏻🙌🏻 8y
26 likes1 comment
blurb
That-Bookish-Hiker
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

😂

britt_brooke Love this. 👏🏻 8y
Desha Hahaha hilarious and so true! I just signed up for Amazon prime and I love it. 😍😍😍 8y
20 likes2 comments
review
CoffeeK8
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image
Pickpick

Had to rush and finish this with my morning coffee while the baby was asleep. This book was great, the characters were compelling and I always ❤️ a story with a book within a book plot line.

blurb
CoffeeK8
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

This book is so intense... totally hooked from page one!

review
AnnaDesourdy
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
This post contains spoilers
show me
post image
Mehso-so

I didn't love Em but I did love Jase. My problem with the book was I couldn't understand why he loved her so much. I know they went through major stuff together and she was very damaged but I just couldn't understand why she chose to run from him. And I couldn't understand why she kept trying to make things work with Trevor. Overall though I would recommend for Colleen Hoover fans. It was a mix of November 9 and It Ends With Us.

quote
AnnaDesourdy
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

Warning: This book may cause you to question your path and completely change it.

Texreader This quote is so true. I took a big leap of faith to go to law school after being out of school for years. It was one of the best (but scary) things I ever did! I love what I do and don't ever regret that decision almost 20 years ago. 8y
AnnaDesourdy @Texreader that's awesome!!! 8y
39 likes2 stack adds2 comments
review
Ngoris
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image
Pickpick

Emiline es una escritora de veintisiete años que no encuentra la inspiración para escribir, que está en una relación para nada apasionada con su novio de hace siete años. Su amiga le recomienda leer la novela de la que todos están hablando y desde el principio ella encuentra su propia historia trágica y de su mejor amigo y primer amor Jase. 4⭐️
Aunque es una buena novela, no es tan buena como Cuando éramos extraños de la misma autora.

quote
AnnaDesourdy
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

Phew. This line got me. My grandfather, who was an absolutely brilliant, hardworking, incredible man, died a few years ago. I remember reading his obituary and thinking this exact same thing.

41 likes1 stack add
blurb
AnnaDesourdy
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

Dear Fall, I ❤️you. Please don't go.

Bette Agree. 8y
48 likes2 stack adds1 comment
review
CriztheMisfit
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image
Pickpick

My feelings: 🙃 😍 😰 😭 😍
#readathon

review
missarixreads
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
Mehso-so

This book was just meh for me. I was expecting more...

JennyTheBish Oh no! 8y
3 likes1 comment
quote
BooksForTheLiving
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

"We can't always control our circumstances, who our parents are, where we live, or how much money we make, but in those rare moments when we can shape our fate, when we do have the power to make our own happiness, we can't be too scared to do it."

AnnaDesourdy Ok this is freaky. I have this same quilt, same pillow, and I just picked up this book from the library.... 8y
BooksForTheLiving @AnnaDesourdyAuthor That IS freaky! You have great taste though lol 8y
2 likes3 comments
review
Bostonmomx2
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
Pickpick

5/5 stars!!

2 likes1 stack add
blurb
Bostonmomx2
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

Spending this Saturday am reading. Wasn't sure I could deal with what felt like juvenile writing but by chapter 2 I'm completely absorbed and having trouble putting this one down. ** update ** finished this just now. It was soooo good! Highly recommend.

4 likes1 stack add
review
Wellreadtraveler
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image
Pickpick

This book was incredibly amazing, I loved it so so much, and good not put it down. From the very beginning I was hooked, and couldn't wait to find out what happens with "Emerson" and "Jax". Such an incredible love story, with a very happy ending. Go get it ASAP, you'll be happy you read it!

JennyTheBish Aww look @ReneeCarlino another great review! 8y
4 likes1 stack add1 comment
quote
sarahmrclo
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino

“Jackson?” I asked.
“Yeah?”
“What‘s going to happen?”
I could feel his heart beating fast against my chest. “Nobody knows.”
“I hate that,” I said.
“I know, I hate it too, but I guess it‘s like reading a good book. The kind where you don‘t want to skip pages to see what happens at the end. Each moment is a story in itself.”

blurb
JennyTheBish
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

Do y'all prefer long paragraph on books. Or do you just like a quick sentence or two on how I feel? Just wondering as I normal make them very short to sum up my feelings.

Megabooks Quick sentence or two for sure! I feel like I'm making more progress. 8y
10 likes1 comment
blurb
JennyTheBish
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

7 likes2 stack adds
review
tonilehelena
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image
Panpan

I really wanted to like this book but I couldn't. The writing needed a good edit and the characters were unrealistic. Also, truly terrible dialogue. I'm so disappointed!

LiteraryinPA I hate it when that happens! 8y
missarixreads Agreed. 8y
5 likes2 comments
blurb
aWrites
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

#CurrentStatus Enjoying my fave #CruBeaujolais from #Morgon + enjoying a wonderful book, while hubs is out. #WineNerd #booksandwine #Gamay

blurb
JennyTheBish
Swear on This Life | Renee Carlino
post image

Sale sale sale! I am waiting to read this till my paperback comes in. Anything she write is amazing! So grab it. #sale

Hollie I agree 100%, scoop this one up! It is sooo good! 8y
6 likes1 comment