Book Review with Celebrate Lit: A Girl’s Guide to the Outback by Jessica Kate

About the Book

Book: A Girl’s Guide to the Outback
Author: Jessica Kate
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: January 28, 2020

How far will a girl go to win back a guy she can’t stand? This funny, sweet, and romantic story proves that opposites do attract—and that God has a sense of humor.

Samuel Payton is a passionate youth pastor in Virginia, but below the surface, he’s still recovering from the blow of a failed business and insecurities he can’t shake. His coworker, start-up expert Kimberly Foster, is brilliant, fearless, and capable, but years of personal rejection have left her defensive and longing for a family. Two people have never been more at odds—or more attracted to one another. And every day at work, the sparks sure do fly.

When Kimberly’s ambitious plans for Sam’s ministry butt up against his risk-averse nature, Sam decides that obligations to family trump his work for the church. He quits the ministry and heads home to Australia to help his sister, Jules, save her struggling farm. As Kimberly’s grand plans flounder, she is forced to face the truth: that no one can replace Sam. Together they strike up a deal: If Kimberly comes to work on Jules’s dairy farm and lends her business brains to their endeavor, then maybe—just maybe—Sam will reconsider his future with the church.

As Kimberly tries her hand at Australian farm life, she learns more about herself than she could’ve ever expected. Meanwhile Sam is forced to re-evaluate this spunky woman he thought he already knew. As foes slowly morph into friends, they wonder if they might be something even more. But when disaster strikes the farm, will Sam find it within himself to take a risk that could lead to love? And will Kimberly trust God with her future?

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About the Author

Australian author Jessica Kate writes inspirational romances with wit, sass, and grit. Jessica is a screenwriting groupie, cohost of the StoryNerds vlog and podcasts, and her favorite place to be—apart from Mum and Dad’s back deck—is a theme park. She has traveled North America and Australia, and samples her favorite pasta wherever she goes—but the best (so far) is still the place around the corner from her corporate day job as a training developer. She loves watching sitcoms with her housemates and being a leader in a new church plant. Visit her online at jessicakatewriting.com; Instagram: jessicakatewriting; Facebook: jessicakatewriting; Twitter: @JessicaKate05.

My Review

A Girl’s Guide to the Outback
by Jessica Kate
Release date: January 28, 2020
Rating: 5/5

Another winner from Jessica Kate! Having recently finished her previous novel, Love and Other Mistakes, I was eager to read more from this talented author! Her storytelling is so good and her characters are authentic and rootable. The reader can’t help but keep reading to find out what will happen next. (I also might be a bit biased since the main character is named after me!)

Kimberly is a financial genius and has felt so good about using her talents for good by working at Wildfire Ministries for the past three years. She truly believes in all they are doing to help the youth with their outreaches and youth drop-in center. She is convinced that expansion is the next step to help more teenagers. Unfortunately, youth paster, Sam, is not so easily convinced that expansion is the right idea. When a family emergency sends him home to Australia, his departure creates a headache for Kim. Not able to keep or rely on Sam’s replacements, the board may dissolve Wildfire if they can’t get Sam back or at least someone like him. Meanwhile, Sam reluctantly calls Kim to see if she’ll help look at his family dairy farm’s finances to figure out what they can do to be more productive. Kim flies to Australia to spend her holiday in Australia determined to get Sam to help her out if she helps his family out. Will these two learn to see each other in a new light?

Jessica Kate has a way of weaving a beautiful, heartwarming story of two broken people and finding God’s best for them. She finds a way to make this story hilarious and heartbreaking. I can’t say enough about how much I enjoyed this story. I felt like I was in Australia on a dairy farm. Her use of Aussie slang is fun but can be a bit confusing. I sort of wish she had a glossary at the end but for the most part, she explains the meanings of the slang. I would love the audiobook of this story just to hear that Australian accent! She made me laugh and cry and I am forever a fan!

I highly recommend this book for those that love clean, inspirational rom-coms.

My thanks to the publisher, NetGalley, and CelebrateLit for an ARC of the book. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own. No positive review was expected and no compensation received.

“Sweetheart, when God closes a door, He closes it. Best not to hold on too long and get your fingers jammed in the process.”
– Jessica Kate, A Girl’s Guide to the Outback