It is very vital for an author to capture a reader within the first couple of pages; this author failed to do that. I tried reading it, but lost interest and skipped a few pages to see if I would get interested in the story, but I didn't.

Natalie Groves hates public speaking, but she’ll do anything to save her job. She’ll do just about anything to keep her family financially afloat. Seven years of living through a broken heart, dreams on hold, and her father’s cancer has shown her that she can and will do whatever it takes to help her family. Almost.

Jeremy Walters, the man who dumped Natalie weeks before their wedding and broke her heart returns to town, ready to live out the changes in his life. Jem returns with a college degree, a job lined up at the local paper, and an infant son. He’s ready to make his father proud and start living up to his perfect pastor brother’s reputation

When Jem asks Natalie to act as a nanny for his son, she refuses. After all, when your best friend breaks your heart, forgiveness feels like climbing Mt. Everest. But when Natalie gets an unpaid internship at church that could turn into a paid position, she knows that Jem’s job offer might provide the only barrier between bankruptcy and squeaking by. So she takes it.

Charlottesville Christian Church hides more than one broken heart. Steph, the pastor’s wife, feels distant from her husband, but she hides her hurt in church work and cheerleading others on, including her friend Natalie.

When Lili walks in on her dad and her art teacher sharing a passionate kiss, she has no idea what to do with the information. Her dad admits that he and her mom are going through a rough patch, and suggests that Lili move in with her Uncle Jem for a while to help with her nephew after school.

Australian author Jessica Kate weaves humor, pathos, and quirky situations into her first novel published in the United States. Readers will come away with a deeper understanding about the fallibility of humans (even church people), treating others with love and choosing forgiveness.

The story line for this book was pretty steady and well written, but I thought it was kind of a depressing read, actually. Most of the story was about relationships gone wrong and one of the story lines never concluded or had a positive outcome. I wanted to like it but not sure I did fully. I would try another one of hers; just hope it is more upbeat and positive.

Love and Other mistakes is my first book by Jessica Kate and it's also my first christian fiction.

The story was cute and it is about two brothers and their families, their rather complicated relationship with their father and their love interests. In the small town, we follow the family as they discover family secrets and how they impact their lives.

The ending left me a bit confused since it didn't solve or deal with a major problem that some of the characters dealt with and that was quite unsatisfying.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy the book in exchange for a review.

(4.5 stars) - a wonderful, heart-warming story wrapped in a complex melodrama

The story begins with a re-meet cute that was clever & fairly original. It was very effective at grabbing my interest & the author kept me thoroughly engaged from there.

As another reviewer mentioned, don't be put off by the distracting use of unusual similes at the beginning - they fade to the background after that.

The story's central focus is on Jem & Natalie, but it also shares the problems & perspectives of their nearby family members because of how they are all intertwined & affect each other. Their problems are pivotal to Jem & Natalie's relationship.

Jem's reasons for leaving Natalie are refreshingly credible for creating a sympathetic broken engagement trope that succeeds in avoiding having the leading man looking like a jerk or unreasonable martyr. The years of confusion, wounds, & scars between them are dealt with realistically.

With all that's going on, the story could easily have been overly angsty, but the writing keeps things surprisingly, though not inappropriately, lighthearted despite the seriousness of the material, & it avoids being depressing.

The ending succeeds in being realistic while still feeling uplifting & granting the desired happily-ever-after. I very much look forward to whatever this author writes next.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Clean romance level: passionate kisses
Religion: overtly Christian, several characters are Baptist but discussions are relatively generic

To be very honest with you I wanted to give up about 20% into this book but my husband told me not to. He said "Cecily not all books grab your full attention at the beginning and you could be surprised ".

I am going to be fair and give this book 3 Stars.

Was this book what I expected? No
Did I dislike this book? No

This book is a Christian Fiction book in my opinion. There is a love of God talk and church talk in it.

But the thing that I liked the lost about this book is that every character is real.

You have a mother who was a drunk. I teenager who tried to get drunk. A teenager who runs away. A cheating husband. Two parents who care more about what the church people think rather then their own daughter.

I mean this just proves that no matter how godly you are...you are human. Human makes mistakes! Regardless of how high you are.

So yes I am glad I continued this read.

Love and Other Mistakes by Jessica Kate is the quintessential contemporary romance novel. With a predictable plot and a story focused completely on the romance and budding on and off relationship between Natalie and Jeremy, Kate created a story worthy of fans of contemporary romance. I do enjoy how Kate created Natalie to have snarky responses toward Jeremy. She still has a lot of ways to go when readers meet her for the first time to forgive Jeremy. There is a lot of normal interactions and confusion that life brings that Kate didn't shy away from. She created a realistic world for the characters to roam around and tell their story. I did find the story a little dry at parts because it didn't have anything happening to progress the story forward. The story does end with the predictable happily-ever-after marriage ceremony. Overall, Love and Other Mistakes is a wonderful read for fans of contemporary romance. Fans of Contemporary romance like Kara Issac, Courtney Walsh, and Melissa Tagg would probably enjoy this novel.

I received a complimentary copy of Love and Other Mistakes by Jessica Kate from Thomas Nelson Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

I predict this will be a huge debut novel for Jessica Kate. Her writing is fun and entertaining, but sometimes her transitions from one storyline to another were hard to distinguish in my copy. Therefore it disrupted the flow of the story. This issue may be resolved in the final edits. There are many layers to this story and many relationships in need of restoration and healing, but not everything in this book is wrapped up into a tidy bow and resolved. The topic of forgiveness is handled well and delivered realistically.  The infidelity between two of the secondary characters is a major theme throughout the book but the author never addresses it in depth so I never developed empathy of either of them, but they daughter received all of my compassion.  Maybe the author plans a book tackling their story.  I did appreciate the lessons Natalie learned about herself and how faith opened her eyes to a better future.



I received a copy from the Publisher through Net Galley. The opinions expressed are my own.

Love and Other Mistakes is my first book by this author and my first christian fiction. I really didn't pay attention while requesting this, that it's christian fiction. I didn't even know that it was a thing.
I guess you live and learn. But I didn't mind. It read as some of the chick lit I have read.

This is a story about two brothers and their families, kids, love interest and complicated relationship with their father. In a small town where one brother is a pastor and another comes back after long time being away, we get to go on a journey discovering family secrets and how they affect their families and lives.

I found blurb really misleading as this book really isn't about Natalie and her ex boyfriend Jem being back. She is more of a side character or maybe the plethora of characters don't give anyone space to be the protagonist of this story. They all are intertwined. But I did find Lilly, the pastor daughter, the most interesting one in this book. I think her emotional journey is what kept my interest throughout the book, as I really wanted to see how everything will turn out. I also find her the most honest and true to situation written character. Imagine my disappointment when at the end abrupt and poor epilogue doesn't solve any or major problem couple of characters dealt with.

I don't need rosy and happy ending but this confusion and unfinished plot line is really something I cannot accept.
So some characters do get the ending they deserve as I don't want to give anything away. But other then that I found the overall book lacking some major parts of the story.


Somewhere between two and three stars.

Thanks to publisher and NetGalley for copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
All opinion are my own.

Struggled to finish. Didn’t realize it was a Christian fiction which isn’t my cup of tea. Characters were all over the place and just couldn’t get into it

I gave this story 4 stars because once I got into the story I could not put it down. The characters were compelling and I wanted to see how their problems resolved. I really did like Jem and Natalie. I also really felt for Lilli and the challenges she was facing.

At times the story was like watching a train wreck—one disaster after another piled on. I admit to a few eye rolls at times because of the many compounding problems. I realize that often happens in real life, but in fiction it almost becomes unbelievable.

If you’re reading the first few chapters and the aithor’s use of off-the-wall similes drives you crazy, keep going. Eventually she quits using them so much!

Overall it was an enjoyable read. Great for relaxing over the summer.

I had high hopes for this book! The synopsis had me hooked and I couldn't wait to get started however, it didn't work for me. At all! I found the storylines didn't add up, the characters annoyed me. I had to force myself to keep reading. I absolutely loved Ollie's character! He was sweet!!
Thank you to netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Christian fiction version of Love Actually. Multiple couples, interconnected lives. Pastor dirtbag cheated on his wife and blamed her reluctance to attend marital counselling. Some things did not add up.

A fast-paced plot with super-busy (often frenetic) characters, “Love and Other Mistakes”, by Jessica Kate, is an enjoyable, cute read about a couple’s second-chance at love, with an adorable baby and a teen girl with an old soul.
Jeremy and Natalie’s present romance is somewhat pushed into the background, but the history and baggage between them compensate for that. And they always seem so synchronized, with that “weird energy” between them; the author smartly shows how they’re both dealing with personal and family crises that often take precedence over the romantic relationship.
There’s lots of family drama – the child’s sickness, a marriage in crisis, terminal illness, a dysfunctional family with an unyielding patriarch - but in the end these people really love and care for each other.
I loved baby Oliver, I don’t remember reading a child who is so well written and real, he's really adorable and sweet. Lili, a teenager key to the plot, is also a great character, as well as Nick and Sam.

Natalie has always intended to take up her father's ministry and carry on his legacy, however, life has gotten in the way, and instead, she finds herself in a dead end job, until the company closes. Now, her ex- fiance is back in town, and needs her help. At the same time, the perfect ministry opportunity presents itself. Can she balance both?

What a surprising book! I didn't expect much going in, either from the cover (sorry! Cover snob here), or the description, but there was so much more to this book than I thought I was going to get. This story was definitely deeper than the outward appearances gave it credit for; these characters struggle with hard things (affairs, alcohol, single-parenting, custody issues, and more), and it does not all work out perfectly in the end. Yet, even in the hardness, there is hope, and there is love, and there is sacrifice for each other. All of which, in the end, points the characters and the reader to the One who sacrificed for all.

I give this book 5 stars. It's unusual to see so many real-life struggles in a Christian fiction book, especially ones that, like real-life, don't magically work out by the last page. I will definitely be looking into other books by this author!

I received a digital copy of this book, via NetGalley, from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review.

I don’t usually read Christian fiction but I thought I’d give this one a go. I’m glad I did. I enjoyed the storylines and the flawed characters a lot. The whole story was based around the church and people closely related to the church but you are easily able to read it without having religious beliefs yourself I’d you wish.
I was slightly put off by the jumping of time in the story which I found at times to be confusing - weeks would pass but it wasn’t made clear how fast time was passing!
Also in the same paragraphs it would flip flop between different characters POVs which threw me.
Overall, it’s a good read with some strong albeit incredibly flawed characters and I’d recommend this to anyone who fancies a nice easy read with romance, religious or not!
I received an ARC of this three Netgalley - I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Honestly I love second chance romances, who doesn't? This book had me hooked after the first few chapters as I followed the will they, won't they. Nat and Jem seemed to have a relationship/friendship that just worked. They didn't have unrealistic expectations and were very likeable characters. I loved that the single parent was a Dad instead of a Mom, I feel single Dad's aren't represented enough. I definitely couldn't relate with Chloe because she is not a mother I relate to, but I think the whole point of her situation was to understand it's not your place to judge. This is definitely a Christian Romance, but you don't get a lot of God references until the end (that was nice). Overall I enjoyed this book and will reccomend to anybody who doesn't mind the Christian aspect of the book.

I was dubious about reading a Christian romance, but this was really well done and tackled some pretty weighty church issues and life challenges in a wonderfully non-cheesy way. The story dealt with issues of infidelity (that part of the story was a particular gut punch), illness, forgiveness, self-worth, and regular ole insecurities...so relatable. Plus the characters were flawed and not everyone’s story ended in a neat bow.

A few criticisms: The author often glossed over large swaths of time (weeks) and told rather than showed what was happening. The teenage character fell into a several pitfalls that seems maybe a tech too stereotypical. Also, unless I missed something, all of the characters were white...in a pretty big college town (Charlottesville) where I know for a fact there are Christians who are not white.

I will definitely read more from Jessica Kate though I hope she makes her characters more diverse in the future.