This book was such a lovely change of pace from so many of the modern romances crowding my shelves. Samuel and Kimberly have sparks for days. I would definitely recommend this to friends wanting to dip their tow in the romance pool.

When I read Jessica Kate's first novel- Love and Other Mistakes- I was an instant fan. I loved her fun romantic comedy style that had be laughing throughout the story. Naturally, I could not wait to read this one, her second novel- A Girl's Guide to the Outback.

As the name suggests, this book takes place in the author's home country of Australia. I thought this added a really fun element, hearing some of the Australian slang--- some of which I'd heard before, but others that were new to me. Likewise, it lead to some fun 'fish out of water' type moments throughout the story as well, aiding in that great romantic comedy style that I'd so enjoyed from the first book. Whereas her previous book was labeled as a Christian fiction, but read more like a mainstream fiction in which some of the characters happened to be Christian, I felt like this one had more faith content which I very much enjoyed. There were great messages about giving it to God and following His plans, as well as forgiveness and grace. It wasn't preachy, but certainly seemed to play more of a role in the story than the previous... so for anyone who liked the style but wanted more of that Christian content, this one might be more up your alley.

I enjoyed watching the relationship between our romantic leads- Sam and Kimberly- as their relationship kicked off from barely tolerating each other to falling in love. They were quite different in so many way, but complimented each other well. I always personally enjoy a good ol' fashioned opposites attracting story, as my husband and I likewise have completely different personalities too. Though in the case in this story, it was not as much their personal differences, but rather their personal hangups that seemed to get in the way. Either way, their fun banter made for a cute story that I enjoyed reading about. And while it was the main love story, it wasn't the only one! We get to know another couple throughout the story which is a great added bonus for us true romantics!

Overall, this was a great story and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. As much as I enjoyed her previous book, I thought this one was even better. I look forward to reading more from Jessica Kate in the future!

**I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for consideration. All thoughts are 100% my own.

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I'm not a big fan of Christian books, honestly. So I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I started reading this. But it didn't take long for Kim, Sam, and Julia's story to suck me in.

Kim struggles to fill in Sam's spot after he left when she expanded the Ministry 'Wildfire' the board threatens to shut it down if they can't find a good replacement fast, or convince Sam to come back. The only issue is Sam has returned to Australia to help run his struggling family farm.
In a desperate attempt to woo Sam back to America and Wildfire, Kim travels to Australia hoping to help Sam and Julia's farm out of the financial disaster in exchange for Sam to come back for six weeks, and hopefully forever.

I love Kim and Sam's relationship. It starts off that they both admire each other but don't know how to show it. They push each other's buttons and drive one another absolutely crazy. But their relationship slowly blooms into friendship, to attraction, and too much more.
I was happy to see that the relationship and feelings were slow-growing and soon developed into something that neither of them understood.

A Girl's Guide to the Outback is a fun quick read with interesting characters and a slightly predictable plot. I started and finished it in a day and enjoyed every second of it.

This was a really cute story with likable characters. I liked their growth as people and their relationship growth. And in Australia!