I loved this book. All of it. The characters, the setting, the witty banter, the topics of faith and surrendering to what God is doing in their lives. Even though Kim and Sam are the main characters, we meet several strong, supportive characters that add depth and round out the storyline. One line in particular stood out that well defined much of the message of this book “’To Him, there was nothing about you that was unexpected or less than delightful’…The truth of the words knocked on the door of her soul, but she could never quite get them to enter.” The soul-stirring truths, humorous glimpses of life in the Outback, and buckle-your-knees kisses make this book a must read!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I don't know where Jessica Kate has been all of my reading life, but I hope she is somewhere writing her next book RIGHT.NOW. She is a must read in Christian Romantic Comedy! I love how she weaves together real life, and every day colloquialisms and pop culture into her books. Her writing and dialog is frightening like what goes through my head on a daily basis. This was such a funny book and the romance was SPOT.ON.

A cute romance with an Australian twist. When Sam, a popular youth pastor, and one of his staff members, Kim, butt heads at their youth ministry in North Carolina, he ends up leaving to head home to Australia to help his sister on their family's farm.

But when the farm runs into trouble, Kim heads to Australia to use her business skills to try and rescue the farm, and to persuade Sam to come back to the ministry. What Kim doesn't expect is to start falling for Sam, as she uncovers more about herself, and what God wants for her life.

I was excited to read this fun romance between a youth minister and his co-worker. I didn't expect it to have so much of an agricultural story to it. As a farmer and a woman of faith, this resonated so closely to me. Sam and Kimberly's story of struggle and personal challenges along with their own growth through fears and rejection are so heartfelt and personal. The Christian thread is definitely present, but its not overbearing or cheesy (which I really appreciate).

3.25 stars

Overall I enjoyed this book. It got a lot deeper than I was expecting with Sam's backstory with his family and learning disability and Kimberly's issues with her mom.

Most of the story takes place in the Australian outback (of course!) but I thought there were too many (and too thorough) descriptions of farm tasks and cow milking.

I enjoyed the side story with Sam's sister and neighbor. I'd be interested in reading more by Jessica Kate.

This book was cute. I enjoyed the overall premise and I was glad that they quickly got over their misconceptions about each other, but as someone who isn’t religious, I didn’t realise it would have so many references to God. Also, it seemed to drag somewhat in the first half of the book, but then tie everything up very quickly in the second half.

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

I’m so happy that we get to find out what happens to Sam, the youth minister who was introduced in Love and Other Mistakes.

This book mostly takes place on a farm in the Australian outback and is a Christian friends to lovers (and by lovers I mean there is smooching) romance with a second chances romance as a secondary plot line. Kimberly is a straight talking business woman who is passionate about ministry but has a hard time communicating. Sam is the founder of a youth ministry who quits out of fear and retreats to his home in Australia, where his sister Jules has taken over the family farm and is near financial ruin.

When Kimberly comes to the outback to help with the farm’s finances in exchange for the opportunity to woo Sam back to the ministry, she has to come face to face with a growing attraction to the Aussie and deal with her own feelings of loneliness and fear.

Sam too has to come to terms with the failures of his past and they all must find their identity in God or risk more regret.

I really appreciate how the author weaves in truths about the faith without cheesiness and has a genuine love story (also without cheesiness) and with some PG heat.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the e-galley. This is the sequel to Kate’s novel debut, Love and Other Mistakes, but it can be read as a standalone. After a slow burn start, the novel picks up when the misunderstandings between Kimberly and Sam are laid out. Each section gives readers a look into the thoughts of three characters including Sam and Kimberly, both introduced in the first book. This novel dives into challenging topics like learning difficulties, grief, and a strained parent-child relationship, while maintaining its rom-com status. The heated scenes between the two would-be couples consists of thrilling kisses and other romantics gestures. The setting, an Australian farm, and its tasks and responsibilities are incorporated well into the story and provide opportunities for faith, humor, and romance.


I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3 stars
Cute, wholesome story. If you are religious, then will like this book. I am not so much, so it wasn't a homer for me, Still cute though.

A Girl's Guide to the Outback is a wonderful and fun read. I absolutely loved this cute story. It had my laughing throughout. It is by far my favorite I have read by Jessica Kate to date.
Five stars.

I actually really enjoyed this book. The concept was really unique to most contemporary romance books.

Following two young entrepreneurs, Sam and Kimberly, who run a Christian youth centre for underprivileged children - you follow their journey into the wilds of the Australian outback. Sam, a residual Aussie, moves back home to take care of his family farm with his sister and Kimberly travels there to convince him to come back home to help her with the children. Their story grows as they take on the daily chores of farm life and the tragedies of nature.

Essentially, you’re following two people as they grow and figure out what they really want in life as they experience new things. The family centre of the story was also really precious. BUT the thing I loved most was that it centred around Christianity and people’s belief in God and you don’t usually see that in many contemporary novels. A really great read. (3.5 stars)

“Samuel Payton was an idiot. Kimberly Foster jammed her phone into her pocket and rushed down the sunny Charlottesville street in a Mr. Potato Head costume, peep-toe heels, and murderous rage. It was 10:00 a.m. on a Saturday in June, and she was late for a child’s birthday party. But first she needed to strangle a youth pastor.” - Opening lines of A Girl’s Guide to the Outback by Jessica Kate

From the opening line, our leading lady, Kimberly, has the reader hooked with her wit and sass! She’s balanced by our leading man, Samual, who is full of practicality and Australian humour. Whilst the story begins in America, it swiftly moves to the Australian outback, the perfect setting for this romantic comedy with a beautiful heart!

Kimberley is a successful business thinker who has helped Samuel grow the outreach church program. When Samuel hears from his sister, Jules, that the family farm is struggling, he sets off to help. Jules realises their need for business advice and Kimberly follows Samuel to join them in the great Australian outback with very little idea of what she’s getting herself into!

The outback is a brutal place to live and farm but Jessica Kate manages to capture that alongside beautiful and funny moments in A Girl’s Guide to the Outback. This book has so many great elements: the business challenges are interesting, the friendships deep, the romance entertaining and, to all this, an engaging perspective on living out our Christian faith. Neither of our leads truly understand each other or have the confidence the project in their skills. In wrestling with these issues, they learn to engage more with life.

This was my first opportunity to enjoy a novel by Jessica Kate but I will certainly be reading her future offerings! It’s so well-written, each character so distinct and interesting, it’s witty and intelligent! I loved it from start to finish and highly recommended! It’s a five out of five on the en-JOY-ment.

These characters... I loved them all! Everyone has their own distinct personality and each is just as relatable as the next. The story line was super cute. As an avid romance reader, I would have loved to have a bit more of a happy ending, but it worked. I'll be looking into reading this authors other work.

This is the second time that I have been privileged to read a Jessica Kate book on #netgalley. While I enjoyed her first book at times, it was a bit too personal. That rarely happened in her second book. The storyline is excellent and complicated. While parts of the story have a happy ending, parts do not. I feel like this is true to real life. Because the author is from Australia, the setting is definitely true to life. I really enjoyed the setting and the characters. Several main themes include unconditional love, forgiveness, acceptance of ourselves and second chances. Although those ideas are emphasized, the book does not seem preachy. With this book, I moved the author up to me, "I can't wait until she releases her next book" list. Romance is an element, but so are struggles and setbacks that we all face. My strong recommendation is my own opinion!

Sam and Kim are coworkers who have yet to get along and eventually their differing ideas cause Sam to return home to Australia. The problem is that their ministry is failing without the presence of Sam so Kim takes it upon herself to convince Sam to return. What follows is a delightful story with many laughable moments.
As mentioned, the best part of this story is the humor. Jessica Kate has a rare talent of being able to lighten up serious moments with a well-timed quip. So many times throughout this novel, I found myself bent over, trying to stifle a laugh.
The one thing that I wasn't fond of was all the drama. The couples had their issues and did not figure out how to discuss them like mature adults, instead acting like middle-schoolers. It was overwhelming at times and I just wanted to skip to the end of the book.
While this novel had some downsides, overall, I am glad I read it and can't wait to see where Jessica Kate goes next. I would recommend this novel to fans of V. Joy Palmer and Melissa Ferguson.

Rating: 4 Stars
Content: 5 Stars

*I received a copy of this novel from the publisher. A positive review was not required and all thoughts are my own.

Unfortunately this one was just okay for me. I knew nothing about it going in, other than the reviews on goodreads have been pretty decent but I was kind of disappointed. I think that I wasn’t in the right mindset to read it.

I found this book to be great at times and a little bit boring at times too. I felt like the romance fell a little short. For. being two grown ups I felt like both main characters lacked gut for admitting to one another their feelings. I do understand that they had their misunderstandings between each other, but It also took so long for them to admit that they liked each other or that they wanted to be something more. I did like everything else in the story. a lot you could learn morally from reading this book, and I will say it was a cute romance read.

Unfortunately this didn't really do it for me. I knew nothing about it going in, other than the reviews on goodreads have been pretty great, but I was disappointed. The story had such potential but it really didn't live up to it for me. I know there are people out there who will absolutely love it, it just wasn't for me.

Well…not my favorite read but I did finish it. I was definitely intrigued by the setting but I was disappointed by the storyline and characters. Jules didn’t make sense to me. There had to be a way to compromise for the sake of her love life. And Sam and Kimberly weren’t acting very Christ-like even though he was a youth pastor and they both worked in ministry together. It felt more YA than Christian Fiction.

This was such a cute enemies to lovers Christian romance and I had a hard time putting it down. This was one of my favorite Christian romances I've ever read because the author was able to find the perfect balance between a typical romcom and the religious aspects of the book.

I found Sam and Kim to be enjoyable characters and I was immediately rooting for them. Once Kimberley flies to the Outback to help Sam's family farm survive, their true love story begins even though they spent three years working together on a youth ministry. While they both have struggles, they overcompensated by being guarded that came off as rude and that's the main reason they weren't even friends while working together. I think they would have continued that way if it weren't for Sam's sister Jules. She was the push they both needed to be honest with themselves and each other. As I read along I found myself relating with different aspects of multiple characters and that was a huge part if this book's appeal.

This one was a clean romance so you won't find any of the steam I'm use to with other romances. Even though there aren't any sexy bits, I loved the different will they, won't they scenarios and the message of this book was just as wonderful. I highly recommend this one to anybody looking for a great clean romance.