An emotional romance full of heart... Love and Other Mistakes by Jessica Kate (Review & #Giveaway)


Welcome to my tour stop! Read my review and enter the tour giveaway below...

Love and Other Mistakes
By Jessica Kate
Christian Contemporary Romance
Paperback, Audiobook & ebook, 352 Pages
July 30th 2019 by Thomas Nelson

Summary

There’s a fine line between love and hate . . . And for the last seven years, Natalie Groves has hated Jeremy Walters. 

Natalie Groves once had big dreams. But soon after her fiancé, Jeremy Walters, inexplicably broke off their engagement and left town, her father was diagnosed with cancer. Now tasked with keeping her family afloat, Natalie’s grand plans have evaporated . . . and God feels very far away.

Fast-forward seven years, and an internship presents Natalie a chance at her destiny—but she needs a job to work around it. And the only offer available is worse than a life sentence. Her ex Jeremy, now back in town, is desperate for help with his infant son and troubled teenage niece, Lili. And Natalie may be just the one to help Jeremy . . . provided they don’t kill each other in the process.

When Jeremy and Natalie join forces, sparks fly. But will either of them get burned along the way?

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My Review

LOVE AND OTHER MISTAKES is one of those inspirational romances that will make readers laugh, cry, swoon, and wish the best of happy endings for these characters. They face so much brokenness, and need each other and their faith to make it through. Definitely recommended to Christian romance or even general romance fans!

From the first page I knew this story was going to be a whole lot of fun, but also an emotional read. It definitely kept it up to the very end! Natalie is a little frazzled. She's been dealing with a lot on top of the heartbreak she still hasn't let go of. Jeremy is so utterly charming. He's a complete flirt, but only with Natalie. He is also dealing with the aftermath of his own upbringing and choices. They both haven't recovered from their broken engagement seven years ago and more challenges just get piled on top, however, they both still love each other. They just have to find their way back, and figure out if they can forgive and trust each other again.

I loved these characters! Natalie and Jem were both complex and easy to relate to. Then there were the other characters, particularly Lili who was also going through a lot in this story. The plot moved at a good pace and everything just got more complicated as it went. There were moments I had to choke back tears, others when I couldn't help laughing, and then there was the fabulous chemistry between Natalie and Jem. Definitely some swoon-worthy moments. I also really liked how this author wove the inspirational elements through this story. They felt natural, real, and not in the least bit preachy.

My only complaint would be that there is a lot of this story devoted to a secondary plot with Jem's brother and his wife. I would have like a little more closure there, or maybe just more development due to how much time was given to it (or maybe less time given to their perspectives and just sticking with Lili's perspective instead). I also had major issues with how they felt appearances were better than helping their daughter and figuring things out, particularly being pastors. It puts into question how pastors may try to hide things because they could lose their jobs and incomes if they don't practice what they preach, which also rubbed me wrong. It made me wonder how no one, particularly Jem and his dad, could see what was going on - they never really confronted Mike and Steph about things. I also had a slight issue with a pastor dating his possible employee. Just a red flag there.

In the end, was it what I wished for? I really enjoyed reading this with few complaints! I stayed up late to finish because I couldn't put it down. This is a story that tugs on the heart and doesn't let go. I'm looking forward to more from this author!

Content: Some innuendo, an affair behind closed doors, and some drinking.
Source: I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through Celebrate Lit, which did not require a positive review nor affect my review in any way.

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.

Jessica Kate brings rom-com fans a reminder that love has its own timing in her breakout novel, Love and Other Mistakes. Kate is best known in the book world as the cohost of StoryNerds, a vlog and podcast about all things books and pop culture, recorded from her home city of Toowoomba, Australia. Now, she’s carving her own place in the Christian fiction arena and helping to fill the rom-com genre gap with a novel full wit, sass, and grit.


More from Jessica

A romance that makes me laugh and snort my strawberry milkshake across the keyboard when I sneak in chapter at work – that’s just the best. My loftiest career aspiration is to create that experience for someone else. There can never be enough of those books in the universe, especially novels that include deep faith and emotion, as well. I adore love-hate romantic comedies like The Hating Game by Sally Thorne, and I spend my days dreaming up plotlines that force characters who hate each other to work together as a team. But, Natalie’s journey came from a real place for me—that feeling you’re missing out on your purpose and you don’t know how to fix it.

Read an excerpt here.

Tour Schedule

Among the Reads, July 31
Wishful Endings, August 1
Emily Yager, August 2
CarpeDiem, August 3
Livin’ Lit, August 4
Genesis 5020, August 5
Pause for Tales, August 6
Back Porch Reads, August 7
Hallie Reads, August 8
Remembrancy, August 10
Texas Book-aholic, August 11
A Reader’s Brain, August 12
janicesbookreviews, August 13

Tour-Wide Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Jessica is giving away a grand prize of a finished paperback copy of Love and Other Mistakes!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway!


Have you read this one? Will you be?

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