Australian Christian romance author Jessica Kate brings rom-com fans a reminder that love has its own timing in her breakout novel, Love and Other Mistakes (Thomas Nelson). Kate is best known in the book world as the co-host 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.
“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,” Kate says. “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.”
Love and Other Mistakes follows main character Natalie Groves, who believes she was meant for great things. But after her fiancé Jeremy Walters breaks off their engagement and leaves town and her father is diagnosed with cancer, Natalie’s grand plans evaporate 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: Jeremy is back in town and desperate for help with his infant son and troubled teenage niece. Natalie may be just the one to help Jeremy—provided they don’t kill each other in the process.
“I adore love-hate romantic comedies like The Proposal (the film starring Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock) and 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,” said Kate. “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.”
Readers will also find a beyond borders connection with Kate’s writing, as her characters encounter universal mishaps in finding love, romance, and relationships.
“American or Australian, we can all relate to feeling betrayed, sidelined and left out, either by loved ones or even God,” Kate says. “We also know that joy when we realize how much we’re loved and wanted. While I’ve also had fun injecting specifics about Australia and Aussie characters into the American setting, the emotion is universal.”
Jessica Kate writes inspirational romances with wit, sass, and grit. Jessica is a screenwriting groupie, cohost of the StoryNerds vlog and podcast, 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.
Love And Other Mistakes
Jessica Kate
Thomas Nelson
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