"Love And Other Mistakes" by Jessica Kate
Jul. 31st, 2019 02:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reviewsbyerin
Welcome to the Blog Tour for Love and Other Mistakes by Jessica Kate, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
Natalie Groves has never recovered from the breakup with her fiance when she was 19. It's been seven years, and she has yet to get her life back on track. When Jem returns to town -- a single dad, no less, with infant son in tow -- and asks her to be his nanny, she can't believe his audacity.
Things begin perking up when she has the chance to intern at her dream job. Knowing she needs income and flexible hours if she's going to swing this opportunity, she begrudgingly agrees to nanny Oliver. Anything to find purpose in her life again.
When the story isn't bouncing between Natalie and Jem's point of view, Jem's niece Lili takes center stage. She's sixteen and dealing with the affects of her pastor father's secret affair. Sure she's done something to cause her dad to stop loving their family, Lili grapples with big emotions and sometimes experiments with substances in order to cope with the pressure eating her up inside.
While I thought Jessica Kate's writing style was strong, I feel that this book missed the mark. It's not funny enough to be considered a comedy. Marital unfaithfulness, pregnancy outside of marriage, teenage drinking, childhood diabetes, cancer, the impending death of a parent, and family dysfunction across multiple generations do not a lot of laughs make. There is mention of cursing and one direct curse word hurled from one angry character to another. That's a lot of serious content.
My other objection to the story was that Natalie was completely unbelievable as someone wanting to go into ministry. Though she shows great care to Lili, there was literally nothing else that made me think she would be a good youth worker. Lili has more church involvement mentioned than Natalie does. And while she's supposedly under great financial strain because of helping her parents with their medical bills, she was only working one low-paying job before that company went under, which should have left her plenty of time for volunteering, if youth ministry was indeed her passion. Motives are questionable all the way around. I still don't know why Jem moved back to town. The infidelity was a plot point that the author seemed unsure how to handle directly so it pops up whenever she needed it to move emotions along, and simmers quietly, never fully resolved, otherwise.
I've enjoyed Jessica Kate on her podcasts, and hope her future releases focus on her writing strengths and quirky characters.
I received my copy of the book from JustRead Tours. All opinions in this review are my own.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Title: Love and Other Mistakes
Author: Jessica Kate
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Release Date: July 30, 2019
Genre: Romantic Comedy
There’s a fine line between love and hate . . . And for the last seven years, Natalie Groves has hated Jeremy Walters.
Natalie Groves was meant for great things. But soon after her fiancé left, Natalie’s father was diagnosed with cancer. Suddenly her grand plans evaporated . . . and God felt 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?
Natalie Groves was meant for great things. But soon after her fiancé left, Natalie’s father was diagnosed with cancer. Suddenly her grand plans evaporated . . . and God felt 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?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Australian Jessica Kate is a sassy romance author and addict.
Her novels feature wit, snark and grit, and her StoryNerds podcast gives her a chance to nerd out with others about these ingredients in books, movies and TV.
She has a passion for garlic bread, theme parks and Batman.
Sign up to her newsletter at jessicakatewriting.com to hear first about her books, including her upcoming novels Love and Other Mistakes and A Girl’s Guide to the Outback.
The StoryNerds podcast is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and at www.storynerds.podbean.com.
Her novels feature wit, snark and grit, and her StoryNerds podcast gives her a chance to nerd out with others about these ingredients in books, movies and TV.
She has a passion for garlic bread, theme parks and Batman.
Sign up to her newsletter at jessicakatewriting.com to hear first about her books, including her upcoming novels Love and Other Mistakes and A Girl’s Guide to the Outback.
The StoryNerds podcast is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and at www.storynerds.podbean.com.
*NOTE: This post contains affiliate links.
