A GIRL'S GUIDE TO THE OUTBACK by Jessica Kate, Reviewed by Rebecca Maney

"She has more faith in me that I have in myself."

Kimberly Foster and Samuel Payton endured (or enjoyed . . . depending on who you asked or what day of the week it was) a love/hate, fire/ice relationship for three wonderful years. . . if you cared to define butting heads twenty-four-seven as a "relationship". It ended badly. Sam resolutely returned to Australia to help his sister stabilize their fledgling family farm business and Kimberly unsuccessfully led the once vibrant Wildfire youth ministry through two failed successors.

So, what possible reason could Kim have for getting on a jet plane and traveling half-way around the world to Australia in order to convince Samuel Payton that he was burying his God-given talents on a dairy farm? Miraculously, she didn't have to. Sam's sister Jules came up with the idea. Jules was under the delusion that Kim's business savvy was just what they needed to reorganize their assets. Kimberly, on the other hand, had a sneaking suspicion that the experience was going to end up being a pitiful crash-and-burn notation on her resume. But my oh my, if she secretly crushed on Samuel Payton in Virginia, when he stood in front of hundreds of adoring teenagers, how would she ever manage to control her infatuation when the man rode a tractor across the fields of Australia?

This book is amazing. It has zip, it has character, it sizzles, it tingles, it laughs, it cries, it peels back the layers of its soulmates with the precision of a surgeon . . . .with no intention to destroy, but in order to heal, . . . . in order to face fears, so that they might move forward with freedom, and grace, and certainty . . . that God's ways are always higher than ours. I loved it, and so will you! Plus . . . Sam and Kim together? . . . they are worth reading thousands of pages! ( and Jules and Mick aren't so bad, either!) 

*I purchased this book and was under no obligation to provide a positive review. 4.5 stars

BackCover Blurb:
How far will a girl go to win back a guy she can’t stand? This funny, sweet, and romantic story proves that opposites do attract—and that God has a sense of humor.

Samuel Payton is a passionate youth pastor in Virginia, but below the surface, he’s still recovering from the blow of a failed business and insecurities he can’t shake. His coworker, start-up expert Kimberly Foster, is brilliant, fearless, and capable, but years of personal rejection have left her defensive and longing for a family. Two people have never been more at odds—or more attracted to one another. And every day at work, the sparks sure do fly.

When Kimberly’s ambitious plans for Sam’s ministry butt up against his risk-averse nature, Sam decides that obligations to family trump his work for the church. He quits the ministry and heads home to Australia to help his sister, Jules, save her struggling farm. As Kimberly’s grand plans flounder, she is forced to face the truth: that no one can replace Sam. Together they strike up a deal: If Kimberly comes to work on Jules’s dairy farm and lends her business brains to their endeavor, then maybe—just maybe—Sam will reconsider his future with the church.

As Kimberly tries her hand at Australian farm life, she learns more about herself than she could’ve ever expected. Meanwhile Sam is forced to re-evaluate this spunky woman he thought he already knew. As foes slowly morph into friends, they wonder if they might be something even more. But when disaster strikes the farm, will Sam find it within himself to take a risk that could lead to love? And will Kimberly trust God with her future? 

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