Book Giveaway: Then There Was You by Kara Isaac

Introducing Then There Was You

Kara Isaac is my favourite Kiwi Christian author … although Kiwi Christian authors is a very short list. So perhaps it’s better to say that she’s one of my favourite authors of contemporary Christian romance, and one of the reasons I love her work is because of the Kiwi angle. But I’m also biased because I edited Then There Was You, which means I got to read it before most people. Bonus!

Then There Was You is her third novel, following Close to You, and Can’t Help Falling. It has some minor characters in common with the previous books, but it’s a standalone novel. It starts in the States, moves to Sydney, and also has some scenes set in New Zealand (yay!).

Then There Was You releases next week. The ebook is currently on special for $3.99 (which will increase after release), and there is also a paperback. I’ve already ordered my copy!

And I''m giving away two copies - one paperback and one Kindle copy. Both giveaways close at midnight on 26 June 2017 (New Zealand time).

Click here to win a paperback copy (New Zealand postal addresses only)

Click here to win a Kindle copy (you must be able to receive a gift from Amazon.com).

I’ll announce the winners two weeks from today, at www.iolagoulton.com.

If you can’t wait that long, you can click here to pre-order Then There Was You from Amazon.

To find out more about Kara Isaac, click here to visit her website.

October November Clash Champion!

Congratulations to Kara Isaac, with 

Can't Help Falling

 

Buy on Amazon
Buy on Barnes and Noble


A funny, heartfelt romance about how an antique shop, a wardrobe, and a mysterious tea cup bring two C.S. Lewis fans together in a snowy and picturesque Oxford, England.

Emelia Mason has spent her career finding the dirt on the rich and famous. But deep down past this fearless tabloid-reporter façade, there’s a nerdy Narnia-obsessed girl who still can’t resist climbing into wardrobes to check for the magical land on the other side. When a story she writes produces tragic results, she flees to Oxford, England—home to C.S. Lewis—to try and make amends for the damage she has caused.

Peter Carlisle was on his way to become one of Great Britain’s best rowers—until he injured his shoulder and lost his chance at glory. He’s determined to fight his way back to the top even if it means risking permanent disability to do so. It’s the only way he can find his way past failing the one person who never stopped believing in his Olympic dream.

When Peter and Emelia cross paths on her first night in Oxford, the attraction is instant and they find common ground in their shared love of Narnia. But can the lessons from a fantasyland be enough to hold them together when secrets of the real world threaten to tear them apart? Cobblestone streets, an aristocratic estate, and an antique shop with curious a wardrobe bring the world of Narnia to life in Kara Isaac’s inspiring and romantic story about second chances.

What Voters Had to Say:

These authors are all a blessing! Please keep writing...You encourage us all!

The cover alone makes me want to read the book, which sounds like a wonderful read. :)

Loved Can't Help Falling. More please! :)

Keep writing, Kara! Love your books!

Kara Isaac, I have just discovered your books and love them. Keep it up! 

I loved Kara Isaac's first book, Close to You, so am really looking forward to reading Can't Help Falling. I enjoy her style of writing. I recommended Close to You to my book club, so hopefully we'll be reading and discussing it sometime in 2017.

I have read, and enjoyed, Can't Help Falling. As far as the covers, I have to vote for this one because what little you see of the guy's face, it looks like my son!!

I won Kara Isaac's Can't Help Falling on a Facebook giveaway and was wonderfully surprised at how much I loved this book! The cover is amazing and it really catches the eye!

Kara has a zany unique writing style that combines substance with heartfelt laughter

I'm not familiar with some of these authors but really like some of them!  Keep up the good work!

Kara Isaac, you have such a gift bringing comedy, romance, and meaning to your stories. I love them!!

Wish I could have picked two books here, because Can't Help Falling caught me just by the description. I'll be looking for this one!

About the Author:

Kara Isaac lives in Wellington, New Zealand. When she's not working her day job as a public servant, chasing around a ninja preschooler and his feisty toddler sister, she spends her time writing horribly bad first drafts and wishing you could get Double Stuf Oreos in New Zealand. Her debut romantic comedy, Close To You, released April 2016. Her sophomore novel, Can't Help Falling, releases in October 2016 and is an RT Reviews Top Pick. She loves to connect with readers on GoodReads, Twitter, Facebook and through her website.

Review: Made Well by Jenny Simmons

Jenny Simmons is apparently most famous as the lead singer in Christian contemporary music band Addison Road, and singer of the song Hope Now. At the risk of stereotyping myself, I’d never heard of the band or the song before I picked up this book.



Okay, I see the appeal.

But that’s not what Made Well is about. Made Well is challenging our views on healing, pointing out that healing is often a process rather than an act, and that it can come in many forms. It’s not one of those self-help books promising health or wealth or happiness if you follow the author’s formula. Rather, it’s an exploration of the healing journey. She quotes Becca Stevens as saying:

My healing journey has taken thousands of prayers, countless small bits of bread, and gallons of wine one sip at a time.

And Simmons says:

Some of the world’s greatest miracles happen because doctors and nurses show up and do their jobs well.

She doesn’t discount the possibility of instantaneous miraculous healing, although she says she hasn’t experienced it for herself. That may be true, but I’d say that she’s been used in the miraculous healing of others, and she’s learned many things about healing that those who are intent on seeking the instant will miss out on:

Perhaps in our zealous quests to live long and prosper, we have confused Jesus’ invitation to be made well with our own desire for fully cured bodies [and minds?], and in doing so, we have altogether missed a deeper knowing of what it means to be healed by the Savior.

It’s a valid point: Jesus said to seek him, to seek the Kingdom of God. Not to seek healing. Do we make healing into an idol?

Healing is a prolonged process, not an instant, magical fix. It’s a book with many chapters. The road towards wholeness is long and winding.

One review I read of Made Well recommended it to fans of Ann Voskamp. That may well fit, but I personally didn’t get in to Ann Voskamp’s style. But I still found Made Well to be well worth reading - thought provoking, and written from the heart. Recommended.

Thanks to Baker Books and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

Review: Can't Help Falling by Kara Isaac

Even Better than Close to You

I enjoyed Kara Isaac's debut novel, Close to You, mostly because it was set in New Zealand. Okay, the story was also very good, but it was set in New Zealand. It had places I knew--a novelty for me.

Can't Help Falling wasn't set in New Zealand, and that did lead to an intial feeling of disappointment. But it did still feature Close to You's Allie and Jackson as characters, now transplanted to England where Jackson is studying at Cambridge and Allie is teaching at Oxford--the main setting for Close to You.

Narnia freak Emilia Mason has left her LA life as mudraking celebrity "journalist" and taken a events/fundraising job in a small literacy charity in Oxford. Here she meets rowing coach Peter Carlisle, who seems to know almost as much about Narnia as she does ... and who she works with at the charity.

I thought Close to You was great. But Can't Help Falling is even better. Better writing, better characterisation (perhaps because I already 'know' Allie and Jackson), and especially better integration of Christian themes: Peter is a Christian and won't even consider dating Emilia because she isn't--something Emilia finds even more odd than the fact Allie and Jackson aren't sleeping together.

Peter is a great Christian character. Well, he's a great character, period, who happens to be a Christian. Yes, he has his faults (this is a romance and the path of true love never did run smooth. At least, not in fiction), but he also has wisdom and grace beyond his years.

Recommended for all lovers of Narnia and a good contemporary romance.

Thanks to Howard Books and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Kara Isaac at her website.

Friday Fifteen: Kara Isaac

Today I'd like to welcome debut author Kara Isaac to Iola's Christian Reads. Kara has recently released her first novel, Close to You (which I reviewed here), and she's here today to share her favourite 15 authors. Welcome, Kara!

1. C.S. Lewis

Who can get past the Chronicles of Narnia? Brilliant storytelling that appeals from small children up to the oldest adult.

2. Becky Wade

Becky Wade’s My Stubborn Heart that released a few years ago now was the book that helped me believe there was a place for my voice in Christian fiction.

3. Enid Blyton

What an imagination! From the Famous Five and Secret Seven, through to the boarding school girls of Mallory Towers and St. Claires then the wonderful magical worlds at the top of the Faraway Tree or on the other side of a ride on the Wishing Chair, she fed my reading for years.

Agreed! I wanted to go to Mallory Towers.

4. and 5. Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon

In my tweens and early teens I devoured every Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys book I could get my hands on! At the time sixteen and seventeen seemed sooo old ;-)

6. Brock and Bodie Thoene

To date, their Zion Covenant series, set during WWII remains my favourite series of all time. Even though it’s been almost twenty years since I first read it. And John Murphy was my first fictional crush ;-)

7. Susan Meissner

Every year, I wait for January to come and the next Susan Meissner story to be published. Her The Fall of Marigolds was my favourite book for 2014 and I still think about it!

8. Jen Hatmaker

I’m very late on the Jen Hatmaker fan-train. I only really discovered her last year and need to work my way through the backlog of her titles but For The Love had me alternating between hysterically laughing and pondering. You know it’s a great book when you’re sending photos of pieces of text to your sisters!

I've just looked up her books—they look excellent!

9. Carla Laureano

I love how Carla’s main characters never have a sense of the predictable about them. She crafts nuanced and complex people and isn’t afraid to go places where it’s rare for Christian fiction to go.

This doesn't surprise me—I could see similarities between Carla's writing and Close to You.

10. Katie Ganshert

Katie has such stunning writing and is so well deserving of all the awards and praise that she’s garnered. She just keeps getting better with every book.

11. Francine Rivers

Her Mark of the Lion series made ancient Rome so real and vivid. Capitvating!

And Marcus . . . 

12. Julie Cantrell

I just finished her latest release, The Feathered Bone. While I loved both of her previous books this one had me absorbed like nothing existed. The lyrical writing, the rawness of the protagonist, the hope weaved through the devastating circumstances. But be prepared for your heart to be shredded by the end and your eyes to be puffy!

13. Kate Morton

Kate’s The Shifting Fog was the first book that got my hooked on dual-time stories and it still remains one of my favourites ever!

14. Jenny Simmons

I love her memoir style of writing. She writes with an authenticity and vulnerability but also a great sense of humour.

15. Donald Miller

I haven’t read his most recent releases but I remember buying three copies of Blue Like Jazz so that I could pass them around friends and never risk losing my own copy!

That's some endorsement!

Kara, thank you for adding to my to-read pile. :)

About Kara Isaac

Kara Isaac lives in Wellington, New Zealand. Her debut romantic comedy, Close To You, is about a disillusioned academic-turned-tour-guide and an entrepreneur who knows nothing about Tolkien who fall in love on a Tolkien themed tour of New Zealand and just released from Howard Books. When she's not working her day job as a public servant, chasing around a ninja preschooler and his feisty toddler sister, she spends her time writing horribly bad first drafts and wishing you could get Double Stuf Oreos in New Zealand. She loves to connect on her website, on Facebook at Kara Isaac - Writer and Twitter @KaraIsaac

You can read the beginning of Close to You below:

Review: Close to You by Kara Isaac

Extremely Biased Review Ahead 

Amazon Description

A disgraced scholar running from her past and an entrepreneur chasing his future find themselves thrown together—and fall in love—on a Tolkien tour of New Zealand.

Allison Shire (yes, like where the Hobbits live) is a disgraced academic who is done with love. Her belief in “happily ever after” ended the day she discovered her husband was still married to a wife she knew nothing about. She finally finds a use for her English degree by guiding tours through the famous sites featured in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies. By living life on the road and traveling New Zealand as a luxury tour guide, Allison manages to outrun the pain of her past she can’t face.

Jackson Gregory was on the cusp of making it big. Then suddenly his girlfriend left him—for his biggest business competitor—and took his most guarded commercial secrets with her. To make matters worse, the Iowa farm that has been in his family for generations is facing foreclosure. Determined to save his parents from financial ruin, he’ll do whatever it takes to convince his wealthy great-uncle to invest in his next scheme, which means accompanying him to the bottom of the world to spend three weeks pretending to be a die-hard Lord of the Rings fan, even though he knows nothing about the stories. The one thing that stands between him and his goal is a know-it-all tour guide who can’t stand him and pegged him as a fake the moment he walked off the plane.

When Allison leads the group through the famous sites of the Tolkien movies, she and Jackson start to see each other differently, and as they keep getting thrown together on the tour, they find themselves drawn to each other. Neither expected to fall in love again, but can they find a way beyond their regrets to take a chance on the one thing they’re not looking for?

My Review

To the best of my knowledge, Close to You by Kara Isaac is the first novel from a New Zealand author contracted and published by a major US Christian publisher. That alone is worth five stars, at least from this parochial Kiwi reader. Those of you who can’t see the appeal of a romance novel set in the Land of the Long White Cloud (and the land of hobbits) should leave now and go back to … I don’t know. What do people who don’t like New Zealand or hobbits read? Do they read? Can they read?.

Anyway, on to the novel.

Allie is short of money, as her funds are currently tied up in a messy divorce. She’s working as a tour guide delivering high-class (i.e. seriously expensive) tours of New Zealand’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movie locations, making good use of her PhD in English literature. Unfortunately, she now loathes all things Tolkien.

Jackson’s company has just gone bust, and he’s accompanying a long-lost—and rich—uncle on Allie’s Lord of the Rings tour in the hope he can persuade uncle to invest in his next business idea. Unfortunately, he knows nothing about Tolkien, hobbits or Lord of the Rings … despite telling his uncle he’s a die-hard fan.

Naturally, Allie and Jackson start off on the wrong foot and equally naturally (this is Christian romance!), things change as they start to get to know each other. Throw in a tour bus full of seriously eccentric characters, a wily uncle and a weasly almost-ex-husband, and the stage is set for fun and romance.

I loved all the Kiwi touches, from the nail-biting approach to Wellington Airport to the lush greenery of the Waikato, the “scents” of Rotorua, the majesty of Queenstown, and the Tolkien tourist mecca of Hobbiton (which is even better in real life). The writing was good, with a good dose of humour (people actually speak Elvish?) and a subtle underlying Christian theme.

Recommended for fans of Carla Laureano and Susan May Warren. And New Zealand, and Tolkien. So that should cover pretty much everyone.

Thanks to Howard Books and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.