The wonderfully talented Kara Isaac is a back visiting Relz Reviewz to share more about her new release, Start With Me. I adored this book – you can read my thoughts here – and you will too. It can be read as a standalone novel, but if you’d like to see the dubious origins of the hero of this story, be sure to read Can’t Help Falling and immerse yourself in Kara’s romantic and meaningful storytelling.

After reading our bookchat, you have the added bonus of reading Necee’s thoughts on Start With Me, with her review, along with an important footnote to this feature.

Enjoy learning more about Victor, Lacey, and Kara’s writing.

Lacey O’Connor is finally a sure thing for the promotion she’s spent ten years working for. But when a scandal rocks her firm she finds herself on a collision course with the one person she has spent five years trying to forget. Only to discover he doesn’t even remember her…

Victor Carlisle has spent the last three years trying to convince his family he’s no longer the playboy alcoholic who tore their life apart. When a company merger is announced with a US sister firm, he’s presented with the perfect opportunity to prove he’s changed. Only to find himself falling for his competition and the one woman his family will never accept.

As the competition intensifies the choice looms between the professional and the personal. Can they find a way beyond their past decisions and present aspirations to take a chance on the one thing they’re not looking for?

Bookchat with Kara

Share a little about your characters, Victor and Lacey.

Victor is a lobbyist for a British firm that has become enmeshed in a corruption scandal. He has a past as a playboy alcoholic but has reformed since he came out of rehab three years previous but people keep holding him to his past. Lacey is a well-respected book publicist who is in prime position for the promotion she’s been working toward for five years only for it to all come apart when her firm faces a big sexual harassment scandal.

What drives them in life and relationships?

Lacey is driven by the need to be independent and secure. She rarely lets her guard down and tends to hold people at arms’ distance because of her childhood and professional experiences. Victor is driven by the need to atone for the many mistakes he’s made in life and the relationships he’s destroyed in the process.

Describe your book in 5 adjectives

Argh um witty, romantic, unexpected, smart, *sigh*.

Readers will recognise Victor from Can’t Help Falling – he was selfish and destructive – what made you decide to write his story?

When I first wrote Victor in Can’t Help Falling I had no intention of ever writing his story. He was the antagonist to the hero, Peter, and in fact I made his as terrible a human as I could! Then I started getting emails from readers asking if he was going to be getting his redemption story but I was busy with other writing projects. Three years later it felt like his time had finally come 🙂

What is Victor’s greatest challenge?

Believing that he is worthy of a second chance after all the harm he has previously done to so many people.

Lacey has a bad history with Victor – what makes her begin to see him through different eyes?

There’s a scene in Start With Me on a bus where Lacey calls Victor out on something and he doesn’t respond the way that she expects him to. That is the first time she starts wondering if his time in rehab has resulted in real change, not just PR spin.

Kara asked me to select a passage from the book that made me smile, so here’s a little scene with Peter and Emilia and Victor!

“From your lips to God’s ears.” Emelia reached for another biscuit.

“There’s probably not much that makes that journey.” Peter. Finally. He stomped into the room, pulled out a chair, and slumped into it.

“I was wondering where you were. Emelia and I have been unchaperoned for a whole four minutes.” Victor grimaced as the sarcastic quip leapt straight out of his mouth.

Peter opened his mouth, then slapped it shut again as Emelia gave him a look that could ice over the Thames.

Victor’s respect for her ratcheted up another notch. She was probably the last woman in the world he would have chosen for his brother, but he could admit that she was more than his match. She also wasn’t a rowing groupie, which was good for Peter’s ego.

Victor had given up on ever meeting someone. He’d played the field too widely, hurt too many women, for that. He still occasionally woke up in a cold sweat at the possibility he might one day check his phone and find himself plastered over social media tagged to an accusation about a night that he probably didn’t remember.

Emelia got up and closed the door. “You two can save your squabbling for later. We have some things we need to talk about first.”

“I didn’t realize I’d been summoned to a next generation family meeting.” At least Emelia was here to mediate. Except the last time she’d tried to mediate between them had resulted in a brawl that ended up with him in rehab and Peter not speaking to him for a year. The memory hung in the air like an unwelcome ghost.

She ignored him. Smart woman. “What do you want to do first, Peter?”

His brother was tapping into his phone.

“PETER!” Emelia snapped the word, and his brother snapped his head up. “Sorry. Just had to reply to coach.”

“Give me that.” Emelia held out her hand. Peter just looked at her. “For the love, Peter Carlisle. You spend fifty hours a week with your coach. When you’re not with him, you’re on all the stupid training apps. Are you going to whip that thing out at the altar to check your glycemic index?”

Victor smirked. His brother saw and shot him a glare, then dropped his phone face down on the tabletop.

“Sorry, Em.”

Which character did you enjoy writing most?

I actually enjoyed writing Anna the most. Wrangling with Lacey and Victor was so intensive a lot of the time that whenever Anna appeared on the page she almost always brought some form of light relief!

Which character gave you the most grief?

Lacey. It took most of the first draft before I really understood all of her life experiences that had made her who she was and why she responded to things the way she did. There were so many missing pieces with her and it wasn’t until I was well into the first set of edits that I felt them really started to come together. It was all worth it in the end but it was a long process!

What emotions did you experience writing this book?

All of them!! I laughed, I cried, I got frustrated, I thought it was never going to come together, then I laughed and cried some more!

Share some books you have loved reading this year

The Solace of Water by Elizabeth Byler Younts

Before I Called You Mine by Nicole Deese

Love and a Little White Lie by Tammy L Gray

What’s in your writing pipeline?

I’m taking a break at the moment. Then I’m hoping to start writing Anna’s story. I’m feeling a lot of mixed emotions at the thought of her book. Anna tragically lost her husband in One Thing I Know so I know that I’m going to have to grapple a lot with grief in her story. This has been the theme of my life for the last eighteen months so the thought of writing a character working through great loss is quite terrifying.

Thanks, dear Kara, for sharing your thoughts in this bookchat. Always a delight to have you visit, my friend.

Necee’s Review

Necee’s take:~

“Well, being around you makes me braver than I actually am.”

Beautiful. Poignant. Intriguing. Romantic.

This book is all these things and so much more. The heart of this book is letting your past go and following your heart and dreams. My heart hurt so much for Victor who has tried so hard to overcome his past and years later is still paying for his mistakes. He doesn’t feel good enough and though he knows God has forgiven him he still struggles moving forward in freedom. His faith journey is beautifully written with drawing the reader in and seeing the struggles of this man and how much he has changed. Lacey is hard-working and I really loved seeing her in a stronger female role. As I got to know her more through the book, I hoped she would break that glass ceiling and end up at the top. I hoped that she could have her happy ending with Victor. I hoped that they both could overcome their past and have their happily ever after. Kara Isaac has a way of writing deep heart issues that grab and hold onto you long after you finish her books. Start With Me definitely fits that description as a second chance and fresh start that will have you excited to see how it ends.

“Victor moved forward, wrapping his arms around her and folding her into the safest harbor she’d ever known.”

I purchased my own copy.

NOTE: Kara and her family are grieving the recent loss of her sister, Melody, to cancer. Kara completed this interview prior to Melody’s passing, and graciously allowed me to post it for my readers this week.

Kara Isaac writes contemporary romance in beautiful Wellington, New Zealand. She is the author of four novels including the Romance Writers’ of America RITA award-winning Then There Was You, Close to You, a RITA Award Double Finalist, and Can’t Help Falling, an RT Review Top Pick. When she’s not chasing three small people, she spends her time writing horribly bad first drafts and wishing you could get Double Stuf Oreos in New Zealand. She loves to connect with readers on her website karaisaac.com, on Facebook at Kara Isaac – Author, Twitter @KaraIsaac and Instagram @kara.isaac.author

Relz Reviewz Extras
All Things Isaac @ Relz Reviewz
Visit Kara’s website
Buy at Amazon: Start with Me or Koorong