Today, I am pleased to welcome the revered author, Karen Oke Imala, to the Australasian Christian Writers’ blog.
Karen Oke Imala is a Christian romance author of the prophetic love stories. She is loved for her stories which leave you swooning, but reminded of God’s love for you.
Karen’s stories explore God’s sovereignty in Christian romance.
Karen, you are welcome to the Australasian Christian Writers’ blog
Your books are described as prophetic love stories. What does that phrase mean to you, and how did you come to use it to describe your writing?
A prophetic love story, to me, is first and foremost a God-ordained love story. It’s a love story that was already in the heart and plan of God before the two people ever knew what He was doing. What makes it prophetic is that, at some point, God reveals His hand in that story. That revelation can come through a prophecy, a dream, a word, a confirmation, or simply God making His plan clear. And that can happen before the relationship begins, during it, or even later. Ultimately, the love story unfolds according to God’s plan, God’s timing, and God’s purpose.
The phrase really came naturally because that’s my own love story. Before my husband and I reconnected, God spoke to me about marriage and timing. Exactly one year later, my husband reached out to me, and within three months we were married. We’ve now been married almost twenty years.
Years later, I found myself writing the very kind of love story God had given me, a story involving prophecy, waiting, timing, and ultimately seeing His word come to pass. So “prophetic love stories” became the best way I could describe what I write.
Your prophetic love story series explores themes such as divine timing, waiting, restoration and second chances. Why are these themes particularly important to you as a Christian writer?
Because I’ve lived many of them.
Waiting especially is very personal to me. I know what it feels like to wonder when God is going to answer, and I also know what it feels like to get to the other side of a waiting season and realize He was doing so much more than I could see.
I also love writing about restoration and second chances because those are such
beautiful pictures of the gospel. God redeems. He restores. He heals. He can take
something that looks completely finished and write a different ending.
Ultimately, I want my stories to remind readers that God is trustworthy, even when His timing or His process doesn’t look the way we expected.
There can be a lot of pressure within Christian communities around relationships and marriage. How do you think Christian romance can help readers navigate that pressure in a healthy, biblical way?
I think Christian romance can show that marriage is beautiful without making marriage an idol. One thing I really want women to understand is that getting married is not the ultimate evidence that God has been good to you. Your relationship with God, your purpose, your growth, and the life He has given you matter right now, whether you are married or not.
At the same time, I don’t think we have to be afraid or ashamed of desiring marriage. It’s okay to want love. It’s okay to pray about it. I just believe we should be able to hold that desire with open hands and trust God with how and when He answers.
That’s something I try to portray through my characters. They can desire love deeply while still learning that God has to remain at the center of their lives.
Tell us about your new release, Redeemed Hearts.
Redeemed Hearts is probably one of the stories in the series that deals most directly with grace. It follows Hannah, a young woman who has given her life to Christ and is no longer the woman she used to be. But although God has forgiven her, people still remember her past. Then there’s Caleb, a man known for doing everything “right,” who has to decide whether he truly believes redemption can transform someone’s future, or whether a person should always be defined by who they used to be.
There’s romance, chemistry, friendship, prayer, prophetic elements, and some very tender moments, but underneath all of that is a question I really wanted to explore: Do we actually believe in redemption when someone’s past makes us uncomfortable?
It’s ultimately a story about grace, obedience, judgment, and the beautiful truth that God does not consult our past before deciding what He can do with our future.
If someone is currently in a season of waiting and wondering whether God has forgotten them, what would you want to say to them?
I would tell them something I’ve had to remind myself many times: waiting is not evidence that God has forgotten you.
Some of the things God has done in my life required a wait, and looking back, I can see things He was arranging that I knew absolutely nothing about at the time.
That’s why one of the phrases I say often is, “Jesus is the Master Planner.” I have
enough receipts now from my own life to know that I don’t have to understand
everything He is doing in order to trust Him.
So pray, live, grow, enjoy the life God has given you today, and keep becoming who He is calling you to be. Don’t put your entire life on hold while you’re waiting for one prayer to be answered. God can be doing beautiful things in your life right now while simultaneously preparing the answer you haven’t seen yet.
Have you found that writing stories has changed the way you think about God’s timing in your own creative journey?
Absolutely. One of the most amazing things to me is that nearly twenty years ago, God was writing a prophetic love story in my own life, and I had no idea that one day I would be writing an entire series of prophetic love stories.
I had written books before, but I never imagined myself becoming a romance author. Now my own love story is actually part of the series.
That makes me look at God’s timing very differently. Sometimes we’re looking at one little piece of our lives while God is looking at the whole picture. Something happening today may connect to something He wants to do through you ten or twenty years from now.
That realization has made me much more willing to trust the process. I don’t always need to know where everything is going. God does.
What do you hope readers feel when they close one of your books?
First, I hope they enjoyed a really good love story! I want the chemistry, the romance, the butterflies, the laughter, and all the emotions that make you want to keep turning the pages.
But I also want them to close the book with more faith than they had when they opened it.
I want a reader to think about her own life, her relationship with God, what He may be saying to her, and perhaps an area where she needs healing, clarity, surrender, or renewed hope.
Some of my favorite messages from readers are the ones that say a story made them cry, gave them peace, helped them see something differently, or reminded them that God hadn’t forgotten them. That’s what I want these books to do. I want them to entertain you, but I also want them to leave something behind in your spirit.
What can readers look forward to next from Karen Oke? Also, where can we find you online?
There is definitely more coming! I have quite a few Prophetic Love stories already in my heart, so I plan to continue growing the series. The next novel I’m currently working on is Prepared Hearts, which is planned for 2027. It explores another side of love, obedience, preparation, and God’s timing that I’m really excited about.
I’m also developing a journal for Holy Spirit-led women who desire a God-ordained marriage. It’s designed to help women pray, reflect, seek God, and prepare for marriage without making marriage the center of their lives.
Readers can find me on Instagram at @karenokeofficial, where I talk about faith,
relationships, marriage, waiting on God, and, of course, the Prophetic Love Series. I can also be found at @propheticloveromance for all things prophetic love.
At the heart of everything I do is really one message: God is still speaking, God is still involved in the details of our lives, and Jesus really is the Master Planner.
You can get Karen’s books on Amazon here.