I’m delighted to welcome contemporary country romance author Lily Malone to Behind the Pen today with a few of her favourites. Over to you Lily…

What is your favourite…and why…

Character from one of your books?
Is it weird if I pick a secondary character? I loved Erik – the one-armed bear of a swimming coach from Water Under The Bridge – and Erik doesn’t even get the girl in the end! He’s the main character, Ella’s, ex-husband and best friend… and she leaves him for super-hunky (and admittedly very lovely on the inside too) Jake. I wasn’t alone with this love for Erik. I got so many reader emails and comments and expressions that people loved Erik and felt sad for him when Ella falls in love with Jake. I also had other interesting comments that readers enjoyed me breaking from the stereotype. Usually an ‘ex’ in a story is someone to be feared. Someone in a romance who often comes along maliciously, to cause trouble for hero and heroine. Erik wasn’t like that. I wanted people to love Erik because Ella loves Erik, just not in the right way.

Scene from one of your books?
There’s a scene in my new book The Cafe By The Bridge, where Abe and Taylor climb the Granite Skywalk at the Porongurups (Mountain Range in WA). This is a real place, and I’ve done that walk. It’s a bloody hard walk! Taylor is a city girl and she sets off on this track with city shoes (dalmatian print no less) and she’s soon struggling. I love all my scenes. I really love a deleted scene from Cafe that I will host on my website when time is right. It is a scene showing Ella and Jake (from Book 1, Water Under The Bridge) when Jake proposes. I love that scene but my editors are Harlequin MIRA thought it wasn’t right including a proposal from characters from the first book, into this new story of Taylor and Abe.

Movie of all time?
All the original Star Wars series. The first 3 Jason Bourne movies featuring Matt Damon. And I love love love Bridget Jones Diary. I laugh every time she comes down that fireman’s pole!

Book that you always keep a copy of and recommend to others?
I have just about everything Raymond E Feist and Janny Wurts wrote together. I loved the Magician series, and the Empire series. I loved Jean M Auel’s ‘Earth’s Children’ series (the first 4 books). And just to show my practical side, I do recommend The Barefoot Investor – Scott Pape’s book about finance. It’s an eye-opener. It definitely made me pay attention to my superannuation and insurances, and gave me good hints about dealing with banks.

Fashion accessory that despite having plenty of, you still keep collecting?
This is the one where everyone answers ‘shoes’ right? How many pairs of shoes do you own by the way Theresa? And your readers are welcome to answer this question too! I’m off to count my current shoes… (I’m back, that didn’t take long). I have 13 pairs of shoes in my wardrobe, not counting slippers or Blundstones!

*(Not telling Lily! But it’s definitely more than 13…)*

Gee, I digressed! So the thing I collect (but I really don’t collect much) would be notebooks. I do love me some stationery! But I’m only talking maybe 4-5 notebooks. I’m not obsessive about collecting anything really. I’m not much of a shopper! I actually hate shopping for most things except plants and food! (and wine!) (and books!)

Drink that you enjoy everyday?
I am partial in summer to Corona beers. I love wine (no state secret there). I drink Fermoy Estate Sauvignon Blanc, and Geoff Merrill Rose, the most.

Treat you indulge in?
Eating out – especially lunching. I do love lunching. Otherwise every now and then I have a facial done with a gorgeous lady at Margaret River. We talk just about the entire time I’m there. I always leave her studio feeling like a princess.

Place to be?
Walking. Usually on the Cape to Cape track near where I love. I love orchid hunting, but walking in the outdoors soaking up either bush or coast or canyon is just about the ultimate for me.

Kalbarri (mid-north WA)

Warty Hammer Orchid’ – it’s the rarest find I’ve had to date

A gorgeous local walk along the Gracetown Creek

Person you admire?
I’m going to say my neighbour and friend, Carrie. She always impresses me because she is just so darn capable. She can reverse a campervan into the teeniest tiniest spaces. She can 4WD as well as any bloke. She’s strong. She’s a wonderful friend to many many people, and she has a big heart that always seems to have more room in it for more people and experiences.

Season of the year?
Spring and Summer. Spring for the wildflowers. Summer for the heat.

Connect with Lily:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

The Cafe By The Bridge

Child psychologist Taylor Woods needs a man. Flashy restaurateur Abel Honeychurch to be specific. Abe can help her get justice for her brother, Will. Taylor knows Abe, too, was scammed by the same woman who broke her brother’s heart and stole everything in his pockets.

But bringing a lying, cheating scammer to justice isn’t easy when all Abe wants to do is forget the whole sorry saga. He’s returned to his home town of Chalk Hill to lick his wounds and repay his debts, renovating his nanna’s house and opening the Chalk ‘n’ Cheese cafe.

He’s miserable. And it would be easier to stay miserable if everyone else around him wasn’t so darn cheerful. It’s wildflower season in Chalk Hill with a cafe full of upbeat bushwalkers, and it’s all Abe can do to remember to put sugar, not salt, in his customers’ cappuccinos. He definitely has no time for the mysterious red–headed guest who admires his cheesecake and adores his flat white.

Taylor’s mission to help her brother seems doomed – how will she gain the trust of a man whose every instinct tells him never to trust a woman again?

The Cafe By The Bridge (Chalk Hill Series Book 2) is out December 17 at all good bookstores – just in time for Christmas!

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