What’s a girl to do when she’s secretly in love with a friend and he’s married to someone else? She gets over it. That’s what Amy Parker has done. Rather than lose her best bud Quinn Whitfield with an ill-timed, crazy confession of affection, she’s taken the smart route. She’s eased away from him. Just enough to get past the unrequited bits. And you know, it’s working.
Until the day Quinn announces he’s now single. That’s right. He’s single. And he wants to hang out. With her. Get reconnected the way they used to be.
Oh, this is so not good for Amy’s equilibrium. Daily doses of Quinn remind her of everything she loves about him. But if he’s free…and she’s free…well, maybe the time has come for one of those crazy confessions.
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The subject of coming home again is something that’s been pretty close to my heart lately. After two years living in New Zealand, me and my man have recently moved back home to Australia to my home town of Melbourne. We’ve also been on the hunt for a new house.
Being close to our family again has been, in a word, fabulous. Yes, family can be messy and demanding and noisy and, at times, deeply frustrating, but the connection I feel to the my people is a powerful, powerful thing. I love having my sister drop by the house after school for a quick visit and a cup of tea. I adore having my brother over to watch a DVD. I love being able to go to my nephews’ basketball games. I am absolutely gagging to see my niece’s first calisthenics review. And being close to my parents as they age and explore their latter years is a gift beyond price.
As for house hunting…well, it sucks, pure and simple. The lying real estate agents, the soaring Melbourne property prices, our ever-diminishing hopes…it’s been a roller coaster ride, pure and simple. But, as of this week, we are officially home owners again. At last, after four unsuccessful attempts, we signed a contract and will shortly be moving into our own home again.
After two years of renting in a foreign country, the idea of having my own house once more, of being able to hang a painting without asking permission or plant a tree in the garden or paint a wall is a joy beyond words. I cannot wait to move in. I cannot wait to have a home of my own again.
The notion of coming home is something I thought about a lot when I was writing my latest Super Romance, Her Best Friend. The story is set in the small rural town of Daylesford, about an hour’s drive north of Melbourne, and centres around Amy and Quinn. These two grew up next door to each other and fell in love with each other when they were barely teenagers, although neither of them was brave enough to admit as much to the other. And then a new girl came to town and drew Quinn’s attention and he wound up moving to Sydney with her and marrying her and leaving Amy to deal with her broken heart alone.
Sixteen years later, Quinn returns home to help Amy take on the local council so she can fulfill her big dream of buying back the old Art Deco cinema her great-grandfather built way back in the Thirties. Coming home for Quinn is a bittersweet thing – so many memories, many of them tied up with Amy, the girl next door, and also with the woman who is soon to be become his ex-wife.
I loved writing this book and exploring those themes of homecoming, and they resonate for me even more now that I have come home myself.
I’d love to hear your stories of homecoming – what home means to you, where it is, etc, etc. And to celebrate both the release of Her Best Friend and the purchase of my new home, I’d love to give away two sets of Her Best Friend, my latest Super Romance, and Her Secret Fling, my February Blaze. All you have to do is comment and you’ll be in the running. Over to you!
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Huge thanks to Sarah for being our guest today! For more information on her books and what’s coming up next for her, please visit her website here. Also, don’t forget to leave a comment for the chance to win a book by her. Good luck!
Hi Sarah! I have to get some gushing out of the way – I LOVE your books! No seriously – in fact I was just chatting with some friends earlier tonight and we were talking about your books and urging others to try them!
I own a few of your SuperRomances but haven’t had the chance to read them yet :X They’re in my intimidating TBR pile.
Ok. As for the premise of Her Best Friend… I love the reunion stories. And friends to lovers. Just adore them.
As for what coming home means… well there’s comfort. But I think I’m “too young” too appreciate it, so I feel a little stifled/like my life is stagnant – but then too many other people are going through the exact same thing now.
Otherwise… it’s lovely. Everything is familiar, and well, convenient.
Hi Limecello, lovely to chat with you. And thanks for your kind words – it’s nice to know my books are being enjoyed out there in the world. Home is comfortable, but I get the stifled bit, too – at the moment we’re renting my sister’s investment property, which is just around the corner from my old high school. Way, way too close to home for me. I will be much happier once we have moved to our new house, well away from my teen stomping ground.
Home is where the people you love are… the ones who will give you support and strength… It has been awhile since I have read A Super Romance, but I do love them… such wonderful heartfelt stories… 😀 I would love to read Quinn & Amy’s story! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Colleen. I didn’t really understand the meaning of that old saying about “home is where the heart is” until I’d been living overseas for a while. I missed my family and friends so much! Once, when we were still living in NZ, we went walking on a warm night and passed a gum tree by the side of the road, a rarity in NZ. The smell of the eucalyptus was so strong that we both stood there and simply inhaled the smell of home for about five minutes. Amazing the things you miss!
Hi Sarah,
Home is where you can be yourself and act normal and not worry about how you’re perceived. Hope the move back to Melbourne has gone smoothly.
Thanks, Cyclops. Yes, home is where you can relax and be yourself, isn’t it? Although, I will say that being in a place where you know no one at all has it’s own freedoms as well – like dashing to the shops in your daggiest old clothes with your hair all over the place. At home, you’d be sure to run into an ex boyfriend. But when you’re OS and you know no one, there’s no chance of that!
Home is where I can relax, unwind from the demands of the day, even hang out doing nothing…there’s only my husband and I in our home and I love it. I love being able to coming home to peace and quiet and rejoice in the solitude of our place!
Congratulations on your new place! Nothing is better than having a place of your own!
Tabitha, I am absolutely gagging to have my own home again. I have this file of piccies I’ve been collecting off the internet from houses we’ve looked at over the years that had a bathroom I loved or a kitchen with cool ideas, etc, etc, and I sit in bed every night and ogle the floorplan of my new house and imagine the renovations we’re going to do and try to work out where to put our furniture. Like you, my home is my haven. I can’t wait to feather my nest!
Hi, Sarah!!! I think that while home is truly where the heart is (or one’s loved ones), I’m a bit of a homebody, and I tend to get attached to the space that I consider home, too. I’m especially blessed in that we’re located near our families, and our kids are growing up with the chance to spend time getting to know all their family. There’s a sense of comfort in going home (my parents still live in the same house I grew up in), but it’s funny, too, since it’s changed a lot since I lived there with them (they’ve remodeled and updated quite a lot since)–guess it just supports the theory that it isn’t the place or things, but the people who make home “HOME.”
Huge congrats on finding a home of your own, a place you can transform into a space that reflects you and what comforts and inspires you!
Hey there, Fedora. Lovely to see you again! My mum moved from the home my parents built when they were married a few years ago and moved into a new little house. It’s funny, but when I think of home I think of her in her little house, and not that old house. It is the people, definitely, that make a place home or not. And I’m sure it’s why I never felt entirely settled in NZ, even though I have some wonderful, wonderful friends there.
I think it’s some combination of people and experiences/history… I do think it’s the history part that makes it hard to move from a place one’s spent more time in, but it can also inspire people to strike out in a new direction if their experiences haven’t been good ones. Here’s to enjoying those good memories of home and finding ways to keep those close whether we are in a new place or still in familiar surroundings!
Congrats on the new home. It is a wonderful feeling.
This book sounds great.
Would love to read it.
Thanks, Denise. I have just about two months to wait until we settle and move into our new place. It’s going to be a long wait! But doubtless I will still be scrambling to get some things sorted when moving day comes around. Re Her Best Friend, there’s an excerpt over at my website (click on my name at the top of the post and it should take you to my site), so you can read quite a bit of the first chapter. Have a great weekend.
Congrats on the release and the new house! I have the majority of my family within about a 30 minute drive and it’s nice to see them around town and at all our family gatherings. After being away, I can competely understand how nice it is to have everyone nearby!
Lisa, we had my dad’s 70th yesterday. We all went to a local park and played football with the kids and had a barbecue and lots of yummy salads. Watching my dad unwrap the big family portrait we had done for him was fantastic – he was so delighted. It was a great day, and every time I have a family gathering like this I make sure to enjoy it – complete with all its attendant disasters! – because I’ve missed out on so many family events while being away.
New release, new home …congratulations and best wishes! As crazy as the house gets with the kids; the chores, the bills and so on, it’s home: it’s where I am most comfortable, most safe and most loved.
That’s a lovely way of putting it, Marelou – where you’re most loved. That’s absolutely the key – home is where you love and are loved the most. And all the craziness and messiness – well, that’s just life, isn’t it? Have a great weekend.
Hi Sarah,
Congrats on your new release and new home!
Her Best Friend sounds like a book I want to read!
Hi Chey. Thanks – it’s awesome knowing I will soon have my own place again. The great thing about this place is that it’s got a swimming pool and plenty of room for a veggie patch. I have this fantasy that I’m going to grow herbs and veggies and whatnot…we shall see if it comes to fruition or not. (pun kind of intended!)
Congrats on the release, it sounds good. AS for homecoming, I’m one of those who sees home as where the heart is, so coming home or homecoming is coming anywhere my family is.
Stories about homecoming to me are usually about finding out where your heart truly rests.
hugs,
WendyK
Hi Wendy – I totally agree with you, and I love that phrase “finding out where your heart truly rests.” In fact, I may “borrow” it for my next book, which is about a woman who has never had a real home thanks to her hippy parents, and a guy who has a very strong sense of where he belongs. Thanks for the inspiration!
Home to me is being around my daughters and grandchildren. They all live within 10 minutes of me and that’s great. I really enjoy your books.
Hi Linda. Lovely to see you! I just had yet another family event last night – my niece’s birthday. I wound up out in the back yard, shooting hoops with my nephews. They’re so much fun, and I love seeing how much their basketball skills have improved since I first saw them play. Being close to them is a huge, huge bonus of being back in town.
Hi Sarah,
Just wanted to drop a line & say that I really enjoy your books. My favorite has to be ANYTHING FOR YOU, although Jake from HER SECRET FLING, tug at my heart strings.
I’ve lived in the same city my whole life so haven’t really experienced any real homecomings but I can understand how it can be a powerful feeling.
Don’t count me in for the contest. I own both books already.
Hi Scorpio, thanks for your kind words. Anything For You seems to be a favorite with lots of people, which is great because I loved writing that book. Not that I don’t enjoy writing all of them, mind, but that one holds a special place in my heart. And I know a few people found Jake too cranky and ungenerous at the start of Her Secret Fling, but I like to think he had good reasons for being the way he was!
Thanks for the great post. This looks like a great book. I certainly know the feeling of going home again. After I graduated HS, I moved away from my hometown. But everytime I go back to visit, this feeling comes over me and I know I’m home again.
Nicole, whenever we were visiting home when we were living in NZ, I used to say to my partner that something inside me just…relaxed when we were on Australian soil. I don’t know what it is, but someone once told me that when dogs are in a strange neighbourhood, their hearing is more acute than when they are in their own yards because they are on the alert. I think that’s not a bad analogy – when you’re somewhere other than the deeply familiar, there’s a little part of you that’s scanning the environment, looking for danger/trouble. Thanks for dropping by to chat.
Congrats on your new home, Sarah, and on coming home!! Her Best Friend sounds SO good ~~ I was just checking it out today! There really IS no place like home, is there? I moved about an hour away from my home town for about 9 yrs ~~ and even being that small a distance away, I missed my family so much. It seemed like there was always a reason that we didn’t see each other as often as we should ~~ I moved back to my home town when my ex and I split up, and while I still drive over an hour one way to work each day, it’s totally worth it to be close to my Mom, sisters, and the rest of my family. It still kind of weirds me out to see some of the same people doing the EXACT same things they did when we were 17, but over all I couldn’t be happier!!
I get that you’d rather commute to work than commute to your family – makes perfect sense. The new house we’ve bought is about 25 mins from family – not just around the corner, but given that we’ve been four hours flight away for two years, it’ll work for me. Glad you’re enjoying being home again – even if the Groundhog Day aspect freaks you out a bit!
Hi Sarah,
Haven’t read any of your books yet but Her Best Friend sounds great! and I would LOVE to read it.
For me home is the place where I’m with my family. Talking, laughing, sharing. Being at ease and loving every minute of every hour of every day we’re together.
And when I’m alone, the place where I sit (almost) all day curled up on the sofa with a cup of tea and a (super-) romance.
Best, Kirsten
Hi Kirsten.One of the things I’m most looking forward to creating in my new home is that corner you talk about – the curl-up-with-a-book corner where I can be comfortable and laze away hours at a time within the pages of a book. As for laughing – I never laugh more than when I’m with my family. We know each other’s soft spots, and then there are all the “in” jokes…
This sounds like a sweet book, I would love to be entered in the contest. Have a great weekend!