The Guy from the Wedding is my first novel-length release that came out last year. It started as a web serial on my blog before it came to light that there was a bigger story to be told. Scribing this sweet enemies-to-lovers workplace romance has been a wild ride for me, as a writer and as a person with memories of the past frustrations.

I hope readers enjoy Liam and Katrina’s journey towards their HEA.

1. Experience is the best research (unless you dislike the thing you’re researching, then it’s the worst)

Even though the office outing is somewhere in the middle of the book, it was actually the last scene written, waiting until I could make time for an outing of my own. When Amber Daulton asked what research I did for this book, my first instinct was to say, “Oh, just that one thing.”

But I realised I’d actually researched more for this book without realising at the time. I’ve planned a wedding, dined at restaurants my characters visit, walked the same streets, stood in the exact spot under the exact tree where the final wedding of the novel took place. I shivered by the exact swimming pool where … well, I won’t spoil that part.

Suffice to say the sense of place in “Wedding”, and in all the Somerville Downs books, come from first-hand field research around Perth.

2. We bring our insecurities to the table, whether we realise it or not

No one has a heart of stone, not even the meanest person you know. Old wounds can reopen just like that, old anxieties re-triggered, old traumas touched upon by what seems like the most innocuous events and remarks.

The truth is, we never really escape our insecurities. We just get better at dealing with them. If we’re lucky, we have plenty of healthy coping mechanisms on speed-dial, ready to run interference before we get the chance to feel bad.

3. Holding onto the past is not a good strategy for moving on

Yes, this sounds obvious when phrased that way, but it’s all murky in practice. For starters, “holding onto the past” doesn’t just mean you (for example) bear a grudge against someone who mistreated you. It can also mean holding onto reactions and behaviours we learned to defend ourselves from mistreatment. It can mean overcompensating for our shortcomings or poor decisions instead of responding to new circumstances in the present.

It takes a lot of internal work to even notice when we do this, so each and every one of us is capable of falling very far behind the starting line. All we can do is try, forgive ourselves when we fail, learn and grow, and then try some more.

A sweet enemies-to-lovers workplace romance

Wedding bells are ringing … but not for them.

Katrina Lee just can’t catch a break. She’s single, failing to mingle, and spending precious weekends surrounded by blissfully happy newlyweds-to-be. It’s just an occupational hazard of working for The Wedding Elves. Another hazard? Her sister’s new business partner, whose first job as co-owner seems to be putting her off guys for good.

Liam Donovan left Melbourne, determined to start a new life in Perth. He never dreamed this would mean working with the sour-faced woman he met at an old friend’s wedding, let alone falling for her. Now he’s caught between the man-in-charge he wants to be and the pathetic loser he swore to leave behind.

The Guy from the Wedding is a sweet enemies-to-lovers workplace romance, set in the world of Somerville Downs.

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