REVIEW: SO FAR INTO YOU BY LILY MALONE

SO FAR INTO YOU

Author: Lily Malone
Escape RRP $4.99 (eBook only)
Review: Monique Mulligan

Crisp dialogue and merlot-smooth writing are among many things to love about Lily Malone’s latest romance novel, So Far Into You. What’s not to love about a story set in two of Australia’s wonderful wine regions? Or a story of second chances that melts your heart?

So Far Into You draws together a millionaire wine tycoon, Seth Lasrey, and Remy Hanley, a former viticulture student turned Lasrey employee. Remy’s long legs catch Seth’s eyes at the Margaret River Wine Festival, and after a freak storm throws them together, a friendship promises to become much more. Neither of them is rushing into anything, but if Seth’s mother has her way, Seth-and-Remy will be over before it got started. Behind-the-scenes deceptions contrive to get Remy out of Seth’s life; she flees to South Australia to make a fresh start, while Seth is left in Margaret River to move on. When they meet up again in South Australia several years later, where Remy is now a grape grower, they have damaged hearts and painful memories of betrayal to overcome. The question is, can they?

Malone builds on the popular unequal pairing romance trope, but makes it her own, quickly taking the characters out of the boss-employee relationship and establishing them, albeit some years later, as two people engaged in a business transaction. Now on a more equal footing (if not entirely, since Seth’s still a millionaire) and despite the baggage, Seth and Remy’s chemistry is a potent mix of sass, broodiness, misunderstandings and tease. There’s a saucy undercurrent to Malone’s writing that gives the story a bit of bite, a lot of spice … and plenty of reader satisfaction. I laughed, gasped, sighed and smiled my way through it.

Anyone who has been to the wine regions described so aptly in this book will feel that ache of familiarity, that lovely ‘I’ve been there feeling’ (I love books that do that); those who are yet to discover Australia’s great wine regions will be captivated by Malone’s descriptions and will add them to their travel bucket list. And on lists: I knew from the first book I read by Malone that she was a writer to watch, whether in the romance genre or not. Her style is versatile and down-to-earth and she’s got a lot to offer future readers. What I would love to see now is all of her books in print, so that more people can add her to their must-read lists (Fairway to Heaven will be printed together with stories by Victoria Purman and Juliet Madison in More Time For The Beach, to be released soon – pre-order here).

So Far Into You is available online at Amazon. I purchased a copy.