Author: Lisa Darcy
Publisher: Bloodhound Books UK
ISBN: 9781913942533
Buy through Booktopia
When Lily misses out on a well-deserved promotion the day her boyfriend is offered a job overseas, she faces a choice: should she embrace an expat life, or follow her childhood dream and become a florist?
Deciding to follow her heart, she moves to Clearwater, a fictional town on the NSW south coast, and decides to start again. But fitting into the tight-knit community proves harder than she expected.
As she navigates new friendships, financial worries, and the pull of returning to her city life, Lily learns how flowers can bring her the happiness she’s been looking for.
And when romance appears on the horizon, Lily realises she can’t commit until she reconciles her mistakes.
Can she overcome her past and learn the true meaning of love?
Lisa tells the story behind Lily’s Little Flower Shop:
One of my very good friends, Louise, owned a tiny flower shop in a small town in the Blue Mountains, NSW. She heard amazing stories from locals who walked into her shop and shared their lives with her.
She suggested I write about the memories and emotions flowers evoke, be that joy or sadness, and that I explore the four seasons and incorporate funerals, weddings, anniversaries, Mother’s Day etc.
From there, the idea blossomed.
A few times, I sat in her shop pretending to read when customers came in, but really, I was eavesdropping. I’m not a florist, so she gave me hints and tips. For example, suppliers sell bunches of roses in tens. People often order a dozen roses, but if you buy twelve, it’s more expensive, because the florist must break into a new bunch.
Lily’s Little Flower Shop is a romantic comedy, but it’s also about relationships and how Lily reconciles her past and forges a bright future that doesn’t revolve around money, corporate suits and rushing from A to B without a moment’s pleasure.
This novel has been a long time in the making – writing, rewriting, editing, adding characters, killing characters. All up, from inspiration to publication, was seven years. Now that Lily is out in the world in print, eBook and on Audible, I can say that the journey has been worth every bit of pain and doubt along the way.
With nearly 700 reviews on Amazon/Kindle at an average 4.5 stars, more than 400 are five-star. I am thrilled readers are loving Lily as much as I do.
Lisa’s story:
I live at Gerroa, a coastal town two hours south of Sydney. I wanted to base Lily’s story in a similar area. Although Clearwater is fictional, it is similar to many coastal towns in Australia and abroad – a small, often cliquey community residing by the beach.
My passion is for writing stories about strong women navigating friendships, careers, romance, ultimately triumphing over adversity.
I love living in regional NSW, meeting many lovely locals at market days and festivals, even Facebook community pages, interesting and vibrant people who would give added life to the characters in a sequel. (Obviously I’d embellish the characters’ personalities so no one can sue me, borrowing bits from people I meet, a character quirk here, snippet of conversation there, even some of their physical appearances.) And I’m always on the lookout for possible storylines.
A couple of years ago when Lily’s Little Flower Shop seemed to have hit a brick wall, I was put in touch with Michael Cybulski, head of New Authors Collective (NAC) Literary Agency. Michael signed me, and not long after, I was contracted by Bloodhound Books for four books under the pen name, Lisa Darcy. Lily’s Little Flower Shop is the first.
While Lily’s Little Flower Shop is my first novel with Bloodhound Books, it is my seventh novel. Five of my previous novels were published with Allen & Unwin, Australia.
You can follow Lisa on:
Email: lisadarcyauthor@gmail.com
Facebook: Lisa Darcy – author
Insta: @lisadarcyauthor
Twitter: @lisadarcyauthor
