Book blurb...
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?

My Thoughts…
Sometimes you don’t need an on-the-edge-of-your-seat, page-turning, mind-bending, harrowing domestic noir, psycho killer, a diligent detective novel that reminds you of the real world. (Maybe not so much the psycho killer - hopefully!)

Sometimes you simply want to snuggle into a book that’s flawlessly written and a bit of fun, but still with a clever plot and messages within the pages to make you ponder life and love.

Lily Malone’s books do that for me. They are a delightful escape, an indulgence, a treat. Witty and a wonderful storyteller with a unique turn of phrase, Lily is a writer I admire for so many reasons, but mostly for respecting her readers. She delivers excellence every time.

This is the second book in the Chalk Hill series and unlike many novels with a shared setting, you won’t find the same story told through different characters. They are also not simple stories. Lily brings complexity to her delightfully conflicted characters, and not cliche in sight. I particularly loved Book #2 Cafe By the Bridge because I’m a small-town cafe kind of girl (having owned one!)

I admit to knowing Lily (in an online capacity) for many years. Only recently did we catch up in person for the first time (in WA) and I can tell you our meeting has added to my enjoyment of her books because I can see that what she brings to her stories is authenticity. When you read Lily’s characters you smile, you feel, you journey with them.

A very enjoyable read and highly recommended. Delicious!

I loved the first book in this series, so this one was like settling in back at home with family and friends, it was great seeing Jake, Ella and Sam and then really getting to know Abe and learning what he had been through, and then in bounces the beautiful Taylor, a psychologist who has arrived in Chalk Hill to meet up with Abe to see if he can help her brother. MS Malone has written a beautiful story for her readers, sit back and enjoy.

Abe Honeychurch has come home to Chalk Hill after being badly scammed by a woman he thought he was in love with, he has lost his business and his personality and is suffering, and his family has stepped in and helped with him with starting the Chalk n Cheese café. He is not coping very well, but when he meets the beautiful Taylor, things start to turn around for him, but then a family secret may change things again.

Taylor is so worried about her younger brother Will after he is scammed by a woman named Amanda she sets out on a mission to uncover the truth about her and bring her to justice but to do that she will need the help of Abe and so takes a trip to the country to seek him out, when she finds him and they spend time together she loses her heart to him.

This story is moving and emotional and so very beautiful, Taylor is just such a wonderful person, she will do anything to help the people she loves and to see Abe open up and smile again was so good and to see their love grow sensually and to such happiness was perfect, and Abe was so good for Taylor, thank you MS Malone, you have left me in a happy place and looking forward to more trips to Chalk Hill, I do highly recommend this one.

The secondary characters of the country townsfolk stole the story in many instances. Abe’s character, though prickly, pulls at the heartstrings. Taylor was a complicated character, making her challenging to appreciate. Some instances of implausibility. Nevertheless, the story held enough likeable other characters to steal the story. Brix and JT were instant attention grabbing characters.
Review copy received from Harlequin via MIRA

Taylor Woods was worried about her younger brother Will after he’d been taken for a ride by a woman who was a sociopath; her skills were creating a relationship then conning the men out of their money. She discovered another young man had been hit by this woman as well – he lived at Chalk Hill and owned the Chalk’n’Cheese café. So Taylor’s goal was to make the trip from Perth to Chalk Hill to find Abe Honeychurch and convince him to help her by getting justice for both himself and Will. That should be easy – right?

Taylor was a child psychologist so spotting Abe was in a bad place came natural to her. She wanted to help him but had to be careful how she went about it. Could she help him? And would he help Will? First she had to gain Abe’s trust – not surprisingly he wasn’t feeling kindly to women at the time…

Café by the Bridge is the 2nd in the Chalk Hill series by Aussie author Lily Malone and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Littered with wry comments and humour, it had me laughing out loud quite often. It was emotional and heartfelt, while Taylor seemed determined to help everyone. A highly entertaining read, Café by the Bridge is one I highly recommend.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

This is now my favourite Lily Malone book ❤️ what a fabulous read. I loved getting to know Abe and Taylor and sharing in their problems and the solutions. Taylor could be like a runaway train when she got the idea to help, but she had a heart of gold so you forgive her for that. Abe was gorgeous, even when struggling to cope he was lovely. I loved finding out how Jake and Ella from the first Chalk Hill book are doing down the track, and look forward to the next book to find out how these couples are travelling. Lily highlights the growing concern of male depression and the need for people to ask for help and to offer help if they think a friend or loved one might need it. A couple of secrets come out during this story and I look forward to hopefully finding out more down the track. Chalk Hill is a great town and I love reading about local places I have visited and am able to picture the characters there so vividly.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia & MIRA for a copy in return for an honest review.

I found The Café By The Bridge to be an okay, quick read. It sees Taylor, a child psychologist, locating a man in rural Western Australia who might be able to help her brother, Will. Will has been the target of a sociopathic scammer who has robbed him of everything, but he can't see a way through to help himself, well, he doesn't really want to, so in steps big sis to help him out. So she tracks down Abe, a café owner in the fictional town of Chalk Hill, who's gone running back to his hometown to lick his wounds after being conned by the same woman as Will. Then we have a formulaic girl meets boy, but boy is a tortured soul, so girl has to help boy, yada, yada, yada.
The thing about this book is that Taylor is just so damned annoying. She starts the book as a stalker, and then, after only knowing Abe for a couple of days, the things she says to him would send 99.9 %, no wait, make that 100%, of males running for the hills. Yet this doesn't ring alarm bells for Abe, who would in reality be very wary of any woman, let alone one that's running around like a pitbull, demanding things of both Abe and Will, even after being told on numerous occasions to back off. So although this book just didn't seem realistic, it did have it's lighter moments, yet these weren't enough to really make this a worthwhile read. While this book will have those who love it, it just wasn't well rounded enough for me.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.