Why Every Romance Novel Needs a Best Friend Like Grace Sullivan

In every great romance novel, there’s the love story… and then there’s the best friend who sees it coming a mile off. In this blog, I'm celebrating the awesomeness that is Grace Sullivan from my Solace Springs series: café queen, truth-teller, cinnamon roll provider, and the woman every heroine needs in her corner.

The Secret Power of the Best Friend in Romance Novels

When it comes to small-town romance novels, the hero of the story gets a lot of credit. The pages reveal who he is, even when he is being a bit of a dick. He gets the brooding looks, the emotionally constipated silences beside bodies of water, and let’s not forget the doorway moments where he stands there looking devastatingly handsome while the heroine tries very hard not to notice the exact width of his shoulders.

But truth be told, there's work in a romance novel that the hero simply cannot do.

He can't offer the kind of female solidarity that says, I've got you, without needing anything in return.

He can't be the person who hands over the tissues, tops up the wine, hypes her up before the date, and quietly reminds her she's worth more than she's willing to believe.

He can't be the sounding board for every tiny overanalysis of a text message because, well... he's the one who sent it.

That's where the best friend comes in.

Why Romance Sidekicks Are More Than Comic Relief

A truly great romance sidekick is never just there as a comedy interlude, though we do adore a woman with a sharp tongue and excellent timing. The best friend is invariably the keeper of the story’s emotional intelligence.

She notices what heroine is avoiding. She asks the question nobody else dares to ask, usually while pouring tea, wine or a good measure of Mabel’s Cherry Blossom punch in the case of Solace Springs.

More importantly, she gives us readers an in because she sees what we are seeing and gives us a voice on the page. She sees the chemistry as it begins to unfold and is quick to call out any nonsense. She knows when a grand romantic gesture is required and when someone simply needs to eat a sandwich and stop catastrophising.

And we love her for it.

Because while the central romance gives us butterflies, the best friend gives us ballast.

Meet Grace Sullivan from The Cherry Blossom Boathouse

Grace, for those who have not yet had the pleasure, is one of the beating hearts nestled in the pages of The Cherry Blossom Boathouse. She runs Blossoms & Brew café in Solace Springs with her mum, Mabel (although “with” may be doing some heavy lifting there, as Grace does most of the actual work while Mabel enjoys the applause).

So, let me paint you a picture of Grace, and it will become clear why I loved creating this character.

Grace is pink-tipped hair, Dr Martens, and the ability to command an enormous copper espresso machine as if she was born behind it. She is also an anglophile of the highest order, which means Sophie’s British accent never really stood a chance. Grace befriends her within approximately one morning.

But Grace is not merely there to provide caffeine and commentary. She not only knows people, she understands them too.

Why Grace Sullivan Is the Friend Every Heroine Needs

Grace has known Luke since kindergarten, which gives her a rare and sacred power: she can tell him he is being an idiot and he might actually listen. Not immediately, obviously. He is still a man in a romance novel after all. But eventually.

Grace is also a single mum to Zach, who is fourteen and deeply committed to pretending he does not care about anything at all. She loves him fiercely while still finding him exhausting (anyone reading this and is a proud parent to a teenager, I'm pretty sure you are nodding your head right now).

And then there is the hurt she carries. Grace’s ex walked out on her and Zach, leaving her heartbroken and in debt. That kind of pain changes a person, making them both guarded and wise. Grace understands love not as a pretty theory, but as something that can lift you up, knock you on your butt, and still somehow be worth believing in.

That is what makes her advice matter.

The Emotional Intelligence Behind a Great Romance Novel

Grace is the town’s unofficial information hub and knows everyone’s business, naturally, but she deploys that knowledge strategically and more in a capacity of public service rather than just gossip.

In fact, it is Grace that suggests Sophie open her bookshop in time for the Solstice Serenade festival. She is also the one who gives Luke one of the wisest speeches in the book: that Sophie cannot be rushed before she has finished figuring out her own story.

That, really, is Grace all over.

Warm, conspiratorial, funny, infuriatingly perceptive and the sort of woman who appears with cinnamon rolls and the exact question you were hoping nobody would ask.

Every small town romance novel needs someone like her. Someone who can stand just outside the central love story and see it more clearly than the people trapped inside it and knowing when to meddle and when to let silence work its own magic. Someone who reminds us that friendship is its own kind of love story and is on hand with a hug just when it is needed most.

Grace Sullivan Deserves Her Own Love Story

And Grace Sullivan has spent quite long enough giving everyone else the best advice.

Which is why I’m very happy to say that Grace will be getting her own story in Book 2 of the Solace Springs series in the form of The Sugar Maple Inn. Frankly, she is overdue. A woman can only hand out cinnamon rolls, emotional wisdom and perfectly timed reality checks for so long before the universe owes her a little romance of her own.

Until then, if you’d like to meet Grace properly, start with The Cherry Blossom Boathouse and be sure to sign up to the Welcome Wagon for extra behind-the-scenes treats.

Pre-order The Sugar Maple Inn