I'm slowly falling in love with Paige Toon, and one reason is because of "Pictures of Lily", a great chick-lit standard with just the right amount of romance, humor, and British colloquialisms.
The book begins in 1999, when 15-year-old Lily is uprooted from her life in London by her slutty mom, who tends to use men like hand towels, and runs from location and location in search of Mr. Right. Mr. Right Now is Michael, a middle-aged Australian who lives in Adelaide, has a nineteen-year-old son, and works at a wildlife conservation center. Lily is (understandably) pissed to be there, and pretty much sulks around the house until Michael (who's actually a really nice guy) invites her to join him at work.
While helping out at the conservation center, Lily meets Ben, a 28-year old caretaker of koalas. Lily develops a crush on the older man, and soon the crush becomes something more, as Ben and Lily find a connection that knows no age difference. But Ben's a good boy (of course), and keeps his hands and thoughts to himself. We end the first half of the book with Ben leaving for London, to marry his fiance Charlotte, and Lily heartbroken and alone.
Part two picks up ten years later--Lily's now legal (26, to be exact), living in Sydney, and engaged to "her" Richard, a sweet, good-looking bloke, but let's face it, he's no Ben. Her life's on hold--her love of photography and animals has been abandoned, as they now trigger nothing but painful memories of the past. Of course, Lily runs into Ben at the Sydney Zoo, where he's now working. He's conveniently divorced, and Lily's feelings for him are reignited.
Does Ben still love Lily? Will Richard fight for his fiance? Who will Lily choose? The predictable but still emotionally satisfying ending made my romantic heart melt a little, and even though there was no (I mean, zero, zilch, nada) sex in the book, and I don't usually cotton to that, I was still completely satisfied with this lovely tale.
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