Lily Writes

If you’ve read more than a handful of romance novels—or watched a single vertical movie—you’ve seen her. The evil stepsister. The queen-bee cheerleader nemesis. The psycho ex-girlfriend.

She’s the cardboard cutout villainess who’ll do absolutely anything to ruin the heroine’s life: lie, cheat, steal her identity, steal her man, frame her for a crime she didn’t commit, convince her parents to disown her… the list goes on.

Frankly? It’s tired. And honestly? It’s misogynistic.

Sure, toxic women exist in real life—but when they dominate the page over and over again, it sends the same stale message: that women are enemies first and allies second. That our biggest obstacles are always each other. I don’t buy it.

My Core Value: Women Support Women

In my books, sisters lift each other up. Best friends defend each other. Found families fight like hell for each other. Do they argue? Of course. Do they get jealous or screw up? Naturally. But at the end of the day, when the fire closes in, they’re walking through it side by side.

If you ever read a betrayal scene in one of my books, know this: it’s not coming from malice. It’s coming from a misunderstanding, a bad choice, or a moment of weakness. Because my heroines and their ride-or-die besties don’t exist to tear each other down—they exist to grow. And trust me, that’s plenty of conflict.

Heroes Don’t Cheat. Sisters Don’t Betray.

Do people make dumb mistakes? Yep.
Do they hurt people with those mistakes? Absolutely.
Do they deserve redemption? Yes—if they’re willing to face the music, own their truth, and do the messy, uncomfortable work of change.

That’s the kind of tension I like to write—the internal kind. The kind where characters wrestle with their past, their fears, their flaws. Not endless catfights and backstabbing.

Love at First Sight Isn’t the End—It’s the Beginning

One of the big challenges in my Lily P. Archer worlds is that characters often fall in love at first sight. Which, on paper, sounds like “the end.” But oh no—that’s where the real struggles start.

Because falling in love? Easy. Lust? Even easier.
But building a relationship that lasts? That’s where the battles are fought. That’s where my heroes and heroines earn their happy-ever-afters.

And if that makes my stories a little harder to write? Good. It keeps me on my toes—and it keeps the stories honest.

A Taste of Forbidden Love

Take my book Forbidden Love. It’s a steamy age-gap romance, but also a story about reincarnation, fate, and second chances. She knows they’re soulmates reborn. He knows there’s a giant age gap between them. He fights it, because he’s a good man with a strong sense of responsibility. But fate—and love—don’t play by rules.

Here’s a favorite moment:

“Isobella, in twenty years I’ll be seventy-two. Seventy-two! Our kids will be in college, and I’ll be old.”

I glare at him. “You know what, Vin? In twenty years, you’ll be seventy-two anyway. You can be seventy-two with a hot wife and kids in college—or you can be a lonely old man wondering what might have been if you’d just been brave enough to reach for it.”

That’s the kind of heroine I love to write. Brave. Relentless. Willing to fight not against other women—but for love, for family, for herself.

And honestly? That’s way more interesting than another evil stepsister ever will be.