Birdie Song - #NewRelease - THE GUY FROM THE BEACH RESORT
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
I'm excited to welcome a new author to Journeys with Jana. Australian author Birdie Song is here with her #NewRelease - THE GUY FROM THE BEACH RESORT. This sweet romance released on September 17, 2025 and Birdie is here to tell us 5 things about the Someerville Downs, the setting for the book. Welcome Birdie!
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT SOMERVILLE DOWNS
1. Somerville Downs is a fictional group of suburbs south of my home city of Perth, Western Australia. Inspired by places I grew up in, it’s home to cosy small-town vibes, incursions of wildlife, and a strong but at-times estranged sense of community – the perfect setting for a contemporary romance.
2. Western Australia is the largest state in Australia by landmass, but we’re not the most populated. Most of our population is centred in the Perth metropolitan area, a multicultural Australian hub where you’ll find food and cultural influences from all over. Perth was a more Anglophonic city when my family first arrived, but now in 2025, you can catch many different languages just while walking through the streets and shops.
3. My Somerville Downs sweet romance books are a tribute to growing up Asian-Australian, where code-switching, walking in two worlds, and immersing in the cacophony of multicultural life is an everyday reality. You’ll experience this most intensely in The Guy from the Internet, and find more hints of food and culture in The Guy from the Bakery and my latest book, The Guy from the Beach Resort.
4. I wrote these books because I wanted contemporary romance readers to get a taste of Perth the way I’ve experienced it. I love my city, even if I don’t always agree with it. It’s been a world “in transition” for as long as I can remember, with growth spurts not unlike a hormonal teenager or a 26-year-old in love. We were once the “city of cranes” and now the “City of Light”, and who knows what we’ll be in another thirty years’ time?
5. The books in this series all overlap the same summer, an unspecified time in the recent past, with no strict reading order. But I recommend enjoying them in the order they were published, starting with The Guy from the Flower Shop. For best vibes, have a little nature nearby and a fresh cup of tea on hand ☕️
Excerpt:
“Um, no, I just don’t fancy joining you guys.”
“Is that what you’re writing in that book of yours, what a bunch of yobbos we are?” He reaches for my journal. Despite my shock, I push it out of reach before he gets to it. Surfie holds me in a hard stare. “They all stuck up as you are in Perth?”
A hot, crawling feeling creeps across my skin. I’ve never met this guy before, don’t know him from a bar of soap, but right now he reminds me of too many guys I’ve had the misfortune of running into. Heck, of knowing, of dating, of discovering too late that they weren’t worth the time I’d spent with them. The kind that demand your time and attention like you owe it to them, the kind who won’t take no for an answer.
“Please leave me alone,” I say to Surfie. And what an effort it is to include the word please.
“Oh, so I can’t sit at the bar now? Because I’m not good enough?”
I should’ve put on an accent, pretended I didn’t speak much English. Deception isn’t meant to be the way I’m supposed to start my new life, but if that’s what it takes to get rid of this creep, then here goes.
“Listen,” I start, pushing my journal and pen even further out of reach, “my boyfriend’ll be here soon, and you’re in his seat. He won’t like that you’re getting up in my face.”
“Boyfriend, right. Pull the other one, love.” Surfie snorts. “Tell you what. Why don’t we just wait for Mr Boyfriend, and you can introduce us?” He shifts in his seat and make a show of letting his shoulders sag over the bar.
“Aren’t your mates waiting for their drinks?”
“They can wait a little longer. Mr Boyfriend’s getting here soon, hey?”
“Look, would you please just go?”
“No. Come to think of it . . .” Surfie necked his beer. “I might order another one while I’m here.” Despite his armload of bottles, he orders another one, ignoring the sharp look from the bartender, assuming he even notices it.
Fine, he wins, and his smug face shows he knows it. I shove my pen and journal into my bag and wrap an arm around my coconut without another word.
As I get up to leave, I come face-to-face with a brick wall.
Better make that face-to-chest. I tilt my coconut just in time to prevent a spill.
This very shapely brick wall with broad shoulders is wearing a cream button-down, light and loose, with blue-grey linen pants. As I look up, I see a pair of hazel eyes looking back at me, framed with long dark locks hanging free and casual, and easy stubble enclosing a broad, handsome smile.
“Hi, darling. Sorry I’m late, I got held up. Would’ve texted but my phone died.”
Blurb - THE GUY FROM THE BEACH RESORT:
A guy who keeps his promise could be worth breaking hers.
Reformed party-girl Penny is going to fix her life. No, really, she’s gonna do it this time!
Starting with a vow of abstinence, five days in a Bali beach resort, and literally running into a well-timed fake boyfriend she definitely won’t fool around with.
Unfortunately for her, Adam is smart, funny, charming, and starting to look like an all-round decent human being. All green flags and zero risk, he’s the kind of guy who respects her and keeps his promises, leaving Penny desperate to break hers.
The Guy from the Beach Resort is a sweet, fake dating, slow-burn romance, set in the world of Somerville Downs.
About Birdie Song
Birdie Song was born in Southeast Asia and now writes from Perth, Western Australia on Whadjuk-Noongar country. She believes love is more important than labels, integrity is a person’s most attractive quality, and that no one should be judged for putting pineapple on a pizza. When not writing, she tends to a veggie garden and reads a variety of books, hoping to one day understand the meaning of life.
Website: https://birdiesongauthor.com
Thanks for being my guest today, Birdie!