Sure to raise a controversy or two! By Susanne Bellamy

Melbourne, aka Coffee Capital of Australia, serves up a feast when it comes to caffeine and cakes. Andie and Matt from Engaging the Enemy have a significant meeting or two over coffee in the CBD.

In no particular order, my pick for the TOP 10 cafés (plus 3!) in Melbourne:

1. Patricia: 493-495 Little Bourke St., Melbourne CBD. Little cafe hidden away in typical Melbourne laneway fashion.
2. Cup of Truth: Melbourne CBD. Located in the subway, it has a ‘hole in the wall, coffee on the go’ vibe.
3. LB2 Cafe: 2 Gallagher Pl., Melbourne CBD. All about coffee: Choices from 3 different beans plus some decaf and a cold drip.
4. T-Roy Browns: Melbourne CBD. Set in the historical Banana Alley Vaults on 9 m2, the décor is unusual and the coffee, dark and smooth.
5. Little Bean Blue: 15 Little Collins St., Melbourne CBD. Speciality coffee place with sole focus on coffee.
6. League Of Honest Coffee: Melbourne CBD. Honest coffee and answers for coffee accessories queries.
7. Traveller: 2/14 Crossley St., Melbourne CBD. Good strong coffee, with Seven Seeds beans.
8. Brother Baba Budan: Melbourne CBD. Always busy – always worth the wait since that line moves pretty fast.
9. Dukes Coffee Roasters at Ross House: 247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne CBD. Dukes roast their own coffee, buying from individual farms or small cooperatives. Their roastery is based in Collingwood, with beans available in either espresso or filter roasts.
10. Flipboard: Melbourne CBD. Like a cubby-house sandwiched in the three-metre wide, three storey high gap between the Brolly Design studio and the Bennetts Lane emergency exit.
11. Degraves Espresso:  a Melbourne icon for good coffee
12. Leroy’s in St Kilda: another coffee icon. So much so they had to make a little side window into the café,  so the line up for take away coffees didn’t fill the entire cafe. Get your coffee at Leroy’s and then take away cake from Acland Street.
13. Hopetoun Tea Rooms: in the Block Arcade. Check out their front window; I dare you to walk past the door! 

One building, two would-be owners and a family feud that spans several generations: all relationships have their problems.

Andrea de Villiers can’t lie to save herself. But when developer, Matt Mahoney, buys the building she and a friend have established as a safe house in the Melbourne CBD, she decides that protecting The Shelter is more important than her aching heart. She will confront Mr Mahoney, and she will emerge victorious. There are no other options.

But Matt has other plans for Andie, and she soon finds herself ensnared in a web of well-meaning lies and benevolent deceit. To protect the building and the families that depend on her, Andie agrees to play the part of Matt’s fiancée, and play it convincingly.

But lies soon bleed into truth, and what was once a deception starts to feel all too real. Can Andie accomplish her goals and protect The Shelter, without losing her heart to the charming Irish developer?