
Is there anything more delicious than a story of secret, forbidden love? Nothing makes attraction sweeter, more heart-skipping or more tantalising than when two characters not only shouldn’t get together, but can’t … and yet they do. Why are they hiding their love? Can they overcome their obstacles to be together? And most desperately: what will happen if they get found out? Cue obsessed!
This is what happens in The Three of Us. Except in this case, it’s not two characters who shouldn’t be together – it’s three. Not only do Thomas, Elsie and Aida find themselves falling into a love triangle with a difference, but they must not let anyone find out. Because in conservative 1960s suburbia, the discovery of their scandalous affair could spell disaster for all of them ….
Here are some of my favourite hidden and forbidden love stories:
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
Nothing says forbidden quite like the attraction between a woman and a priest. All her life, Meggie Cleary has loved Father Ralph. Eventually, Father Ralph discovers he loves Meggie back. Tragedy ensues. First published in 1977, there’s a reason McCullough’s sweeping, heart-rending saga became an international bestseller, was adapted to screen, and continues to charm readers – it’s impossible to look away!
Friends: Monica and Chandler
After long-term pals Monica and Chandler hook up at Ross’s (doomed) wedding to Emily in London, they tell themselves their fling will continue only as long as they are in London … except it doesn’t. Returning to America, Monica and Chandler’s attempts to keep ‘doing it’ in secret grow more elaborate as time goes on. But when they are eventually found out, they realise it’s not just sex, but love. Aww.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Buffy and Angel
She’s a girl tasked with fighting the forces of evil to save humankind. He’s a vampire – and if it weren’t for a ‘curse’ giving him a human soul and the ability to feel remorse, he’s not just evil, he’s hella evil. Buffy and Angel literally cannot be together without Angel losing his soul and turning into Buffy’s mortal enemy … so of course, they fall in love. Of course, they sleep together. And of course, all hell breaks loose.
Shameless (US): Kev, V and Svetlana as a ‘thrupple’
When Svetlana, the manager of Kev and V’s ailing bar, is threatened with deportation, V marries her to keep her in the US. But when the two women’s practical arrangement turns to lust, V’s partner Kev must find a way to get on board with it, too … their tumble from business into pleasure – and their effort to maintain the ruse for Immigration – is hilarious and its own brand of spice!
Romeo and Juliet
It’s not possible to list forbidden love stories without including Shakespeare’s classic tale of star-crossed lovers. Although their families mega-hate each other, Romeo, a Montague, and Juliet, a Capulet, fall instantly, achingly, disastrously in love and would rather die than be apart. And so (spoiler alert) they do. More than four hundred years after it was written, it’s a tale that continues to tug on our heartstrings.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Kim Lock
Kim Lock is an internationally published author of five novels, including the reader-acclaimed The Other Side of Beautiful. Her essays and opinion pieces have been published widely and her fiction appears in translation. She lives in regional South Australia with her family.
Love a forbidden love story? Don’t miss The Three of Us!

Spanning fifty years, this is a sweeping tale of heartbreak and forbidden love from the author of The Other Side of Beautiful.
When seventy-five-year-old Thomas Mullet reluctantly sits on his psychologist’s couch, he discloses three things:
• He is dying.
• His wife doesn’t know.
• Nor does his other wife.
1960 Gawler, South Australia. Church Street: a quiet street in a respectable country town, where wives keep neat houses and neighbours keep neat yards. A place where gossip stirs behind closed doors and privacy is elusive. Where newly married couple Thomas and Elsie Mullet are excited to start their lives together.
After being forced to resign her typing job, Elsie tries hard to adjust to becoming the perfect housewife, but despite her best attempts, grows lonely and bored. Until she meets the mysterious woman next door.
Aida Glasson is eighteen years old, unmarried, and hiding a shameful secret. Through failed biscuits, euthanised chickens and shared loneliness, Elsie and Aida’s friendship is cemented. But when that friendship takes a surprising turn, where does that leave Thomas?
Tender, moving and titillating, this is a love story like no other: an unforgettable portrayal of a complex family hidden in conservative suburbia.