Best suburbs east of the M1 to live between the Gold Coast and Brisbane

My partner is about to start work just west of Brisbane and I work in Tweed Heads, NSW. We are looking to live somewhere in the middle and travel no more than about 1 hour to work if we can. We are both quite fond of living near the beach and local cafes, restaurants and shops and would like opinions on the best suburbs to live (but not Surfers Paradise) that will go close to achieving what we want. Any help/ideas are appreciated.