Author Interview, Book Review & Giveaway: Nicky Wells and Sophie's Turn

Today I welcome Nicky Wells, author of Sophie's Turn, the first book in the Rock Star Romance Trilogy to My Reading Room.  She's stopping by for an interview, then I have a book review of Sophie's Turn and you have a chance to win a copy of Sophie's Turn (and you'll want to win a copy or buy your own!)  So welcome Nicky!

First of all, I just want to say “Thank You” for inviting me here today. It’s so much fun stopping off for an interview, and I really enjoyed your questions, so: Thank you for your time and interest! Rock on! Now, without further delay, let’s delve in…

What three things do you need in order to write?

Great question! I’m assuming I can take things like laptop and paper for granted, so I’m going to offer you three other things.

One is tea, in copious amounts. Milk and two sugars please. Intravenously would be great, that would cut down on drinking time and definitely keep me awake. (Just kidding!).

Next are post it notes. I’m forever coming up with different nuggets, new ideas, or remembering things I need to do with the kids later, and I’d be lost without post it notes.

Finally, I couldn’t write without a blanket, except in the height of summer. I get desperately cold when I’m typing away and have been known to sit here wrapped in a couple of blankets in addition to wearing a thick woolly jumper and two pairs of socks.

What's your favorite season?

Fall! I was going to say spring, because I love the new life and the greenery and delicate flowers announcing that winter is over, but usually my hay fever sets in very quickly and I’m reduced to sneezes and wheezes. Fall, on the other hand, is a riot of warm, comforting colors but no attendant hay fever symptoms for me. You get those glorious sunny days with the leaves blowing off the trees, and the nights are drawing in making you long for toasted marshmallows and cups of hot chocolate. You can take the kids to fly their kites, and it’s still warm enough to have an occasional picnic and dry your laundry outside. Yes, I would have to say, Fall is my favorite season!

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?

Anywhere? Like absolutely anywhere? The world is my oyster, and all that? Well, I’d love to see the Great Barrier Reef. I don’t know why, I just have this irrational desire to go and see it. I’d also love to visit the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls. Maybe one day…

What's the first sentence of Sophie’s Turn?

“Would you marry me?”

How’s that for an opening? The ‘would’ is deliberate and has some significance later on. Hooked? J

Crystal: I know about the would :)  But I'm not telling.  It's so subtle I didn't notice when I read it in the prologue, but I love it!

Tell us what is Sophie’s Turn about.

Sophie’s Turn is the funny, charming and occasionally bittersweet story of one young woman’s entanglement with a rock star. One fine day in Paris, Sophie Penhalligan suddenly finds herself engaged to her teenage crush and love-of-her-life-from-a-distance, rock singer and star extraordinaire Dan Hunter. But there is the small matter of her very recent, but very prior, engagement to Tim. Reliable, honest, trusting Tim, her boyfriend of two years stashed away safely in his mews house in South Kensington while Sophie is drinking rather too much champagne with Dan in Paris. This glamorous and contemporary fairy tale describes how Sophie gets into her impossible situation and how she turns it around.

Dish, who’s your favorite character?

Oh, Dan, the rock star, definitely. I have a huge soft spot for rock singers myself and I am very envious of Sophie and all her experiences and romance. I tried to make Dan as gorgeous and desirable and likable as possible… with a few foibles, of course. **Swoon** Oh for it to have been me… LOL!

Crystal:  I have to say you succeeded with Dan.  I pretty much gave up my rock star fantasies as a teenager, but after this book, I think I may pick them up again, lol!

How did you feel when you finished Sophie’s Turn?

Do you know, nobody’s ever asked me that! I felt elated. Tearful. Bereft. And confused. Elated, because I’d done it, I’d really done it, I’d pulled it off. I’d written a book. Tearful and bereft, because I didn’t want the story to end, didn’t want to part ways with Sophie, Dan and Rachel. And confused, because the story didn’t end how I’d planned it. Sophie had other ideas and ran away with the ending, which was a good job because it’s a great ending (if I say so myself) but it left me very disorientated. I realized that I would simply have to continue the story in another book!

Crystal:  I've never had an author tell me they were confused when finishing a book, but I can definitely understand.  You did end the book great but I can see where it wouldn't be what you planned, it definitely was not what I expected, but I like it a lot! 

When you started Sophie’s Turn did you know you were writing a trilogy or did you figure that out along the way?

Following on from the end of last question… No, I had no idea I was going to write a Trilogy when I started Sophie’s Turn. It wasn’t until I started planning book 2 in earnest that I recognized that there was much more to tell than could possibly fit into a single sequel, and I mapped out the second and third books together. Thus when I started writing Sophie’s Run, the sequel and book 2 in the Trilogy, I already knew that there would be a third book and what that would look like. I’m writing that one now, by the way…

What can we expect next from you?

Well, first of all I’m going to finish the Trilogy, so look out for Sophie’s Run on 7 February 2013 and book 3, Sophie’s Encore, on 7 September 2013, both to be released by Sapphire Star Publishing. After that, I’m going to continue writing romance that rocks your world and I have a particular story line in mind that’s intriguing me. It involves long lost love… unawares it found itself again. Very much a rough notion at this moment so I won’t share any more just now…

Thanks Nicky!

You are welcome, I had great fun chatting with you today! Rock on! J

Rock On! Nicky Wells writes fun and glamorous contemporary romance featuring a rock star
and the girl next door. Her debut novel, Sophie’s Turn, is the first part in her Rock Star Romance
Trilogy. Not unlike Sophie, her heroine, Nicky loves rock music, dancing, and eating lobsters.
When she’s not writing, Nicky is a wife, mother, and teaching assistant. Nicky is also a featured
author on the innovative reader/author project, loveahappyending.com.

Originally born in Germany, Nicky moved to the United Kingdom in 1993, and currently lives
in Bristol with her husband and two boys. In a previous professional life, Nicky worked as a
researcher and project manager for an international Human Resources research firm based in
London and Washington, D.C.

Visit Nicky on her blog where you can find articles, interviews, radio interviews and, of course,
an ongoing update on her work in progress, the second and third parts of the Rock Star
Romance Trilogy. You can also follow Nicky on Twitter and find her on Facebook.

Website

Twitter Handle: @WellsNicky

Facebook 

  

Date to be Published: 9/6/12

Publisher: Sapphire Star Publishing

Synopsis: 

Slapper. Slut. Adulteress. These are hardly words that Sophie Penhalligan would
normally use to describe herself. Yet this is exactly how she is behaving, all things considered,
even if she isn’t quite married to Tim yet. And it’s all happening because her past is coming to
tempt her! Nine years ago, she met her teenage idol and rock star extraordinaire, Dan, up close
and personal. Well, almost. Now Dan has crash-landed back in her life. How could Tim ever
stand a chance against the charming, handsome singer? How could she?

My Review:
I'm not sure what I expected from Sophie's Turn, but I got so much more than I expected from the book.  I received entertainment for an afternoon an evening.  I was taken to a world that was different from my own.  But I also watched a woman deal with her issues by first not dealing with them and then tackling them.  I watched a romance bloom.  I toured with a band around Europe and stayed at 5-star hotels.  And I enjoyed every minute.  Ms. Wells knows how to write a story that fully immerses you in the experience of her characters and makes it very enjoyable.

Sophie was a great character.  She is funny, witty, has a great best friend, a good boyfriend and a good life, so why are memories of a night spent with a band ten years ago coming back to her?  And then the happenstance meeting with one of those band members in an airport that lands the band back in her life.  Is it what she wants and will it turn her life upside down?  Well of course the book needs some tension and conflict to proceed and this has it.  But it also has great friends, romance, heartfelt insight, tender moments with parents and so much more.  Sophie has a whole range of emotions and she goes through all of them.  But not on a whim. Sophie is not a silly girl that you just want to slap, at least I didn't.  I felt that she had a reason for each thing she did and each time she went through a range of emotions she had good reason.  I just loved her, she was so real.  She battled decision-making.  Nothing was easy for her.  Every time she thought it was, something else came up and showed her something else.  Rachel also made a great supporting character and best friend.  Rachel just wants the best for Sophie and she wasn't one of those mean girl friends that you get in some books.  She honestly had Sophie's best interests at heart through the whole book.  I loved her and I'm interested to see more of her in the next book.  Tim, I'm not sure I can say I liked him, but he serves his purpose.  Dan, now Dan is the man that could make me want the rock star fantasy again even though I'm pretty sure I got over that as a teenager.  Dan is hot, he's sweet and he's the whole package.  No he's not perfect, but his good seems to make up for the bad.  I also can't wait to see more of him as well.

Sophie's Turn was a very hard-to-put-down book.  While the plot was character-driven and I have gone over the characters, the plot move along at a fast pace.  The book is divided into sections and nothing is dwelt on too much to make any part of the book drag on.  I pretty much flew through the whole thing dying to know what would happen next.  Ms. Wells has the timing of the book down to the science to keep the reader engaged with the right amount of information, romance and action.

I loved Sophie's Turn and cannot wait for Sophie's Run.  Ms Wells expertly weaves a story based around Sophie and decisions she needs to make in her life and the two men in it, without making Sophie into a completely wishy-washy annoying woman.  The dialog is witty and fun, the places and scenes keep the story fresh and Sophie herself kept me interested in the book the whole time.  I loved the characters, the plot, the book as a whole.  I think Ms. Wells did an excellent job and think that if you enjoy chicklit, romance or a good general fiction book that Sophie's Turn is a great choice for your next book.

My Rating: 4.75/5.0

Giveaway:
Enter the Rafflecopter below to win an ebook copy of Sophie's Turn courtesy of the author and the tour. Ends Oct. 8.

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*Disclosure of Material Connection: I am a member of Reading Addiction Blog Tours and a copy of this book was provided to me by the author. Although payment may have been received by Reading Addiction Blog Tours, no payment was received by me in exchange for this review. There was no obligation to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own and may not necessarily agree with those of the author, publisher, publicist, or readers of this review. This disclosure is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255, Guides Concerning Use of Endorcements and Testimonials in Advertising*