Sophie's Turn Relaunch

For thoughs who have followed my book reviews from the beginning of my blogging days you will remember I read and reviewed Sophie's Turn by Nicky Wells well I am glad to say that the book has been relaunched and has had a little tweak!

I love the look of the cover of this book since it has had a "face lift" and I think it is the ideal cover for this book. Is it wrong that it makes me think of chocolate!

Plot
Slapper, Slut, Adulteress. This is hardly the 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. Aged nineteen, she travelled halfway across the country to honour an invitation by her favourite rock band, Tusck, to join them for the last gig of their tour. And now her past is coming to tempt her... how could Tim ever stand a chance against Dan, the charming, handsome lead singer?

Sophie now twenty-eight and a budding newspaper journalist, is happily embroiled in a relationship with Tim, her boyfriend of two years. Until recently, she was confident that Tim would eventually propose- probably as soon as he could get his act together. But just as Tim’s persistent inaction is beginning to a cast a cloud over their relationship, Dan’s sudden reappearance turn’s Sophie’s world upside down. Thus unfolds a roller-coaster of events including an ill-fated trip to Paris with Tim, a night of unfulfilled romance with Dan, Sophie and Tim’s engagement party gate-crashed by Dan, and Sophie’s professional secondment to accompany Dan’s band on their rival tour- at Dan’s special request and very much against her will. And then one fine day in Paris, Sophie suddenly finds herself engaged to Dan while her erstwhile fiancé Tim is ... well, doing whatever it is Tim does back in London. What is she to do now? Who wouldn’t give anything to meet their favourite star, let alone marry him? Find out how Sophie gets into this impossible situation, and how she turns it around in Sophie’s Turn.

My Opinion

When I first started to read this on my kindle I was a little apprehensive as when we meet Sophie at the beginning of this book we don’t really know anything about her other than she is a cheat. I am not a fan of people who have affairs and I can never take to characters in stories who are having affairs. I am glad I persevered with this novel though as when we read on and get to know more about Sophie’s character I can see why it happened and I actually felt sorry for her as she seemed trapped and confused about what she really wants.

The novel flows at a comfortable pace without having any dull or low points where you usually feel like skimming the pages. I love the way this novel finishes it is not predictable and doesn’t finish like normal chick lit books which I think gives this novel an edge on similar books. I found the storyline felt very realistic and the characters are developed so well we feel as if we really know each character.

I had to contact the author as I was a little spooked at one point in the book as something that happens to Sophie, happened to me which was very strange to read and made the book feel more realistic to me. I would definitely recommend this book. I feel as though Nicky has a style of writing which makes it easy to read and also using more realistic scenarios which makes the books easier to relate to and enjoy.

There were also some lovely humorous touches in this novel which were not predictable which just adds to the books great feel.

We are lucky enough to have Nicky Wells on the blog today to for a chat and a cuppa !

Hi Rea! Thanks for hosting me once again on your wonderful blog… this time for the official launch of Sophie’s Turn! I’m very excited to be back.

The characters in your book felt very down to earth and easy to connect to, when writing do you base your characters on the personalities on people you know?

That’s such wonderful feedback, thank you! I was certainly trying very hard to make them down-to-earth, likeable and credible… especially Sophie, who walks on a knife’s edge of being unlikeable and flighty at times.  She isn’t though; she’s actually finding the whole double engagement situation really difficult, emotionally! And it was my job to bring that across.

The obvious disclaimer here that Sophie’s Turn is a work of fiction and not based on any real persons, living or dead. (Sorry—I have to say that!).  That said, the characters all have a lot of ‘me’ in them because I am obviously able to share ‘me’ without fearing libel!  What do I mean by that?  Well, Dan is my idea of the perfect man… and better than that, the perfect rock hero!  So in coming up with Dan’s profile, I considered all the rock singers that I know of (oh how I wish I could delete the ‘of’ in this sentence!) and amalgamated all their best traits.  Then I also included a few hypothetical ‘must have’ traits in a man—for example, to accurately assess a woman’s dress size visually and buy a perfectly fitting dress without her having to try it on!  I’ve never yet met a man who can pull that off but wouldn’t it be great?

In creating Tim, I did the exact opposite.  Sounds a bit stark, doesn’t it?  And actually it’s not quite as bleak as that, because obviously Tim has to have quite a lot of good features too—otherwise why would Sophie be with him at all? 

And Sophie… well, there is a lot of ‘me’ in Sophie.  This book is, after all, my attempt at creating my most perfect fairy tale ever, and part of me wanted to be the heroine.  Well, if I can’t have the rock star life style, I’ll have to live it vicariously through my writing… J

Do you have plans for a sequel for Sophie's Turn and if so what can we expect for the new novel?

The sequel is all written and about to undergo a first round of editing. Called Sophie’s Run, it’ll be coming your way from Sapphire Star Publishing on 7 February 2013!

What can you expect… Let me see.  Dan, Sophie and Rachel will continue to feature, and Tim will make a brief (and somewhat harrowing) guest appearance that will have Dan extremely annoyed.  There will be further developments in Sophie’s love life that I can’t anticipate here because it will spoil the fun for folks who haven’t finished reading Sophie’s Turn yet.  And Rachel will have a big role to play—much bigger than in the first book.  But it won’t always be an easy or pleasant task!  At the moment, expect at least one wedding and several trips.  But who’s getting married to whom… and who’s travelling with whom… well, you’ll just have to wait and see.  It’s not that long now...

What was the last book you read?

SOB! I’m a voracious reader by nature, but just lately, reading for pleasure has taken a bit of a back seat. With a book coming out, the next one in the early stages of editing, and the third one being written, not forgetting two young children in the house, I’ve suddenly found my reading time all but vanished. I manage a few pages here or there at night but…

Let me tell you about one of my favourite books, Kate Morton’s The Forgotten Garden.  I found it quite hard to get into at first because while the opening intrigued me, I got a bit frustrated hopping between three narratives initially.  When they started to connect, things got easier and then I got totally absorbed in the plot.  The source of Rose’s scars TOTALLY freaked me out (gave me nightmares in fact) and the reason why Nell was alone on that ship made me cry.  It was a really good read and I thoroughly recommend it.

If you were stuck on a desert Island what would be your two must have items?

My Kindle—with all the books on one could ever read!  And a solar panel with some sort of battery contraption—so that I can charge my Kindle.

Quick fire questions now for you Nicky!

Sweet or Savoury?  Savoury

Paperback or Kindle?  Oh must I choose? Kindle, then.

Hunk or Gentleman?  Hunk

Cosy Night In or Night on the Tiles?  Cosy Night In

Relaxing holiday or Action Packed Holiday?  Relaxing holiday

Thanks again, Rea! I’ve really enjoyed your questions...

 

About Nicky Wells: Romance that Rocks Your World!

Rock On! Nicky Wells writes fun and glamorous contemporary romance featuring a rock star and the girl next door.  She recently signed her work with U.S. publisher, Sapphire Star Publishing.  Nicky loves rock music, dancing, and eating lobsters.  When she’s not writing, Nicky is a wife, mother, and occasional teaching assistant.

Originally born in Germany, Nicky moved to the United Kingdom in 1993, and currently lives in Lincoln with her husband and their 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.  Nicky is a featured author on the innovative reader/author project, loveahappyending.com and has joined the Romantic Novelists’ Association. Nicky also has author pages at Sapphire Star Publishing and, of course, Goodreads.

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