Guest Post and Giveaway: Phillipa Ashley, Author of Wish You Were Here

Today it's my pleasure to welcome author Phillipa Ashley, author of Wish You Were Here, to Book Addict!  My question for Ms. Ashlely:  One topic I've been wondering about is if there's a difference between US and UK readers/fans and whether UK writers have to keep their US readers in mind when they write (slang words, political or cultural figures, etc).

That’s an extremely interesting question!

I think it’s a balance between making the meaning clear to US readers vs. keeping the author’s voice. When I wrote the four books that are being published by Sourcebooks, they were written for an international audience in that they deal with universal themes of love, relationships and family. Those issues resonate with people pretty much all over the world.

I have tried to make sure any reference in them would be under stood worldwide but it’s not always possible and that’s where a wonderful copy editor comes in!

Some publishers are very strict on keeping references generic, with no trade names or figures who aren’t globally famous like Elvis and the Queen. Personally, I think that you can go too far in removing cultural references and run the risk of a book being bland.

My books probably have slightly stronger British flavo(u)r and that’s also (I hope) partly why Sourcebooks wanted to bring them to the US audience. For instance when I read a romance set in the US, Australia or Canada, I love a bit of slang and the mention of celebs and political figures. I don’t mind looking up a word or reference I don’t understand.

I read these books, imagining myself in these wonderful wide open spaces surrounded by rugged cowboys or the skyscrapers of New York or a small town in the desert. The right words help transport me to these places so I hope readers enjoy imagining themselves in London, or an English countryside or a European city when they read mine.

Sourcebooks do edit my books for US spellings and they work with me on any references that aren’t immediately clear. You’d be surprised how many emails fly back and forth late in the evening between me and the copy ed – she’s fantastic at suggesting changes that everyone in the US should understand, yet that don’t jar as ‘non British’.

For instance in Wish You Were Here, I’d described a character as a ‘young Peter Schmeichel’ a soccer star that the hero admired – but no one in the US would have heard of. So we exchanged emails and Google images and decided actor Paul Bettany (married to Jennifer Connelly) would make a good substitute.

In Dating Mr December, the action is set in the Lake District. The mountain rescue team there always call the mountains, ‘the fells’ so that wasn’t changed. Emma, the heroine, however was wearing hold ups in the English version – that got changed to thigh highs for the US. That made me smile because thigh highs here are more likely to conjure up an image of kinky boots! But then Mr December would probably love to see her in those...

At the end of the day romance has universal language and I think that a few quirks of language are part of the reason we love reading – to escape into another world.

What do readers think?

Wish You Were Here
~Phillipa Ashley

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publish Date: June 1, 2011
ISBN-10: 1402241445
ISBN-13: 978-1402241444
ASIN: B002V092T2 (May 1, 2009)

From Goodreads:
Can a whirlwind romance ever go the distance?

When Jack proposes to Beth at the end of a holiday romance, she doesn't think twice--she knows he's The One. But then Jack walks out soon after their return, with no explanation, no nothing.

Eight years on and Beth finds a fantastic new job--working for Jack. She could definitely do without having to face him everyday, but then she can't do without the job...

As the two of them are forced to spend time together, Beth unravels the mystery of Jack's disappearance. Is there too much baggage for them to try again--or could they finally be in the right place at the right time?

Phillipa Ashley can be found on facebook, twitter, and her blog.

Thank you Ms. Ashley for answering my question - I certainly wouldn't have gotten the Peter Schmeichel reference, and I would have thought "hold ups" were some kind of suspenders, lol.  How about it readers, do you often come across phrases or people that are unfamiliar to you when reading foreign authors?

I'm giving away my ARC of Wish You Were Here to one lucky commenter - just leave an answer to Ms. Ashley's question in the comments and a way to contact you.  Following is not required but is always appreciated. US addresses only (sorry!), ends July 1.

Review: Wish You Were Here by Phillipa Ashley

Wish You Were Here
~Phillipa Ashley

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publish Date: June 1, 2011
ISBN-10: 1402241445
ISBN-13: 978-1402241444
ASIN: B002V092T2 (May 1, 2009)

From Goodreads:
Can a whirlwind romance ever go the distance?

When Jack proposes to Beth at the end of a holiday romance, she doesn't think twice--she knows he's The One. But then Jack walks out soon after their return, with no explanation, no nothing.

Eight years on and Beth finds a fantastic new job--working for Jack. She could definitely do without having to face him everyday, but then she can't do without the job...

As the two of them are forced to spend time together, Beth unravels the mystery of Jack's disappearance. Is there too much baggage for them to try again--or could they finally be in the right place at the right time?

Beth Allen works in the travel industry; she does backpacking trips in various parts of the world. She'd been working her father's small local company until he had a serious accident six months ago; while he's been recovering the business has slowly wound down. Now her younger sister has been accepted to an expensive college, and Beth is looking for temporary work in London to help with her sister's college expenses.

Jack Thornfield is the newest CEO at Big Outdoors travel company. When his personal assistant shows him Beth's application for Product Manager, he knows she'd be perfect for the job, but is hesitant to interview her. Jack feels guilty about how things ended between them eight years ago, and she doesn't know he's been hired on at Big Outdoors.

Beth hasn't stopped thinking about her whirlwind romanced with Jack Thornfield - it took her years to get over the pain he caused her. When she gets to the interview (she thought she was interviewing with someone else), she's floored and runs out. After thinking about all the reasons she needs the job, she goes back and agrees to accept the job - with the caveat that they don't discuss their past. Ever.

Beth realizes she's still attracted to Jack, and thinks he feels the same about her, but she's got an almost-fiance at home, and needs to concentrate on helping her family's finances. Besides, Jack broke her heart eight years ago, she shouldn't forgive him for that, should she?

My thoughts:
Wish You Were Here was a sweet read; I'm a huge fan of the reunited lovers storyline. I liked both Beth and Jack, they were sympathetic characters and I found I was interested in their story right from the beginning: Beth shines in her role as Product Manager and enjoys living in London, making friends with her co-workers and experiencing big-city life; Jack is the slightly cranky boss who hides his feelings for her.

I was frustrated that we got Jack's backstory in tiny snippets. We knew he'd loved and left Beth, but we didn't know why until near the very end. The gradual way it was revealed left me thinking bad thoughts about him. After I got more information about his situation I changed my mind, but it took a while to get me there. Once I knew the full truth I was won over.

I know we're not supposed to like Beth and Jack's love interests, and I especially didn't care for Beth's almost-fiancee, Marcus. He seemed very one-dimensional and stuffy. I got the impression he was around the same age as Beth and Jack, yet his views on women's behavior was decidedly stodgy and out dated. Jack's girlfriend, Camilla, was stereotypically high-maintenance and not suited for life with someone who spends most of their time outdoors.

Beth's interactions with her father and her father's friend, Honor, were easy and sweet. You definitely got a sense of love and affection for Beth, and the fact that they weren't too impressed with Marcus gave them points in my book, lol.

I enjoyed the way Ms. Ashley ended the book - I love happy endings and Wish You Were Here pleased me on several levels.

My Rating:

This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Dating Mr. December by Phillipa Ashley

From the author's website:
When a nice girl asks twelve men to get naked, it’s sure to cause a scandal… Emma Tremayne leaves her high-powered PR job and moves to the Lake District looking for peace, quiet-and celibacy. So perhaps it’s not the best idea when, in the spirit of “community-mindedness,” she agrees to help the local mountain rescue team fund raise by putting together a “tasteful” nude calendar. Especially since quite a lot of the community seems to mind what she’s up to-including the tall, dark and handsome Mr. December, Will Tennant, who appears to have gotten the wrong impression about Emma’s intentions. So how does she convince him that he’s more than just the flavor of the month?

This book was originally published as Decent Exposure in the UK and was made into a Lifetime movie which premiered in December 2009.

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As Dating Mr. December opens, Emma Tremayne is trying to convince the local mountain rescue team that a "nudie" calendar - featuring the team members - would be just the fund raiser they need to earn enough money for much-needed renovations to their rescue station. She's got just about everyone convinced, except Will Tennant, one of the senior members of the team. He thinks it will turn their team into a laughingstock. After everyone else on the team votes to do the calendar, Will reluctantly agrees to participate.

Emma decides she's not going to let Will get to her, even though he's tall, sexy, and wrong about the calendar. She needs the calendar to succeed, to prove that she's as good at PR as she says she is. She's still stinging from the betrayal of discovering her boyfriend and boss had been seeing each other behind her back, and when she was fired, she fled to Bannerdale to get away from London and start over.

Will doesn't want to like the new PR agent, but she's sexy and fearless and he might be falling for her. He's got a few issues of his own, like never falling in love after his fiancee broke his heart two years ago.

Dating Mr. December is a cute, romantic story set in the small, mountainous town of Bannerdale, England. Emma was a bit of a fish-out-of-water, which was endearing. Her character was sweet I felt so sorry for her broken heart, however - I wanted to smack her for being such an idiot with Will. In that same vein, Will was sweet and sexy, but I wanted to shake him and tell him he was being an idiot with Emma. These two were so hot and cold I couldn't keep up with who was mad at who. The way they'd crash together and then jump away was a bit frustrating to this reader; I felt like there was no basis for the relationship to move forward.

Those frustrations aside, I liked the story - it reminded me of the movie Calendar Girls. Dating Mr. December is an entertaining contemporary romance that had me wishing I could visit the town and meet the characters. I also enjoyed Ms. Ashley's descriptions of the mountains and lakes - it sounds like a beautiful place. The epilogue was a satisfying conclusion to Emma and Will's story. I'm interested in the Lifetime movie (although they changed the setting to Montana) and will be looking that up in the future.

On a totally random side note, I liked the size of this book - it's not trade paperback or mass market size, but rather a combination of the two.

My Rating:

This book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.