HarperImpulse Fortnight: Q&A with Romy Sommer

The love for HarperImpulse continues today with a fun interview to Romy Sommer, author of Not a Fairy Tale and To Catch a Star.

Hi Romy and wecolme to Alba in Bookland. First, let's stars with some bookish questions:

1. The book that has made you cry the most:

I have to admit, I don’t really remember crying while reading a book for a very long time. Perhaps because I read too many romances which are generally quite happy books!

One very clear memory I have of crying because of a book, though, was when I was reading The Hunger Games. By page 29 I was sniveling aloud. The reason I remember this: I was sitting in the queue at the motor licensing department at the time. I got a lot of very strange looks from the people around me!

2. A movie adaptation from a book that was incredible:

I understand how hard it is to condense a book, which can go so deep into characters’ thoughts and get the reader really living the story, into a one and a half hour movie, so I accept that no movie is ever likely to live up to the book.

But there are many, many movies based on books that have worked out really well: Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings (NOT The Hobbit!), Chocolat, The Talented Mr Ripley, Gone With the Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird, and most of the Jane Austen novels….

3. Love triangles: yay or nay?

Definitely Yay! I love a good love triangle – The Vampire Diaries TV show springs to mind first, but there are loads of other examples. I love the added conflict that comes from a hero or heroine being torn between two loves. But I think I’d quickly get bored if love triangles made up more than a quarter of my overall reading!

4. The ultimate book boyfriend?

You do ask the hard questions, don’t you?! I’m a Gemini, so this changes on a regular basis depending on what books I’ve read – and loved – lately.

5. Do you judge a book by its cover?

Yes. But that said, it’s the blurb that makes me buy, not the cover. If a cover is only okay (so not a complete turn-off, but not amazing either) and the blurb really hooks me, I’ll definitely still buy the book.

Now, some more personal ones:

1. Secret guilty pleasure:

Um, this is hard, because I’m pretty open about all my vices so none of them can be considered secret. I love red wine and chocolate, and reading erotic romance, but I don’t feel guilty about any of them!

2. If you were invited to the Oscars, what would you wear?

Ooh, this is a tough one! But since I just spent last night surfing Pinterest, I can tell you that I loved this dress by Elie Saab which Lily Collins was recently seen wearing. But if I had the body for it, I would so wear this second dress, by my favourite designer, Zuhair Murad:

3. Your girl crush in Hollywood (mine would totally be Emma Stone):

This tends to vary depending on who I’m modeling my latest heroine on or what movie I’ve just watched. At the moment, I’d say it’s a toss up between Mila Kunis (my inspiration for Nina in Not a Fairy Tale) and Lily Collins, because I recently watched and loved her in The Mortal Instruments.

4. Favourite Disney princess:

Elsa from Frozen. I love that she’s a strong heroine (though admittedly, Disney has a few), she doesn’t need a man to give her a happy ever after, and she has some really cool magical abilities.

5. Miley Cirus: yay or nay?

Nay. No particular reason, except that there are far more fascinating people in the world.

Thank you Romy for answering my questions. This interview was so much fun. I love Elie Saab dress too!

You can follow Romy on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Goodreads, Tsu or on her website/blog.

Romy's latest book is Not a Fairy Tale, read all about it here:

And the award goes to…

Not Nina Alexander that’s for sure.

With her best gracious loser face firmly in place, Hollywood’s hottest starlet is hoping to end her evening of disappointment with a graceful exit stage left. Only an unexpected proposal and an awkward wardrobe malfunction mean that this is certainly going to be a night to remember… for all the wrong reasons! So what girl would resist the gorgeous Dominic Kelly coming to her rescue?! Especially when he’s whisking her out of the paparazzi’s prying eyes on the back of his motorbike – and wearing a tux to rival James Bond!

Nina soon realizes that the only way to recover from such a scandal is to toughen up and snag the role of the decade in the year’s hottest YA screen adaptation. Who better to train her than her very own professional stuntman? Getting up close and personal with Dom will take Nina well out of her comfort zone – both professionally and in her closely scrutinized private life. But this A-list couple know only too well that’s it not all happy ever afters in Hollywood…

Not a Fairy Tale is published by Harper Impulse, a division of Harper Collins, and is available from the following online retailers: