I'm delighted to introduce
Phillipa Ashley's latest book -
It Happened One Night, published in ebook format by Piatkus Entice on June 6.
Here's the blurb -
Sophie McBride
has been in love with Adam Templar for as long as she can remember. Talented,
brilliant and sexy, he shines like the sun over the tiny Lakeland village where
she's grown up. Now, at eighteen, she has her own big ideas and what's more,
Adam is home from university and has finally noticed her . . . really noticed
her. When he asks her to a party, she dares to hope that all her dreams can
come true, but what happens that night sets off a chain of events that bring
heartbreak for Sophie - and lead to Adam leaving Langmere under the darkest of
clouds.
Ten years later, no one is more shocked than Sophie to find him back in the
village. Now an up-and-coming film director, he's returned to make a drama
about a notorious local poet and brought his glamorous cast, crew - and
girlfriend - with him. As the on-screen drama plays out, can Sophie and Adam
lay the past to rest or will history repeat itself?
Here's an excerpt -
21 year old Adam Templar has
finally made 18 year old Sophie McBride’s young life complete and asked her to
spend the night with him at his younger sister’s birthday party – where he’s
supposed to be in charge…
Adam
emerged from the en suite, hurriedly buttoning up his Levis, “I have to go
downstairs and make sure no one’s been killed in the past half-hour,” he said,
shrugging on his T-shirt. “You stay here.”
“What,
in bed?” asked Sophie, knowing exactly what he meant but wanting to hear him
say it because it turned her on.
“Yes, in bed. Where else? You don’t think I’m
wasting the fruits of the Bell’s condom machine, do you?” He sat down on the
bed next to her, tilting her chin up in the cradle of his fingers. “This is
going to sound crazy but I want you to know something. I didn’t just get you up
here for a shag. I mean, of course I got you up here for a shag but I also want
you know that this has meant more to me than a one-night stand.” He smiled and
she held her breath. “Or even a two-shag stand. The truth is I’d like to see
you again over what’s left of the summer.”
And
then what? She wanted him to carry on. What would happen after the summer? She
wanted so much more than a one-night stand too, no matter how much she’d
convinced herself that having sex with him would be enough. Over the past few
hours, hopes and expectations had somehow stolen into the room, no matter how
hard she’d tried to keep them out.
“I’d
like to see you too,” she said, marveling at how calm she sounded, while
wanting to explode with happiness.
“Good. That’s
great but . . . the thing is that, in a few months, we’ll both have to go away
and it’s going to be bloody miserable and I don’t know how to fix that.”
She
waited for him to carry on, hoping that he’d suddenly come up with some way to
“fix it” and say they could carry on seeing each other once they were at
university. She hoped he would say that he would drive up to her uni from
Oxford every Friday or that she could come down on the train to his college.
That he’d like her to meet his friends and wander the ivy-clad quads with his
arm around her and that afterwards they could make love in his rooms all night,
but he stayed silent and pushed back her wayward hair from her face in a way
that Sophie should have found tender but instead found disappointing. She
realised that he probably wasn’t going to offer to do any of those things – not
tonight anyway but maybe, she thought, he might at the end of summer when they
knew each other better.
“Then
don’t worry. Let’s empty the machine at the pub and have a good time,” Sophie
said brightly, hoping it was what he wanted to hear.
As if
to remind them both, there were loud shrieks from outside in the garden.
“You’re right of course. We should just enjoy
now, but we both know it’s not going to be that simple.”
He
smiled. She wasn’t sure if he was relieved or not, but he seemed happier.
The
music ramped up a notch and the floor of the room felt as if it was throbbing.
The shrieks and screeches grew in volume. It sounded as if the whole of
Langmere was out in the garden, which was probably almost true.
“Adam!”
A girl’s voice screamed through the door.
‘For
God’s sake. What now?’
There
was hammering on the door. “Adam! Open the door!”
“Wait a
minute!”
The
door flew open and Tarnyah dashed into the room. Sophie dived under the sheets
as Adam swore loudly. “Get out!”
Before
Sophie had time to expect the girl to giggle or point or shriek in
embarrassment at finding her and Adam half naked, Tarnyah started shouting.
“They’re in the lake. They’re in the lake. Come quick.”
For more information check out Phillipa's
website
Follow her on
Twitter @PhillipaAshley
