I Wish For You by Camilla Isley (Review, Giveaway and Interview)

Genre:	Women's Fiction
Publication.Date	July 23rd 2015
Pages:	309
Published By:	Pink Blooms Press
Author	Camilla Isley
	I Wish For You Goodreads
My review copy:	From the author in exchange for an honest review

Where to get:

If all your wishes could suddenly come true, what would you do?

A year ago when the love of her life dumped her for no apparent reason, Ally thought she had hit rock bottom. But now that she has seen him with another woman, and one she knows only too well, her life seems to have reached a whole new level of low.

Yet, when she stumbles across an ancient object infused with magical powers and a stranger with a dark past appears out of nowhere promising to grant all her wishes, she finds herself hoping again. 

Suddenly Ally’s life is turned upside down; she has a mystery to solve, a rival to beat, a millenarian curse to break, and well, she wants to have some fun playing with her new “gifts”…

But can she wish her way to happily ever after? 

Don't you hate it when you know someone to be vicious, but you're the only one who can see it since he or she always pretends to be the most kind and caring person in the world?  

First you date, and finding someone you actually like to date is per se extremely difficult. It you're lucky and find this guy he has to like you back. If he does, doesn't have a Peter Pan complex, and he's not too jealous of his man cave, you may be asked after some years of togetherness to move in with him. Finally, if you are even luckier, after some other years of cohabitation the guy at last proposes to you.

Author Interview:

In tweet form (140 characters or less), how would you describe the story of I Wish for You to those who haven’t heard of it yet?

A Romantic Comedy with a wisp of magic and plenty of humor that will make you laugh and dream on the journey to Happily Ever After...

Because my curiosity about this never fades, I must ask--how do you choose the names of your characters? Is it something you think about for a while, or do you go with gut feelings and just choose names on the spot? 

Do any of your character names have any special meaning? Have any of the characters’ names changed throughout writing?

Mmm, let me see…that depends on the character. Let’s start with my protagonist, Ally. Growing up I was a huge fan of

Ally McBeal, so I think that at some level naming my heroine Ally was a tribute to the show. The two Ally don’t really have much in common taking into consideration their backgrounds, but they’re both hilarious and get in trouble very easily.

Arthur, was a real historical character. I needed a medieval figure that mysteriously disappeared and that’s why I chose him. Also the name gave me the possibility to mix in a bit of mythology so it was perfect. Some names are just the product of insightful Google searches like: names for jerks, most sexy names for guys, cool girl’s names, or names for snobs. I changed Ally’s best friend name. I originally called her like my best friend, but then it felt too weird so I switched it to Brooke. No real reason, just that I’ve always loved the Brookes in TV shows, Brooke Davis – One Three Hill, Brooke

McQueen – Popular, Brook Logan – The Bold and the Beautiful (I know, you either love her or hate her).Ally’s nemesis, Vanessa. I have certain names that I associate with villains, Vanessa, Valerie, Victoria, Veronique…I see a pattern here, V-names sound well for mean girls in my head.

If you could spend a day with one of your characters, who would you choose, where would you go, and what would you talk about?

It would be Arthur, we would stay in, and who said anything about talking?

When did you write your first book and how old were you?

This is an easy question. I Wish for You is my first book, I started it in 2014 and finished it this year. I was in between twenty-nine and thirty.

Did you have to overcome any fears that first time you sat down to write?

The biggest fear I had was not to be able to finish the story. I mean, I had a general idea for a plot, but when the words’ count is just starting 90k-100k words seem an objective so far away that it would scare anyone. Even half way through it feels overwhelming. But when you get to the end, it’s such a reward that all the headaches become worth it.

What was your happiest moment during this whole writing/publishing a book process?

Mmm, I’m undecided. It’s a struggle between writing the two final magical words The End, and reading the first reviews. Being happy with the book I wrote was a great satisfaction, but seeing that others were enthusiastic as well was beyond anything that I’ve ever experienced.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I love to write in airports, not on the plane itself, but in the airport while waiting for the plane. One hour at the airport can be worth an entire day of writing at home, and if the plane is late all the better the chapters just keep flowing.

You write some super sweet romance. Is that something you think you’ll always include? How important is including romance in what you write?

Definitely yes. Even if I somehow decided to experiment outside of the Romantic Comedy genre, I think that any book needs to have some romance. It’s rare to find a fiction novel without a bit of love or attraction. As a reader I need my heart to be in the book I’m reading, and romance is a key element even in my other favorite genres…fantasy, historical fiction, classics, even horror books have romance in them. I try to write books that I would enjoy reading so romance has to be there.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

I love to cook, travel, go to the movies, watch bad TV. I enjoy eating way too much and I have to compensate with Jillian Michaels’ DVDs. I love ballet, and once a year I try to drag my husband to a show. Reading of course. I’m a cat person. I feed the all the squirrels in my garden. I’m addicted to Starbucks, and I can’t throw away any pair of shoes I own, no matter if it’s ugly square-toe-lilac-boots from fifteen years ago, they’re staying in the closet.

What's on your nightstand?

Lamp, book of the moment, kindle, night moisturizer, usually phone, perfume, camera (don’t ask me why, I don’t know; but it’s there so I’ll report it), cotton round, rubbing alcohol, basal temperature thermometer.

And before we have to go, can you tell us something random about yourself?

I love beef jerky. Give me a pack, no matter the size, and I devour it.

Ally thought her life was over about a year ago, when her boyfriend James dumped her. She was ready for happier ever after and James broke her heart on New Years Day with no explanation except to say they were over. All of Ally's family and friends are so tired of Ally moping about because of James. It has been long enough and Ally needs to just move on. To make matters worse, James has started dating again and guess what? James is dating Ally's spiteful co-worker. Ally has hit a new low and she isn't sure how to go on.

Then the unthinkable happens.

While Ally is out shopping with her mother at the flea market, she is drawn to a vintage style box. The little old woman selling the box tries to give it to Ally but Ally declines. The women proceeds to explain that the box "picked her." Of course, Ally is freaked out and quickly leaves the shop. Once home, Ally finds the box in her things and can't believe that the woman was able to sneak the box into her things.

But wait! We aren't up to the shocking part quite yet.

Ally opens the box and out comes a genie!  Arthur is over one hundred years old and because of a curse someone put on him, he is destined to stay in the box until opened in order to grant five wishes. Ally can not believe this is happening and she is very skeptical at first, but Arthur is able to prove his existence and make Ally see that she isn't crazy, in fact she is lucky!

Ally can come off as self absorbed in the beginning of this book. However, reading on, I saw that Ally is just a very passionate person that really believes James was the love of her life. All the schemes she does just show the reader how committed she is to getting James back into her life.

Arthur is a respectable classic gentleman who helps Ally along the way but granting her wishes and offering friendly advice that is probably a bit outdated since he is over one hundred years old. The character of Arthur was funny, sweet and very old school. He really gave this novel that extra something that would have been missing had he not been a big part of the story.

If you want to read a quirky, funny fairy tale story, this is the book for you. I found this so funny and light hearted, the perfect read to make me smile.

I Wish For You is a sweet romance guaranteed to make you smile!

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About the author:

Hi! I’m a writer of romantic comedy, cat’s lover, coffee addict, and shoes hoarder.

Besides writing, I love reading (surprise, surprise), cooking—and eating—especially pasta, going to the movies and obviously ordering a gigantic bowl of popcorn, and watching too much bad TV.

I understand that mosquitoes play a role in the ecosystem as a part of other animals’ diet, and I don’t want to starve all those frog princes out there, but I could really live without them.