New to Dot Scribbles Shelves

Well I haven't done one of these for a while, so be prepared for a long post!! I have been very lucky to receive a lot of books from various generous publishers recently so here's what will be being reviewed in the near future:


Hothouse Flower by Lucinda Riley (Penguin 2nd December 2010) As a child, concert pianist Julia Forrester would linger in the hothouse of Wharton Park estate, where exotic flowers tended by her grandfather blossomed and faded with the seasons.  Now, recovering from a family tragedy, she once more seeks comfort at Wharton Park, newly inherited by Kit Crawford, a charismatic man with a sad story of his own. But when a years-old diary is found during renovation work, the pair turn to Julia's grandmother to hear the truth about the love affair that turned Wharton Park's fortunes sour...
And so Julia is plunged back in time, to the world of Olivia and Harry Crawford, a young couple torn apart by the Second World War- and whose fragile marriage is destined to affect the happiness of generations to come, including Julia's own.

Entice by Carrie Jones (Bloomsbury 4th January 2011) Zara and Nick are soul mates, meant to be together for ever. But that's not quite how things have worked out. For starters, Nick has gone. He has been taken to the mythical place for warriors known as Valhalla. Zara and her friends might be able to get him back, it's just not going to be easy. Meanwhile a group of evil pixies is devastating Bedford, with more teens going missing every day. An all-out war seems imminent, and the good guys need all the warriors they can find. But even if Zara and her friends do discover the route to Valhalla, there's that other small problem: Zara's been pixie kissed. When she finds Nick, will he even want to go with her? Especially since she hasn't turned into just any pixie...She's Astley's queen.


Fairytale of New York by Miranda Dickinson (Harper Collins) Rosie Duncan's life couldn't be better. She has a flourishing floristry business on New York's Upper West Side and fantastic friends. Moving to Manhattan feels like the best decision she ever made. Even though at the time, it was her escape route from heartbreak...
For the past six years Rosie has kept her heart under lock and key, despite the protests of her closest friends- commitment-phobic Ed, unlucky in love Marnie and the one-woman tornado that is Celia. Then a blossoming friendship with hot-shot Nate shakes Rosie's resolve at the same time as her brother arrives in the Big Apple, hiding a secret.
A chance meeting brings Rosie face to face with her past, unraveling the mystery behind her arrival in New York. Rosie is forced to confront questions she has long been trying to ignore, including will she ever get her very own happy-ever-after?

I bought the first two books in the Carrie Jones series so that I knew what was going on in Entice:

Need by Carrie Jones (Bloomsbury) Zara White suspects a freaky guy is stalking her. She memorises phobias and chants then when she's nervous. OK, she hasn't exactly been herself since her stepfather died. But moving to a freezing Maine town to stay with her grandmother is supposed to be the perfect fix- so her mum says. Except, this plan of sending Zara away to help her stay sane? Yeah, not working. Turns out the stalker is not a figment of Zara's imagination. He's still following her, leaving behind an eerie trail of gold dust. There's something not right- not human- in this sleepy Maine town, and all signs are pointing to Zara.


Captivate by Carrie Jones (Bloomsbury) Zara and her friends thought they'd solved the pixie problem. And they had- sort of. They're locked away, deep in the woods. But the king's need grows stronger each day that he's in captivity, while his control over his people weakens. Who will fill the power vacuum? Astley. He claims he's different. He claims that it doesn't have to be violence and nastiness all the time. Zara wants to believe him...until Astley also claims that she's fated to be his queen. There's no way Zara would ever turn pixie. And she's got good friends who'll make sure of that. Besides, she and Nick are so in love they're practically inseparable. But when the very thing Zara most wants to protect is exactly what's at risk, she's forced to make choices she never imagined.

I bought the following book after seeing loads and loads of reviews on different blogs plus I am in the mood for a good old thriller:


The Snowman by Jo Nesbo (Vintage) A young boy wakes to find his mother missing. Their house is empty but outside in the garden he sees his mother's favourite scarf- wrapped around the neck of a snowman. As Harry Hole and his team begin their investigation they discover that an alarming number of wives and mothers have gone missing over the years. When a second woman disappears it seems that Harry's worst suspicions are confirmed: for the first time in his career Harry finds himself confronted with a serial killer operating on his home turf.

My lovely sister brought me the next book for my Birthday:

One Moment, One Morning by Sarah Rayner (Picador) The 07:44 train from Brighton to London. Carriages packed with commuters. One woman occupies her time observing the people around her. Opposite, a girl applies her make-up. Across the aisle, a husband strokes his wife's hand. Further along, a woman flicks through a glossy magazine. Then, abruptly, everything changes:  a man collapses, the train is stopped, an ambulance is called. And for three passengers that particular morning, life will never be the same again.

The same lovely sister also lent me the following book which she devoured on holiday:

Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik (Bantam Books) Sometimes life is like a bad waiter- it serves you exactly what you don't want. The women of Freesia Court have come together at life's table, fully convinced that there is  nothing that good coffee, delectable deserts and a strong shoulder can't fix. Laughter us the glue that holds them together- the foundation of a book group they call AHEB (Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons)- an unofficial club that becomes a lifeline.
The five women each have a story to tell. There's Faith, the new-comer, a housewife and mother who harbours a terrible secret; big, beautiful Audrey, the resident sex queen who knows that with good posture and attitude you can get away with anything; Merit, the shy doctor's wife with the face of an angel and the private hell of an abusive husband; Kari, a wise woman with a wonderful laugh who knows that the greatest gifts appear after life's fiercest storms; and finally, Slip, activist and adventurer, a tiny spitfire who looks trouble straight in the eye and challenges it to an arm wrestle.
Holding on through forty eventful years- through the swinging Sixties, the turbulent Seventies, the anything-goes Eighties, the nothing's-impossible Nineties to the present day- they take the plunge into the chaos that inevitably comes to those with the temerity to stay alive and kicking.

So let me know if you have read any of these or have heard anything good or bad about them!