WINNERS of Fearne and Holly, The Best Friend's Guide to Life

I asked Mr S to do the honours this morning and draw 2 names out of the hat to win a copy of the Fearne and Holly book. As you can see the winners are:

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billygean.co.uk

Congratulations!! Please email me on the address in my profile and let me know your postal address so that I can get the books out to you!!

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! 

Book Review: Black Swan Rising by Lee Carroll

Jeweller Garet James isn't the same as everyone else.
She just doesn't know it yet.
With her fair share of problems- money (lack of), an elderly father, a struggling business- Garet should be just like any other young, feisty, single New Yorker. If only it was that simple...
It begins with the old silver box that had been soldered shut. All Garet has to do is open it. A favour for the frail owner of the antiques shop. Who wouldn't help?
Only it's then that things start to change. Garet doesn't notice at first, the shift's barely perceptible. But the city in which she grew up is beginning to reveal a long hidden side- darker, and altogether more dangerous; a parallel world of chaos, smoke and blood.
Now it's out of the box...and it has  no intention of going back in. 

Lee Carroll is the pseudonym for writing partners and husband and wife team, Carol Goodman and Lee Slonimsky. Their book, Black Swan Rising is a brilliant addition to the urban fantasy genre and I enjoyed every page of it.
This books is fantastical, you have suspend reality whilst reading it but if you can then you are in for a real treat.
Garet James is having a pretty bad day when we meet her; she has been to meet her gallery-owning father's lawyers to find out the true extent of their financial problems and it's not good at all. Extremely upset and wondering around New York, Garet takes shelter from the rain in the doorway of an antiques shop which she has never come across before. On entering the shop; she talks to the owner, John Dee who questions her on the swan motif detailed on the ring and necklace she is wearing. Garet explains how they were left to her by her late mother; she is surprised when the shop owner produces a silver box bearing the same motif and shows her how it has been soldered shut and he says he will pay her to open it for him. Garet gladly agrees as the money is much needed and she returns home to her father. That night, Garet opens the box and this is when things start happening; the gallery is broken into and her father is seriously injured. Along with some paintings, the thieves also steal the silver box that has only just been opened. So now, Garet's father is under suspicion of staging the theft for the insurance money to pay off his debts. Garet begins her search for the thieves of the silver box but she has definitely opened a Pandora's Box as she finds out information about her past ad future that she had no idea of. It is very hard to review this book without giving away too much of the plot. But basically by opening the box, Garet has opened up the divide between the supernatural and the ordinary world. John Dee has certain intentions for this power and Garet discovers that she is, as her mother was, responsible for keeping everything in order.
Garet encounters many people along the way and not all of them of this world. We have Oberon, King of the Fairies from Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, a thirsty vampire in the form of sexy Will Hughes and a new and loyal companion named Lol who is a much feistier version of Disney's Tinkerbell. These extraordinary beings come in and out of the story as Garet desperately searches for the silver box. As she is adjusting to this new world and the power she possesses, Garet has to decide who she can trust as she will ultimately pay with her life is she gets it wrong.
Garet James is an incredibly likable character; she is strong and loyal and doesn't hesitate in doing everything that she can to find the box. I loved her scenes with Will Hughes; I was a little worried that it might just be another vampire love story but I was pleasantly surprised. The scenes with Will do not dominate the book but add a romantic edge without the many cliches that can occur.
Black Swan Rising is action packed and I had great difficulty in putting it down. My review really does not do this book justice, I was so impressed with the writing, the characters and the plot, I know it's a series I will follow.

Thank you to Transworld for sending me this book for review, it is published today!

Book Review: Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

Everyone has something to hide especially high school juniors Spencer, Aria, Emily and Hanna.
Spencer covets her sister's boyfriend. Aria's fantasizing about her English teacher. Emily has a crush on the new girl at school and Hanna is using some ugly tricks to stay beautiful. But they've all kept an even bigger secret since their friend Alison vanished.
How do I know? Because I know everything about the bad girls they were and the naughty girls they are now. And guess what? I'm telling.

When I read the back of this book I instantly thought of Gossip Girl (this isn't a bad thing) and it does have a similar feel but i think it is slightly darker but still just as far-featched.
The girls friend Alison went missing over 3 years ago and they have all tried to get on with their lives in separate ways. You get the idea that Alison was very controllong when she was around and this doesn't appear to have changed as she still has a hold over each of them by knowing their deepest, darkest secrets.
The whole story line is based around secrets, the girls all have something to hide. The reader finds out some information but we are left with a lot of questions at the end.
Sara Shepard packs a lot into this book, we have affairs, eating disorders sexuality, shoplifting and so on. All these different elements give the book a really strong pace; there is something happening in each chapter.
I did find it a little hard to keep track of who was who with there being four main characters. I think this will be less confusing as the series goes on and you get to know the characters more and more.
Pretty Little Liars is a really good book for young adult readers and I think it will be an extremely popular series. Everyone likes a good secret and this book is bursting with them. I can't wait to read Flawless which is the second book so I can find out what the girls plan to do next.

Many thanks to Atom for sending me this book to review.

Book Review: Fearne & Holly, The Best Friends' Guide to Life PLUS 2 COPIES TO GIVE AWAY!!!

Here's what Fearne and Holly have to say about the book:

Hello! This is a book written by proper best friends- us!- who have been hanging out together for over 10 years. We thought that if we shared some of our own experiences and views on friendship, relationships, leaving home, studying or starting a new job, then it might help you on your own journey.
Inside you'll find loads of stories- some funny, some sad and some that make us cringe with embarrassment- as well as tips and advice on things like dating and looking good. We've included our best photos from over the years (even the dodgy ones!) and drawings that Fearne has done especially.
Let's face it, life isn't easy a times so we hope that this book will make you laugh, entertain you, but most of all that it might be a bit like talking to your very best friend. 

I really enjoyed reading this book, I would describe it as part-autobiography and part guide to life which is great as different readers will get different things from it. Fearne and Holly are  both highly successful women so it was very interesting to learn about their career paths and the many obstacles that they had faced. Obviously we don't all work within the media but their advice pretty much rings true in all walks of life and it is good to know that they too have endured cringe-worthy office Christmas parties! I found that I completely identified with their friendship, they are very different in so many ways yet they couldn't be closer as friends. My relationship with my best friend is like that; she is very much the louder, more social one but I know she does is one of the best people to bring me out my shell and make sure that I have a good time.
Everything is covered in the book, love, relationships, babies, work, home interior, friends, bosses, clothes, make-up, music, films, I could go on and on. It was good to see that Fearne and Holly don't feel that they have to agree on everything either, they simply respect each others view points and way of living their lives.

The Best Friends' Guide to Life is a really entertaining read and the book throughout is gorgeous to look at. As I said it is a bit like an autobiography in that it is discussing Holly and Fearne's experiences but then it is discussing life in general. I think it would make a great present for anyone who is a fan of these two ladies or just as lovely gift to your best friend, I'm sure there are loads of experiences and views on friendship that you will identify completely with.

The extremely lovely and generous people at Ebury Publishing have given me not one but two books to give away to readers of my blog. To win a copy then simply leave me a comment at the end of this post, unfortunately I can only send within the UK but this competition will remain open until Wednesday 24th November at midnight, good luck!!

Book Review: Welcome to my World by Miranda Dickinson

Close your eyes and imagine the world is your oyster...
And now imagine never seeing it. Welcome to Harriet Langton's world. All her life she's dreamt of travelling the globe, but fate always got in the way.
Working as a travel agent, the closest Harri comes to her dream destination of Venice is booking the trip for someone else. But everything changes when travel fanatic Alex drops in.
With boyfriend Rob tied up with work, Harris is persuaded to help Alex in his quest for love. But in her attempts to help, Harri is soon discovers a whole new set of problems. Now Harri is locked in a ladies loo cubicle at the village hall drowning in her sorrows.
Desperate to leave her life behind, will her dreams finally come true? Or will Harri's leap of faith be her biggest mistake yet?

I missed Miranda Dickinson's first book, Fairytale of New York so I didn't really know what to expect when I was sent Welcome to my World to review. What I got though was a lovely book that I couldn't put down. The book starts with Harri hiding in the toilet cubicle at the village hall, believing her life is over. We then see her recollections of what has happened in the past to lead up to this point. I love structures like this as you know that something dramatic has happened so of course you want to find out more.
There is a lot of irony in this book; Harri is a travel agent with an obsession with travel books and programmes, yet she has never left the country to actually explore the exotic destinations that she dreams about. Then we have her quest to find her friend Alex a girlfriend when her own relationship appears to be falling apart. However I did like her as a character; she is genuinely nice and goes out of her way to help several people in the book.
Alex is a great character too and it is evident from the beginning just how much he cares for Harri and just wants the very best for her. Along with Alex's mum, Viv and her aunt Rosemary, Harri has plenty of people looking our for her.
Miranda Dickinson explores how scary it can sometimes be to follow your dreams and what happens when you realise that what you really want has been right in front of you all along. It's hard to review this book without giving too much away and I don't want to spoil it for anyone. Welcome to my World is a great read though, extremely entertaining and romantic.


Welcome to my World is in shops now, may thanks to the lovely Charlotte at Harper Collins / Avon for sending me a copy to review.

Book Review: A Winter's Wedding by Sharon Owens

Emily loves Dylan. And Dylan loves Emily. Their relationship is rock solid. Everyone says that are meant to be together, it's just a matter of when-not if- Dylan's going to pop the Big Question.
There's just one tiny fly in the ointment: Emily hates weddings. Which is fair enough seeing as she was jilted at the altar years ago by Alex, her supposed soul mate. Still, Dylan isn't Alex. He's gorgeous and sexy and scruffy and kind and more than worth taking a chance on...
But what happens when the ghost of Emily's Christmas past threatens to ruin everything? Can Dylan convince the love of his life he's different and that their wedding day will be remembered for the right reasons?
After all, with a sprinkling of snow and a touch of magic in the air, there's nothing quite like a Winter's wedding to warm the soul...

I really enjoyed Sharon Owen's last book,  The Seven Secrets of Happiness so I was very pleased to receive her latest book to review.
Emily is quite a mysterious character at the beginning of the book, I felt like she was quite sad and lonely. All we know about her is that she was born and raised in Belfast but that she moved to London a few years ago and barley has any contact with her parents. As the book goes on though, Emily starts de-cluttering the antique wardrobe in her bedroom and through the items she removes, we begin to learn more and more about her. This is how she meets Dylan as he is working in his sister's charity shop where Emily drops off the unwanted stuff.
Now Dylan is a lovely character, maybe a little too good to be true but I think these kind of men are always welcome in books. Just as the reader is slowly finding out more about Emily, so too is Dylan. He is quite an intriguing character as well, we don't know too much about him and there were several occasions where I wondered if he may have a skeleton or two in his cupboard.
My favourite character though was Arabella, Emily's disgruntled boss. She pretty much has a heart of gold but when her marriage hits the rocks, she becomes quite a comical character, hell bent on revenge.
A Winter's Wedding is obviously set in the winter and the run up to Christmas so it is a lovely book to read at this time of year or even to give as a Christmas present.
Sharon Owen has delivered another highly entertaining story with characters what you wouldn't mind having a cup of tea with. The book is published today and I recommend you give it a go, it's perfect reading for curling up with a mug of hot chocolate at this time of year.

Many thanks to Penguin for sending me this book to review.

Book Review: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Right I am a huge Roald Dahl fan, his amazing books are definitely what sparked my love of reading and I just couldn't get enough of them when I was younger. I think I actually believed I was Matilda, I looked a little like her as a child, had the horrible parents and could quite happily spend all day in the library (still could to be fair!). So I was so happy when my lovely husband arrived home from work with a present the other day, the lovely Book people had visited the hospital and he said that he couldn't resist getting me the Roald Dahl box set. He sometimes gets a little fed up with the amount of books we have in the house so to give me the gift of 15 books in one day was a beautiful surprise!
I decided to start with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and it was just as good as I remembered. Having grown up in Birmingham which has it's own chocolate factory, this was always a book that meant a lot to me.
Roald Dahl tells the story of the five children who win the Golden Tickets which will admit them to Mr Willy Wonka's fabulous chocolate factory. One of these children is Charlie Bucket and as Dahl explains, he is the hero of this fantastic tale.
As the children explore the factory and meet Mr Wonka's helpers, the Oompa-Loompas, four of them have quite nasty (and well deserved) accidents. You don't feel very sorry for them as Roald Dahl has gone to great lengths to explain how thoroughly unpleasant each one is. That is apart from Charlie who is the only child left at the end of the day. I love it when Mr Wonka explains that he is giving him and his family the factory as you know more than anything that merely visiting for the day was beyond Charlie's wildest dreams so owning it is beyond belief.
What struck me, reading this book as an adult is Roald Dahl's extraordinary use of language. He created some brilliant words which conjure up all kinds of things in the reader's imagination; I really do think he was a genius of children's literature.
I know that I am really going to enjoy re-reading these books. Do you have a favourite Roald Dahl book or character?

Harry Potter Fever!!

I am a HUGE fan of the Harry Potter books and films! Bloomsbury launched the new signature editions on November 1st, they are stunning, I already have the books but I may just have to get my hands on a set of these. To celebrate, Bloomsbury have a brand spanking new Harry Potter website for you to explore:

http://www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter

Plus they have a new facebook fan page which you can join:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Harry-Potter-UK-Book-page/166482176703640

So you can go along and have a little look at those and wait in excitement for the new film which is out this month!!!

Book Review: Out for Blood by Alyxandra Harvey

Hunter Wild, vampire hunter and star pupil at a top secret slayer academy has a crush on a guy called Quinn. He's tall, dark and very handsome. He's also a vampire, and one of the infamous Drake brothers at that.

As if forbidden love wasn't bad enough, something strange is also happening at the Helios-Ra academy. Vampire attacks are increasing, students are mysteriously falling ill and the teachers seem completely clueless. It's up to Hunter and her friends to put things right... that is, if she can get a certain immortal out of her head long enough to think about anything else. 

This is the third in the Drake Chronicles series by Alyxandra Harvey. I wasn't that big a fan on the second one but Out for Blood has reaffirmed my belief that this is a great series for young adults.
I loved the character of Hunter Wild, she is extremely feisty and has such a lot of responsibility and expectations placed upon  her. When things start to go wrong at the prestigious slayer academy that she attends, she knows that she has to step-up and find those responsible for hurting her friends. Whilst doing this she has to enlist the help of Quinn Drake, he is a member of the head vampire family and Hunter has been trained to stake vampires on first contact. However, staking is the last thing on Hunter's mind when she is around the delectable Quinn. Alyxandra Harvey builds up the tension  between these two characters so well. It reminded me of Bella and Edward in Twilight, they both know it's wrong but they just can't help themselves.
Out for Blood has a great pace to it, there was so much to find out that you can't help turning the pages. The next book isn't out until November 2011, I know that I will not be the only one grabbing a copy to find out what happens next.

You can read the first chapter of Out for Blood by clicking here.

Many thanks to Bloomsbury for sending me a review copy, it was published yesterday so look out for it in the shops!

Book Review: Dracula's Guest, A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Vampire Stories Edited by Michael Sims

Before Twilight and True Blood, vampires haunted the nineteenth century, when brilliant writers indulged their blood thirst imaginations, culminating in Bram Stoker's legendary 1897 novel, Dracula.

Acclaimed author and anthologist Michael Sims brings together the finest vampire stories of the Victorian era in a unique collection that highlights their cultural variety. Beginning with the supposedly true accounts that captivated Byron and Shelley, the stories range from Aleksei Tolstoy's tale of a vampire family to Fitz James O'Brien's invisible monster to Mary Elizabeth Braddon's rich and sinister widow, Good Lady Ducayne. Sims also includes a nineteenth century travel tour of Transylvannian superstitions, and finishes the collection with Stoker's own Dracula's Guest- a chapter omitted from his landmark novel. 

This book is a fantastic treat for anybody interested in this genre. Michael Sims has put together a brilliant collection of stories and I loved being able to read more about the author's and the origins behind them.
I think that vampires are always going to be popular within the world of fiction, the Twilight phenomenon has brought them to the fore again but they are a creation that allows so many different themes and ideas to be explored in one story. Bram Stoker's Dracula is one of my favourite books so it came as no surprise that Dracula's Guest was my favourite story within this book. There is something about Bram Stoker's writing that entices you in even though you know you are probably going to come across something that is pretty scary.
Bloomsbury have produced a stunning book to look at, I completely fell in love with it. This would make a brilliant present and I know that it will be sitting on my book shelf for many years.

Dracula's Guest was published on 30th October, many thanks to Bloomsbury for sending me a copy for review.