BOOK REVIEW AND GIVE-AWAY: The Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne

One of Sarah's daughter's died. But does she know which one?
A year after one of their identical daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah Moorcroft move to a tiny Scottish island Angus inherited from his grandmother, hoping to put together the pieces of their shattered lives.
But when their surviving daughter, Kirstie claims they have mistaken her identity- that she in fact, is Lydia- their world comes crashing down once again.
As winter encroaches, Angus is forced to travel away from the island for work, Sarah is feeling isolated, and Kirstie (or is it Lydia?) is growing more disturbed. When a violent storm leaves Sarah and her daughter stranded, Sarah finds herself tortured by the past- what really happened on that fateful day one of their daughters died?

Publisher: Harper Collins

Pages: 373

Ooh this was good! The Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne is brilliantly creepy and intriguing.
Sarah and Angus lost Lydia, one of their twin daughters a year ago in a tragic accident. They have moved to a tiny Scottish island with their remaining daughter Kirstie to rebuild their lives. Sarah is taken aback though when Kirstie says that she is actually Lydia and it was Kirstie who died. Sarah cannot process this information; the twins are identical, did they make a mistake? Is Lydia still alive? As Kirstie's behaviour becomes more and more disturbing and erratic, Sarah must face up to the past and what really happened on the day of her daughter's death.
I thought that S.K. Tremayne built up such a creepy, spine-tingling atmosphere in this book. Sarah becomes almost frightened of her own child which is terrifying in itself. There is so much isolation in the book; Kirstie is isolated from her dead sister; Sarah and Angus are isolated from each other due to their grief ans the whole family is physically isolated from the world on their tiny little island.
This atmospheric thriller is perfect for this time of year, the plot and the characters are well crafted and S.K. Tremayne's writing gave me goosebumps on several occasions, highly recommended.

Many thanks to the lovely people at Harper Collins for sending me a review copy, I also have a paperback copy of this book to give away! Simply leave a comment below and I will pick a winner out of the hat after one week! Only open to UK residents. 

GIVE AWAY WINNER!!!

I am so sorry that it's taken me so long to pick the winner of The Cake Shop in the Garden  by Carole Matthews but life has been a little hectic!! I finally managed to pick a name out of the hat though and the winner is:

Congratulations lovely, let me know your address and I can pop it in the post for you!

Thanks to everyone who entered!

The Cake Shop in the Garden by Carole Matthews, REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY!!!

Carole Matthew's brilliant new book The Cake Shop in the Garden is published tomorrow! I was extremely lucky to receive a review copy of this book very early and I LOVED it! Carole is one of the loveliest people I have ever met and the fact that she writes two fabulous books a year is astounding! I have re-posted my review below and I am also very excited to have a copy of the book to give away, simply leave a comment and I shall announce the winner (drawn randomly) in 7 days time! This give away is only open to UK residents, Good Luck! 

Fay Merryweather runs her cake shop from her beautiful garden. She whips up airy sponges and scrumptious scones, while her customers enjoy the lovely blossoms and gorgeous blooms. Looking after the cake shop, the garden, and her cantankerous mother means Fay is always busy but she accepts her responsibilities because if she doesn't do all this then who will?
Then Danny Wilde walks into her life and makes Fay question every decision she's ever made.
When a sudden tragedy strikes, Fay's entire world is thrown off balance even further and she doesn't know which way to turn. Can Fay find the strength to make a life changing decision even if it means giving up the thing she loves the most? Life, love and family are about to collide in  The Cake Shop in the Garden.

Publisher: Sphere

Pages: 432

Publication Date: Hardcover and Ebook available now, paperback published 23rd April

The Cake Shop in the Garden, in my opinion, is Carole Matthews' best book! I think it is possibly her longest at 432 pages but I devoured it very quickly.
Fay Merryweather is the central character, she runs The Canal Side Cafe from her childhood home with the help of her Russian assistant Lija. She loves running the cafe but it is also a necessity as she is the sole carer of her mother. There is not actually anything medically wrong with Fay's mum but she took to her bed several years ago and is refusing to budge

. Fay's sister Edie couldn't care less, she lives in New York and hasn't visited for years. She only really contacts Fay if she needs her to move some money to her ever dwindling bank account.So Fay has a lot  to deal with; she does have a long-term partner Anthony but he seems to be more interested in his hand-bell ringing hobby than putting any effort into their relationship.
Fay is just plodding along, she knows that she's not necessarily happy but she feels trapped by it all, especially her responsibilities to her mother. Danny Wilde turns up on his boat one morning at the bottom of Fay's garden and makes her realise that she deserves so much more. He quit his job in the city and is looking for work so he ends up helping Fay tidy the garden ready for the summer. The attraction between them is instant and palpable but Fay has Anthony and the business to run whereas Danny is just embarking on a new adventure. Fay's world is thrown into even more turmoil when tragedy strikes at the heart of her family. Will she be able to hold it all together and does she really want to?
I loved, loved, loved Fay! I could have shaken her at times but she is a brilliant character. You get a real sense of the weight of responsibility she has on her shoulders; she doesn't do anything without thinking about how it will affect everyone else first. Danny is exactly what she needs; someone to give her a jolt so she notices that life is just passing her by.
Lija, Fay's assistant is one of the best characters Carole has ever created. She is feisty, loyal to Fay and very, very funny. She provided me with many laugh out loud moments and was one of my favourite parts of the book.
There was a huge and brilliant twist at the end of the book which I in no way saw coming. I really couldn't believe what I was reading, Carole really pulls it out of the bag with this one!
I think people are going to love The Cake Shop in the Garden, it's a great story, good characters, a few surprises, humour, warmth and plenty of cake, what's not to like?

Don't forget to leave a comment below in order to be in with a chance of winning a copy of this fabulous book! 

Win a copy of Miss Manners plus Competition Details!!

The very lovely Iman Sid got in touch with Dot Scribbles this week to tell us about her fabulous new book Miss Manners:

Struggling to pay bills, stuck in a dead-end job and no boyfriend, Anna wants more out of life. Could getting fired change her life forever?
The heroine of Iman's debut, Miss Manners, is working as a shop assistant/celebrity mascot at Harrolds' toy department.  
After a shocking public event, 25-year-old Anna Borgström is fired and is soon left with no job, no money and no car. But after being set an assignment to enter - and win - the highly popular and televised Miss Manners contest, which aims to find the next headline-making IT girl, things begin to shine again - especially when handsome Henry appears on the scene.
Anna embarks on a journey that sees her getting a makeover and entering a very different world of primping, pampering and partying. Crises and complications attempt to undermine her endeavours, but with the help of friends and a cute new crush, Anna’s metamorphosis is set to be winningly magical.
Can the girl next door become the next big thing? 

I love the sound of this book and I am really looking forward to reading it! Iman is running a very exciting competition on her blog, you can win Afternoon Tea on the Fortnum and Mason's hot air balloon, how exciting is that! The details for the competition are here but the idea is that you have to review the book in order to enter. To make entering this fabulous competition even easier, Iman is offering one Kindle copy of Miss Manners to readers of Dot Scribbles, simply leave a comment here and a winner will be picked at random
after midnight on Tuesday 27th August.

Good luck everyone and a big thank you to Iman Sid for this lovely competition!

Celebrating Fitzgerald Competition

The lovely people at Alma Classics are celebrating F. Scott Fitzgerald with a beautiful new collection of his books. They have been very generous in offering one reader of Dot Scribbles the collection of four books, which is made up of The Great Gatsby (one of my favourites!) Tender is the Night, The Beautiful and Damned and This Side of Paradise. 
These new editions are really beautiful, the front covers are stunning with details picked out in gold foil, the pictures don't do them justice I'm afraid!
If you would like to win this set of four books then please answer this question:

What year was F. Scott Fitzgerald born?

Please EMAIL your answers to dotscribbles@googlemail.com with Competition in the subject box. Do not put your answer in the comments section as they will be deleted and not counted as an entry otherwise everyone will be able to view each others answers! This competition is open to UK residents only and you have until midnight on Wednesday 3rd October to enter.

Good Luck and many thanks to Alma Classics for offering this fantastic prize! 

Book Review: Dinner At Mine by Chris Smyth

When Rosie decides to get her friends together for their own version of Come Dine With Me, she's convinced they'll love it: four couples, each hosting a dinner party, each scoring the others, with one winner at the end. What could possibly go wrong?
What Rosie doesn't anticipate are the lengths her fellow hosts are prepared to go in order to claim the prize- outlandish recipes, rare ingredients sourced from abroad, and a chocolate tart that looks just too good to be homemade...
But perhaps she should be more worried about the simmering tension between the guests, as passions come bubbling to the surface and resentments begin to boil over. As the temperature in the kitchen rises, relationships wilt in the heat, and suddenly dinner seems to be about so much more than food. 

I am a massive fan of the TV show Come Dine With Me so I was particularly excited when this book arrived to review. Dinner At Mine is one of the funniest books that I have read so far this year. It's such a good idea for a book, four couples are thrown together, they don't all know each other that well and when you add the element of competition, you often learn of people's true nature.
In the book you have Rosie and Stephen, Sarah and Marcus, Justin and Barbara plus Matt and Sarah who are actually both single but they have agreed to cook together for the competition. I think that my favourite couple were Justin and Barbara, the books is split into each couple's dinner party and I had several laugh out loud moments during theirs.
I think that Chris Smyth captured how much pressure we put on ourselves when trying to please and entertain others. All of these couples want to win so that they can say they hosted the best night and it is amazing, the lengths that they will go to.
Dinner At Mine is a very entertaining read. If you like Come Dine With Me then you will love this book. This is the author's first book but I hope that he writes more as I found his writing style extremely witty and accessible.

Dot Scribbles Rating: 4/5

Many thanks to the lovely people at Simon and Schuster for sending me a copy of the book to review, Dinner At Mine is out now.

Book Review: Marrying Out of Money by Nicky Schmidt PLUS 5 Kindle copies to be won!!!

Marrying Out of Money follows the life and loves of a rich coffee heiress Lou, who is madly infatuated with the less than erudite, tree-hugging, scruffy-to-the-point-of-smelly Hedge- member of rock band 4BY4. Lou's social-climbing mother decides that enough is enough, and hooks up with a poverty stricken aristocrat to arrange a marriage between Lou and the snotty, outrageously good looking Harry Partington- 40th in line to the throne. Not surprisingly, it's hate on first sight. Still desperately in love with rock star Hedge, but with her beloved father ill and wanting nothing more than to see her married, Lou sets about making herself so repulsive that the aristocrats decide that a future on a derelict council estate is preferable to having her as a daughter-in-law. Of course, nothing goes according to plan, and the coffee heiress finds herself questioning the wisdom of her actions, when she discovers that horrible Harry has a sensitive side after all. 

This book is a lot of fun! I found that I had to completely immerse myself in it as it's pretty unrealistic but it was a nice world to slip into for a few hours.
Lou is heiress to a huge coffee house fortune, while she has the million pound flat and the designer wardrobe, she is not afraid to put in the hours working hard for the family business. She loves and respects her father who created the business from nothing but the relationship with her mother is strained to say the least. Victoria Hubard openly admits to marrying for money and she fails to understand why her daughter feels the need to work rather than living off Daddy's credit card. Victoria was probably my favourite character as she is so ruthless; she has the money and now she wants the prestige that comes with a title hence her matchmaking with Lord Harry.
Lou is completely in love with Hedge who I found really irritating as a character. He is all about saving the planet and is constantly criticising Lou for her lavish lifestyle, however he is not averse to taking Lou's money off her for the many emergencies he seems to have.
Lord Harry is the opposite to Lou, he has the title and the stately home but his family are skint due to his father's dodgy investments. Harry has a reputation as a ladies man so when his mother sets him up with Lou, he is not too pleased about it. Lou does everything she can to put Harry's family off her but when she feels like she is succeeding she begins to have regrets. Is she stubbornly against Harry solely because she doesn't want to give in to her mother? Maybe Hedge isn't right for her and maybe Harry has another side when you remove his playboy facade?
Nicky Schmidt has written a very entertaining book with some larger than life characters. I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it for a light, entertaining read.

The lovely publishers of Marrying out of Money have 5 Kindle copies to offer the readers of Dot Scribbles. Simply leave a comment with you email address in and I shall pick 5 and give your details to the publishers who will send you a gift certificate for the book, good luck!!!


This competition will close at midnight on Sunday 27th February.

Book Review: To Touch the Stars by Jessica Ruston and COMPETITION!!!!

Renowned for style, glamour and sophistication, Cavalley's creates the most luxurious millinery in the world. For fashionistas and film stars, a hat designed by Violet Cavalley is the ultimate indulgence.
Talented and beautiful, Violet Cavalley has poured her heart and soul into building her multi-million pound business, and raising her three children. It seems that everything she touches turns to gold.
But Violet is not the woman she appears to be. And her adored children conceal secrets of their own. Behind the Cavalley family's gilded facade lies a streak of darkness. Darkness that  now threatens to destroy them all.

I hope that you enjoyed the exclusive extract from the book yesterday. To Touch the Stars is going to be difficult to review as it is jam-packed with secrets. I loved it, there were so many twists and turns provided by the author that I was totally gripped from beginning to end.
It's kind of a modern saga, Violet Cavalley is the matriarch of her family and also a leading figure in the fashion industry. She has a large family and it appears that just as they have secrets from her, she too has secrets from them. Violet is also convinced of the Cavalley Curse which she believes hangs over her family and it is something she believes to be entirely her fault.
To Touch the Stars is a very entertaining read, it is very much a rags to riches story with many dramatic events along the way. I loved the descriptions of the fashion world and how the Cavalley Empire was built, these little details made the story even more believable.
Jessica Ruston has written a very dramatic story and then set it in incredibly glamorous and high-powered surroundings. When you strip all of the glitz away you realise that the Cavalleys are simply a family, but a family with one or two more skeletons in the cupboard than normal. This book keeps up a brilliant pace throughout so be warned that it is extremely difficult to put down.


To Touch the Stars by Jessica Ruston is published today and to celebrate, the lovely people at Headline Review are giving away five signed copies of the book plus one lucky winner will also get a bottle of champagne to enjoy while they are reading! To enter you simply have to answer the question below:

What was the title of Jessica Ruston's first novel?

Please email your answers directly to rosie.gailer@headline.co.uk or you can tweet your answer to @publicitybooks Any answers left in the comment section below this post are not valid, but do please leave me a comment with any thoughts on the book. Good luck!