New to Dot Scribbles Shelves

Well here we go, this is the first New to Dot Scribbles Shelves of 2011, I've received a fair few books for review recently so I am just going to put a couple up as the reviews should also follow in the next few months.

The first book was a Christmas present from Mr S and I can't wait to read it as I have loved her other books, bit of a shock though when I unwrapped it as it is HUGE:

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton (Mantle) Edie Burchill and her mother have never been close but when a long-lost letter arrives one Sunday afternoon with the return address of Milder…÷hurst Castle, Kent, printed on it's envelope, Edie begins to suspect that her mother's emotional distance masks an old secret.
Evacuated from London as a thirteen-years-old-girl, Edie's mother is chosen by the mysterious Juniper Blythe and taken to love at Milderhurst Castle with the Blythe family: Juniper, her twin sisters, and their father Raymond, author of a 1918 children's classic, The True History of the Mud Man. In the grand and glorious Midlerhurst Castle, a new world opens up for Edie's mother. She discovers the joys of books and fantasy and writing, but also the dangers.
Fifty years later, as Edie chases the answers to her mother's riddle, she, too, is drawn to Midlerhurst Castle and the eccentric Sisters Blythe. Old ladies now, the three still live together, the twins nursing Juniper, whose abandonment by her fiance in 1941 plunged her into madness.
Inside the decaying castle, Edie begins to unravel her mother's past. But there are other secrets hidden in the stones of Milderhurst Castle, and Edie is about to learn more than she expected. The truth of what happened in the distant hours has been waiting for a long time for someone to find it.

The following books were sent for review:

Bloody Valentine by Melissa de la Cruz (Atom January 20th) Vampires have powers beyond human comprehension: strength that defies logic, speed that cannot be captured on film, the ability to shapeshift and more. But all too often the only thing that eludes their grasp is love. So when two young lovers are kept apart by a centuries' old decree, they'll be forced to learn that in matters of the heart, not even immortals, have total control... or do they?

A Valentine's Kiss by Lucie Hart (Ebury February 3rd) At a house party in the South of France, trainee chef Imogen finds herself playing Blind Man's Buff with a host of impossibly handsome men. And then one of them kisses her. It's the most perfect kiss she's ever experienced in her- frankly romantically disappointing-life. But by the time she recovers her wits sufficiently to remove her blindfold her mystery kisser has disappeared. Could her Prince Charming be one of her fellow-chefs, Dimitri or Bastien? Both are clearly interested in her. And then there's the American visitors- Archer and Everett... Only Imogen can't just keep kissing men until she finds the right one- can she?

These next two are from a visit to my library, I am having a bit of a crime/thriller binge at the moment:

Until It's Over by Nicci French (Penguin) London cycle courier Astrid Bell is bad luck, for other people. First, Astrid's neighbour Peggy Farrell accidentally knocks her off her bike- and not long after is found bludgeoned to death in an alley. Then, a few days later, Astrid is asked to pick up a package- only to find the client slashed to pieces in the hallway. For the police, it's more than a coincidence. For Astrid and her six housemates, it's the beginning of a nightmare: suspicious glances, bitter accusations, fallings out an a growing fear that the worst is yet to come. Because if it's true that bad luck comes in threes, who will be next to die?

The Sinner by Tess Gerritsen (Bantam Books) Within the walls of a cloistered convent, a scene of unspeakable carnage is discovered. On the snow lie two nuns, one dead, one critically injured- victims of a seemingly motiveless, brutally savage attack. As medical examiner Maura Isles' autopsy of the murder victim yields a shocking surprise, the case takes a sudden and disturbing twist. The body of another woman has been found. And someone has gone to a lot of trouble to remove her face, hands and feet. As long buried secrets are revealed so Dr Isles and homicide detective Jane Rizzoli find themselves part of an investigation that leads to an awful, dawning realization of the killer's identity...

And finally I bought the following two, the first one is on the new Richard and Judy book club list and the second has received so much hype that I just had to find out for myself:

You're Next by Gregg Hurwitz (Sphere) 'I know you don't I?' Five words- that's all it takes to plunge Mike Wingate and his family into mortal danger. Mike doesn't recognise the crippled stranger who approaches him at a party... but the stranger seems to know all about him. What had Mike done? Do they have the wrong man? Overnight, the threats  become attacks, and Mike, his wife and their young daughter learn they aren't safe anywhere- especially not in their own home. But there's no time for Mike to figure it out, because his enemies have killed before- and he's next.

One Day by David Nicholls (Hodder) 15th July 1988. Emma and Dexter meet on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year that follows?

So there you go, there are some fantastic books to be read this year! Have you read any of the above, let me know what you think!