BOOK REVIEW: The Girl at the Window by Rowan Coleman

A house full of history is bound to have secrets...Ponden Hall is a centuries-old house on the Yorkshire moors, a magical place full of stories. It's also where Trudy Heaton grew up. And where she ran away from…Now, after the devastating loss of her husband, she is returning home with her young son, Will, who refuses to believe his father is dead.While Trudy tries to do her best for her son, she must also attempt to build bridges with her eccentric mother. And then there is the Hall itself: fallen into disrepair but generations of lives and loves still echo in its shadows, sometimes even reaching out to the present…A hauntingly beautiful story of love and hope, from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Memory Book and The Summer of Impossible Things

Publisher: Ebury Press

Pages: 464

I have had The Girl at the Window by Rowan Coleman sitting on my kindle for a while and I am so pleased that I have finally got round to reading it. This book is fantastic, I could not put it down. Coleman takes the reader to Ponden Hall, the house is hundreds of years old and steeped in Bronte history. It is where Emily drew her inspiration for Wuthering Heights and she and her sisters spent a lot of time there. Trudy has not been back to Ponden for years but her childhood home calls her when she tragically loses her husband. Taking her young son Will, Trudy returns to her mother and the house that has been such a huge part of her life. As she tries to provide some stability for her devastated son, Trudy begins to sense that the house has a secret to divulge. She remembers seeing apparitions as a child and her father always told her the stories of the resident ghosts but what if these were more than purely imagination? Trudy and her mother begin to search Ponden’s many hiding places, all they know is the secret is linked to Emily Bronte and the tale she wanted to tell of one of the house’s tragic figures. 

The Girl at the Window is truly captivating, Rowan Coleman weaves her story beautifully, it almost creeps up on you and suddenly you are totally engrossed and cannot stop turning the pages. I am a huge Bronte fan and I found this aspect of the book fascinating, I loved hearing about Emily’s inspiration for Wuthering Heights and the three sisters links to Ponden Hall which I have to admit I had never heard of. I have visited the Parsonage at Howarth so I could vividly recall this when it is featured in the book but it really renewed my interest in these truly inspiring women.

I had not expected the book to be quite so spooky but I was so impressed with the way that Coleman built the tension up and there were many moments where I felt like I was holding my breath. It was so reminiscent of the atmosphere created in Wuthering Heights, I shall definitely be having a re-read again. At the heart of this story is a mystery about two women, Emily and Agnes. One known the world over and one not heard of before. Coleman expertly ties these two characters together and it was so interesting to see Trudy piecing the clues together whilst learning so much more about these two females who are a big part of her family history. 

The Girl at the Window is high up on my list of favourite books I have read this year. I will be getting a copy of The Vanished Bride which Rowan Coleman has written under the name of Bella Ellis, it is the first in a new series of Bronte mysteries and I cannot wait to read it! 

BOOK REVIEW: Final Girls by Riley Sager

Each girl survived an unthinkable horror. Now someone wants then dead...
They were victims of separate massacres, grouped together by the press and dubbed The Final Girls. When the police found Quincy Carpenter, she was bloodied and broken at the side of the road, the only survivor of a group of young women taken and tortured in the woods by a brutal serial killer. As time goes by, the scars fade and the memories become muddled, but when something terrible happens to fellow Final Girl Lisa, Quincy much dredge up as much of her horrifying past as she can. With the help of the only Final Girl left, Sam, she must unravel a mystery that started in the woods ten years ago. 

Publisher: Ebury Press

Pages: 356

Stephen King has described Final Girls as 'The first great thriller of 2017...' and I have to agree. This is the first book for a while that has made me very jumpy, wanting all the lights on at night kind of jumpy!
Quincy Carpenter is the
main protagonist, she is the sole survivor of a massacre more than 10 years ago. She remembers barely anything but she knows she survived as all her friends were brutally murdered at a log cabin in the woods where they had gone to celebrate a birthday.
Quincy has tried to get on with her life but the cracks are there. It all comes crashing down when she learns of the death of Lisa, another Final Girl who survived. This news brings another Final Girl, Samantha Boyd to her front door and suddenly Quincy has no choice but to face up to her past and what happened in the woods 10 years ago.
Riley Sager presents a fantastic debut; it is dark, thrilling, creepy and you will not be able to put it down. I was impressed with the pace that Sager keeps up throughout. There were points where I felt as though I had worked it all out but then there would be a new twist, the author keeps you on your toes, constantly questions past and present events.
Final Girls plays on all our fears and vulnerability; it's the creepy log cabin in the woods, the killer with the clown mask and the sharp knife. In a good way, this book very much felt like a traditional thriller, it didn't rely on any gimmicks. Riley Sager is clearly a new author to keep an eye on, Final Girls is fantastic.

Many thanks to Ebury Press for sending me a copy of this book to review. 

Book Review: The Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich

Hannah Levi is famed throughout Venice for her skills as a midwife but, as a Jew, the law forbids her from attending a Christian woman.
However, when the Conte di Padovani appears at her door in the dead of night to demand her services, Hannah's compassion is sorely tested. And with the handsome reward he is offering, she could ransom back her imprisoned husband.
But if she fails in her endeavours to save mother and child, will she be able to save herself, let alone her husband?

The Midwife of Venice is an extremely interesting historical read. The book moves between two main stories, Hannah's in 16th Century Venice and her husband Isaac's in Malta where he is serving as a slave.
Hannah risks everything to earn Isaac's ransom money; putting her own life and those around her in extreme danger. She attends the Christian birth of the Conte's wife, two women separated by class and religion but thrown together in the traumatic and wonderful event of childbirth. However the link between these two women does not end there but Hannah could not have had any idea of how events would unfold.
Roberta Rich's writing is extremely rich in detail, I loved her detailed descriptions of both Venice and Malta. Having spent much of my childhood in Malta I can say that she got the landscape spot on. She brought the two plot lines together seamlessly whilst keeping a really good pace throughout.
I would highly recommend this book for its vivid imagery and enthralling plot.

Dot Scribbles Rating 4/5

Many thanks to Ebury press for sending me a copy of the book to review, it is out now.

Book Review: The Night Before Christmas by Scarlett Bailey

All Lydia's ever wanted is a perfect Christmas...
So when her oldest friends invite her to spend the holidays with them, it seems like a dream come true. She's been promised log fires, roasted chestnuts, her own weight in mince pies- all in a setting that looks like a Christmas card.
But her winter wonderland is ruined with she finds herself snowed in with her current boyfriend, her old flame and a hunky stranger. Well, three (wise) men is traditional at this time of year...

I knew that this book was going to be good when it arrived in a pink box with chocolate and a bottle of Baileys! Scarlett Bailey has written a really lovely book that is perfect for curling up with at this time of year.
The Night Before Christmas revolves around the character of Lydia. She finds an engagement ring in her boyfriend Stephen's sock drawer so she knows about one of her Christmas surprises already. They are spending Christmas with Lydia's oldest friends and Lydia can't wait, she has always wanted a perfect Christmas with all the trimmings and this is exactly what she has been promised. But things do not get off to a good start; they become snowed in within hours of arriving, so Lydia is trapped with an ex-boyfriend, a rather gorgeous looking stranger and a boyfriend she perhaps doesn't want to marry.
This is Scarlett Bailey's debut novel but the writing just seems effortless, the story flows really well and she is not afraid to throw in the odd surprise along the way. Christmas is a great time of year to set a book, we are often thrown into situations with people who we don't spend a massive amount of time with and everyone makes the most of it as they don't want to be the one that spoils Christmas.Lydia is in a really difficult position; she does not want to hurt Stephen or ruin his Christmas but surely she can't accept a proposal from a man she no longer loves. Throw into that the ex-boyfriend with whom she had one of the most intense relationships of her life. Plus the gorgeous stranger snowed in with them, there is something about him that Lydia can't ignore so she is stuck with three men and no escape route in sight.
The Night Before Christmas will definitely get you in the festive mood and I can't wait to see what Scarlett Bailey has to offer in 2012.

Dot Scribbles Rating 4/5

Many thanks to Ebury Press for sending me a copy of the book to review, it is out now!

Book Review: You Are Next by Katia Lief

Detective Karin Schaeffer was a happily married mother until she got too close to catching a serial killer.
The press nickname him The Domino Killer because he systematically murders whole families leaving a trail of bloody dominoes as the only clues to his next victim. Having brutally slain Karin's husband and child, he had left her a chilling message written in her daughter's blood: You Are Next.
And now The Domino Killer has escaped prison and the police believe he's on his way to find her but Karin is waiting...

It has only taken me just over a day to read this book, it's not overly long but Katia Lief has the reader gripped.
Karin Schaeffer is almost an empty shell when we meet her; she has lost her husband and daughter, her family home and also the career that led to it all. The nightmare began when Karin uncovered the whereabouts of Martin Price when working as a detective Martin Price is The Domino Killer or JPP as the police describe him: Just Plain Psycho. He is a serial killer who wipes out whole families, leaving dominoes as the only clue to the fate of his next victim. He took his revenge on Karin by viciously murdering her husband and young daughter, vowing to come for her next. So when Karin learns that JPP has escaped from prison, she is waiting, does she want to finish him for good or is she hoping he will finish her so that she can be with her family again. JPP is always seemingly one step ahead, he is not just interested in Karin but her remaining family members. The game has changed and Karin knows that this time she cannot let him win.
I thought that Katia Lief created a great story. Martin Price is an extremely chilling character and I found the idea of the dominoes as calling cards to be very interesting and original. The book is gruesome in parts but we are dealing with a psychiatric serial killer so it is to be expected.
Katia Lief is very good at lulling the reader into a false sense of security. There were several points where I felt relied but then she ramped it up and the nightmare continued.
You Are Next is a great and highly recommended read, I will never look at a set of dominoes in the same way again.

Many thanks to Ebury Press for sending me a copy of the book to review.

Book Review: A Valentine's Kiss by Lucie Hart

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?

When this book arrived I was a little disappointed with the cover and I did wonder if it would be any good. Turns out that this book was right up my street! I don't really blog about it much but I love cooking so to have a trainee chef as the main character was brilliant.
Imogen has led quite a sheltered life and  has always been in the shadow of her demanding siblings. She can't believe her luck when she is offered a summer position in the kitchen of Monsieur Boudin's award winning restaurant in Saint-Jean-les-Carris. Imogen and her loyal dog Monty set off to the South of France in search of new experiences.
Monsieur Boudin runs a very tight ship and Imogen wants to impress him as much as he can. Dimitri and Bastien also work in the kitchen and soon make it clear that their interest in Imogen is much more than a professional one.
Imogen makes many friends and Bunny, a lovely and wealthy American asks her to cater for the lavish Valentine's party that she is hosting. It is at this party where Imogen is kissed by the mysterious man. The rest of the book follows Imogen as she tries to discover the kisser's identity. So follows many funny moments and plenty of kissing.
Lucie hart has written a really heart warming story. Whilst I did enjoy Imogen searching for her mysterious admirer; I enjoyed seeing her develop as a person even more. Imogen literally blossoms during her summer away. She can finally be true to herself and follow the career that she is passionate about. All of this gives her the confidence to pursue her admirer so she can find out what will happen next.
A Valentine's Kiss is a really enjoyable book; I didn't fall in love with the cover but what was inside more than made up for it.

Many thanks to Ebury Press for sending me a review copy, the book is out now!