Book Review: New York Valentine by Carmen Reid

Personal shopper Annie Valentine has a dream job in the heart of fabulous Manhattan. Daughter Lana is lost in the heat of first love, but has she fallen for a heart-breaker?
In London, husband Ed faces a scandal at work and knows in his heart, he needs Annie back.
What's a girl to do when her true love is in London but her new love is New York?

Annie Valentine is in a bit of a mess when we first meet her, she is a super busy mum of four and her fashion TV career is in jeopardy. When the offer comes for Annie to work in New York for a few weeks with her eldest daughter Lana, she jumps at the chance of getting away from it all.
Annie and Lana completely fall in love with New York; they are there to help set up a new fashion label, so they are soon thrown in to the glamorous world of Fifth Avenue and cocktails at lunchtime. However all is not well in London, Anna's husband Ed is facing accusations at work and needs his wife's support more than ever. But Anna is torn, she doesn't want to be apart from her family but she does not want to leave New York either.
I really didn't take to the character of Annie Valentine until the very end of the book. I felt that she was really selfish bu dropping everything including four members of her family so she could go to New York. However, I did enjoy reading about the relationship that develops between Annie and her daughter Lana while they are away.
One of my favourite parts of this book were the descriptions of New York; Carmen Reid describes the exciting and vibrant city so well that it becomes easy to understand why Annie is so in love with it.
New York Valentine is a bit different to most chick lit; it isn't about a single woman searching for love but more about family and the important role it plays in our lives. Carmen Reid has written three other books about Annie Valentine so I may give some of them a go as maybe I would take to the character a little more.

Many thanks to Transworld for sending me this book to review, it is out now!

Book Review: One Day by David Nicholls

You can live your whole life not realising what you're looking for is right in front of you.
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?

There has been so much hype about this book, I eventually gave in an bought a copy and I believe it is one of the best decisions that I have made so far in 2011!

Emma and Dexter meet the night of their graduation in 1988, they have a one-night stand but decide to keep in touch when they go off to pursue their new lives post university. So we meet Emma and Dexter on 15th July every year, covering their twenties, thirties, right through to the present day. Dexter follows a career in the media, he is hungry for fame and recognition. Meanwhile Emma wants to be a writer but begins her twenties working in a tacky Mexican restaurant, highly depressed and wondering where it all went wrong.
It was so good to see this relationship develop over the years. Boyfriends and girlfriends come and go; there are times when they are disappointed in each other and times when they are bursting with pride. Whatever happens, it always comes back to these two people, Emma and Dexter. David Nicholls has written quite a simple but totally absorbing story. There were so many times when I completely identified with Emma and Dexter. this book really does make you pause and have a good think about everything.
One Day by David Nicholls gives the reader so many emotions; I laughed, I cried, I was frustrated, happy. It seriously does deserve all  of the hype it is getting, I highly, highly recommend that you give it a go.

Book Review: Children of the Resolution by Gary William Murning

It was a time of change and new ideologies, a vision that was destines to shape the lives of many, and fail more than a handful. Viewed retrospectively through the eyes of the now adult Carl Grantham, Children of the Resolution is a coming-of-age story. Children of the Resolution is a coming-of-age story. Children of the Resolution explores the intricacies of friendship and loss, the subtle fears of childhood and the far less subtle fears of adulthoods possibly never realised. 

Gary William Murning has said on several blog interviews that Children of the Resolution is his most autobiographical piece so far. The main character is Carl Grantham, he is in hospital recovering from a serious bout of pneumonia. We hear about his past though interviews he gives to a student writing their dissertation on educational reform. Carl has a very particular view on this subject, being born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy has meant that he was often a guinea pig as a child as the establishment tried out different methods of education.
Carl begins his story by describing his time at Sunnyvale and his subsequent move to The Resolution which was classed at the time as an integrated establishment. These recollections are so interesting as they focus on so many different aspects of growing up. Carl was a child and an awkward teenager just like those without his condition, he had to deal with girls and the school bully. Alongside that, Carl had problems such as finding a desk that was comfortable for him to work on, something that should have had a simple solution but instead caused him no end of problems.
I think that Gary William Murning has written a very interesting and important book. Carl does not behave like a victim; he is simply describing how it was. Children of the Resolution is not out to get anyone but is simply showing what they tried to do within the education system and what worked as well as what went wrong. Having had experience of working in primary schools, I greatly identified with the fact that there are often brilliant ideas within educational reform but that they often get marred by some of the people carrying them out, so that by the time that the child is on the receiving end, sometimes some of the intention has been lost and the child is the one that loses out.
I would recommend Children of the Resolution as the characters are extremely believable and I really liked how the author jumped from the present to the past which highlighted that this is still an  important and relevant issue.

If you would like to find out more about the author, then please visit Gary's blog by clicking here.

Book Review: Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

Three angels are sent down to bring good to the world: Gabriel, the Warrior, Ivy the healer, and Bethany, a teenage girl who is the least experienced of the trio. But she is the most human, and when she is romantically drawn to a mortal bot, the angels fear she will not be strong enough to save anyone- especially herself. 

Bethany, Ivy and Gabriel are sent on a mission to Venus Cove; it is Bethany's first earth-bound mission but those up above believe that she is ready for it. She does very well until she falls for Xavier, she literally falls in love with him which was not part of the plan. Xavier knows there is something different about Bethany but he has no idea that she has wings and normally lives in Heaven. As dark forces start to get a hold of things in Venus Cove, Gabriel, Ivy and Bethany realise that their position could be threatened, as could the safety of those that they have become close to.
Halo is a brilliant book and I was completely in awe when I got to the end and read that the author is only eighteen. I think that Alexandra Adornetto really captures the heady feelings of falling in love for the first time. This is heightened for Bethany and Xavier due to what she is. I loved how their relationship developed throughout the book, I found it entirely  believable.
Halo will appeal to young adult readers and also those a little bit older. I am hoping that Alexandra Adornetto will continue the story in further books as I would really like to know what happens next.

Many thanks to Atom for sending me a copy of this book to review, Halo is published in the UK today.

Book Review: The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen

The Surgeon has been locked up for a year but his chilling legacy still haunts the city, and especially Boston detective Jane Rizzoli. But now a new killer is at work and Rizzoli senses something horrifyingly similar about him.
The FBI starts taking an interest in the investigation and Rizzoli begins to wonder just what makes this case so different and so dangerous?
But then the unthinkable happens: the Surgeon escapes. And suddenly there are two twisted killers on the loose- master and apprentice...

Tess Gerritsen just gets better; I was a little worried that this book may not have been as good as The Surgeon but I thought it was brilliant. The Apprentice is the second book in the Rizzoli and Isles series. Jane Rizzoli is the police detective who escaped and jailed The Surgeon in the last book and Dr Isles is the pathologist who she works closely with.
In this book we learn much more about Jane Rizzoli and how she is trying to get on with her life after evading a serial killer. When she is called to a murder scene, the similarities  with the Surgeon's handiwork are striking but she is also extremely conscious of not appearing as though she is obsessed with what has happened in the past. The investigation is then joined by FBI agent Gabriel Dean, who manages to get everyone's backs up. Rizzoli does not trust him, especially when she discovers that he has been withholding vital information on the case.
The moment that Rizzoli finds out that the Surgeon has escaped from prison is extremely tense, you can actually feel her fear and anger. I think this is what Tess Gerritsen does best; she has the hairs on the back of your neck standing up but you cannot stop yourself from reading on.
So now it appears that the Surgeon and the Apprentice  may now have joined forces and the Surgeon definitely has unfinished business where Jane Rizzoli is concerned.
I'm so excited to have found such a good series of books and I already have the third one, The Sinner, sitting on my shelf waiting.

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!

Book Review: A Summer Fling by Milly Johnson

These girls are about to have a summer they'll never forget!
When dynamic Christie blows in like a warm wind to take over their department, five very different women find themselves thrown together at work.
Anna, 39, is left reeling after her fiance's departure with a younger woman. Can she ever learn to trust again? Then there's Grace, in her fifties, trapped in a loveless marriage with a man she married because she fell for his motherless brood. Can she prevent 33-year-old Dawn- orphaned as a teenager and engaged to love-rat Calum- from making the same mistake she did?
At 28, Raychel would seem to be the happiest, with a loving husband, Ben and their cosy nest for two. But what dark secrets are lurking behind this perfect facade, that make sweet, pretty Raychel so unwilling to open up?
Under Christine's kindly hand, the girls know they have some difficult choices to make. Indeed, none of them quite realized how much they needed the sense of fun, laughter, and loyalty that abounds when five women become friends.

I do not have a bad word to say about this book as I loved it. The ending itself made me cry but I was also very sad that there were no more pages.
The four women have been working together for a long time but it takes Christine's appointment as their new boss to bring them together. Milly Johnson has brought 5 very different women together which makes for extremely interesting reading and she has joined them in a friendship that they all so desperately needed.
Each woman has a different issue and storyline so each chapter had something going on, this book is extremely hard to put down once you have started.
There are some very serious issues covered through these 5 women but Milly Johnson still injects the book with many laughs and a lot of warmth and humility.
I enjoyed Milly Johnson's last book, A Spring Affair but for me this one had something extra; she is a great writer who I would highly recommend. 

Book Review: Crusade by Linda Press Wulf

When a dazzlingly handsome boy riding a white charger arrives in Georgette's village, she is spellbound- both by the boy and crowd that surrounds him. They are all children. The boy is even more entrancing when he speaks. He seeks volunteers to join his Crusade- a perilous mission from which some may not return.
Georgette has never left her village before, but she knows she will follow the boy. And so begins a journey filled with terrible danger, sacrifice and true love, a journey which will take all of Georgette's courage to survive.

To be honest I am not completely sure what to say about this book. I know nothing about the children's Crusade so I was intrigued to find out more but there seemed to be quite a few slow parts in the book with lots of sleeping in fields.
However, I loved the questions that this book raised and I think that it would provide many talking points with young adult readers. Why did these children join the Crusade, was it their faith that got them through the journey and what is it that made the leader so captivating? It is very clever to have both a male and female main character that readers can identify with.
As I say, this book didn't grab me but I do think that the writing and the questions raised are excellent for getting young adult readers thinking about and discussing issues that are just as relevant today.

Many thanks to Bloomsbury for sending me a copy to review, Crusade was published on January 4th.

Book Review: One Moment, One Morning by Sarah Rayner

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 called. And for three passengers that particular morning, life will never be the same again.

My very lovely sister bought me this book, she knows me very well as I had had my eye in it for a while.
I'm not really going to tell you more about what happens in this book as it would spoil it. One Moment, One Morning is about precisely that; one moment on one morning that alters everything. There are three main characters in the book, Anna, Lou and Karen, they are linked in different ways but they were all travelling on the train the morning that the man collapsed.
Sarah Rayner has ultimately written a book about friendship between women. There is quite a lot of action at the beginning of the book but what follows is these three women dealing with the aftermath.
I'm sorry to be a little vague but it would be a shame to spoil the plot for anyone. It reminded me a little of After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell which I loved and still think is her best book. One Moment, One Morning a very good read that I would highly recommend.

Hothouse Flower makes the Richard and Judy Spring Book Club 2011

I reviewed Hothouse Flower by Lucinda Riley in December last year and I think it may have been my favourite read of 2010, you can read my review here. Obviously some other people have agreed with me as Richard and Judy have chosen it as part of their Spring Book Club, you can find out more about their book club on their official website, I love Richard and Judy and they do seem to pick some brilliant books! The other books included in the list are:

• Hothouse Flower by Lucinda Riley
• The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
• Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonsen
• This Perfect World by Suzanne Bugler
• Room by Emma Donoghue
• You're Next by Gregg Hurwitz
• Trespass by Rose Tremain
• The Blasphemer by Nigel Farndale

What a lovely list of books to look forward to, I am going to get hold of some of these but I can already highly recommend Hothouse Flower, it really is a great read! 

Book Review: A Girl Like You by Gemma Burgess

After breaking up with her boyfriend of, well, forever, Abigail Wood must learn how to be single from scratch.
Her dating skills are abysmal, and she ricochets disaster to disaster- until Robert, one of London's most notorious Lotharios, agrees to coach her.
With his advice, she learns to navigate the bastard-infested water of the bar scene and practices the art of being bulletproof. The new Abigail is cocky, calm, composed...but what happens when she meets her match?

This is the first book that I have read in 2011 and it has certainly provided me with a good start. I immediately liked Abigail, she is a similar age to me and is relatively normal. She has been quite brace by ending a long term relationship when she realised he wasn't 'The One' and now she has to enter the scary world of dating.
Her new flatmate Robert takes it upon himself to teach Abigail some of the rules of dating. Robert is a definite ladies man and Abigail soon learns to be the one in control. That's until she is introduced to Dave, Robert's best mate. The rules go straight out of the window and Dave is firmly in control; when things start to go wrong, Robert is nowhere to be found and Abigail has no idea what to do.
A Girl Like You is a great book, it was extremely funny whilst also being very realistic. I felt as though I could identify with the characters and their experiences and this made reading it even more enjoyable.

Many Thanks to Harper Collins for sending me a review copy, A Girl Like You is published tomorrow, 6th January.

Book Review: A Beautiful Lie by Irfan Master

Everybody lies. We all do it. On 14th August 1947, I learnt that everybody lies but that not all lies are equal...
Many years ago I told one lie that has taken on a life of its own. The only time I was sure of anything was all those years ago, when I was a boy. When I was lying. But now the truth needs to be told...

A Beautiful Lie is Irfan Master's debut novel; it is set in 1947 during the partition of India. Bilal is a young boy whose father is dying; he knows that he does not have long left. Bilal knows that if his father found out about the Partition then he would be heartbroken. So he has to do everything that he can to prevent the news from reaching his father's ears. Saleem and Chota are Bilal's best friends and they do everything that they can to help.
Although Bilal's main focus is to protect his father from the truth; he and his friends cannot help but get caught up in the violence and politics taking place in their country.
Irfan Master is dealing with an extremely serious subject and one that still has great relevancy today. It is written at a level that young adult readers would understand without being patronising. Bilal's love for his father shines out throughout the book. He tells a lie to protect his father but at the same time he must face up to the reality of what is happening in India and how different his country and his place in that country will be once his father has died.
A Beautiful Lie is an excellent debut novel and I think that Irfan Master will be an author to look out for in 2011.

Many thanks to Bloomsbury for sending me a copy to review, A Beautiful Lie is published today. 

100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2011

I managed to read 107 books in 2010 so I have decided to sign up for Book Chick City's 100 books in a year challenge for 2011. There are so many books that I am looking forward to reading this year so I hope that I can reach 100 again, wish me luck!