Happy New Year!

I just wanted to wish you all a very Happy New Year! 2012 has been such an exciting year for me with Darcey coming along and I am incredibly excited to watch her grow and develop in 2013. My family and friends have been an incredible support to me over the past 12 months, I didn't realise when I started this blog just how big a part of my life it would become and I hope that never changes!

Here's to a very happy and healthy 2013!

Love

Dot

xx

Book Review: After the Fall by Charity Norman

In the quite of a New Zealand winter's night, a rescue helicopter is sent to airlift a five-year-old boy with severe internal injuries. He's fallen from the upstairs veranda of an isolated farmhouse, and his condition is critical. At first, Finn's fall looks like a horrible accident; after all he's prone to sleep walking. Only his frantic mother, Martha McNamara knows how it happened. And she isn't telling. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Tragedy isn't what the McNamara family expected when they moved to New Zealand. For Martha, it was an escape. For her artist  husband Kit, it was a dream. For their small twin boys, it was an adventure. For sixteen-year-old Sacha it was the start of a nightmare.
They end up on the isolated east coast of the North island, seemingly in the middle of a New Zealand tourist campaign. But their peaceful idyll is soon shattered as the choices Sacha makes lead the family down a path which threatens to destroy them all. Martha finds herself facing a series of impossible decisions, each with devastating consequences for her family.

This book is going to be very difficult to review as I don't want to give the plot away but I have to stress that it was a fantastic read.
Martha and her family move to New Zealand because Kit, Martha's husband is drinking heavily after seeing his company collapse. New Zealand offers him a chance to pursue his painting ambitions and offers Martha and the children a new life on the other side of the world. Sacha is Kit's step-daughter and a doting sister to her twin half brothers, Charlie and Finn. The move to New Zealand affects Sacha in a way that none of them saw coming and her actions put her whole family in danger.
We know at the beginning of the book that Finn has had a fall; he has a head injury and lies in a coma. Martha has explained that it was an accident but her inner thoughts, expressed in the book, suggest otherwise.
Charity Norman flits back and forth between the past and the present. We learn of the events leading up to Finn's fall and the then the immediate aftermath.
The plot is extremely intriguing, I really couldn't decide what had happened and Charity Norman keeps up the tension and mystery throughout.
Sacha is a difficult character and I still haven't decided what I think about her. I felt so much empathy for Martha though as the book really made me question how I would react to my own daughter in the same situation. There were times when I could really feel Martha's desperation to make everything right and her fear that it is all out of her control.
After the Fall is a particularly gripping read. I have Charity Norman's first book sitting on my shelf so I am really looking forward to reading more by this great author.

Dot Scribbles Rating: 5/5

Many thanks to Allen and Unwin for sending me a copy of the book to review, After the Fall is out now.

Dot Scribbles's Favourite Reads of 2012

I have read some great books this year so I have decided to do a list of all of those which I rated as 5/5. The majority have been published this year but there are some older ones too! I have included a little description and if you want to read my review then simply click on the book title. I have bought a few people books for Christmas so this list may give you a little bit of inspiration if you are stuck or you may just add them to your own TBR pile!

Delirium by Lauren Oliver (Hodder)-They say that the cure for love will  make me happy and safe forever. And I've always believed them. Until now. Now everything has changed. Now I'd rather be infected with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live hundreds of years suffocated by a lie.
There was a time when love was the most important thing in the world. People would go to the end of the earth to find it. Even kill for it. Then at last they found the cure. 

Belle by Lesley Pearse (Penguin)-She witnessed a murder- and now her life is in danger...

Fifteen year-old bell, though raised in a London brothel, is an innocent. But when she witnesses one of the girls brutally strangled by a client, she is cast into a cruel, heartless world. Snatched from the streets and sold into prostitution, she is made a courtesan in New Orleans. At the mercy of desperate men who crave her beauty and will do anything to keep her, Belle dreams of home, family and freedom appear futile.
Are Belle's courage and spirit strong enough to help her escape? And what will await her at the end of the long, dangerous journey home?

The Darker Side of Love by Jessica Ruston (Headline)-Lies: we all tell them. To protect those we love, to disguise failure, to hide disappointment. To mask betrayal or deceit. But what happens when they start to catch up with us? When our lives begin to be shaped by the lies of others?

The late 'noughties'. A global recession looms. A group of old friends, all leading outwardly successful, interesting lives. All in apparently loving, secure relationships. Yet all, in some way, lying to those closest to them, concealing secret worries, jealousies or desires. This group of friends is about to discover that the truth won't stay buried forever.
Welcome to the darker side of love.

Summer Daydreams by Carole Matthews (Sphere)-What if you had always dreamed of something more...?

Nell McNamara has a happy life: her boyfriend Olly adores her, their four-year-old daughter Petal is the centre of their world and Nell has a steady job in the local chip shop. When the chippy needs a makeover, Nell jumps at the chance to unleash the creativity fizzing inside her.
Inspired by what she can achieve- and encouraged by the very best friends that a girl can have- Nell is determined to try something new. Waving goodbye to the chip shop, she starts up a new business making her own line of must-have handbags, which are soon flying off the shelves.
It seems Nell's dreams are finally coming true, but her success doesn't come without a price. Before too long, Nell has to ask herself if it's really possible to have it all...

The Boy In the River by Richard Hoskins (Pan Macmillan)-On 21 September 2001, the mutilated torso of a small child was found floating beside London's Tower Bridge, one tide away from being swept into the North Sea.

Unable to identify the victim, the Murder Squad turned to Richard Hoskins, a young professor of theology with a profound understanding of African tribal ritual and religion. , whose own past was scarred by a heartbreaking tragedy. Thus began a journey into the tangled undergrowth of one of the most notorious murder cases of recent years; a case which would reveal the horrific truth that innocent children are being ritually sacrificed in our capital city.
Insightful and grippingly written, The Boy in the River is an inside account of a series of extraordinary criminal investigations and a compelling personal quest into the dark heart of humanity. 

A Walk in the Park by Jill Mansell (Headline)-It's been a while, but Lara Carson's back in Bath and lives are set to change as a result. Because Lara left her family and boyfriend Flynn eighteen years ago without a word to anyone. Why has no one heard from her since? Her childhood best friend Evie is thrilled Lara's back and able to share her happiness. Evie's about to walk down the aisle with her dream man, Joel, or so she thinks... Then there's Flynn Erksine, even more attractive now and stunned to see Lara again. The spark between them is as strong as ever, but how's Flynn going to react when he discovers the secret she's been keeping from him? Oh yes, there's a lot of catching up to be done...

White Wedding by Milly Johnson (Simon & Schuster)-They met on the search for the wedding dress of their dreams. But will they find more than they bargained for? 

Heir to a chocolate dynasty, Bel is in the midst of planning her perfect wedding to Richard, the love of her life, when disaster strikes and everything she held dear starts to fall apart.
Ice-cream parlour owner Violet is engaged to Glyn though she fell out of love with him long ago. But, unhappy though she is, somehow she can't quite shake her childhood dream of a big fairy-tale wedding with all the trimmings.
All three women are brought together at the White Wedding bridal shop, on the search for the perfect dress for their big day. Its owner Freya guarantees that her gowns will bring them happiness though maybe not in quite the way they expected...

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness (Headline)-Shortly after Diana Bishop and Matthew Clairmont timewalk to London, 1590, they discover that the past may not provide a safe haven after all. Reclaiming his former identity as poet and spy Matthew Roydibm the vampire falls back into step with a group of radicals known as the School of Night who share dangerous ideas about God, science and man. Many of his friends are unruly daemons- the creative minds of the age who walk the fine line between genius and madness- including playwright Christopher Marlowe and mathematician Thomas Harriot. Matthew himself is expected to continue to spy for Queen Elizabeth, which puts him in close contact with London's cut-throat underworld.

Together, Matthew and Diana scour the bookstalls and alchemical laboratories of London where they follow the elusive trail of Ashmole 782- and search for the witch who will teach Diana to control her powers.

Wonder by R.J. Palacio (Transworld)-My name is August. I won't describe to you what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.

Ten-year-old August Pullman wants to be ordinary. He does ordinary things. He eats ice-cream. He plays on his X-Box. He feels ordinary inside. But Auggie is far from ordinary. Born with a terrible facial abnormality, he has been home-schooled by his parents his entire life, in an attempt to protect him from the cruelty of the outside world. Now Auggie's parents are sending him to a real school. Can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them underneath it all?
Narrated by Auggie and the people around him whose lives he touches, Wonder is a funny, frank, astonishingly moving debut to be read in one sitting, to pass on to others, and to remember long after the final page.

The Greatest Love Story of All Time by Lucy Robinson (Penguin)-It's Fran's thirtieth birthday and things are good. She's bluffed her way into a very Posh Job and her outlandishly handsome and talented boyfriend Michael is escorting her to the Ritz with a bulge the shape of a ring box in his pocket.
But something has gone very wrong. Very wrong. By the end of the evening Fran is howling in bed with a bottle of cheap brandy and one of Michael's old socks.
In her quest to figure out why her life has suddenly gone down the pan, Fran comes up with a fail safe plan: live like a badger, stalk a stranger called Nellie and cancel her beloved Gin Thursdays in favour of drinking gin every night. But then Fran's friends force a very different plan on her and it's nowhere near as fun. How could eight dates possibly make her feel better?
But eventually she agrees. And so begins the greatest love story of all time...

Dearest Rose by Rowan Coleman (Arrow)-'You are a remarkable woman and you deserve all the happiness, contentment and love in the world. I, for one, know that I have never met anyone quite like you.'

When Rose Pritchard turns up on the doorstep of a Cumbrian B&B, it is her last resort. She and her seven-year-old daughter Maddie have come to the village of Millthwaitein search of the person who once offered Rose hope.
Almost immediately Rose wonders if she's made a terrible mistake- if she's chasing a dream- but she knows in her heart that she cannot go back. She's been given a second chance- at life, and love- but will she have the courage to take it?

Heart Shaped Bruise by Tanya Byrne (Headline)- When Archway Young Offenders Institution is closed down, a notebook is found in one of the rooms.

'I have to start by saying that this isn't an apology. I'm not sorry. I'm not.'
This is that notebook.
'They say I'm evil and everyone believes it. Including you. But you don't know.'
It's pages reveal the dark and troubled mind of Emily Koll, Archway's most notorious inmate.
'Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever shake off my mistakes or if I'll just carry them round with me forever like a bunch of red balloons.'

The Mystery of Mercy Close by Marian Keyes (Michael Joseph)- Helen Walsh doesn't believe in fear- it's just a thing invented by man to get all the money and good  jobs- and yet she's sinking . Her work as a private investigator has dried up, her flat has been repossessed and now some old demons have resurfaced.

Not least in the form of her charming but dodgy ex-boyfriend Jay Parker, who shows up with a missing person case/ Money is tight- so tight Helen's had to move back with her elderly parents- and Jay is awash with cash. The missing person is Wayne Diffney, the 'wacky one' from boyband Laddz.
He's vanished from his house in Mercy Close and it's vital that he's found- Laddz have a sell-out comeback gig in five days time.
Things ended messily with Jay. And she's never going back there. Besides she has a new boyfriend now, the very sexy detective Artie Devlin and it's all going well, even though his ex-wife isn't quite 'ex' enough and his teenage son hates her. But the reappearance of Jay is stirring up all kinds of stuff she thought she'd left behind.
Playing by her own rules, Helen is drawn into a dark and glamorous world, where her worst enemy is her own head and where increasingly she feels connected to Wayne, a man she's never even met. 

The Fall by Claire McGowan (Headline)-What would you do if the man you love was accused of murder?

Bad things never happen to Charlotte. She's living the life she's always wanted and about to marry wealthy banker, Dan. But Dan's hiding a secret, and after he's arrested for the viscous killing of a nightclub owner, Charlotte's future is shattered.
Then she opens her door to Keisha,  an angry and frustrated stranger with a story to tell. But what Keisha knows threatens everyone she loves and puts her own life in danger.
DC Matthew Hegarty is finding it difficult to ignore his growing doubts as well as the beautiful and vulnerable Charlotte. Can he really risk it all for what's right?
Three stories. One truth. They all need to brace themselves for the fall.

Black Heart Blue by Louisa Reid (Penguin)-"They tried to make me go to my sister's funeral today. In the end I had to give in... I'd been walking in her shadow for sixteen years and I liked its cool darkness. It was a good place to hide."

Rebecca's twin sister Hephzibah was beautiful and daring. She was the one who always wanted more. The one who wouldn't listen. Now she's gone. Rebecca is alone.
While there were two of them, they stayed silent about their home life. But Rebecca, who knows the truth about how her twin died, suddenly finds herself keeping too many secrets. Hephzibah dreamt of escape, but failed. Could Rebecca be the one to find freedom?
Original and unforgettable, Black Heart Blue is not just Rebecca and Hephzibah's story. It is a story about all of us: a story about the lies we want to believe, the truth we sometimes can't accept, and having the courage to discover the difference.

The Light Behind the Window by Lucinda Riley (Pan Macmillan)-The Present

Emilie de la Martinieres has always fought against her aristocratic background, but after the death of her glamorous, distant mother, she finds herself alone in the world and sole inheritor of her grand childhood home in the South of France. An old notebook of poems leads her in search of the mysterious and beautiful Sophia, whose tragic love affair changed the course of her family history. As Emilie unravels the story, she too embarks on her own journey of discovery, realising that the chateau may provide clues to her own difficult past and finally unlock the future.
The Past
London 1943. A young office clerk, Constance Carruthers is drafted in the SOE, arriving in occupied Paris during the climax of the conflict. Separated from her contact in her very first hours in France, she stumbles in to the heart of a wealthy family who are caught up in a deadly game of secrets and lies. Forced to surrender her identity and all ties to her homeland and her beloved husband, Constance finds herself drawn into a complex web of deception, the repercussions of which will affect generations to come. 

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson (Transworld)- Memories define us.

So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep?
Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love- all forgotten overnight?
And the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story.
Welcome to Christine's life.

With Love at Christmas by Carole Matthews (Sphere)-Can the imperfect family really have the perfect Christmas?

Juliet Joyce adores Christmas. She loves the presents, the tree, the turkey, the tinsel...just everything! Already the festive season is upon her, which is just as well as this Christmas things are just starting to get a little out of hand.
Her son Tom is out of work and bringing home a slew of unsuitable partners; pregnant daughter Chloe and her little boy have moved back in; Juliet's father, Frank, is getting over a heartbreak of his own and Rita, her eccentric mother, is behaving more erratically each day. And has the chaos got too much for Juliet's husband Rick?
With the big day fast approaching. Juliet hopes that she can stop everything spiralling out of control, because the only thing she wants is her family all around her and her home to be filled... With Love at Christmas.

You Had Me At Hello by Mhairi McFarlane (Avon)-'Think of the great duos of history. We're just like them.'

'You mean like Kylie and Jason? Torvill and Dean? Sonny and Cher?'
'I think you've missed the point Rachel.'
Rachel and Ben. Ben and Rachel.
It was them against the world. Until it all fell apart. It's been a decade since they last spoke, but when Rachel bumps into Ben one rainy day, the years melt away.
They'd been partners in crime and the best of friends. But it's clear that life has moved on. Ben is married. Rachel is not.
Yet in that split second, Rachel feels the old friendship return. And along with it, the broken heart she's never been able to mend. 

Book Review: You Had Me at Hello by Mhairi McFarlane

'Think of the great duos of history. We're just like them.'
'You mean like Kylie and Jason? Torvill and Dean? Sonny and Cher?'
'I think you've missed the point Rachel.'
Rachel and Ben. Ben and Rachel.
It was them against the world. Until it all fell apart. It's been a decade since they last spoke, but when Rachel bumps into Ben one rainy day, the years melt away.
They'd been partners in crime and the best of friends. But it's clear that life has moved on. Ben is married. Rachel is not.
Yet in that split second, Rachel feels the old friendship return. And along with it, the broken heart she's never been able to mend. 

Wow! I absolutely loved this book. I just wanted it to go on and on. You Had Me at Hello is Mhairi McFarlane's debut and it is a stunning read.
Rachel is newly single and living in Manchester where she works as a court reporter for the local paper. She is getting her head around being back on the market after a 13 year relationship when she bumps into Ben. Ben who was her best friend and so much more at university. Ben who she has thought about every day since she last saw him. The dynamics have changed; Ben is now married and a successful lawyer; they are not care free students but their friendship is still there.
Rachel's character is great, she very much wears her heart on her sleeve and wants to see the best in people, this has led her to a few problems in the past and a few bad decisions. I loved her job as a court reporter, it adds a very realistic element to the book and makes for some excellent sub-plots.
You Had Me at Hello reminded me a little of One Day by David Nicholls but I have to be honest and say that  I enjoyed this more. It has the same intense love story but I found it much more entertaining. Mhairi McFarlane's humour had me laughing out loud in several places.
I liked that Mhairi McFarlane didn't make out that love is all hearts and flowers. I felt that she presented a very realistic tale of modern love. Ben and Rachel both make mistakes and I think it goes to show that however much you love someone, life can still get in the way. If you really want something then you really have to go after it, don't wait for it to come to you.
I have already told so many people how brilliant this book is, if that was Mhairi McFarlane's debut then I can't wait to see what she does next.

Dot Scribbles Rating: 5/5

Many thanks to Avon for sending me a copy to review and for introducing me to such an exciting author. You Had Me at Hello is out now!

A Few Changes...

Hello lovelies! I started a new blog not too long ago basically about becoming a new mum and the ups and downs of parenthood! However I have realised that having a child, a job, a life and two blogs is  not realistic!
I would never give up this blog as it is a huge part of my life but I would really like to write about my experiences of being a mummy to Darcey so over the next few months there will probably be the odd non-book related post so feel free to scroll on past them if you are simply here looking for book reviews (I wouldn't be offended!) but for those interested there may be the odd Darcey relating post popping up!

Hope that you are all getting excited about Christmas, I shall be popping my list up of my favourite reads of the year in a few days so might be worth a read if you are still struggling to think of a book to buy your nearest and dearest!

Book Review: When I Fall in Love by Miranda Dickinson

Elsie Maynard never expected to be starting again.
But eighteen months on fron the biggest challenge of her life, she is doing just that- because she made a promise to the person who believed in her the most.
Determined to step into her uncertain future, Elsie meets handsome Oliver Hogarth who seems intent on winning her heart and inadvertently founds a choir.
Then a heartfelt request brings her to Paris- and the final item on 'The List' she never dared complete. Can Elsie follow her heart and put her past to rest?

I have read Miranda Dickinson's previous books so I knew I was in for a treat when this one arrived.
When I Fall in Love is a lovely, romantic read. Elsie Maynard is moving on with her life, her new project is a choir, she is going to be the female equivalent to Gareth Malone. Her love life is also taking a new turn in the form of Oliver Hogarth, he is happy to take things slowly but will Elsie ever be ready to love again? Add to this mix Torrin Stewart who inadvertently keeps on coming to Elsie's rescue yet she cannot bear to be in the same room as him.
I love the humour that Miranda Dickinson injects into her books, I found the character of Woody particularly funny. The ageing rocker spurs Elsie on, he is not afraid to take risks and live life to the full, which is exactly what Elsie needs.
The final part of the book takes part in Paris so you obviously can't get any more romantic. Elsie takes the trip to fulfil someone else's dream but her time there is a big turning point, it allows her to leave the past behind and face the future.
I have to say that I liked the character of Oliver but I loved the brooding character of Torin Stewart, he is like a brooding Mr Darcy and for me that is always a welcome element to a book.
When I Fall in Love is such an enjoyable read, it has plenty of humour and romance and I was truly moved by Elsie's story. Miranda Dickinson has delivered another great book and I highly recommend that you take a look.

Dot Scribbles Rating: 4/5

Many thanks to the lovely people at Avon for sending me this book to review, When I Fall in Love is out now! Also I meant to say that the cover may have people thinking that this is a Christmas time book but it actually has nothing to do with Christmas and would be lovely to read any time of the year!

Book Review: Meet Me Under the Mistletoe by Abby Clements

Childhood friends Laurie and Rachel used to be inseparable. Now thirty-five, they have all but fallen out of touch; glamorous single girl Laurie is based in London and dedicated to her career in fashion; Rachel seemingly living the family idyll in Yorkshire.
But when Rachel's mother-in-law needs urgent treatment in London, and disasters at work and in her love life mean Laurie needs to flee, a house swap falls into place. Soon, gentle Rachel is braving the city's mean streets while trying to keep her marriage and family together, while Laurie attempts to befriend the wary village locals - and forget the man who seems intent on breaking her heart.
WIll their relationship survive this test? And will they make it home for Christmas?

Meet Me Under the Mistletoe is a truly lovely book and the first written by Abby Clements. the front cover is extremely pretty and so this book would make a lovely Christmas gift.
Abby Clements delivers a classic life swap story. Rachel leaves the country to accompany her mother-in-law to London, taking her two young children with her. Meanwhile, Laurie gets some unexpected time off work  so leaves London to stay in Rachel's picture perfect cottage in Yorkshire. Both women are out of their comfort zones but maybe that is what they need in order to take stock of their lives.
I liked both characters  but I found Laurie's story a little more interesting, maybe as she is the character who I felt changed the most during the book. Her whole life has been consumed about work, she has almost forgotten who she is away from the office. The locals are highly suspicious of her so Laurie sets out to win them round.
Abby Clements links the two women's stories together very well and I liked how she tied everything together at the end. Her writing has a very warm and inviting style and I think she is one to look out for in the future.

Dot Scribbles Rating: 4/5

Many thanks to Quercus for sending me a copy of the book to read, Meet Me Under the Mistletoe is out now and as I said it would make a lovely Christmas gift.