The Night before Christmas by Scarlett Bailey

I received a copy of this book after applying for one from the Ebury Women's Fiction Facebook page last month and very happily I was one of the lucky few to receive a copy.

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 something out of a Christmas card.

But her winter wonderland is ruined when 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...

Christmas is just about my favourite time of year and so when I saw this book and read the synopsis I just had to get a copy and read it. It has all the elements that you'd expect from a Christmas story, lots of family troubles, arguments and the odd stolen kiss. Alongside the main story there are some nods made to the more traditional Christmas stories, there's the boyfriends (past, present and possibly future too) there's the heavily pregnant woman due to give birth and the modern favourite of being snowed in at a remote location.

The description of the setting is wonderful, a remote house outside a village in the Lake District with a colourful history all of it's own! But, what made this book such a page turner for me was that all the characters are so well written, you get to feel as if you know them and can sympathise with them and what they are all going through. You want to keep reading just to make sure that everything turns out OK and that our Heroine gets together with the right man in the end and that all is well with all of her friends and their relationships too.


It all works together to make for a great read and I really do recommend this for anyone especially with Christmas fast approaching us now, it's a great Feel Good tale

Legacy by Danielle Steel

I was sent this book as I'm part of the Transworld book group (see here for details)

I have to say right here that I chose this book purely because of who the author is, I have read many Danielle Steel novels and have loved each and every one of them and being given the opportunity to read this one as part of the book group was not something I could pass up.

A tale of love, courage and family, interweaving the lives of two extraordinary women - a writer working in the heart of modern academia, and a daring young Sioux on an unforgettable journey in the eighteenth century.

Someday is Brigitte Nicholson's watchword. Someday she and the man she loves, Ted, will clarify their relationship. Someday she'll have children. Someday she'll finish writing her book. Someday she'll stop playing it so safe... Then something happens that changes Brigitte's life completely.

Struggling to plot a new course, Brigitte agrees to help her mother on a genealogy project - and makes a discovery that reaches back to the French aristocracy. How did Brigitte's ancestor, Wachiwi, a Dakota Sioux, travel from the Great Plains to the French court of Marie Antoinette? How did she come to marry into Brigitte's family? Brigitte decides to travel to South Dakota and Paris to follow the path of this exceptional young woman who lived so long ago. And as she begins to solve the puzzle of Wachiwi's journey, her quiet life becomes an adventure of its own.

A chance meeting and a new opportunity put Brigitte back at the heart of her own story. And with family legacy coming to life around her, someday is no longer in the future. Instead, someday is now.

As with all her other books this is a novel about overcoming adverse situations, about being totally knocked out of the life you're living and overcoming the odds that have mounted against you, doing your best to rise to the challenge and seeing where life takes you next.

When everything in her life changes Brigitte is a lost soul, not knowing what she wants to do nor being as engaged in writing the book she was so passionate about before. With this lack of enthusiasm and motivation she goes home to her Mother who enlists her help with tracing back how their family arrived in the America's and who came. After visiting the Mormon Family History Library she discovers Wachiwi in her ancestors and so begins her fascination with this young Sioux woman and how she came to go to France and seem to live out her life there.


Part of this book shows Brigitte's travels and how she finds out about Wachiwi and changes the course of her own life in the process and alongside this we also get to read about Wachiwi and how she came to go to France and what her life had been like all those years ago. We follow these two strong women who forge their own destiny once their formerly safe lifestyle is stripped away from them, the similarities between these relations separated by many generations is striking but maybe this courage to keep going is a family trait that Brigitte inherits from Wachiwi.

Even though I am slightly biased due to loving all of Danielle Steel's books I really have to say this one is amazing, such a strong storyline and as well written as all of her novels are. You easily get swept away with the plot, eager to see where the next twist will take you and hoping always for the happy ending which doesn't always come for the characters in her books and I'm not going to spoil anything by saying if either of the women in this story get their happy ending!

The Watchtower by Lee Carroll

After having read Black Swan Rising I just had to get hold of a copy of this book and read it to find out what happened next with Garet and Will. You should note right here that you really do need to read these books in order, reading this one before the first will spoil elements in that one for you but they are so well written that I know you will love both and like me be eagerly anticipating the third one in the series (The Shapestealer due for release June 2012) to find out how this love affair that has endured through the generations will end and if they can ever get over their differences successfully.

The last in a long line of women sworn to guard our world against evil, jeweller Garet James is struggling to come to terms with who – or what – she really is.

Will Hughes, the alluring four-hundred-year-old vampire who tasted her blood and saved her life, could help, but he’s disappeared. Garet believes he’s in France, searching for the Summer Country, the legendary land of the Fey where he might be freed from his vampire curse.

Desperate to understand her legacy, Garet follows Will. In Paris, she encounters strange, mythic beings – an ancient botanist metamorphosed into the city’s oldest tree, a gnome who lives beneath the Labyrinth at the Jardin des Plantes, a dryad in the Luxembourg Gardens – meetings that convince her she is on the right path.

But Garet is not the only one trying to find the way in to the Summer Country – and the closer she gets, the more dangerous it becomes...

As with the first book this is exceptionally well written, it's very easy to read and find yourself lost in the plot as it twists and turns. I found the switching by chapter between Garet's and Will's stories a little distracting at first but after a couple of chapters I found myself in the rhythm of how it was going and never really noticed it again.

In this book we learn a lot more about who Will was before he became a Vampire and the reasons why he made that choice, we also as the description above indicates, follow along with Garet's attempts to gain entry to the Summer Country so that she can find Will. At this point I'm not quite sure if she wants to find will to get her box back, because she believes she loves him or a bit of both but whichever it makes for interesting reading and for a thrilling ride. Again in this book, like the first, we delve into mythology we meet characters of legend and fairytale and see how they aide or hinder Garet and Will in their searches for happiness.

I am really trying to be careful with this book to not give too much away of the storyline as I really don't like that myself when I read reviews and find that I've read half the book's secrets within the review but it's so difficult with this one to not say much as it is an amazing book and I really want to encourage everyone to go get yourself copies of both of them, they are fantastic and you'll enjoy every minute you spend engrossed in their pages!

Nothing but Trouble by Rachel Gibson

I was sent this book as I'm part of the Transworld book group (see here for details)

This is the third of the books I have chosen to review and I was so happy to receive this one, I've not read any by this author before but I've really grown a passion for these frothy chicklit books over recent years which has made quite a difference to my previous favourite of gruesome horror novels!

Chelsea Ross knows she's a great actress. Which is lucky, as she's just got the toughest role of her life!

Washed up from Hollywood and in serious need of some cash, Chelsea jumps at the $10,000 opportunity to act as 'carer' to famous hockey player Mark Bressler, currently injured after a car crash. After all, how hard can it be to play nice and pick up after an incredibly hot invalid in need of her tender loving care?

Just three months of playing nurse and the cash is hers.But Mark Bressler doesn't need help. The moody hockey player's glory days may be over, but he has no intention of letting anyone aid his recovery, least of all the maddeningly cheerful Chelsea. He's determined to get her to quit – and Mark isn't the type to give in. But then again, neither is Chelsea...

I picked this one out mostly because it sounded like a fun read and it was, infact it was that good that once I started it I hardly put it down and had read it in a day, thankfully I didn't have much I had to do that day and my Fiance enjoyed the P&Q to watch his sports on TV!

The story flows well and you get to see different parts through both Chelsea's and Mark's eyes with the narration switching between both characters so you get to understand both sets of issues and the characters motivations throughout the book. 

Hearing how Mark is coping with the enormous changes to his life, dealing with the shock of his accident and the ending of his career. Enjoying his tricks and schemes as he tries to get Chelsea to quit and also understanding her motivations in dealing with all that he throws at her and keeping on going back day after day. Her driving need to complete her contract and gain the bonus so she can get something she desperately needs to be able to feel better about herself and who she is. There are also some wonderful secondary characters around these two which give the story a lot of colour and keep the plot moving ever forward onto the climax.



Yes there are those who criticise this type of book, yes a lot of them are based on the Mills&Boon style (man & woman meet, fall in love, split up, work it out & live happily ever after) but there is so much more to them than there used to be. The characterisation and style of writing in this one is superb, the side stories which fill out the battles between Mark and Chelsea and make for a whole story rather than just a romance. That we have a strong female lead must be the biggest break from the traditional romance that we see in this genre these days. Gone are the swooning, simpering females and income the women who know how to enjoy their life and get the most out of it but are still prepared to compromise when they can see it will get them a boon.

I really loved this book and would encourage anyone and everyone to read it, even if you think you don't like Chicklit books, give this one a go, you might just surprise yourself!

Black Swan Rising by Lee Carroll

I was sent this book as I'm part of the Transworld book group (see here for details)

So lets start up by showing you the blurb that made me pick this book out as my first choice to read and therefore the one I was most interested in

New York jeweller Garet James has her fair share of problems: money, an elderly father, a struggling business. One day she comes across an antiques shop she’d never noticed before. The owner possesses an old silver box that’s been sealed shut. Would she help an old man and open it, perhaps? She does...and that night strange things begin to happen. It’s as if her world – our world – has shifted slightly, revealing another, parallel place that co-exists without our knowledge: the world of the Fey…

Garet learns that one of her ancestors was 'the Watchtower': an immortal chosen to stand guard over the human and the fey worlds – a role that she has, it seems, inherited from her mother. But the equilibrium between these two existences is under threat. The 16th-century magician and necromancer Dr John Dee has returned, the box has been opened and the demons of Despair and Discord released. In a race against time and impending apocalypse, it is Garet who must find Dee...and close the box.

It sounded fascinating to me having read that and I'm so pleased to say that it hasn't disappointed me at all. In fact it has been a far better read than I could have hoped for. The description that I've copied in above does give a little of the basis to the storyline but there is so much more to it. I've found it to be a wonderful fantasy adventure set in the real world but also in a world where there are many more possibilities than most people suspect.

How would you cope if you suddenly found out that the world around you wasn't  what you always believed it to be? What about if you discovered that your Mother had kept the biggest of secrets from you? And that in that revelation the past, and even the very distant past, show just how much of an influence they have had over your life, to the extent that events that had happened were not only what they seemed to be at the time but also a portent of what was to come.


All these secrets Garet seems to take in her stride, she accepts so many new ideas in such a short time that it's so easy to get caught up with all her new experiences as well as discoveries about the past and the people around her, both new and old. The writing is very expressive and descriptive, allowing you to follow the story easily, eagerly awaiting the next development in the tale and enjoying the depth of storytelling that kept me riveted until the last page was turned. I have to say I did enjoy that the climax happened and then we got to see what happened to most of the characters for a while afterwards as well, so many books end with a climax and leave you wondering what happened next, was everyone really OK. Black Swan Rising is not one of those books, you're left at the end knowing a little of what happened after all the drama while the storyline is set up magnificently for book 2 (which I really cant wait for I just need to order my copy now!)


It is worth noting finally that "Lee Carroll" is actually a pseudonym. This wonderful book was actually written by award-winning novelist Carol Goodman and her poet husband Lee Slonimsky. After reading this, I'm eagerly anticipating getting my hands on the second book and I've also added a few Carol Goodman books to my wish-list in the hope that I find them as absorbing as I have this one.

Ultraviolet by R J Anderson

I was sent this book recently by the lovely people at Books with Bite on Facebook and it's finally hit the top of my "to read" pile.

When the opportunity arose for me to gain a copy of this book I jumped at the chance after reading the description online:

Once upon a time there was a girl who was special.
This is not her story.
Unless you count the part where I killed her.

Sixteen-year-old Alison has been sectioned in a mental institute for teens, having murdered the most perfect and popular girl at school. But the case is a mystery: no body has been found, and Alison's condition is proving difficult to diagnose. Alison herself can't explain what happened: one minute she was fighting with Tori - the next she disintegrated. Into nothing. But that's impossible. Right?

It sounds irresistible doesn't it? Well it did to me anyway, I love a good mystery and for the most part this is a great one.

It's well written and the characters are believable. You can understand Alison's motivations and empathise with her for most of what she's going through and the secondary characters personalities and motivations come through really well too which makes the book all the more engrossing

The twist in the book I almost saw coming but dreaded the idea and so didn't give in to the thoughts but when I was proven correct in my assumption I felt let down. I actually put the book down for over a day before going back to it and trying to resume. I'm not going to say what the twist is nor say which genre I feel this book really belongs in, that would give far too much away but I urge you to return to it again if like me it puts you off. The writing is excellent still and it really does turn into such a wonderful tale even if it's not a genre you read much of.

Ultraviolet is released on June 2nd 2011 and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys mystery, paranormal, romance type books so go find it in the Children's/Young Adult section :-)

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

I was recently sent this book to read and review, after picking it up the day before yesterday I found it very hard to put it down again and I finished the entire 405 pages already!

It's 1999 and for the staff of one newspaper office, the internet is still a novelty. By day, two young women, Beth and Jennifer, spend their hours emailing each other, discussing in hilarious detail every aspect of their lives, from love troubles to family dramas. And by night, Lincoln, a shy, lonely IT guy spends his hours reading every exchange. At first their emails offer a welcome diversion, but as Lincoln unwittingly becomes drawn into their lives, the more he reads, the more he finds himself falling for one of them. By the time Lincoln realizes just how head-over-heels he really is, it's way too late to introduce himself. What would he say to her? 'Hi, I'm the guy who reads your e-mail - and also, I think I love you'. After a series of close encounters, Lincoln decides it's time to muster the courage to follow his heart . . . and find out whether there really is such a thing as love before first-sight. Heartwarming, witty and unforgettable, ATTACHMENTS is an irresistible romantic comedy that has it all.

I admit I started this book with a little trepidation, I was concerned that the emails would be long epic ones like in some other similar novels but there I had a very pleasant surprise. The emails concerned were short quippy ones, like those we've all shared with friends at some point when having a conversation through email. They tell the stories of Beth and Jennifer well and we understand them, their lives and motivations far easier through these conversations than we would do through conventionally written chapters which means we get to share in more of their lives, past and present and learn who they are really and their hopes, dreams and fears rather than what they look like and long descriptive passages of where they are.


This is also somewhat true of Lincoln, although the chapters which involve him are conventionally written. Because the girls side is so abridged we get to spend more time with him, his family and friends learning about how his life has been and how it has led to him living with his Mother and working as an I.T. guy and yes, he is one of those who plays D&D as well but don't hold that against him, at least D&D players have friends!lol

It really is hard to try and explain why I loved reading this book without giving away too much of what happens so I'm going to have to leave it here and let you know that this is a fabulous read, perfect for lazing with on the beach this summer (or cosy by the fire if it's a typical British summer!lol) It's released on the 12th of May and is well worth picking up a copy as it's not just a romance story, there are some really funny moments in there as well.

The Woman He Loved Before By Dorothy Koomson

After reading the hype and other reviews about this book I was genuinely excited to be getting a copy to review. I've not read any of Dorothy Koomson's other works but do enjoy both a good romance and a good mystery story and that it what I found this book to be, good but not great.

The story begins with the main characters being involved in an accident and in flashbacks you discover more about them, how they met and their relationship together.

Jack is a man who seems to constantly be trying to crawl out of the shadow of his Father. Libby is Jack's insecure second wife constantly worrying that Jacks deceased first wife means more to him than she ever could. Finally there is Eve, Jack's first wife who has been dead for some time and yet her ghost lives on all around the characters. There are many other characters around these three but these are the main ones and those most important to the story.

After the accident we mostly follow Libby as she recuperates and watch as she uncovers Eve's diaries. We learn along with Libby about who Eve really was and what her life was like before she met Jack and during her relationship with Jack. We learn all the little secrets in her life and see the repercussions once it is made known the diaries have been found.

Like I said before, this is a good book, the storyline has a lot of positives to it but the main supposed twist was easy to spot coming chapters before it happened, it was more a case of "OK I was right" than "Oh I never saw that coming" and I found that the book just didn't grip me. When I find a book I love reading (and there have been many) I have trouble putting it down but with this one I had trouble picking it up so even though it is a good book, don't be swayed by the hype, it might not live up to it for you either!

Encore Valentine (AKA Brava, Valentine) By Adriana Trigiani

I was recently sent this book by the authors page over on Facebook and when I received it I just had to dive right in after seeing the cute cover even though having read the synopsis (below) I knew this was the second book to one I haven't read.

It really proved not to be an issue as the characters are written so well you get to know them here as much as you would do in any book so don't be put off if you haven't read 'Very Valentine' either although I am going to now!

As Encore Valentine begins, snow falls like glitter over Tuscany at the wedding of Valentine's grandmother. Meet the Roncalli and Angelini families, artisans of handcrafted shoes in Greenwich Village since 1903. Valentine's dreams are dashed when her grandmother names her brother and nemesis Alfred her partner at Angelini Shoes. A long-distance romance with the sexy Gianluca who lives in remote Tuscany seems impossible so Valentine tries to devote herself to her work. A once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity takes Valentine to Buenos Aires, where she finds a long-buried secret hidden deep within a family scandal. Once unearthed, the truth rocks the Roscallis, but Valentine is determined to hold her family together. More so, she longs to create one of her own, but is torn between a past love that nurtured her, and a new one that promises to sustain her.

When I first started to read this I was a bit discouraged by a couple of longish passages in Italian and a discussion which included a list of (famous?) names I'd mostly never heard of but I decided to ignore those very minor irritations for now and carry on as what I'd read about the book intrigued me.

I'm so glad I did, not long after that decision was made I was hooked, learning about the relationships and traditions between Valentine's family and friends and seeing how they all relate to each other. Cheering Gianluca on with his wooing of our heroine and yes, I did shed a few tears when events called for them, I had got that caught up with everyone and everything going on!

I know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover but in this case I think you should. The more I look at the cover on this book, the more details I see and that's just how this storyline works as well, the longer you read it the more details you pick out and the more you can understand the motivations of the characters involved. Yes, this is definately a Chick Lit novel but there really is nothing wong with that and if a few of the people so prejudiced against them would pick up and read some of the better examples (like this one) they would discover that for themselves.

Oh and right at the back there is a lovely bonus, some recipies inspired by the characters of Very Valentine!

Forbidden Pleasures by Jo Rees

This book tells the stories of two very different women over a period of five years. Their lives to the point they first meet couldn’t be much different! Savannah is the heiress who has everything except that which she wants and needs most. Lois: the ex-cop who’s always worked hard for everything she ever had only to have it taken from her. This story follows the characters as they learn and grow from the choices they made before the book was set and from those they are forced into making as we travel with them. We share the highs and lows that life throws at them both as they struggle against their own personal demons. 

Set mostly in Las Vegas but with visits to other mostly glittering locations around the world this is the story of how they first meet and of their lives as they flow in a similar direction until the end, which is actually where the book introduces us to them. Forbidden Pleasures starts at an awards ceremony where both women are vying for the same coveted prize and contemplating the mysterious (to this point) circumstances which lead to them both being there. We then travel back five years to the night they first met and to the dramatic events which shape this tale. Both women face and fight one of their darkest fears on this night, how each approaches this and how they survive the aftermath of their actions makes for a totally engrossing read.

When I first received Forbidden Pleasures, I had an idea of the type of read it would turn out to be from the cover art and comments. I have to admit to being very pleasantly surprised by it! I was expecting the usual easy to read summer story of lust and glitz, what I actually found was an incredibly well written, absorbing read which captured my attention and even threw in a few shocking moments that were not immediately obvious that they were about to happen. The characters are so well written that while we might not immediately sympathise with them, we can understand them and how they have evolved into who they are as the story starts to unfold.

This is a perfect book to take on holiday with you, but just remember to set an alarm to re-apply your sun cream as this is a real delight to read, it will grip you and not let go until you reach the end! There are a couple of ‘WOW’ moments hidden in here, where things happen that were totally unexpected but after you’ve read you can see the pointers that lead up to it, all I could do after I read them was to put the book down and stare into space re-thinking what I’d just read an imagining what my own reactions in those situations might have been before continuing on and finding out how those involved reacted themselves.

All in all I have to say this is one of the best books I have read this year. The roller-coaster ride that’s set in motion and which we ride alongside the characters is brought to a wonderful conclusion that doesn’t disappoint. It really is a must read book for this summer and I shall certainly be reading it again before too long!

Originally posted on my other blog on May 13, 2010 moved here on Feb 6th 2011