Each week I do an In My Mailbox feature. This feature looks at what books I received this week, including books for review, books from the library, books won in giveaway and books I received as gifts. Here are the books I received this week:
Some of you may know about RAK's already, for those of you who don't, its hosted by Book Soulmates . This is where we list the books that are on our wishlist in the hopes that through a RAK (Random Act Of Kindness) someone may buy them for us. Of course we reciprocate anything that you may send our way.
If you would like to send me one of the books listed in my wishlist below then please email me at chicklitaholic@hotmail.com for my details. If you have a RAK wishlist please let me know about it so I can send you something nice!
The House By The Sea (The Mermaid Garden) by Santa Montefiore When Was It Released?:21st July 2011 Where Did I Get It From?:The Publishers Who Published It?: Simon and Schuster UK Number Of Pages: 496 Pages
The House By The Sea, which in the US is titled The Mermaid Garden, follows two stories. The first set in Italy, follows fragile Floriana, who was abandoned by her mother, and her journey of falling in love with Dante, the son of a prestigious family. They first meet when Floriana is captivated by the beauty of La Magdalena, the beautiful home where Dante and his family spend their summers. Their relationship faces many obstacles from the outset including the issues of a rich and prestigious man dating a poor orphan girl.
The second story set in Devon England centres on Marina and her husband Grey who are trying desperately to save their hotel from financial issues. Marina comes up with the idea of hiring an artist in residence, Rafa, to try to attract more customers. The family and guests fall in love with Rafa who is hiding a deep and dark secret. The House By The Sea has everything that you could possibly want from a novel; romance, mystery, intrigue, beautiful destinations and memorable characters. It is such a beautifully written story with such descriptive detail that I found myself carried off to the destinations of Italy and the English coastline. I found the pace to be slow, which surprisingly I quite enjoyed, as it made the novel an extremely relaxing read that I wanted to delve into for hours and savour along the way. The way the novel is split into two different stories, which are intertwined although we do not find out how until the end, was really intrigued. I was constantly trying to figure out how the two stories were related and could not guess until very near the end. I enjoy when a novel leaves me guessing with the elements of mystery and suspense and The House By The Sea managed to do this beautifully while keeping me intrigued throughout.
All the characters within The House By The Sea are each facing their own inner turmoil’s, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading about. I felt as though this added extra depth to each character making me intrigued and sympathetic to each of them. I fell in love with Floriana who still manages to hold her head high and strive for happiness even after being abandoned by her mother. I felt her emotions throughout the novel and was willing her to get a happy ending. I also enjoyed reading about the character of Marina, who is suffering emotionally from being unable to conceive children. Once I saw underneath the rough façade that she has and into her true character I was deeply moved by her.
My only issue with this book was the length at almost 500 pages it is a long read. Generally I do not mind when books are of this length, however with The House By The Sea I felt that the length mixed with the slow pace of the novel worked against the storyline. This is defiantly not a book that you can read quickly instead it needs to be savoured and taken time over. I also really get annoyed with novels having different names in different countries. I find it gets very confusing, as I will think I have not read the novel and then realise I have but with a different name.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about exotic locations full of description. It is a beautifully written novel and I am very happy that I stumbled across it. This is my first Santa Montefiore novel and I cannot wait to read the next.
I have noticed that a lot of book bloggers including Misty at The Book Rat and Hayley at Ya-aholic among many others have started doing a monthly feature which looks at the TBR piles they have each month. I thought it would be fun to do something similar. I love seeing what everyone else is reading, therefore I thought you guys might like to see what I am reading.
I recently came across an fun and quirky post over at The Unread Reader and decided that I just had to participate. My Book Boyfriend is a weekly meme hosted by Missie from The Unread Reader. Many of us girls who love reading, from time to time develop crushes on the literary male characters within the novels we read. I know that I have definatly swooned over many characters within books. My Book Boyfriend allows us to bring those crushes to life just a little more by imagining what the character would look like if he were real.
I just finished reading California Dreamers by Belinda Jones and My Book Boyfriend for this week would have to be Milo. Want to find out why? Well read on..........
Blonde hair
Sun kissed skin
Professional Actor
Wine Connoisseur
Doesn’t always go for the hottest girl in the room
Loves being in the outdoors
Athletic
Doesn’t always go for the hottest girl in the room
Has a deeper side as his dad passed away young and it really affected him
Here are some quotes from California Dreamers that had me swooning over Milo:
Milo swoops in, whisks me off my feet and starts to carry me back to safety. Just like that I am in his arms, my hands very aware of the strength in his shoulder, my face just inches from his legendary jaw.
Milo tilts his head fondly at me “What?” “Your different,” he muses “Different to what?” Instead of replying he leans close and kisses me
I don’t even need to feign interest when I see Milo staring back at me - how many men can make a threadbare denim shirt look good? I always think of him as freshly sun kissed, as if he spends his days lying in a field staring up at the sky with a sleep smile on his face. When he’s not acting in blockbusters of course. He always brings an effortless charm to them.
I would cast Jason Lewis as Milo. You are more than welcome to drool along with me. Do you agree with my choice? And more importantly who have you chosen as your Book Boyfriend. Let me know
California Dreamers by Belinda Jones When Was It Released?: 21st July 2011 Where Did I Get It From?:Jaime at Hodder & Stoughton was kind enough to send a copy in exchange for a review Who Published It?: Hodder & Stoughton Number Of Pages: 303 Pages
Ever wished you could make over your life? Well this is the idea behind Belinda Jones latest novel California Dreamers. I have read many of Belinda Jones’ previous novels and loved that they are able to take me away to the exotic locations. I was excited to be transported to California again to find out exactly what was going to happen in Stella’s life.
Stella, a make up artist from London loves nothing more than helping other people change their image, but for herself she has no idea where to even begin. When Stella is given the opportunity to join glamorous Hollywood actress Marina Ray to do her make up on the set of her new movie, Stella cant resist the chance. After all California is the land of sunshine and opportunity. It seems Stella and Marina have more in common than they first though, with them both hiding secrets about the navy men in their lives. But are they really friends though, or does Marina have an ulterior motive?
Belinda Jones always manages to transport me to exotic destinations, making me feel as though I could actually be wherever she is describing. This is no exception with California Dreamers, where I truly felt at times as though I could have been in California. Her use of description is fantastic throughout, truly bringing the whole story to life. Within the novel the navy, and in particular relationships within the navy are prominent. Both Belinda and Marina have been involved in relationships with men from the navy. I really enjoyed the way in which this topic was focused upon, it is something that is hardly ever featured within women’s novels. I found this very refreshing and thought it shed a whole new like on a situation I am very unfamiliar with, especially because Belinda Jones herself has had first hand experience of this.
Throughout the first half of the novel the character of Milo is likeable, showing himself to be far away from a typical Hollywood actor, appearing instead to be extremely grounded. In the second half of the novel, however he seems to be glossed over a little, where he place a much less important role. I would have liked to see more of Milo throughout the entire novel. Stella is a good main character, I enjoyed the way the novel is told from her perspective and related to her emotions regarding wanted her life to take a different turn. At times I liked Marina, she has many moments of pure selflessness and then at other times I found her annoying when she took Stella for granted. The star of the novel was Bodie, Marina’s dog was absolutely adorable and really brightened up any slow moments within the novel.
I did find the novel became a little slow at times. The premise of the novel was a good one which could potentially have been great if there was a little more to the storyline. I also would have enjoyed to learn a little more about the two male characters who are in the navy Jonathon and Jeff as I felt as though I did not get to know them well enough to like them. Finding out more about the make up aspect of Stella’s job may also have added another layer to this novel. I felt that even though Stella is a makeup artist there was very little focus on the job.
I did enjoy reading California Dreamers, however I did find that it was not up to Belinda Jones’ usual standard of her past novels. That being said this is still a fun, glitzy read that can be enjoyed on the beach, as a great holiday read or curled up on the sofa with a cup of cocoa. I would still recommend giving California Dreamers a chance especially if you have enjoyed previous novels of Belinda Jones. Here’s looking forward to the next instalment from Belinda Jones.
To determine the winners of Goddess Of Vengence by Jackie Collins I assigned numbers to all the entires and chose two at random. Thankyou so much to everyone who entered.
The winners are:
Mimi
and
Amanda
Congratulations to you both!
You have 48 hours to claim your prizes. I have also emailed you both as well.
Remember you can visit Jackie Collins at her website
When Was It Released?:30th August 2011 Where Did I Get It From?:Laurie Conners at Willow Morrow was kind enough to send this to me in exchange for a review Who Published It?: William Morrow Number Of Pages: 294 pages
The Dark Glamour is the second novel in the 666 Park Avenue series, with the first novel being aptly named 666 Park Avenue. I was very excited to read this novel when I first heard about it. I love novels which involve witches in any shape or form. I think this stems from my love of the television show Charmed when I was younger, and perhaps a little bit from The Witches. Ever since then I have been fascinated with witches and whenever a book comes along features these interesting characters I am always eager to snap it up.
Jane married the man she thought was her prince charming, however her happily ever after never came. Why? Because she found out not only is she a witch but so is her controlling mother in law, who tries to steal Jane’s powers. Jane manages to run away from her mother in law on he wedding day and is now hiding out. When Jane realises that everyone is looking for her she learns the one thing her mother in law wants most and sets out to try and get it. What Jane hopes will take her away from her mother in law ends up taking her right back under their noses. With the help of her friends and a unique spell Jane is transformed into someone else entirely, Ella to stop anyone realising her true intentions. Will Jane be able to find what her mother in law wants most and will she be able to escape once and for all?
Even though The Dark Glamour is the second novel in the series, and I am still yet to read the first novel, I found that I did not get lost in the plot at any point. This is a novel that you an very much read as a stand alone as well as part of the series. Many of the previous events are explained in detailed therefore I was able to follow the storyline easily. That being said the new storyline still moves along at a good pace without being held back by explaining the plot of the first novel. I really enjoyed Gabriella Pierce’s style within this book, I particularly enjoyed the dialogue with the character interactions finding them to flow freely and realistically. As well as this I really enjoyed the descriptions as well. At times I felt as though I could have been wherever Jane was. I really enjoy when I am able to get carried off into a book with the use of descriptions.
In terms of the characters I really enjoyed reading about Jane, I found her to be likeable and I felt moved by the situations in which she is placed. When Jane turns into Ella however, I felt that not only did her outer appearance change but also it seemed as though her inner character changed too. Ella acts more provocatively then I imagine Jane would do. Within the storyline there is a relationship between Ella and one of the other male characters, which I felt moved along much too quickly for my liking and made it appear as though Ella was very promiscuous. I did however find all of Jane’s friends to be fun to read about, adding a much needed injection of humour to the plot at times. I also enjoyed the inclusion of the character of Charles for the very same reason. I have to say that I did not enjoy reading about Andre. I found him to be very mysterious but yet I just did not like him at all. His character comes across as very self absorbed and I did not learn much about him from the novel. I feel maybe if Gabriella Pierce had added more about Andre and who he is, then I would have been more interesting in reading about him.
There are a couple of places in the novel where I felt things were missing. For example there is talk of passports for Jane’s alter ego before she transforms into Ella, but for Ella herself there is no talk of a passport. Ella travels to London within the novel, yet how would someone who does not exist be able to get a passport? I also felt as though there was a large amount of time within the novel where Jane mentally debates many things that she is doing. This became a little too much at times and the plot slowed down significantly during these instances.
Overall I really enjoyed The Dark Glamour, finding it to be fun, intriguing and glamorous. I found this novel to be almost a mix between Gossip Girl and Charmed, therefore if you like either of these I’m sure you will love this novel. The cover of this and the previous novel is gorgeous with the mix of gothic and girly and think both novels would look great on any book shelf. The ending in particular was fantastic and leaves the storyline open for a potential third novel in the 666 Park Avenue series. After reading The Dark Glamour I am defiantly looking forward to the third instalment and would without a doubt read more from Gabriella Pierce in the future.
The House By The Sea has everything that you could possibly want from a novel; romance, mystery, intrigue, beautiful destinations and memorable characters. It is such a beautifully written story with such descriptive detail that I found myself carried off to the destinations of Italy and the English coastline. I found the pace to be slow, which surprisingly I quite enjoyed, as it made the novel an extremely relaxing read that I wanted to delve into for hours and savour along the way. The way the novel is split into two different stories, which are intertwined although we do not find out how until the end, was really intrigued. I was constantly trying to figure out how the two stories were related and could not guess until very near the end. I enjoy when a novel leaves me guessing with the elements of mystery and suspense and The House By The Sea managed to do this beautifully while keeping me intrigued throughout. 
My only issue with this book was the length at almost 500 pages it is a long read. Generally I do not mind when books are of this length, however with The House By The Sea I felt that the length mixed with the slow pace of the novel worked against the storyline. This is defiantly not a book that you can read quickly instead it needs to be savoured and taken time over. I also really get annoyed with novels having different names in different countries. I find it gets very confusing, as I will think I have not read the novel and then realise I have but with a different name. 
Milo swoops in, whisks me off my feet and starts to carry me back to safety. Just like that I am in his arms, my hands very aware of the strength in his shoulder, my face just inches from his legendary jaw. 
