Raven - Rachel Morgan

Raven is the newest book in the Creepy Hollow series. The first 3 were Violet's story, moving on to Calla's story in the next 3. Raven is the second of the short, companion novellas.

This is actually a lovely story to read on it's own, but I strongly recommend reading all the books as they are just so wonderful! Rachel Morgan has been one of my favourite authors ever since reading the first of the series, The Faerie Guardian.

Raven is a wonderful character, smart and level headed, despite almost being faerie royalty. When she stumbles across a murderous plot that may or may not involve her, her life is turned side down. This is a short book but there is still time for Raven to develop and also for a twist that will surprise you. I can't wait for more books.

I absolutely love reading the stories of other characters from the Creepy Hollow world. It is great seeing how some of the lesser known personalities fit in together. I especially liked the glimpse of Tora, who we already know as a guardian mentor, as a young precocious child. It makes me rethink parts of the previous books and now I want to re-read them to see what insights this brings to the previous stories.

I love that Faerie hair is two-toned, which I would so love to do for my hair. So the perfect complement to this book is something lovely I've made using blue and red ingredients.

Pour half a shot of blue curacao into a flute or similar glass. Then nearly fill the glass with prosecco, turning it blue. Very carefully drizzle in a little grenadine so it settles at the bottom of the glass, giving a lovely multicoloured, layered drink! I'll call it the Faerie Mane.

I have only just started decorating my Christmas tree so all it has is lights at the moment but I still think it's a great backdrop for my cocktail. Work has been so busy that I haven't had time to decorate but this is definitely the next task on my massive To Do list.

The Ice Twins - S.K. Tremayne

Lydia, one of Sarah's identical twin daughters, died a year and a half ago. Or did she? Suddenly Kirstie has decided she is actually her sister Lydia, and says that it was Kirstie who died in the accident all that time ago. 

But is she telling the truth? They are so identical that no one can tell the difference between them, could it be possible that Sarah got it so wrong?

When they were born, it was the coldest day of the year. They had such light blonde hair and ice blue eyes, that their father called them the ice twins. This is where the name of the book comes from.

There's plenty of amazing imagery in the book too, with the cold lochs and mountains of Scotland. And the eerie, haunting descriptions of the island which the family move to.

I found this book thrilling and mysterious! I never could have guessed the truth, all through I imagined many things and there are hints and clues to all sorts of secrets but the real story is way crazier than anything I thought.

I did find it a bit hard to relate to the characters, both Sarah and Angus are so different to me. In particular, Sarah's relationship with her daughter and how she felt jealous of the sisterly bond her twins had.

The cocktail of choice for this book is my Ice Blue Margarita on the rocks. I recently had a request for a margarita but unfortunately (or fortunately) I was all out of triple sec. Luckily, I have a new bottle of Blue Curacao which has a similar flavour and turns the drink an amazing ice blue colour. I think it's the perfect icy cocktail to drink with this book and doesn't it look cool?

First of all, prepare your glass with a salt rim. The easiest way is to rub a half lime around the rim of the glass and then dip the glass into a small saucer with salt. You can also have some fun with this, using different mixtures such as chilli or sugar, but the traditional one for tequila and still my favourite is simply salt.

Into a cocktail shaker, add a shot each of tequila and lime juice, half a shot of blue curacao and a dash of sugar syrup. Shake with lots of ice, then pour over even more ice in the glass.

An extra, perfect touch would be to add some dry ice to invoke the mists of Scotland. I would love to experiment with dry ice but have yet to try it out!

The Secret Ingredient of Wishes - Susan Bishop Crispell

Rachel has a secret ability she can't let out in case she hurts the people she loves yet again. When she was a child she made a wish she didn't mean that changed everything and since then she has refused to use her gift.

But then one day she gets lost, and ends up in the one place where she might just be able to find herself. When she meets someone just as strange as she is, she realises that it is possible to do good and embrace the possibilities. Catch takes her in and is so open about her own gift that Rachel allows herself to hope that maybe one day she too can control her wishes. Catch can bake secrets into pies so that they are forgotten, and with this she helps the people of her town. If only Rachel can learn to do the same, she hopes she can find a way to live with herself and settle in the town she has come to love. Along with a certain someone whose friendship is starting to feel like more.

I enjoyed this book so much, I didn't want to put it down and could not wait to get back to it when I had to stop for boring interruptions such as work! If you love books with a touch of magic, like those of Cecilia Ahern and Sarah Addison Allen, you'll really enjoy this. In fact, Susan Bishop Crispell has now been added to my list of favourite authors. I really can't wait to read more from her.

The author's descriptions of Catch's pies are absolutely amazing, you can really imagine cutting into them, smelling the aromas, shame they weren't really in front of me, though I'd probably be the size of a house if I was living with Catch!

The perfect cocktail to go with this book is one of my own, the Apple Crumble. Reading about the fruits and pies Catch was baking, made me think of this yummy cocktail!

In a shaker, add 1 shot of gin, 1 of apple sourz, 1 apple juice, 1/2 lemon juice and a dash of gingerbread syrup. Shake with lots of ice, till the shaker frosts over. Strain into a martini glass.

Off the Page - Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

I really enjoyed this book. It is actually a sequel but I heard of this one first and for some reason the
first didn't appeal to me as much. It states that this can be read as a standalone and it totally works as one, though I do wonder how different the experience would have been if I read 'Between the Lines' first. I tend to enjoy revisiting the lives of characters in books I loved so it might have made this even better, but somehow I still don't have any urge to read the first book. I might (probably will) do in the future but for now I am in no rush.

Setting the scene, Delilah is in love with Oliver, a character in a fairy tale she read. Somehow, together they manage to get him out of the book and into her world. Happy ever after? Not quite and that is where this story picks up. Between trying to convince the rest of the world that this is how things should be, and the book trying to put things back to how they were, Delilah and Oliver have a tough time ahead of them. But for anyone worried about the lovebirds - spoiler alert - there are plenty of happy endings.

Interspersed between the chapters are pages written from someone else's perspective, and this adds another hint of mystery. This is not resolved till the end, but is very satisfying and doesn't interrupt the story line.

A pretty obvious cocktail choice (and one I discovered around the time I was reading the book) is the Twisted Fairy Tale Fizz by the Martini Diva. You can find all the details here:

http://themartinidiva.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/twisted-fairytale-cocktail-for-once.html

Doesn't it sound magical? Martini Diva has tons of amazing and unusual cocktails, a great inspiration when I've had some excess ingredients and didn't know what to do with them.

Flawed - Cecelia Ahern

First of all, some gushing...

Oh My God! I don't know where to start with this one. I'm determined that this will be the subject of my first post but I'm scared I won't be able to do it justice, in fact I know I won't be able to do it justice but I have to try, and I hope it won't all come tumbling out as even more gushing, no matter how much I want to.

Secondly, read this book. No matter what you're into, no matter what you expect, it is going to be better.

I was lucky enough to win a copy on twitter but I would have bought it anyway, as I love Cecilia Ahern's books. As I also love Young Adult, I knew this was going to be good, what I did not know was that this was way harder to read than any of the adult books she has written.

So, I read this and then made my mum read it. Then we both made my sister read it, she read it twice in one week! Gave it to a friend who stayed up all night to finish it and then gave it to her sister. We all have different tastes in books but none of us could put the book down. I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever get it back! Next I think I'll try it on my dad who never reads anything but the paper.

'Never trust anyone who walks into your house and sits at the head of the table' this is a great quote from the book and tells you a lot. Celestine lives in a world where everything is perfect.She has a wonderful family and the perfect boyfriend. Anyone who is less than perfect is branded so that the rest of the world knows exactly what you've done wrong. In a split second decision, Celestine does something that changes her life forever. Now she will have to decide, admit to being flawed or save herself by doing something that will truly prove she is flawed.

As you read the book you learn more and more about all the characters, even those who seem 2 dimensional soon prove they have more to them than you first thought, and some of them are really not as you think.

Warning!!! The book concludes in part 2, out in April 2017. When I realised it nearly knocked me out but I have survived 5 months so I think I might be able to survive the rest. As long as it doesn't get pushed back even further. I really can't cope much longer.

Now, the perfect cocktail for the perfect book, the French 75. Not only is this one of the most perfect drinks, the reason champagne bubbles is due to the tiny imperfections in the glass, which seeds the bubbles. Plus this is one of my favourite drinks, really easy to make, but impressive to serve.

Simply shake 1 1/2 shots of gin, 1/2 shot of lemon juice and a dash of sugar syrup with plenty of ice. Strain into a glass and top up with champagne or prosecco. This is traditionally served in a flute glass but I like to use a vintage glasses to make it feel extra special!

I like to mix it up with different types of syrups, for example rosemary or spiced orange. These are easy to make at home too. Enjoy!

Me!

Books and cocktails are 2 of my favourite things. I love making cocktails and I WISH I could write a book!In the meantime I'll carry on reading like crazy. So this is going to be primarily a book review blog and whenever I can, I'm going to post a cocktail recipe inspired by the book.One of my other favourite things is astronomy so in addition I might have to drop some spacey things in here when they come up too. You never know, maybe one day I'll open a library bar on the moon...