About Me

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hi, I am a 40+ year old who loves jewellery and all things sparkly. I also enjoy trying out and reviewing new makeup products, finding stylish walking sticks, reading and writing book reviews. I will review anything from bird tables/ hedgehog houses to the latest fashion! My Instagram account is @sparkling_magpie

Thursday, 26 January 2023

Review: Dr Teal's Coconut Oil Foaming Bath

I purchased the Dr Teal’s Coconut Oil Foaming Bath (1000ml) via Amazon. It cost £8.99 with next day Prime delivery. 

The foaming bath oil is supposed to nourish, moisturise, soften and protect skin whilst you bathe. The oil is combined with Epsom Salts to ensure that your mind body is fully relaxed and soothed. The combination of the smell of coconut with Epsom Salt creates a sensory experience in the bath as you feel relaxed and enclosed in a warm coconutty bubble bath. 



I found the oil to be thick and gloopy and hard to dispense - I have little hands and found it hard to hold the bottle and squeeze the oil out. I found that I needed quite a lot to make a bath full of bubbles. I think a bottle would only last me three or four times, but maybe I am just too extravagant with it! The bubbles lasted a good 1/2 hour even after the bath cooled down. The water did look, feel and smell relaxing. There was a coconut scent which was still on my skin  a few days later. My skin felt nourished, soothed and moisturised and I felt relaxed in myself and I felt my sleep was less broken than usual.  

I enjoyed using this product and I will probably repurchase in the future. 


I purchased this item myself and the views expressed in this blog post are my own. 




Sunday, 8 January 2023

Book Review: One Night With Her Viking Warrior by Sarah Rodi

Raedan and Rebekah  are both Saxons who lived at Reystone Keep. Lady Rebekah had been sent there after the Danes attacked her home. She was burned but survived and went to live with her Uncle Cynerik. He wants her to marry her cousin, Lord Atol but she has fallen for Raedan, the stable boy. They have one night together then he vanished. Her Uncle told her that he is dead. As she sees no happiness in her future she agrees to marry Atol. Her Uncle does a few months later and Atol refuses to marry her unless she has a son. She has a daughter. 

Years pass and Rebekah is essentially the Lady of the Keep, without a marriage and forced to be Atol’s leman. Years pass and the Danes invade again, led by Halfdan. She is captured during the battle and realises Halfdan is actually Raedan. 

Raedan is devastated that Rebekah agreed to marry Atol so soon after she had been told he had died. In reality he had been captured and sold into slavery.  Years pass and he is bought and released by Jarl Knud and his sister. He became Halfdan and trained to be a warrior who quickly rose through the ranks. 

He leads the attack on the Keep and captured Rebekah. He thought he was over her but realises the chemistry between them is still there. Their secrets start to come out: he had been a slave, she had no part in his banishment or being sold into slavery and Atol had abused her. He decided to take her back to Nedergaard and returns to the keep to rescue her daughter Gytha from the Keep. 

Atol gives chase but they escape. Raedan takes Rebekah and her daughter to his home and they marry so he can protect them. There are still secrets to be uncovered, misunderstandings and enemies waiting to attack so the road to their HEA will not be easy!  

This is a second chance at love romance. The pair were ripped apart years ago and both have been treated very badly ever since then. When they meet again they are enemies but this transcends from barely standing the sight  of each other to slowly turn to trust and love as their secrets are shared. The plot line moves extremely quickly and includes themes of betrayal, battle, lust, love, and adventure. The story switches from seeing the story from the viewpoint of both the main characters. I don’t always enjoy novels with scenes written in the first person but it was well done and enjoyable to read. 

The characters, even the villains are full of character and larger than life. Rebekah is very determined and controlled whilst Raedan is a proficient warrior he shows another caring side when playing and interacting with Gytha. I wish the villains had been more severely dealt with by the author, they almost seem superfluous and forgotten  by the end of the novel. 

I love Mills & Boon UK and I think you will too! Click my personal referral link to get a discount on your first purchase http://rwrd.io/f4yjeqp?c 

I received this book via Netgalley and Mills and Boon in exchange for a honest review. I am a #MillsAndBoonInsider #netgalley #gifted








Monday, 2 January 2023

Book Review Falling Again For The Brazilian Doc by Luana DaRosa

Yara Silvia and Salvador Martins first met as teenagers 30 years ago. They fell in love but Yara’s parents disapproved and bribed her by paying for her medical school tuition if she dumped Sal. Sal was broken hearted but has moved on with his life. Yara is now a well known diagnostician, Sal a radiologist. He is bring up his nephew, Felix, as his brother is in prison. Sal’s long term relationship fell apart as hos partner couldn’t cope with Felix, whilst she is a commitmentphobe after a traumatic divorce. 

This is a second chance at love romance but with a twist. They meet when Yara returns to  work at the same hospital as Sal - the Centro Medico Juliana Amala Brasilia to work on a consultant on a case that is proving very difficult to diagnose.  There is still chemistry between the pair but as Sal’s last serious relationship was with Edinho he is concerned she will seem him differently whilst she doesn’t she still remains committed to being anti commitment. 

Yara solves the case and despite being offered a full time job at the hospital remains undecided. Felicity is admitted to hospital after falling off a wall and tells her that his uncle had been the happiest he has seen him in the past two weeks for a long time. Sal, however, feels guilt for his nephews’s accident and tells Yara it’s over. Will his nephew manage to persuade him to go after her? 

This is the first  time when  reading any Mills & Boon imprints bisexuality has been a mention or a (very brief) part of the plot line. The question to ask is: Did it add anything to the storyline or was it merely to broaden the appeal of the novel to a larger audience?  The whole issue of queerness, bisexuality and new relationships fitted into the storyline without feeling forced but it didn’t really add anything to the storyline. Maybe if Edinho had actually been a character who the readers could relate to, rather than merely mentioned in passing Sal’s bisexuality would have become a stronger  secondary storyline. 

The characters don’t really gel together. They seem superficial and don’t seem to warm to each other outside the bedrooms even though their respective backstories which shape their characters are outlined in the first few chapters. 

The artwork on the front of the book is unfair both the main characters are both Doctors from Brazil. Yes the photo is a handsome middle aged male but why couldn’t there have been a photo of a middle age ish woman on the front Of the book or a photo of two middle aged individuals as both are Doctors who fall in love again, or would that have been a step to far? 


I love Mills & Boon UK and I think you will too! Click my personal referral link to get a discount on your first purchase http://rwrd.io/f4yjeqp?c 

I received this book via Netgalley and Mills and Boon in exchange for a honest review. I am a #MillsAndBoonInsider #netgalley #gifted






Sunday, 1 January 2023

Book Review: Revealing Her Best Kept Secret by Heidi Rice

Four years ago Lacey had a one night stand with billionaire CEO Brandon Cade. He is involved in media companies and she was a 19 year old trainee journalist. She found herself sacked and consequently blacklisted in the media world, and pregnant. 

Several years on there have been massive changes to her life. She shared a flat with her sister and by changing her name from  Lizzy Devlin to Lacey Carstairs she has managed to resurrect her career as a journalist. She has a little girl, Ruby (her secret). 

She is told by her boss to go and interview Brandon. She is petrified he will remember her, but he doesn’t. He invited her to Paris for one night to a ball. They have another one night stand and he recognises her when he sees her unusual birth mark. Her sister rings and tells her Ruby is ill. Brandon flies them back to London in his private jet and realises he has a daughter. 

He is extremely angry and wants proof she is her daughter. When this is ascertained he demands Lacey should marry him. She refuses so he cleverly lets the press descend on the flat, naturally Lacey is relieved when he rescued them and whisks them off to his Wiltshire mansion, well away from the press. They get married and go on a honeymoon. Brandon will not share a bed with her and is upset she went on the pill without telling him. She is going to apply for a job with a rival  publication owned by a rival firm, which he forbids. There marriage is collapsing before it had had a chance. 

Brendan has unresolved issues with his mother selling him as part of her divorce. Unless he can come to terms with these he won’t be able to let go of the past and his marriage is doomed, but is he able to?

An enjoyable if predictable novel. Brendan’s character isn’t particularly relatable and who wouldn’t recognise an ex-one night stand? There would at least be an inkling of recognition. 


I love Mills & Boon UK and I think you will too! Click my personal referral link to get a discount on your first purchase http://rwrd.io/f4yjeqp?c 

I received this book via Netgalley and Mills and Boon in exchange for a honest review. I am a #MillsAndBoonInsider #netgalley #gifted