‘To new beginnings!’ I lift my glass up high in the air.
And we all cheer.
‘To new beginnings!’
Q. Cupcakes at Carrington’s is famous for its Red Velvet Cupcake. If you could create a cupcake that sums up your life, what would it be and why?
A. Ooh, such a brilliant question, it would have to be a chocolate cupcake with a swirly whipped cream peak smothered in a trillion red heart sprinkles, because I’m such a romantic and love playing Cupid.
Q. We know that Georgie loves her handbags and red velvet cupcakes, what are a few of your favourite things?
A. Baking – I love everything about it, I find it cathartic and cosy and delicious and … I could go on and on about how wonderful it makes me feel. Nathan – he’s definitely my favourite man, and the memory of marrying him on that picturesque Italian hillside with the scent from the lemon grove in the warm breeze, is something I shall treasure forever.
Q. I am going to give you 4 names and I would like you to tell me what cakes springs to mind and why?
A. Georgie: Red Velvet cupcake, because I know it’s her favourite.
Eddie: Lemon curd Queen of Hearts Tart, because he’s wickedly acerbic with a heart of gold and very loyal … if he likes you!
Nathan: Triple-tiered Victoria sponge cake, because he’s solid and traditional.
Mrs Grace: A lavender cupcake, because she reminds me of my granny who always smelt of lavender.
Q. Who inspires you in life?
A. Mary Berry! I love her, no … I actually want to be her!
Q. You are a great friend to Georgie and always there with helpful advice. If you could give one bit of advice to live your life by, what would it be?
A. Be happy, smile, eat cake and have sex if you want to!
Q. What are you hoping the future holds for you, Georgie and Eddie?
A. Lots of love, laughter and happiness. Oh, and plenty of delicious creamy-peaked cupcakes with gold glitter sprinkles.
Thanks for the questions Kirsty, do pop in and see me some time - we can share a cupcake or three xxx
Q: You used to work at Carrington’s as Tom’s BA. What was the best thing about that job?
A: Ooooh, good question, will you judge me if I say … the staff discount?!? It was very generous, and one can never have enough Tom Ford suits. The tailoring is exquisite. But I loved the job too, well, some of the time … Popping into Sam’s café, Cupcakes At Carrington’s, for a takeaway coffee and a cream horn, which I would take to my office to enjoy while I dealt with the post and thumbed through Tom’s diary – checking his appointments, making sure he was organised for the day. Then, I would pop down to the ground floor for a good gossip with Georgie, usually followed by a bit of admin in the afternoon. Ah, those were the days, the simple life. JOKE
Q: You’ve known Georgie for ages. How exactly did the two of you meet?
A: At the Lucky Voice karaoke bar – Georgie got up to sing Britney and I knew right away that we were twinsies!
Q: Describe your perfect date with your adorable boyfriend, Ciaran?
A: Most likely drinks at Soho House, New York, followed by a helicopter trip for dinner on a lantern-lit private beach on Cayman Brac.
Q: If you were a ‘dramality’ star, what is the first thing you’d change about yourself?
A: Darling, I’m already a star! Nothing to change here …
Q: If you could have one thing from Sam’s café, Cupcakes At Carrington’s, for the rest of your life, what would it be?
A: A cream horn – every pun intended.
Thank you and a big kiss to you, sweet pea! xoxoxoxo
Q: What is your favourite ice cream flavour?
A: Definitely the special regatta one, mulberry and cinnamon crumble, it’s truly scrumptious, but then the bubble gum one is very mm-mmm too.
Q: What would your dream handbag be and can you describe it for us? Colour, brand, we want to know it all!
A: Ah, this is easy – it’s from the Georgie Bag range. I have the satchel in fluoro pink with a Benedict Cumberbatch picture engraved in gold on the inside.
Q: What is the best thing about working at Carrington’s?
A: Well, I love everything about it, but if I had to whittle it down to just a few things then it would be seeing my friends every day and being surrounded by beautiful handbags, fragrances and clothes in a place where nothing bad ever happens, or so it seems to me.
Q: You’re dating the DROP DEAD GORGEOUS Mr Carrington (we’re all very jealous!) – what would your dream date with him be?
A: Thank you, he is rather delish! And I’ll tell him you said so . I think my dream date will be our wedding, if we ever find the time to organise it. I hope to do that very soon.
Q: Have you always wanted to work at Carrington’s?
A: Yes, ever since I was a little girl visiting the Mulberry-On-Sea store with Mum, it’s a special place that holds lots of memories for me.
Q: You hang out with the FABULOUS Eddie who is the king of fashion … can you give us your best fashion tip?
A: Always check where your skirt is after using a public bathroom.
Q: If you were to recommend something from Sam’s Cafe that we should all try, what would it be?
A: Oh definitely my favourite cupcake, the red velvet with a swirly buttercream icing peak. Mm-mmmm.
Thanks for the wonderful questions Megan and I hope to see you instore very soon xxx
Acknowledgements
Dear Reader
This is the fourth story in the Carrington’s series and I really hope you enjoy it!
Firstly, a big, huge MASSIVE thank you to everyone who takes the time to chat to me via my website or on Twitter and Facebook; I couldn’t do it without you. You mean the world to me. You spur me on and make it all worthwhile. Thank you so much xxx
Special thanks to my fantastic agent, Tim Bates, for putting up with me and for continuing to tell me what’s normal. Many thanks also to my wonderful editor, Kate Bradley, for keeping me calm and making me laugh and for telling me I’m a drama queen, I wear it like a badge of honour. Many thanks to the amazing Harper team – Kimberley, Martha, Jaime and Liz – for their support, talent and expertise. And to Penny for perfect pruning.
Thanks as always to Kimberley Chambers, Miranda Dickinson, Elizabeth Haynes and Sasha Wagstaff – your generosity and friendship is so very much appreciated.
Lisa Hilton and Caroline Smailes – thank you my dear friends for always being there and for propping me up when I needed it most during the writing of this book!
A big thank you to Janine Quinn and Lisa Maguire for New York, Tim Smyth for Andorra, Liz Banner for Isabella’s Italian, Louise Micu and Ann Faithfull for telling me about Winifred at Hanningtons and Naldo Morelli for all things ice cream, especially the truly scrumptious Morelli bubble gum flavour ice cream which I can highly recommend, it’s very mm-mmm, as Georgie would say.
Jadzia Kopiel, for helping me to keep on keeping on – you’re the wisest woman I know. My lovely, supportive father-in-law, Dr Brown, for helping with the medical details and for sharing the memories of his family’s department store, Brown’s in Newtonards. I hope I’ve captured a whiff of the memory. Yeeman To, for being a fantastic sales assistant and telling me all about it; your generosity is very much appreciated and any exaggerations or fabrications are totally down to me.
QT, for patiently waiting until I had finished this book before we could go to the cinema to see Frozen! You mean the whole world to me, sweetheart, you’re the bravest, brightest, funniest little girl who makes all the right choices (well, most of the time ) and I love you with all my heart xoxoxo. Oh gawd, I’m going to cry, YET AGAIN. My lovely husband Paul, aka Cheeks, for holding the fort and never complaining – you are still my happy-ever-after.
And to my readers, book bloggers and dear friends online, you are all magnificent. I love chatting to you and feel honoured to be a part of your lives; it’s truly awesome how the world is a
far smaller place now that we have social media. So come join the party. I love seeing pictures of your handbags, kittens, puppies, Christmas trees, copies of my books, cupcakes (well, all of the cake, to be honest), chatting about Revenge, Corrie, EastEnders, The Good Wife and all of the films and TV shows that we love. I feel honoured when you get in touch to share personal things with me – to tell me how the Carrington’s series has helped you through a difficult time in your life, or how you found the courage to come out after reading about Ciaran and Eddie; your own experience of bullying from hearing Georgie’s story – your time in care as a child, too; or how you got that dream job, or that you just want to know what ‘blimey’ means. So find me on Twitter @alexbrownbooks, Facebook.com/alexandrabrownauthor or at www.alexandrabrown.co.uk and I promise to reply as quickly as I can.
Now, please sit back, relax and enjoy Ice Creams at Carrington’s. I wrote this one for you!
Luck and love
Alex xxx
About the Author
Alexandra Brown is the author of the Carrington’s series; set in a department store in the pretty seaside town of Mulberry-on-Sea, it follows the life, loves and laughs of sales assistant, Georgie Hart.
Alexandra is the former City Girl columnist for The London Paper and has written for a range of publications including YOU Magazine, Cosmopolitan and Elle. When she isn’t writing, Alexandra likes to indulge her online shopping addiction while watching trashy TV and tweeting way too much. She lives near Brighton, on the South Coast of England, with her husband, daughter and a very shiny black Labrador puppy.
Website: www.alexandrabrown.co.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/alexandrabrownauthor
Twitter: @alexbrownbooks
Also by Alexandra Brown
Cupcakes at Carrington’s
Me and Mr Carrington
Christmas at Carrington’s
New to the fabulous series of the world of Carrington’s? Try CUPCAKES AT CARRINGTON’S, the first book in the series
Georgie Hart loves her job – running the luxury handbag concession at Carrington’s department store in the pretty seaside town of Mulberry-on-Sea, and treating herself (once too often!) to a red velvet cupcake with buttercream icing in Carrington’s café.
But Georgie is thrown into disarray when Carrington’s is plunged into a recession-busting makeover, cueing the arrival of femme fatale Maxine, who wields the axe in her immaculately-manicured hands. It spells a recipe for disaster for Georgie and soon she is fighting not only for her job, but also for the attentions of her gorgeous boss, James. And when hot newcomer Tom arrives, who may or may not be the best thing since sliced bread, Georgie must decide where her loyalties really lie …
Click here to buy now
Wondering what happened between CUPCAKES and CHRISTMAS?
ME AND MR CARRINGTON is an ebook-only exclusive short story. Click here to buy now
Fancy a festive treat? Try Christmas at Carrington’s, a deliciously indulgent read and the follow up to Cupcakes at Carrington’s
Georgie Hart loves Christmas time at Carrington’s Department store. Running the luxury handbag department, she adores helping customers in the hunt for the perfect gift for the perfect someone. And this year is no exception – now she has the hunky Tom, Mr Carrington himself, to spend the special day with.
But when Tom springs a surprise, Georgie’s plans are thrown into chaos. Carrington’s is getting a fresh lease of life in a hot new reality TV show, featuring formidable retail guru, Kelly Cooper.
As the first show airs, Georgie is shown in a far from flattering light. Worse is to come when Kelly’s vile daughter appears to get her claws into Tom. Georgie fears this will be the worst Christmas ever, but Santa still has a little surprise for her stocking this year – she’ll just have to wait until Christmas to find out …
Click here to buy now
Copyright
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
77–85 Fulham Palace Road
Hammersmith, London W6 8JB
www.harpercollins.co.uk
First published in Great Britain by Harper 2014
Copyright © Alexandra Brown 2014
Cover illustration © Sarah Gibb
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2014
Alexandra Brown asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780007488278
Ebook Edition © June 2014 ISBN: 9780007488285
Version: 2014-04-24
About the Publisher
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Epilogue
Sam’s Recipes
Kirsty interviews Sam
Kevin interviews Eddie
Megan interviews Georgie
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Also by Alexandra Brown
Copyright
About the Publisher
Ice Creams at Carrington’s Page 26