Book Review: Ice Creams at Carrington's by Alexandra Brown

"Georgie Hart and Carrington’s Department Store have got the world at their feet. Since a reality TV series put them both on the map, life has been amazing! Carrington’s profits are in the pink, Georgie has carved herself a place in the nation’s heart and her romance with Tom, the store’s boss, has finally blossomed.

Now summertime has come to Mulberry-on -Sea and Georgie is in great demand. The town is holding a big summer festival and she and her mates from Carrington’s are planning on making sure that Mulberry puts on the show of its life!

But Georgie is about to get the offer of a lifetime – one that is just too good to turn down and something that will test her loyalties to their limits… Will Georgie be able to pull off it off once again, or has her luck finally run out?"

Rating: 4/5

You can buy Ice Creams at Carrington's as a paperback or an eBook now.

I do love a good book series, so when Alexandra Brown first released her Carrington's series, I was really excited to start liking some new characters and get stuck into a new book series at long last. Ice Creams at Carrington's is the third book in the series, a gorgeous summery read that you'll want to be reading on the beach or at least in your garden on the sunlounger with an ice cream of your own in your hand! I love the cover as well, it's perfect for the book and matches the rest in the series too, which I always like. So here's why I think Ice Creams at Carrington's is the perfect summer read.

Georgie Hart is back, and is more successful than ever with her job at Carrington's department store. She's still happily in love with her boyfriend Tom, and it seems like life is treating her well. Carrington's is successful as a business, and with summer approaching, the store decides to sponsor the local summer festival in Mulberry-on-Sea. Georgie is put in charge of helping to organise the stalls and manage the store's input in the festival too due to her popularity after starring on a reality show based around Carrington's. However, Georgie soon realises the scale of the job she's taken on, and is being pulled in all sorts of directions.When she gets the offer of a lifetime, Georgie is torn between her loyalty to Carrington's and this amazing opportunity... which one will Georgie choose when push comes to shove?!

While you don't have to have read the previous books in the series to enjoy this one, it obviously helps to know the backstory of Georgie and Carrington's, as things are referenced. However, if you haven't read the other books, this is still a very enjoyable read and there's enough in there to tell you all you need to know. As this is the third book, I feel like I've gotten to know these characters really well, especially Georgie, Tom and Georgie's best friend Sam, who owns the cake shop within Carrington's. Georgie is the same as always - hard-working, kind and very dedicated to her job, but I liked that she was presented with a bit of a challenge in this book about what she really wants, and gets to travel a little as well, that was different!

I loved the idea of the summer festival - it's something that happens quite often in seaside town and it was easy to picture Mulberry-on-Sea in my mind covered in all the ice-cream vans, stalls and people milling around. The planning side isn't a piece of cake for Georgie though, and there are quite a few funny moments involving this that made me smile! As well as the funny and light-hearted bits of the book, there are quite a few serious sides to the book too, especially involving Georgie's best friend and new mum Sam. I really enjoyed these scenes, they were so well written, and Brown has really done them justice. She handled the emotion and feeling delicately and weaved this story alongside the main plot so well.

It was nice for the book to take a bit of a detour outside of Mulberry-on-Sea for a while, but I won't spoil it and say where Georgie goes on her travels! I liked the addition of this part of the book, and it really added a good element to it. If you've enjoyed the previous books in the series, then you'll definitely want to read this and find out what's next for Georgie and the Carrington's crew. I love reading about Georgie and Tom's relationship and how it grows throughout the books too, it's a sweet love story between those two! I'm hoping that there's still more to come for Georgie, and that we haven't left her behind for good now Alexandra is bringing out a new three-part series set in Tindledale with some new characters This is a lovely, light-hearted summer read that you'll definitely need to pop in your suitcase or on your kindle this summer!