Cupcakes at Carrington's

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…

My opinion: I have wanted to read this book since it was first published, and I have no idea what took me so long! Other than the fab sounding story I was attracted by the beautiful cover!

The main character Georgie is a hard working girl who really loves her job working in her local family owned department store. When a consultant is brought in to try and give the store a high end makeover, Georgie's life is thrown into disarray as she is unsure of the safety of her job. It also transpires that perhaps she isn't dealing with her past as well as she thought she was. And let's not get started on her complicated love life!

The descriptions of Carrington's brought back memories of the old family run department store that I visited when I was growing up, only with a lot more designer goods! The characters are really likeable, particularly Georgie and Eddie, and the author has done a brilliant job of keeping us in the dark about whether or not we can trust some of Georgie's colleagues. I really liked that Georgie was a very down to earth, normal girl (who has her fair share of embarrassing moments) and I could imagine being friends with her.

Some parts of the book are laugh out loud funny and I had tears in my eyes when reading others (you'll know which ones when you read it!). I really can't get over the fact that this book is Alexandra Brown's debut as it definitely had the feel of more accomplished chick lit writers. The book left me wanting more from the characters and I can't wait to read more about them and the adventures at Carrington's!

My rating: A fantastic five stars

Alexandra Brown has written a novella as part of the Carrington's series that will be published for the kindle on 10th October and is available to preorder on Amazon now