Cupcakes and Christmas: The Carrington’s Collection: Cupcakes at Carrington’s, Me and Mr. Carrington, Christmas at Carrington’s (67 page)

Wear your hair in a big high bun – great for reducing the heat when you’re getting a groove on out on the dance floor, and a generous-sized coin purse works well for carrying those essentials … Nobody wants to be dragging a handbag around a nightclub. Big mistake. Huge. Sam managed to get the buckle on the long strap of her cross-body bag caught in my hair one time. Yep, that’s right – I ended up practically back-flipping my way to the Ladies’ room. Double cringe.

So that’s all folks. Go dazzle like the star you are, and remember: no soft furnishings, white rooms, special lemon tea or cross-body bags with buckles.

Merry Christmas everyone and see you all in the New Year when I’ll be back to share my summer with you!

Lots of love

Georgie xx

Firstly, and most importantly, a big, massive, HUGE thank you to everyone who read
Cupcakes At Carrington’s
, and has taken the time to contact me with kind comments or to put a lovely review on Amazon. It means the world to me. It spurs me on and makes it all worthwhile.

Kate Bradley for keeping me calm, making me laugh and for being everything I hoped for in an editor. Kimberley, Penny, Claire, Jaime, Liz, Martha and all at HarperCollins for their support, talent and expertise.

My agent, Tim Bates, for telling me what’s normal and for giving me back my writing mojo.

Olly Bates, for kindly sharing her delicious chocolate-orange cupcake recipe. Truly scrumptious x

Kimberley Chambers, Elizabeth Haynes, Belinda Jones and Sasha Wagstaff – your generosity is so very much appreciated.

Caroline Smailes for being a brilliant writing buddy; your patience astounds me and the Poundland chat STILL won’t leave me alone. Not that I’m bothered, of course x

Lisa Hilton for testing the recipes and spurring me on from the start.

Jadzia Kopiel, for everything; you’re the wisest woman I know.

My lovely, supportive father-in-law, Dr Brown, 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. Thalia Harding for telling me about Harrods.

Denyse King, for generously sharing some of her midwifery expertise.

QT for showing me love and light every day and for patting my arm when the going gets tough, even if you are convinced that mummies don’t write books … only bunny rabbits do! I love you sweetheart with all my heart
XOXOXO
. Oh gawd, I’m going to cry. AGAIN.

My husband Paul, aka Cheeks, for holding the fort and bringing me cake and cups of tea … you are my happy-ever-after.

And you, lovely reader, for taking the time to read this book, I really hope you enjoy it, and I’d love to chat if you do, so please find me via Twitter
@alexbrownbooks
,
Facebook.com/alexandrabrownauthor
or at my pretty new website
www.alexandrabrown.co.uk

Look out for Alexandra’s next novel, out summer 2014!

Ice Creams at Carrington’s

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 even better, her romance with Tom, the store’s boss, has finally blossomed after a shaky start.

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?

Out summer 2014!

Click
here
to pre-order now!

Alexandra Brown is a British writer and used to work in an office. When she isn’t writing, reading, thinking about writing, sniffing stationery, lusting after handbags or watching trashy TV, Alexandra likes to indulge her online shopping addiction while tweeting too much. She 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 lives near Brighton, on the South Coast of England, with her husband, daughter and a very shiny black Labrador puppy.

Follow Alexandra on Twitter
@alexbrownbooks

Cupcakes at Carrington’s

Me and Mr Carrington

Christmas at Carrington’s

Coming soon

Ice Cream at Carrington’s

Harper

Published by HarperCollins
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Cupcakes at Carrington’s
First published in Great Britain by Harper 2013

Me and Mr Carrington
First published in Great Britain by Harper 2013

Christmas at Carrington’s
First published in Great Britain by Harper 2013

Copyright © Alexandra Brown 2013

Jacket layout design © HarperCollins
Publishers
Ltd 2013

Cover illustrations © Sarah Gibb

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: 9780007488247, 9780007552535, 9780007488261

Ebook Edition © December 2013 ISBN: 9780007564668

Version: 2013-11-20

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