2 Jan 2014

CHRISTMAS AT CARRINGTON'S.

The ninth book read for this years Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge ......


CHRISTMAS AT CARRINGTON'S by ALEXANDRA BROWN.

SOURCE: A GoodReads win.

Georgie Hart loves Christmas time at Carrington’s Department store. Running the luxury handbag department, Georgie 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…
....... Outer back cover.

FIRST SENTENCE (Prologue): I never used to believe in lust at first sight.

MEMORABLE MOMENT (Page 179): A few seconds later, Kelly appears; she's crawling on all fours asfast as she can towards the Christmas tree for cover. I make big eyes and pray that my customer doesn't spot her. I bet they don't have Ronald McDonald lookalikes crawling commando-style on the shop floor at Harrods.

MY THOUGHTS: A Carrington Department Store novel (the second in what I believe is to be a trilogy). Given that the main concern of the novel is the events surrounding the filming of a television show this is a fun read no matter what the time of year but with lots of festive goodies (an outdoor ice rink, fake snow and sweet-mince pies) not to mention the section on wonderfully festive sounding recipes such as 'Christmas Baileys Biscotti Milkshake' and 'Christmas stollen slice smothered in dusty white icing sugar with an edible sprig of holly on top' it really is an ideal seasonal story that reads perfectly well as a standalone novel.

A thoroughly modern novel that takes a look at what happens when a dramality show (a television show/series that includes elements of both drama and reality programming) is filmed at Carrington's Department store, Mulberry On Sea, during the run up to Christmas. With the exception of one truly heart wrenching thread to the story Christmas At Carrington's is an amusing and, with all the mention of designer handbags, glamorous chick-lit novel that thanks largely to Georgie and her good friend MA (Man Assistant) Eddie takes a fairly tongue in cheek look at modern relationships, work place romances, the nature of celebrity and the speed at which the social media moves.



Copyright: Tracy Terry @ Pen and Paper. All original content on http://pettywitter.blogspot.co.uk/ is created by the website owner, including but not limited to text, design, code, images, photographs and videos are considered to be the Intellectual Property of the website owner, whether copyrighted or not, and are protected by DMCA Protection Services using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Title 17 Chapter 512 (c)(3). Reproduction or re-publication of this content is prohibited without permission. In addition I would also urge that if you are reading this on any other page you contact the original blog owner/reviewer.

16 comments:

Mary (Bookfan) said...

Sounds like an entertaining read!

Yanting Gueh said...

I have a sister who'd enjoy this. For me, that biscotti milkshake sounds divine ... and I'm off dunking crackers in milk after my round of blog visits!

chitra said...

Happy New Year dear PW. Have a great year ahead:)

Kelly said...

This one sounds fun. You read quite a few for the Christmas Challenge.

Do you know if there will be a What's in a Name Challenge this year?

Felicity Grace Terry said...

There is indeed a What's In A Name Challenge this but instead of being hosted by Beth it is being hosted by Charlie at The Worm Hole. Sign-up is here at http://wormhole.carnelianvalley.com/whats-in-a-name-2014-sign-up-post/

Bo said...

Now this sounds like something right up my alley. I love the cheesy, humorous holiday movies. This sounds like a perfect fit. Although, not a fan of reality TV, it might be a fun read. Thanks for the head's up!

Cherie Reich said...

What an adorable cover! Sounds like such a fun read too! Thanks for the review!

Happy New Year!

Alexia561 said...

Sounds like another fun holiday read!

Yvonne @ Fiction Books Reviews said...

Hi Tracy,

I have so many books more suited to my reading taste, lined up and waiting to be reviewed, that this slightly tongue in cheek chicklit, isn't really for me.

Having said that, as you were reading it as part of the 'Christmas Spirit' challenge, it probably worked quite well, as an easy to read and quick to finish story.

I couldn't imagine anything worse than being filmed as part of a TV reality show, so I hope the TV company got what was coming to them in the end!

Nice review though, very balanced and thoughtful,

Have a great weekend,

Yvonne

Shooting Stars Mag said...

Aw this sounds fun! I like books like these.

-lauren

StarTraci said...

Looks like a fun read!
Happy New Year!
:-)
Traci

The Bookworm said...

This does sound like a fun one.

Maria Behar said...

Oh, Tracy, this novel sounds like it's right up my alley! I'll add it to my TBR right now! I really like the way you pointed out the elements of this story, without giving anything away, and yet, let us readers know that it's a very funny novel full of mischief and mishaps!

Thanks for the lovely review!! : )

Maria Behar said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Maria Behar said...

P.S. I deleted the previous comment because there was a glitch, and it was a repetition of my first comment. The Internet sometimes has a mind of its own. Lol.

Stephanie@Fairday's Blog said...

Sounds like a mostly light and fun read. :) Love to have some books that just amuse me for cold winter days. Thanks for sharing!