Summer Sundaes at Golden Sands Bay

Georgina Troy

Description

'A wonderfully warm and sweet summer read' Karen ClarkeHold on to the feeling of sunshine at the seaside with this gorgeous romance, perfect for fans of Holly Martin and Jo Thomas.

When Sacha Collins, cafe owner and sundae-maker extraordinaire, meets Italian archaeologist, Alessandro Salvatore in Rome, she's grateful to him for being her tour guide. Now he’s turned up in the seaside village where she lives and is setting up a gelateria in direct competition to her retro Summer Sundaes Café.

She's only been running her café for two years since taking over from her father. Until now the only other shops on the boardwalk have been a wool shop, an antique shop and a second-hand book shop. These have helped rather than hindered her custom. How will her creative sundaes made from fresh Jersey ice cream compete with his delicious Italian gelato?

Sacha is worried. Is there enough custom for both businesses to thrive? Who is behind the strange changes being made on the boardwalk? And when the oldest resident on the boardwalk is threatened with eviction can Sacha and Alessandro come together and find a way of helping her?

For a peaceful little boardwalk overlooking one of the quieter beaches on the island, there's an awful lot going on and some of it is going to lead to big changes.

Previously published by Georgina Troy as Summer Sundaes.

Reader Reviews for Summer Sundaes on the Boardwalk:

'I want to visit now. Loved the characters and the community helping each other' ★★★★★ Reader Review

'Full of fun and laughter, with secrets and romance thrown in, my type of book' ★★★★★ Reader Review

'Loved this book! The characters become friends very quickly. Sunshine, sand, romance and ice cream. Throw in gelato and a hint of mystery and you've got another winner from Georgina Troy' ★★★★★ Reader Review

Read what people are saying about Summer Sundaes on the Boardwalk:

'A gorgeous beachside setting, divine ice-cream sundaes, and a scorching summer love story - this book has it all!' Christina Jones

'I thoroughly enjoyed spending time in this charming, evocative story. It's a perfect book to enjoy by the pool, in the sunshine, with a glass of Prosecco!' Kirsty Greenwood

'A wonderfully warm and sweet summer read' Karen Clarke

Sujets

• Mashups
• Holidays
• Women
• Coming of Age
• Roma (serie de televisión)
• Friendship
• Contemporary history
• Workplace
• General officer
• Woman
• Italy
• Channel Islands
• My Last Duchess
• The Women
• Rome
• General
• Holiday
• Contemporary
• Family Life
• Romance
• Channel Islands de Californie
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Boldwood Books
• Date de parution: 30 janvier 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781804260456
• Langue: English

Extrait

SUMMER SUNDAES AT GOLDEN SANDS BAY
THE GOLDEN SANDS BAY SERIES - BOOK ONE


GEORGINA TROY
To my daughter Saskia, with love
CONTENTS



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


Acknowledgments

A Letter from the Author

Recipes

More from Georgina Troy

About the Author

About Boldwood Books
1
JUNE – ROME

‘You’ve what?’ Sacha asked, only half listening to her aunt. She stared out at the terracotta rooftops from her balcony, finding it hard to believe that only eight hours ago she’d been mesmerised by the gentle waves breaking on the golden sand below her bedroom window, hundreds of miles from here.
Right now, she longed to be there, breathing in the warm, salty sea air and preparing to begin another day in her Summer Sundaes Café. She loved living on the boardwalk, overlooking the small sandy bay enclosed on both sides by cliffs and rocks. A cosy feeling rushed through her. She missed her café. It was noisy at times and often busy, but its beach location always had a calming effect, which was more than she could say about being on holiday with her Aunt Rosie.
‘It hurts to raise my voice,’ her aunt said, her voice straining as if she was about to expire. ‘Come inside.’
‘Sorry,’ Sacha said, doing as she was asked and going back into the cool of her aunt’s room. ‘You were saying?’ She hoped her voice gave away her annoyance, as she almost dared her aunt to repeat her earlier announcement.
‘I’ve arranged for someone to show you around Rome. It’s a glorious city and you can’t sit inside with me for the next couple of days.’ Her aunt moaned, resting her perfectly manicured right hand over the cooling eye mask covering her eyes as she reclined on the large hotel bed.
‘I don’t need a tour guide.’ Sacha’s reaction sounded harsh, even to her own ears. She took a deep breath to try and calm down.
Her aunt lifted one side of the eye mask and gave her niece a determined look that Sacha recognised only too well.
‘I know from experience how this damn migraine works,’ Aunt Rosie murmured, lowering her eye mask. ‘I’m going to be incapacitated for the next couple of days and I don’t want to have to fret about you.’ Before Sacha could argue, her aunt added, ‘It’s a big city and rather a complicated one. How will I know where to find you if you get lost?’
Sacha forced a smile. She could see her aunt was in pain and didn’t want to add to it by arguing. She gave it one last try. ‘I’m twenty-nine, Aunt Rosie, and I’ve travelled all over the world, usually by myself.’ She hesitated for emphasis, to let this reminder settle into her aunt’s mind. ‘I think I can find my way around a European city. I really don’t need an annoying boy joining me while I go sight-seeing.’
‘I never said he was a boy, did I? Anyway, you must go,’ her aunt said, sounding more determined. ‘He’s expecting you.’ She gave a pained sigh. ‘If nothing else, you can take the opportunity to visit some of the gelaterias, maybe pick up a few tips for your ice cream café back in Jersey.’
Sacha had to admit, her aunt did have a point. Taking over the running of her dad’s smallest café, almost two years ago, had been more challenging than she’d imagined. She was always looking for ways to improve the business and keep ahead of other local cafés.
‘That’s a good idea,’ she said, relenting slightly.
Aunt Rosie lifted the eye mask again. ‘You look very pretty.’ She raised an eyebrow as she spoke. ‘It never ceases to amaze me how fair you and your brother are when your father is so dark.’ Sacha could tell she was trying to distract her from being annoyed, and didn’t need to be told that Jack was tall and muscular like their father, while she took after their small, fine-boned mother; though they’d both inherited her sun-kissed blonde hair and blue eyes.
‘I don’t see what that’s got to do with what we were saying about today,’ Sacha said.
‘Indulge me, just this once,’ Aunt Rosie said. ‘Go with Alessandro. You never know, you might agree with me that he’s rather dishy.’
Sacha sighed, suspecting her mother and aunt were in cahoots. Neither understood why she was reluctant to date anyone, since her ex had decided he had more in common with a woman he’d met during a friend’s stag weekend than he did with Sacha. No, she was happily single and the last thing on her mind right now was flirting with someone she didn’t know and would probably never see again. She picked up her sunglasses, straw Panama hat and small bag, checking her purse was inside. She felt a little guilty for being irritated by her aunt’s interference, but knew how Aunt Rosie took over any situation given half a chance. Sacha’s life was finally how she liked it and she had no intention of changing anything. She opened her mouth to speak when there was a sharp knock on their bedroom door.
‘That’ll be him now,’ her aunt said, sitting up gingerly and smoothing her hair.
Sacha might have felt sorry for her, but she couldn’t miss her aunt’s self-satisfied smile as she marched past her to the bedroom door.
‘I won’t forget this, you know,’ Sacha grumbled, her irritation refuelled by her aunt’s reaction. She pushed down the handle and pulled back the heavy wooden door, only vaguely aware of her aunt saying, ‘I don’t expect you will,’ as she came face to face with a quizzical look from a deliciously handsome man.
‘I am too early?’ he asked, in a beautifully musical accent. He peered over her shoulder at her aunt and gave a forced smile. ‘I believe I am to be your tour guide of the city.’ He looked from Sacha, to Aunt Rosie and back again.
Sacha stared at the tanned, muscular Adonis, who looked to be at least six feet two in height. She thought she recognised him from somewhere, although she couldn’t place him. She opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out. Sacha didn’t like to admit defeat, and couldn’t remember the last time she had, but maybe this guidance business her aunt had arranged behind her back wasn’t going to be nearly as tiresome as she’d expected.
Sacha cleared her throat. ‘I’m Sacha Collins, pleased to meet you.’
‘I am Alessandro Salvatore,’ he said, smiling at her as he shook her proffered hand. ‘You are ready to leave now?’
‘Yes, all ready.’ She turned to her aunt to say goodbye and didn’t miss the hint of a smile on her lips. ‘Have fun.’
Switching her gaze back, she saw that Alessandro’s smile had slipped. He didn’t look much happier than she suspected she did. She assumed he must have been forced into taking her out and wondered if his relatives were as bossy as her own.
As she stepped out to join him in the hallway, he pulled a black peaked cap onto his head. ‘Are there any places you wish to see, or would you rather I choose where we go first?’
Sacha thought of the list she’d written back in her room, trying to recall the places she’d looked up on the Internet. ‘The Trevi Fountain has to be one of the places I’d like to see, also the Spanish Steps,’ she said. ‘That is, if you don’t mind?’
He shook his head. ‘No, they are perfect places to see.’
They walked out of the air-conditioned hotel foyer and into the harsh bright sunshine. Sacha quickly put on her sunglasses and shoved her hat down on her head. The heat had already taken out any bounce that she’d managed to get into her straight hair earlier that day. At least the hat would hide how hideously flat it looked.
‘The Trevi Fountain, it is this way,’ Alessandro said, indicating that they turn left.
He hadn’t smiled once, she noticed. She wondered whether he was bored already.
‘This really is very kind of you,’ she said as they walked along the pavement, and when he didn’t answer, she couldn’t help feeling irritated. ‘This wasn’t my idea, Alessandro. My aunt arranged this tour without me knowing, I’m afraid. If you’d rather be somewhere else, I’m perfectly capable of wandering around Rome without your help.’
She stopped walking, leaving him to continue for a couple of steps before he realised she wasn’t next to him.
He turned and frowned at her. ‘You have forgotten something at the hotel?’
‘No,’ she said. ‘But I don’t want you to feel you have to come with me today. You can go and do whatever it was you were planning to do before my aunt poked her nose in.’
His black eyebrows knitted together in confusion. ‘Poked her nose?’
‘What?’ She realised what she’d said. ‘No, I mean. Um. Poking her nose into business where it’s not wanted.’
He mused over her words before shaking his head. ‘This is something in England that you say?’
She laughed. ‘Yes, sorry. It means, you know, getting involved in something when no one wants you to.’
‘Ah, like my uncle. They have been talking, I think.’ Alessandro’s annoyance appeared to dissipate and he smiled, displaying perfect white teeth. ‘I am sorry. I have been rude. I am happy to show you the beautiful places here.’
‘If you’re sure you don’t mind.’ Now she came to think of it, Sacha did rather like the idea of not wasting time wandering around the labyrinth of streets alone and maybe missing the best bits of the city. And Alessandro seemed nice enough, at least now that he’d cheered up a bit.
‘Please,’ he said, a glint in his blue-grey eyes. ‘I do not mind. Your aunt stays at my uncle’s hotel whenever she is in Rome, they tell me. I have met her also several years ago, when I travelled with my aunt and uncle to the naming ceremony of the ship, Queen Victoria.’
‘We’re going on a cruise on that ship in a couple of days,’ Sacha said, noticing that the dark grey rings around his irises seemed to make his eyes even more piercing. ‘It’s why we’re spending a little time in Rome first. I didn’t know my aunt knew your family.’
‘They met at the ceremony, but I have not seen her since.’ He laughed. ‘She is a strong lady, one that enjoys life very much, I think.’
‘You’re not kidding,’ Sacha said, picturing her aunt