Lucie’s Vintage Cupcake Company
The delightfully heartwarming romantic comedy from Daisy James! When life gives you lemons, make lemon-drizzle cupcakes…Lucie thought that proposing to her boyfriend in Tiffany’s would be the best day of her life. Until he said no. In just a few seconds, her whole world is turned upside-down! And when she accidentally switches cocoa powder for chilli powder at work, she finds herself out of a job, too…Baking has always made life better in the past, but can Lucie really bake her way to happiness? Starting her own company, selling cupcakes out of an old ice cream van might just be the second chance that Lucie needs!Of course, she never expected to find love along the way…Previously published as When Only Cupcakes Will Do.
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When life gives you lemons, make lemon-drizzle cupcakes…
Lucie thought that proposing to her boyfriend in Tiffany’s would be the best day of her life. Until he said no. In just a few seconds, her whole world is turned upside-down! And when she accidentally switches cocoa powder for chilli powder at work, she finds herself out of a job too…
Baking has always made life better in the past, but can Lucie really bake her way to happiness? Starting her own company, selling cupcakes out of an old ice-cream van might just be the second chance she needs!
Of course, she never expected to find love along the way…
The delightfully heartwarming romantic comedy from Daisy James!
Lucie's Vintage Cupcake Company
Daisy James
HQ
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2016
Copyright © Daisy James 2016
Daisy James asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
Previously published as When Only Cupcakes Will Do
A catalogue record for 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, downloaded, 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.
E-book Edition © June 2016 ISBN: 978-0-008-20683-3
Version date: 2018-07-12
DAISY JAMES
is a Yorkshire girl transplanted to the north-east of England. She loves writing stories with strong heroines and swift-flowing plotlines. She has written three novels, The Runaway Bridesmaid, If the Dress Fits and Lucie's Vintage Cupcake Company, all contemporary romances with a dash of humour. When not scribbling away in her peppermint-and-green summerhouse (garden shed), she spends her time sifting flour and sprinkling sugar and edible glitter. She loves gossiping with friends over a glass of something pink and fizzy or indulging in a spot of afternoon tea – china plates and teacups are a must!
Daisy would love to hear from readers via her Facebook page or you can follow her on twitter @daisyjamesbooks.
Thank you to my friends Kathleen and Luigi Sanapo for their generous input on the subject of Italian cakes and confectionery and for the fun in the baking… and the sampling!
To my lovely sister, Hazel
Contents
‘Okay, people, it’s a big night tonight. The restaurant’s overbooked – how did you let that happen, Sofia? – so we all need to be at the top of our game. I want our diners to marvel over our minestrone, drool over our ditali and swoon when they taste a slice of Lucie’s signature strawberry crostata.’ Gino smiled as he delivered his regular pre-shift monologue to his kitchen staff in preparation for the busiest night of the week at Francesca’s Trattoria.
‘Yes, Chef,’ they chorused.
‘I want us to have fun with it because, when we do, our pleasure shows in the food we serve. However, as we all know, it’s an even bigger night for our very own Dessert Diva.’ Gino’s mahogany eyes rested on Lucie.
‘Yay, Lucie!’
‘Go get him!’
‘Alex is a lucky guy!’
A surge of heat rose to her cheeks as she glanced around at her colleagues who had become friends over the last two years. They had listened to her, offering their own increasingly bizarre suggestions, as she’d organised and plotted every detail of what she planned to do that evening with almost military precision. She was determined that everything would be perfect, nothing would be left to chance, for it wasn’t every day a girl proposed to her boyfriend.
‘Okay, let’s go, guys!’
Lucie strode over to her prep area. She tried to prevent her lips from tweaking upwards at the corners but failed. The sooner she finished that evening’s desserts, the sooner she could wriggle into the Hobbs dress hanging in her locker and be on her way. Francesca frowned on her chefs asking for Friday night off but had reluctantly agreed to her request provided she spent the whole afternoon at the trattoria cooking up a storm. She tightened her apron round her waist, grabbed her favourite silver mixing bowl and began to sift the flour for her strawberry tart.
