Synopsis
Hanukkah days, Christmas nights and strawberry ice cream …
Cohen Ford is a man who could do with a little bit of sweetening up. It’s no surprise that when he walks into The Great Greenwich Ice Creamery on a typically gloomy London day before Christmas, he insists on a black coffee rather than his childhood favourite – strawberry ice cream.
But then he meets River de Luca, the woman behind the flavours. After their first encounter, Cohen begins visiting the ice creamery every Tuesday, gradually learning more about the intriguing River. Could her influence encourage cynical Cohen to become the man who embraces Christmas, Hanukkah and even strawberry ice cream?
Sharon Ibbotson
Sharon is Australian but has lived in the UK for nearly twenty years. She started writing romance when she ran out of Sweet Valley High movies to read. She lives in London with her husband and two kids. Her professional background is in marketing and she has a degree in anthropology and gender studies from the University of Edinburgh. She loves reading and writing regency romance novels, especially those with a more gothic and darker tone.
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FREE Audio Story
Listen to this lovely FREE audio short story from Sharon Ibbotson.
The Girl Upstairs by Sharon Ibbotson narrated by Gordon Griffin. Click the play button to listen.
This was a lovely story. I wasn’t sure at the start, but as soon as Cohen walked into the ice cream shop and saw River, I was hooked.
Cohen is a high flyer in America – work, work, work is all he knows., but since being in London, he has lost some of that fast paced enthusiasm.
Cohen at first does not realise why his Mother’s friend is waving her hands about like a crazy woman – until it dawns on him that she is speaking in sign language !
The spark between River and Cohen is electric. He learns that River works alone on a Tuesday and spends the next several weeks going there. River is prepared for him, even though she cannot hear, she writes a questionnaire for Cohen to answer and to help her get to know him better.
Cohen has been married before and is going through a difficult divorce with his ‘money-grabbing’ wife. His world was torn apart when she announced that she was leaving him and yet still wanted to be paid alimony ! Cohen gradually loses his patience and storms off to his solicitor to get the divorce finalised. Enough is enough but he still wants something of sentimental value to be returned to him. His wife requests for them to meet to exchange the item, which she uses as an opportunity to win Cohen back – but he is not having any of it !
Cohen has an important decision to make and when he realises, his mind is made up – New York is no longer his home.
A brilliant book – although be warned, you might seek some ice cream along the way !!
Downloaded and devoured in the period between Christmas and New Year cosyed up under a blanket!
I loved this. I enjoyed the characters, culture and setting. Not a huge ice cream fan myself, it actually invoked a hankering for ice cream by the time I had finished it. A lovely read, heartwarming and gentle it feels like a very probable love story which leaves you with more than a topping of feel good.
I would highly recommend this especially but not exclusively, as a seasonal read. I think you could enjoy this at any time of year for perfectly comforting escapism.
This is a very unusual Christmas story. A warm hearted, transatlantic romance with a twist. The heroine, is deaf, and the daughter of Cohen’s mother’s friend. These major problems are what the story deals with. I found the depiction of River’s deafness was very well put over. The author makes you feel for both River and Cohen wasyou are rooting for a happy ending in time for Christmas. Curl up with a hot chocolate and enjoy the book.
This story seemed a bit darker than I would normally prefer and a little strange to begin with. Everything seemed against the hero – his relationships were all bad, until he met River, who then became his light. Once he seemed to get a grip and as he puts it ‘grew up’, I had a great deal more liking for him, and began to get involved with the story, which I did enjoy. There were some touching moments too. Definitely worth 4 stars.
A story about a man finding love and happiness in a foreign land.
Leaving his bad memories in New York, Cohen is a jaded American living in London on a 12-month contract, the CEO for a large company and working long hours in an unsatisfying job.
One bleak winter evening he travels to the other side of London to deliver a present to his mother’s friend, who, together with her daughter River, runs an ice cream parlour. It’s cold, wet and the middle of winter, all Cohen wants is to get out of the rain and return to his temporary home. His life changes dramatically when he opens the door to the shop and meets River, the genius who invents all the ice cream flavours.
He’s immediately smitten with River and has to find a way to communicate with her as she’s deaf. She is far more reserved knowing that Cohen will return to America in one month. Cohen is a determined man and knows that River is the woman for him but there are major two problems: they live an ocean apart and River’s mother disapproves of him.
A superb book written from the hero’s point of view, read this and you’ll become an ice cream addict.