I've read all of Sue Watson's latest releases and loved them all to the moon and back - they are all so realistic, with the right dose of the finest humour and wonderful heroines, heroes to swoon about and usually full of incredibly delicious sounding recipes. Ms Watson's newest release, "Ella's Ice - Cream Summer", has been promising all of the above mentioned and as soon as I spotted the book on NetGalley, I pressed the right button and literally saw it whizzing to my kindle. I love the cover of this novel, guys, I just love it - I personally am not the greatest fan of ice - creams, but seeing this cover motivated me to make my own unicorn ice - cream. My daughter was on cloud nine.

But. Back to the book. Theoretically, it has it all what made me fell in love with Sue Watson's novels: there is a mature heroine who has experienced something and more in her life and who's about to start a new chapter in her life. She's lost her job, her two children are off on their own adventures somewhere in the world, she's been dumped with a lovely dog that she has to dress every day and who has more dresses and jewellery than Ella herself, her mother is right now living with her and has turned out to be a social media expert and she's about to lose her house. But nothing is lost yet, as with the death of her beloved aunt she's to receive something in her will - maybe it's the ice - cream cafe?

This time however I didn't enjoy this story as much as I was expecting to. I had a feeling the plot is very chaotic, it's not neat, the things were suddenly happening but there was no connection between them, it was as if they didn't belong to the story and more than often I found myself feeling very confused, not knowing what to do with a particular situation, how to handle it, wondering what does it have to do with the story. The beginning of the book was good - quick and straight to the point, and I adored it. But then Ella went to Devon and the story went downhill for me. Firstly, it slowed down very much. Secondly, there was almost nothing happening. Then the never - ending remarks of Ella's mother, mentioning that something happened in the past but she's not going to tell what it was started to make me feel annoyed and losing hope that we will get an answer any time soon, so I've stopped waiting for this. It was actually the only twist in this story, having it explained, and as I haven't been waiting for it to happen, it took me by surprise exactly at the same moment as Ella. Having known what happened in the past explained a lot and you could start to understand why there was such a feud in the family and where all the wrong feelings were coming from. There were also many time spent on thinking about things instead of doing them.

The characters are, as always, really well developed. What I liked in Ella so much was the fact that she has finally decided to put herself first, after years of being your typical mum and daughter (OK, maybe not first. She did take Delilah after all :) ), took a chance when it was given to her and followed the motto of "no risk, no fun". And she had her fun, as well as problems, but she dealt with them all in a great way. Also, the background characters were all lovely.

I loved the descriptions of ice - creams, of course, and I do believe Sue Watson that researching this book was the best thing that could ever happen to an author :) Reading about them made my mouth watering, and I am the one who's not so into ice - cream at all, so just imagine those delicious descriptions and different flavours. Also, there are some great moments in this story, of course, some funny moments and some heart - breaking ones as well. Ella's mother, with the exception of being so annoying with mentioning the secret and then stubbornly refusing to tell her daughter what the secret is (you know, it was like with children starting to say something and then deciding that they're not going to tell you what it was they meant), was a real star of this story, with her no - nonsense life approach and being so fit around social medias.

Altogether, even if I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped - but still liked it, guys, so please don't take me wrong! - "Ella's Ice - Cream Summer" was an emotional rollercoaster ride and a great start to the series - I'll be for sure reading the next book! There is something to make you laugh and something to make you cry, the perfect mix of feelings and emotions, with an extra bonus of Sue Watson's wonderful writing style.

Ella is a now-single mum with a horrid ex (Dick – in name and behavior) two children off to start their own lives in far away places, her Mum in need of watching and now, a lack of income. When her aunt passed after several years of a family fracture, Ella is bequeathed the ice-cream truck from the family business in Devon, and without a job or income, she heads off to explore possibilities.

Arriving in Devon, she’s saddened by the shambles that the family’s ice-cream parlor is in: having spent many summer vacations with her aunt and cousin Gina, she has nothing but wonderful memories of her time there. But with her always-into-something mother who is flat-out refusing to explain why she and her sister stopped speaking, let alone her animosity for Gina, Ella has plenty to sort out and little time or money to do either. Fortunately some assistance arrives in the form of the local solicitor’s son, who is willing to help her work through the paperwork to set up the business and is always available for a romp – at least until September when he’s very clearly stated he’ll be off to Hawaii to dive there. Oh – and did I mention that in amongst all of her own struggles, she is also the dog-siter for a little dog with a wardrobe and jewelry that would rival the M & S Showroom? Oh yes – there is that. And the cousin, recently returned, drinking, avoiding any subject that she doesn’t want to tackle, and generally telling Ella everything she wants to hear – but the important bits.

Full of ice-cream ideas that will make your mouth water, an elderly adventuress in her mother, the leave em after loving them lawyer Ben and the troubled and often flighty Gina, a flighty dog with jammies, evening wear and more, not to mention the secondary characters that appear in small scenes: the stoy is lush and layered with atmosphere and descriptions that are hard to ignore. Then we have Ella and her own personal growth: her ability to put herself in the picture (if not actually first) after years of bending to everyone else’s whims and will, and a bag full of papers, letters and family secrets that was hidden in Reynaldo the ice-cream truck. A story that, while it reveals the secrets slowly is so engaging and engrossing that you want to know more – and certainly want to park on the shore across from Reynaldo awaiting the next creation. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=”http://wp.me/p3OmRo-92S/ “> <a> I am, Indeed </a>

Everything Ella holds dear to her heart, seems to be constantly changing. The business she works at is closing, her kids are now grown and starting to travel the world, her ex is buying the house out from under her and even her mother is the one with the more active social life. After spending years putting everyone else's needs and desires above her own, Ella is about to discover herself in a quaint little seaside town from her past.

One day she receives news that her estranged aunt Sophie has passed away. Ella has fond memories about working at Sophie's Italian ice cream shop, but when she arrives she quickly realizes that her memories no longer exist. Bequeathed a run down ice cream truck and with no other prospects, Ella decides to try her hand at selling everyone's favorite cold treat. Along the way she will gain more confidence, have a summer fling, and uncover some well hidden secrets about why her family has been in a long time feud.

This was a charming new chick lit that will be a perfect quick read while vacationing. It involves a touch of romance, self discovery, mystery, a well dressed one eyed Pomeranian and lots of comedy. Sophie's mom is an absolute hoot and a force to be reckoned with. Her antics had me laughing out loud on numerous occasions. Ella made a wonderful main character. It was easy to cheer her on as the story progressed and to watch her slowly find herself. Her circumstances are very relatable for women who are divorced, single moms, or those going through a bit of empty nest. Yes, it involved a little romance, but it wasn't the main focus of the story. It helped Ella on her path to self discovery and I was happy with how that relationship played out in the end!

I read a lot of mysteries, so I had a pretty good assumption about what happened to cause such a drift in the family. However, I didn't quite know the exact details. It's a big part of the story and I was still incredibly intrigued to watch it unfold. The author did a great job about slowly giving the reader details all the way until the reveal at the end of the book. There was definitely a couple twists that surprised me!!

Overall, this was a fun, quick read. It will definitely have you craving ice cream or the ability to test out a brioche sandwich. The cast of characters come together to make a great story. I'm definitely curious to check out the sequel. I'd love to watch these storylines progress and there were a few new characters that I'm already interested to meet.

I received an e-copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review. I did enjoy the book and the premise and cover drew me in. Ella was a fun character and I was having a good time seeing what direction her life would take. I think that this book would be a good read for the beach or for those who enjoy chick lit. I rated it a two stars because there are so many of these books out there and they are pretty much similar stories.

I have been indulging in quite a few summer beach reads and this one has been one of my favourites!

Ella’s Ice Cream Summer by Sue Watson was heart-warming and hilarious. I read this one easily in one sitting as I cozied up on my couch and longed for a warmer climate!

As the novel opens, we meet the single mother, Ella, who life seems to be hitting quite hard. Jobless, loveless, basically homeless and with her children away, she is lonely! When she receives notice that her recently deceased aunt has left her part of the family business, an ice cream parlour and café in which Ella has fond memories of, Ella packs up her belongings and heads to the seaside town of Appledore to honour her aunt’s memory and open an ice cream stand. With some bumps along the way and some family secrets uncovered, Ella finds more than what she bargained for during her ice cream summer!

The characters in this one are amazing. Ella’s tech savvy mum had me laughing from the first few pages and once Ella arrives in Appledore she meets a free spirit solicitor, Ben, who I instantly found endearing. Ella, herself, is quite funny and charming. I found myself drawn to her story and wanted her to succeed.

I was also pleasantly surprised at the ending and loved the turn that Watson took with this plotline. I obviously will not reveal any of the twists or turns, but I applaud Watson’s decision to make Ella strong and steadfast until the end. I love a character, especially in a romantic comedy, that can stick to her guns!

If you are in the mood for a light-hearted read, I would pick this one up! I know that I will be going back to check out some of Sue Watson’s earlier work and will be anxiously awaiting the second book in the Ice Cream Summer series!

Delilah the Pomeranian has to be one of the most adorable characters in fiction I’ve come across in a while. The other one I liked was Ella who returns to Devon in order to resurrect the old ice cream van business. Running a Ice Cream business in Devon has to be one of the nicest ideas you can imagine - the aromas, the hot sandy days, the jingle of bells in the summer breeze....now that’s got to mend a broken heart right?

Roberta’s mum - well she’s a right hoot - give the woman her own book or TV show right now! Ah this was just the nicest bunch of characters I’ve had the pleasure to meet. I was right there with them and inside their adventures in dear old Appledore. The setting ovviously fictional reminded me of country village mixed with Harry Potter and there was more than enough magic in the pages.

Delightful and even if you’re not a huge ice cream fan like me, you’ lick this up in one delightful scoop

This book had me from the title and the cover - who doesn't love ice cream?! It's cost me a fortune too as since reading it I've had the biggest cravings. This was such a sweet story about life, getting older, family and love. I was rooting for Ella the whole way through and hoped she could make her ice cream dream a success. It was funny, heart warming and had the sweetest sounding dog (everyone loves dogs so you couldn't go wrong there!). Thank you for letting me read and review this - I'll make sure to keep Sue Watson on my radar for her next release! Review up on blog, goodreads and amazon shortly.

If the cover of this book doesn’t call out to you then frankly there is something wrong! As soon as I saw it and the title it was a foregone conclusion, it had to be read. It was a gloomy, rainy day when I settled down to enjoy ‘Ella’s Ice–Cream Summer’ and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

Full of humour, told in such a way that you become involved in the overall hubbub of the family.

Ella feels life is passing her by, the sprogs are vacating the nest, the ex-Dick (lol) is busy with his new woman, her eccentric mother is busy sexting the vicar, her friend is incapable of stringing a sentence together without mixing her words erratic/erotic you get my drift.

So when good old Aunt Sophia leaves Ella an Ice-Cream van (Reginaldo) as her inheritance the option to change direction kinda appeals. So against mother’s wishes due to a bit of a family rift involving aunt, cousin,mother off she goes to adventures and pastures new.

The extreme characters all gel into a splendid mix of hilarity and you can’t help but like them all. The Ice-Cream is to die for, the setting of Appledore in Devon is the dream summer location evoking pleasant childhood memories.

Superb story involving family, mid-life, mystery, it’s up-lifting with a feel-good factor an absolute joy to read. I’m already looking forward to the next book.

Many thanks to Bookouture/Netgalley for my copy which I read and reviewed voluntarily.

Oh my gosh you guys this book had me literally laughing out loud during the first chapter! Before long I had tears streaming down my face, it was THAT funny. Let me give you just a few examples of what had me giggling uncontrollably. Ella’s mom, Roberta is inappropriately hilarious, she thinks sexting is regular old texting and there was something about a sexting a vicar, then there’s her best friend Sue who mixes up words all the time, she said erotic in place of erratic, and THEN she gets saddled with her son’s girlfriends dog, Delilah, who is the definition of high maintenance and has more outfits than Kim Kardashian. Even the chapter titles were hilarious, one of my favorites was entitled, Strawberry Shakes and Sex on the Stairs. Are you convinced yet?!

Besides being wickedly funny, there was warmth and sweetness as well. Ella meets Ben when she heads to Appledore and I loved how their relationship was relatively easy and drama free yet far from perfect, it was realistic. Ben was a lovable goof, very clumsy but that made him so endearing to me. Things for Ella weren’t quite so drama free in terms of her working life, but I also appreciated that a fabulous opportunity at a new life wasn’t just handed to her, she had to struggle to get where she wanted to be.

I just have a feeling that Sue is the type of person who would be fun to have a drink with, anyone who writes such warm, funny and charming books must be a blast to hang out with! She even included a scrumptious looking recipe for ice cream in the end that I’m absolutely dying to try. If you’re looking for a sweet escape this summer, look no further. This book was heartwarming, hip, colorful, sassy and sweet and even had a bit of family drama and secrets, what more could you want?!

Lovely book about lovely people trying to find out who they are. Lots of lovely ice cream - and I loved the ending. It was unexpected but very real. If only people were truly as generous as Ella and Ben!

I read this book so quickly - and yet I wanted to read it slowly and savour it. Fabulous summer read!

I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Ella's Ice Cream Summer" is about Ella, a 42 year old woman who lives with her two children and her mother. Just before summer hits, she loses her job and finds that she has to sell her house. However at around the same time, her estranged aunt leaves her an old ice-cream van in Devon, which seems a bit like fate. Ella travels down to Devon to run the van for the summer, selling ice-creams along the beach whilst trying to work out what really caused her mother and her aunt to fall out 30 years ago. Whilst in Devon she meets free-spirited Ben, who sees life a little differently and has plans to get Ella's business, and herself, back up and running as quickly as possible.

I really enjoyed this book and found it a really easy read that would be perfect for a summer holiday. It reminded me a little of some of Lucy Diamond's books, whom is one of my favourite authors, especially "The Beach Cafe". I did predict the ending around halfway through, but I didn't really mind this as it was easy to read and lighthearted, plus some of the parts made me laugh (especially Ella's mum and the little pomeranian called Delilah!).

"Ella's Ice Cream Summer" is definitely a must-read for those lazy summer days when reading a book is one of the only tasks of the day - it's such a feel-good read and took me away to sand between my toes and strawberry ice-cream on my tongue.

Ella's ice cream summer was a delight to read and had me hooked from the first page.
Ella lives with her mum, her daughter and her son but because it's the start of summer her son and daughter go off on their travels, her mum seems to be having fun with different men and Ella finds herself jobless, manless and soon to be homeless as her ex wants the house sold so he can have his half.
Ella's aunt who has just died has left Ella an ice cream van that's linked to her cafe in Devon and this is where Ella's life starts to change. I loved all the characters in this book but especially like Ella, I think this is because they are real life like characters not unbelievable ones that you sometimes get in books. I liked the relationship Ella had with Ben and was relieved that there is going to be another book to follow this as although some mysteries were revealed there were one or two that weren't!
I would like to thank netgalley and bookouture for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Ella’s Ice Cream Summer is a brilliant start of a new series called the Ice Cream Cafe. Where we meet single mom Ella who is jobless, loveless and nearly homeless. With her children going away she Packs her bags she sets off to Appledore in Devon against her mom’s wishes, to re-live her youth and to claim her portion of the family business. Which Ella’s Aunt has left her. While there she meets hottie Ben who has a plan to get the van up and running.

The Author takes on a delightful adventure with Ella who I could relate to being a single mom myself. Ella is a lovely likable person who you just can't help but like.

Sue Watson has created another laugh out loud page turner that I devoured in one day. And with her tasteful descriptions this story actually took me back to my childhood reminding me of Thomas the ice cream man LOL

This is a perfect summer's day read which is filled with happy and emotional times and family secrets oh and of course a summer romance, which I highly recommend giving it 4 stars.

I cannot wait to read the next book in the series

I was offered an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review by Kim at Bookouture as part of the blog tour for Ella's Ice Cream Summer. This is something I'm more than happy to do.

Sue Watson is one of my most favourite authors, her books are go to books when I want a pick-me-up, much cheaper than a prescription and better than any tonic you can buy across the counter. They are books that will have you drooling in one way or another - either from the more than lovely lead men or the very delicious cake they usually feature. I guessed this one would be different, the clue is in the title 'Ice-Cream' would I still get my fix? Absolutely, definitely, without a shadow of a doubt YES!!!

Ella's Ice Cream dream had me smiling and grinning like an idiot from the very first page. In the first few chapters we meet Ella and her family and friends - an eclectic bunch of characters that I could relate to straight away. Each and every person, just slightly more bonkers than the next. My favourite being her mother, Roberta who is loud, opinionated and on a different page in life to everyone else, leaving total chaos in her wake as she plays up to her Italian heritage and gets the wrong end of pretty much every situation.

The story begins with Ella losing her job, her children have finished university and are off to spread their wings leaving Ella feeling like a redundant mum home alone with no purpose or direction - she only has her slightly bonkers mother to care for. To add to that she finds out that her ex husband wants to sell the family home in order to keep wife number two in the manner she has become accustomed to.

News that her mothers sister, her aunt Sophia has died brings back memories of happy, sunny, summers spent in Appledore in Devon. Of time spent helping out at her aunts Italian, ice-cream parlour and enjoying endless days of sunshine playing alongside her older cousin Gina - a girl that Ella has always looked up to and aspired to be like.

Roberta, Ella's mother refuses to attend the funeral and begs Ella not to go either. The two sisters had fallen out many years before and Ella's mum obviously holds a deep seated grudge as she refuses to reveal why - something that Ella finds difficult to reconcile and can't understand why she refuses to share the reasons behind the fall-out. Ella goes alone and after the funeral Ella attends her aunts will reading and finds herself the proud owner of Reginaldo, an old ice cream van owned by her aunt, this evokes many happy memories of summers spent on the beach, something Ella is eager to recreate.

Sue Watson takes us down the motorway to Devon with Delilah - Delilah being Josh her sons girlfriends dog, a dog with a better wardrobe than you or me I hasten to add. Ella decides that she'd quite like to take some time out and the opportunity to re-live one last summer of her childhood is too hard to resist. She's also secretly hoping she can find out what is behind the family feud.

Ella's Ice Cream summer was a delicious read, a journey with mouth watering descriptions as I followed Ella to Devon and totally bought into Ella's dream. It's a story with more than a little romance, a story steeped in mystery and secrets that were revealed slowly throughout the book.. There's more than one love interest and Roberta and Delilah are for me the stars of the show. Sue's ability to create multi-faceted characters is second to none - polishing them just a little more with each chapter until they shine and can stand alone - I totally loved this book. The descriptions of the various ice-creams and sorbets had me drooling, oh how I wish my 'fat club' was based in Appledore.

Another thumbs up for me - Sue has done it again and got the recipe just perfect! A totally uplifting read, with all the glitz and glamour of the Italian Riviera. Sue is an author I'll never tire of reading, each and every book delivers what it says on the tin - escapism, laced with pure indulgence - in this case ice-cream - mmmmmmm!!

Wow, I absolutely LOVED this book! I was gripped to this story from the start and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole story and was sad when it ended so cannot wait for The Ice-Cream Cafe part 2! The cover is absolutely beautiful and so so summery. I love the bunting along the top, the colours, the beach in the background - it all just looks so pretty and inviting!

The story follows Ella on her journey to finding a life for herself after having some setbacks recently. Her children have left home to go on their own travels and she has issues with her house so decides to spend a summer in the cute little town of Appledore in Devon. I mean, Appledore really does sound like the cutest and loveliest little town and this book has made me want to visit it! However, when she moves to Appledore for the summer, she soon finds that not everything as it seems (which is the part where I literally cannot put this book down!).

If you love Summery books, you would love this. Sue includes the right amount of humour and romance to make it the perfect Chick Lit book. There was a little bit of mystery surrounding Ella's family, and if I'm honest, I kind of had an idea as to what it was about half way through the book - to which I was proven right by the end. But I still absolutely loved this book and it is definitely one of my favourites!

I would definitely 100% recommend this book to everyone, the descriptions of the ice-creams and location is beautiful and it made my mouth water for some of the ice-creams that were described! If I could give this book more than 5 stars then I would. Brilliant!

Ella’s Ice Cream Summer was a light story about a pseudo-empty-nester turning over a new leaf in her life. Ella lost her job, her kids are off having adventures in Nepal and Thailand for the summer, and her mother has taken on internet dating all other sorts of social media. The death of her aunt leaves Ella with a portion of the family ice cream business which Ella decides to try out for the summer.

The simplicity of the story was also what brought my opinion down. The beginning had enough going on to get me intrigued, but once Ella was working the ice cream stand I was hardly hooked and had to push through the story. The only element that really kept me going was the curiosity of what had caused the family feud. The actually facts behind the feud was definitely not expected but definitely gave reason as to why there was such a problem. The entire time, we are put off thinking it might be something completely trivial that had three women to have a complete fall out.

The curiosity wasn’t enough. The romantic relationship that Ella developed with Ben is not very developed either as their interactions are short. More time was spent theoretically thinking about what Ella was doing with the future of the business/staying in Devon and how she shouldn’t get attached to Ben than actual time spent with him.

The best part of the book was sadly the descriptions of the ice cream treats. And though it’s called Ice Cream Summer, it’s probably more like gelato. But I honestly don’t have enough knowledge between the differences of the two to definitely say either way. I just love ice cream/gelato.

What I had hoped would be a kick start to my summer beach reads ended up only inspiring me to make my own gelato, which it turns out is harder than this book makes it out to be, there are quite a few steps! I did find it cute to find an easy recipe after the epilogue for a batch of vanilla ice cream.

Ella is a single mum, whose children are about to fly the nest and discover the world by themselves. When Ella hears about her aunt’s death, she goes to Appledore to attend her funeral and there she finds out that her aunt has left her an ice-cream van. She makes a decision to go back to Appledore for the summer and have time for herself. Ella wanted her mother to come with her, but she refuses to go back to Appledore and Ella figures there must be a reason, but her mum refuses to talk about it. Going to Appledore was suppose to be a fun summer adventure, but in time secrets are slowly unveiling. What is Ella’s mum hiding from her?

It’s a well written and fun summery book. I liked that fact that there were lough out loud moments, but it also deals with more serious topics and there’s also the mystery that wasn’t unveiled until the very end. The setting and characters were superb, I liked the Italian vibe to it. Reading this book and not wanting and ice-cream is impossible! I really enjoyed reading about Ella’s summer and can’t wait to be back at Appledore.

As soon as I find out that Sue Watson is due to release a brand new book, I begin to feel the excitement (quite similar to Christmas Day as a child) start stirring, deep within in. Now, of course, if I have to wait a few weeks for a Sue Watson book and I know that it's on its way, well, I do become rather impatient. Reading a Sue Watson book is quite similar to the feeling of getting into a freshly made bed; the calmness, comfort and soothing touch, feeling all of your worries disappear from your mind for the duration of the book (or, as soon as you snuggle into your brand new duvet). Bliss, right?

Almost every single time that I finish one of her novels, I always wonder how on Earth she will top that particular book with her next one. But you know what? She does! Sue ALWAYS manages to up the ante on her own storylines.

Take Ella's Ice-Cream Summer for example; a deliciously enticing front cover don't you think? A cover that is bound to bring back childhood memories of visits to the beach, 99's and the good ol' marmite opinion flavour; Neapolitan. I'm sure you're probably nodding your head in agreement right now, because it IS true. Now, the thing about Ella and her Ice-Cream Summer, well, the storyline goes wayyyyy beyond the calm childhood memories and it delves a lot further than I could have anticipated. I too, thought that this book was going to be a tutti-frutti style storyline; colourful, sweet and completely one of a kind, based on the cover. But, this storyline isn't just tutti-frutti. No. There were moments where the storyline had the depth of chocolate chip cookie dough ice-cream, the intensity of Karamel Sutra ice-cream, the vulnerability of raspberry ripple ice-cream and the uniqueness of a tiramisu ice-cream, topped with coffee sauce and a sprinkle of chopped nuts.

In a nutshell, Sue Watson's novel contains everything you could ever dream of. Ella is stuck in a rut; her children are growing up and becoming less dependent, her living situation isn't the most reliable, and a four-legged friend struggles to decide on a tutu or pjs for a lounge day. If Ella wanted a bit of excitement in her life, excitement is what she shall get (and no, I don't mean that she bought an ice-cream with two flakes instead of one. Although....). Every family comes with their own collection of skeletons in closets, however, Ella had absolutely no idea about the amount of skeletons there were in her own family's collection.

Road trip to Devon anyone?

Ella's Ice-cream Summer tickled my taste buds from start to finish. I had only reached 5% completion on the Kindle when I had to put the book down to attractively snort in hysterics at the words in front of me. 5% was all it took to make that happen, imagine what the rest of the book must have been like! Oh, wait, I don't need to imagine as I have read it, nerney ner ner! How mature of me...

I absolutely ADORED this book. The characters were incredibly written, full of surprises and incredibly memorable (Ben.cough.Ben), the overall theme of the novel uncovered itself really nicely throughout without rushing to a conclusion, and the hilarity really did continue until the very end of the book. Sublime.

When it comes to a Sue Watson novel, I usually feel sad that the story is coming to an end and I would have to wait a while for my fix; that was not the case this time (there's another book in the series, but shhhhh). Don't get me wrong, I felt like I was leaving my long-lost friends behind as they were amazing to get to know; their journey really was such an enticing read. I am really looking forward to the next book in the series, without a doubt.

Sue Watson has written yet another hilarious, heart-warming and utterly inviting read, full to the brim of surprises, delightful treats and one of a kind characters. Whilst I adore everything that this author writes, Ella's Ice-cream Summer has got to be my most favourite book of Sue Watson's, ever. I really have no idea how she does it, but she does. Every.Single.Time.

I cannot recommend this book enough! You will be a tool not to go and buy a copy of it; surrender yourself to Sue Watson's beautiful and comforting words, with this addictive and memorable storyline. Absolutely divine (as always)!

Thanks Bookouture!

You are guaranteed to be laughing out loud very quickly when you start reading a Sue Watson book. I love that the characters are 'real' people. Ella has been left behind in the digi age by her own mum and it's so amusing hearing about her mums foray into twitter and internet dating!

Ella's family is holding secrets. Her mum stopped talking to her own sister when Ella was quite young. She still spent many summers in Appledore- which is an area I loved. We wonder what was behind the split.

When her aunt dies she finds out that she has been left the family ice cream van and not a share in the cafe as she hoped. She decides that as her homelife is disintegrating around her and her teenagers are travelling over the summer- that she will take the ice cream van out to earn a living.

Her solicitor sounds dreamy- a surfer who spends the summer in the family office to earn enough money to spend time surfing in exotic destinations.

I'm so pleased to see that there will be a follow on book which says it features new characters- hoping to get a little update on Ella aswell. Sue's books are the perfect summer read- guaranteed to lift your spirits and cheer the day up.