Versailles, 1670.

Carlo Demirco is a master of the fashionable new art of creating flavoured ices, his techniques – stolen from the court of the Medici in Florence where he was raised – a closely-guarded secret that have brought him wealth, a position at the court of Louis XIV, and the admiration of women. Almost the only woman impervious to his charms, in fact, seems to be twenty-year-old Louise de Keroualle, an impoverished but proud lady-in-waiting to Henrietta d’Orleans, sister of the English king.   

When Henrietta dies suddenly, Louise and Carlo are sent to London, their services intended as a gift to the grieving king. One of those gifts, however, is more welcome than the other. It becomes clear that Charles II would like Louise to be his mistress, and that the most powerful ministers of two countries intend to make sure that she submits.

In this turbulent country, still wracked by the divisions of a bitter civil war, the king’s every pleasure is the subject of plots and intrigues. Yet Carlo too is fascinated by Louise, and determines to help her evade the king’s attentions. Now that the only power he has left to wield is through his exquisite ice creams, soon he must decide… Where do his loyalties lie?

Engrossing and unforgettable, The Empress of Ice Cream is another sensual, sweeping story from the bestselling author of The Food of Love, The Various Flavours of Coffee and The Wedding Officer.