‘Uplifting, romantic and festive – the perfect book to curl up with. I couldn’t put it down’ Rosie Nixon, Editor-in-Chief, HELLO! magazine
‘Fresh, fun and full of romance! I loved it!’ Sunday Times bestselling author Heidi Swain
‘A classic romance with the added bonus of a festive feel. I loved the passion, the romantic tension, and the way the characters leapt of the page. An ideal Christmas … tension, and the way the characters leapt of the page. An ideal Christmas escape.’ Laura Jane Williams, Bestselling author of Our Stop
‘A perfect escapist, heart-warming read! I was hooked from the first line!’ Katie Ginger, author of Summer Strawberries at Swallowtail Bay
‘Unwrap and enjoy this Christmassy treat of a read’ Mandy Baggot, bestselling author of My Greek Island Summer
‘Warm, funny and engaging, a five-star Christmas treat!’ Karen Clarke, author of The Little French Café series
What do you do when your fake engagement starts to feel too real…
Aspiring clothes designer Victoria Scott spends her days working in a bar in Chelsea, and her evenings designing vintage clothes, dreaming of one day opening her own boutique. But these aspirations are under threat from the new department store opening at the end of her road. She needs a Christmas miracle, but one is not forthcoming.
Oliver Russell’s Christmas is not looking very festive right now. His family’s new London department store opening is behind schedule, and on top of that his interfering, if well meaning, mother is pressing him to introduce his girlfriend to her. A girlfriend who does not exist. He needs a diversion. Something to keep his mother from interfering while he focuses on the business.
When Oliver meets Victoria, he offers a proposition: pretend to be his girlfriend at the opening of his store and he will provide an opportunity for Victoria to showcase her designs. But what starts as a business arrangement soon becomes something more tempting, as the fake relationship starts to feel very real. But when secrets in Victoria’s past are exposed will Oliver walk away, or will they both follow their hearts and find what neither knew they were looking for…
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Readers Love Meet me in London
‘This was an absolute joy to read…It honestly ticked all of the boxes for me.’ – five stars
‘I couldn’t put it down. The ending was perfect and I think would lend itself to a spin-off where we can have a book for each of the friends to tell their story; I’d definitely read them if there was.’ – five stars
‘Georgia Toffolo is a new author for me and I was quite surprised to find that Meet Me In London is a Mills and Boon book …they can quite easily fit in with the modern-day chick lit genre now.… I really enjoyed reading this. The writing style was easy, the characters were believable. A passionate story of love and friendship recommended for the Christmas season.’ – five stars
‘A classic rom-com… the perfect Christmas read in 2020.
‘The perfect escape… it’s like one big warm hug.’ Kelly McFarland, editor at CelebMix
‘Meet Me in London will without a doubt warm your heart this winter.’
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Loved this so much. A gentle and kind romance. The characters were wonderful and I rooted for them the entire time.
The Review
The author did such a great job of finding that perfect balance between slow-burn romance and in-depth character development. The theme of the class difference between the working class trying to keep their businesses afloat in the face of a massive launch of a megastore in the same neighborhood paired well with the wealthy businessman desperate to find a way to maintain his business and help out the local community all at once.
Yet it was the characters themselves that brought the romance aspect of this holiday read to life. The haunting past that Victoria is desperate to steer clear of and the struggle of Oliver to reconcile the man his family expects him to be with the man he wants to be is so fascinating to read, and the way this plays into their growing feelings for one another makes this such a heartwarming holiday romance.
The Verdict
A heartwarming, engaging, and truly thoughtful read, author Georgia Toffolo’s “Meet Me in London” is the perfect first installment in this brilliant romance series. The harmonious way the holiday setting and the character growth came together in this story and the twists and turns this relationship takes the characters into, especially when neither was looking for a romance, to begin with, was so entertaining to read and readers will be eager for more entries in this series.
Victoria wants to design clothes but until this can pay the bills, she’s working at a bar. The bar happens to be across the street from a shop she and her ex owned. When her ex kicked her out and keeps the business she is left with very little. Victoria works with a group of teenagers trying to help them get into the design business as well. While leaving a fabric shop with a box full of discount materials she literally bumps into Oliver. She has never met Oliver but soon finds out he is building the massive department store at the end of the street that has all the local stores upset. Oliver is under a lot of pressure from his family to get the store running and have a romantic life. Oliver asks Victoria if she will pretend to be his fiancée while his parents are in town to ease their worry about his personal life. What can go wrong???
I absolutely loved this book. It is the perfect feel good read. It is set during the holidays before Christmas but this is not a large part of the story. The story is full of funny scenes such as Victoria running into her ex and his fiancée with Oliver next to her.
As Victoria and Oliver are fake fiancées, they find out they have more in common than they thought. The ending of the book is fairly predictable but the excitement is reading the journey throughout the book. It is a story or love and forgiveness both of yourself and others.
I can’t wait for the next books in the series!
A feel-good book, perfect to read on a snowy night in December. 🙂
Victoria is a designer. She works at the bar in Chelsea and teaches design classes for young people. She has dreams of one day having her own boutique.
Down the street, they are building a new department store. Small store owners on the block are worried about losing business, not to mention the manager is very, very rude.
Oliver Russell’s family’s new department story is behind the schedule. His job is to be there and sort it out. On top of that, his family is pushing him to settle down. With his father being sick, he can’t tell them he is single, so he asks Victoria to pretend to be his girlfriend, to make his parents happy. But the more time they spend together, the more those fake feelings become a reality.
It’s just the sweetest story, I loved reading it! And now it’s the perfect time for something heartwarming and cute. 🙂
Highly recommend it!
received from NetGalley
The cover and title on top of the synopsis appealed to me so much. It’s such a perfect combination of what appeals to me heading into the winter months.
I wasn’t in love with this book for the bulk of my read and listen. It seemed to me like the chemistry and general feelings of attraction between the MC’s took precedence over character and plot arc depth. I do have to say that the ending was very sweet. Had the middle of the book carried a similar set of feels for me, I would have devoured this easily in one sitting.
I mostly listened to the audiobook and was surprised that it was narrated by the author, which seems rather uncommon. I thought her passion for her work came through clearly. I think that she could do great things and I’m interested to see what she writes in the future.
Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for the advanced copy and Harper Audio for the alc. All thoughts in this review are my own.
Oliver Russell is in need of a wife. Enter Vicki, the bartender he proposes to one night after wallowing in his sorrows. No, he isn’t drunk, he is just really in a bind. Vicki just got out of a bad relationship and has sworn that she won’t get that close to anyone ever again. She isn’t the marrying type because of scars she carries from an accident when she was younger.
After (literally) running into Oliver again, she agrees to hear him out. He needs a pretend fiance for his store’s opening. In turn, he will help her with her fashion design and set her up in the store. After her breakup and losing all she worked for, it is an offer she can’t refuse.
As she gets to know Oliver, and more importantly, his family, the charade becomes real and she falls in love with everyone. Vicki can’t have the happily ever after that he is dreaming about, though.
This book is about second chances, opening up and feeling vulnerable and being with someone who loves you for you and wants to be with you no matter your flaws. It was a great read that was on the lighter side even though the subject matter was a little sad.
Meet Me In London by Georgia ‘Toff’ Toffolo is a delightful contemporary debut novel that will warm your heart and leave you smiling.
The novel has the themes of family, friendship and dreams. We all have dreams. Sometimes we pursue them. Sometimes we have to pursue the dreams of others at the expense of our own. We all need people to encourage us to follow our dreams and to fly.
There will always be those ready to squash us. We must not listen to the negative voices – whether they belong to others or our own inner voice. We need people to speak life-affirming words into our lives.
Guilt weighs heavy. Sometimes it is not our burden to pick up. We are our own worst critic. We need to learn to be as kind to ourselves as we are to others.
We all need family and friends. At times our family, though well meaning, puts pressure on us. We need to be strong and kind as we pursue our lives and not theirs.
Within the novel there are characters who have been hurt in the past. Trust does not come easy but not everyone we meet has a black heart.
There is the theme of helping the disadvantaged to achieve their potential. The enthusiasm of the teens is infectious as their dreams are pursued.
Georgia Toffolo has created some delightful characters. I adored the two main ones with their huge hearts but also their realistic insecurities.
Meet Me In London was such a charming read. I could not put it down. I hope for much more from Georgia Toffolo.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.
Meet me in London by Georgia Toffolo is available now and a story that I loved.
It’s the romance story that you don’t even know you need to read because it has a smart and quirky heroine, a hunky hero but their banter and reliable lifestyles makes them even more lovable.
There’s a bit of everything in here, from the first time butterflies to the realisation that she/he is the one, that person that will be with you through hell and high water.
A must read for all the romance lovers.
Many thanks to the publisher for my review copy.
Oliver and Victoria’s story is a delightful and enjoyable read.
It’s set in London in winter/Christmas and yes being a fake fiancee themed book it’s no surprise how the story goes, but it’s still a good read.
Oliver is a rich man, but comes across as very grounded. Victoria is a touch too perfect/nice if I’m honest, maybe both of them are thinking about it but it’s escapism so who cares. They were great together.
A good book to escape into, it’s a warm winter romance.
3.75
Great Debut Romance.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Great female friendships, hidden tragedy, interesting career, fake relationship that morphs into love and likeable characters. I will be looking to read more by this author.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Meet Me in London by Georgia Toffolo a sweet Christmas romance. I did something I never do with this one, I read it on my kindle for a couple of chapters and then listened to the audiobook for some chapters and back and forth, it did take a little doubling up, but I enjoyed it overall. This was a good story, it wasn’t great, but it was good and charming and Victoria was a character I warmed to as the story progressed, I did want to shake her once or twice, but she warmed me more than anything. There is a good storyline and some great writing, it is predicable at times, but if you are after a charming story to curl up with on a cold winters day then you won’t go wrong with this one, the kids made me smile so much. They added a levity that brought the story up, as it could have been so dark, worry over the shop coming, the accident and then health issues, but somehow there was a joy to this story as well, I enjoyed listening to the author tell the story, there was something about it that made me smile, and when I was reading the words I could hear her voice in my head telling me the story, it was a new concept for me and I really enjoyed it.
What a delightful read this book was, this story that had me smiling to myself and I loved every minute of it. Well written, with some great characters and a wonderfully romantic storyline, it just drew me in and kept my attention throughout. In fact, towards the end, I struggled to put the book down. This is a perfect Christmas romance for a little bit of escapism.
Victoria was a great character, clever, talented, determined and getting on with life despite what it has already thrown at her, I really liked her. I loved the way she saw life with such a positive attitude even though she was vulnerable and sometimes scared. Oliver is perfect, kind and loving and I so wanted their relationship to work that I found myself holding my breath at times.
I would highly recommend you curl up with this one and thoroughly enjoy it; I certainly did.