Title: Meet Me In London
Author: Georgia Toffolo
Publication: September 28, 2021
Publisher: HQN Books
Genre: Teens, YA Fiction
Pages: 232
SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)
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 over the holidays—a girlfriend who does not exist. He needs a diversion…something to keep his mother from meddling 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…?
REVIEW:
**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
I was so excited when I saw this book come across my email for a request for review. I have never heard of this book or the author before so I was even more excited to read it and discover a new author. It was an added perk that it took place in London. I couldn’t wait to dive in.
Victoria is juggling her life. She is the manager of a wine bar and lives above it and also designs and makes her own clothing line. She also teaches in-need teens how to design and make their own clothes. She is also still recovering mentally from a fatal accident when she was 18. Her whole life gets turned upside down when she meets Olive. He jokingly asks her to marry him in the bar as he nurses one glass of whiskey. These 4 little words started a whirlwind friendship that turns into a romance. I really liked this book. IT was sweet and binge-worthy. The only reason I gave it four stars was that I thought that it was rather cliche, but not in a bad way.
I really liked the character of Victoria. She overcame huge issues. I felt bad for her because she had suffered so much and was still working through things. She was hurt horribly by a man and it was really hard to trust again. Oliver wanted to be better and do something different but didn’t want to hurt his family. They pushed each other to be better people. I found the dress-making fascinating. It was not something that I knew much about and enjoyed reading about it. The deep friendship that Victoria had with her best friends was one for the books. Even after the horrible event they went through they still remained the best of friends and in fact forged a stronger bond with each other. I see that the author has another 3 books in the series and they are based on Victoria’s other friends. I will have to add them to my wishlist and read them when I get a chance.
