This is a grown up love story but much more than a Mills & Boon.  I confess to shedding a few tears and was routing for a happy outcome.  I understand that this is the first book of four with the other three each being centred around Victoria’s three friends.  With that knowledge I forgive the lack of depth of character of the trio as obviously they are being held back for future publications, however this did make them feel a little two dimensional.  This is a story that fundamentally is about friendship and strength that is gained from a solid bond.  A great debut and I’m looking forward to reading the next three.

I wasn't sure whether I was going to enjoy this book, as I find books by 'celebrities' can be a bit hit and miss.
However, I found it was a fairly pleasant read, if a little predictable.
The story involves fake dating between Victoria and Oliver and is set in London during the run up to Christmas.
If you are looking for an easy Christmas fairy tale style read then I would recommend this book.

I am so happy to be part of the blog tour for Meet Me in London by Georgia Toffolo. And not only am I participating, but I also have the privilege to kick it off! Thank you to the amazing team at Mills & Boon, for this opportunity. 

Synopsis:
Meet Me In London is a beautiful and emotional Christmas book. It follows Victoria, a designer that hopes to one day showcase her work. And it also follows Oliver, a millionaire and an owner of a big business, who is under pressure from his family to find a woman and settle down.

Oliver makes a deal with Victoria. He will help her showcase her designs and help the children she teaches. In return, she will pretend to be his fiancee on the opening day.

But, as you can imagine, things won’t go to plan. They will start developing feelings towards each other. Furthermore, an accident that happened in the past has scarred Victoria for life, and because of that, she is afraid to open up and trust another man.

My Thoughts:
The romance is beautiful, because it is raw and real. I felt the love, care and lust, as much as I felt the pain, the hurting and the need to protect the other person. The slow-burn pace was also something I really enjoyed. I loved how caring Victoria is, not only with Oliver, but with everyone in her life. Especially the children that she teaches. All she does in life is just give and give, without expecting anything in return. And the fact that she has been so hurt in the past for various reasons is so heartbreaking, and it does make you root for her all the way through.

And I also loved the respect that Oliver showed, always ensuring Victoria is okay and in agreement with whatever comes next. I don’t think this happens too often in romance novels, and it was a really important moment to note. The character development between Victoria and Oliver is amazing, and it all ends up in happy tears. I love how she makes him care more about the people and the community, rather than just his business.

I also loved Oliver’s family. When a millionaire’s family with a family business is represented, we usually see them as bitter and arrogant. And very often, they are rude to the person their son is dating. So I would be lying if I told you I wasn’t expecting that. But this book surprised me in a very positive way. The family of Oliver were very supportive of Victoria (minus the annoying cousin). They made her feel welcome and very loved from the start. She even got along very well with the mother.

The friendship in this book is precious! The lovely bond that Victoria shares with Zoe, Lily and Malie is beautiful! Since the accident in which they all were involved, they have become closer than ever and always supported each other through thick and thin. The friendship that these girls share is something every girl dreams of.

I loved this book so much! It put me in a wonderful Christmas mood, and made me want to decorate my Christmas tree, even though I need to put pumpkins first. 🙂 I really hope Meet Me In London by Georgia Toffolo is made into a Christmas movie. I swear, I will be the first person to watch it!

Also, there is a new book coming out in Spring 2021 called Meet Me in Hawaii, with Malie, one of Victoria’s best friends. It has surfing and I cannot wait for it!

Great debut novel and would have given it 4 1/2 stars but that option not available.

It is a great story of friendship, community, love and hope.

Cannot wait for the next book.

Meet Victoria, nursing a dented heart. Supporting her designer work by working in a neighbourhood bar.  Meeting Ollie changes her life. A bitter ex, jealous cousin and misunderstanding in to the mix. But he's wins the day.

I enjoyed this as much as I thought I would. The writing wasn't spectacular, however, the story was cute and an easy read that left me feeling warm.

As a Made in Chelsea and I’m a Celebrity fan I was keen to see what the reality star had to offer as an author. I was absolutely taken with this wonderfully well written novel. 
The story starts as we meet would be fashion designer working as a bar manager and Oliver who is then hard working manager of one of his billionaire family Department stores. Oliver is not close to his parents but his Kim is keen to meet his girlfriend, who sadly does not exist yet. A spark between Victoria and Oliver sets them on course with a mad plan as a pretend couple, to please his mother and his ill father.
The characters in the story are well developed and Oliver and Victoria are especially endearing. It was a joy to read and see their story unfold and to learn about the backgrounds they came from and how they changed from the start of their story.
I would definitely recommend this book as a light romantic read and it brought tears of joy and sadness, which I find to be the best recommendation for this type of novel. It is well placed for release near Christmas this is featured in the opening of the new store.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Looking forward to reading more from Georgia Toffolo in the future.

A nice story of will they won’t they, entertaining and heartfelt at times.
Falling in love with a fake fiancé is not to be done, besides there’s secrets that just cannot be shared. An enjoyable read.

I used to watch Made In Chelsea with my daughter, and always thought Toff was a delightful girl. If I'd ever imagined she would write a book, this is exactly the sort of thing I would have expected. It's a fun read - uplifting and entertaining. I hope she writes another.

Many thanks to NetGalley and to Mills and Boon for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love a Christmas book and was pleasantly surprised by this up lifting and enjoyable read/listen. The characters are charming and a perfect little story to brighten your day

3.5*!
An enjoyable Christmas themed read.
Romantic, fairytale, with some loveable characters and some great interactions.

I would describe it as having been over done though, the author was trying too hard and the result was that some things felt clumsy, and not well written.
Also some highly improbable situations including a part-time barmaid living in a 2 bed flat in Chelsea, and always having Friday evenings off, and being allowed to go home for Christmas, but I guess that is artistic licence!

I do love a Christmas book, and like to read something a bit more frothy and lightweight in between psychological thrillers etc, so I did enjoy and I read on later than normal to get to the end - which is always a good sign.

Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy for an honest review.

Aspiring fashion designer Victoria is concerned the opening of a huge department store at the end of her street will throw the livelihoods of her close-knit community of independent shop owners into jeopardy.

Oliver, CEO of home and fashion store Russell & Co, isn’t happy about having to take over the management of the new Chelsea store and save it from his cousin’s shortcomings. Especially when he is trying to deal with his interfering mother and her incessant need to see him settled with the right woman.

When the two meet, a proposition is offered. For Victoria, a fashion catwalk to showcase her designs. For Oliver, a pretend girlfriend to keep his mother at bay.

But what starts out as a business arrangement soon becomes something far more tempting. What happens when a fake relationship feels very real?


After many years of watching Made in Chelsea, I was intrigued to read this offering from Georgia Toffolo having always liked her in the show. I have to say I didn’t go in with any expectations, only that this would be a light-hearted and easy read.

Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It was well written for the most part with likeable and relatable characters. There were a few parts where the narrative seemed to become slightly Americanised which I found at odds with a story set in England and written by an English author. 

As with most books in this genre, it was predictable but that certainly didn’t hinder my enjoyment. I think most will agree that the certainty of a happy ending is one of the greatest temptations for picking a book in this category.

When I initially saw this book I was skeptical, a lot of celebrities write books and there is really no substance to them but when Netgalley gave me the chance to review this book I decided to give it a go and was so glad I did..

This is not your run of the mill rom com the characters are engaging and the scenario seems very plausible.

Victoria is a dress designer/bar manager living in London after a traumatic experience back home, having just been dumped unceremoniously by her ex Peter she decides that for her life is probably going to be better off alone.

Oliver is the Heir Apparent of the new department store which is opening on the street where Victoria lives, he is trying to keep his parents happy but also avoid his mothers matchmaking attempts.

Circumstances bring these two together and the journey they go on is very difficult at times but then some moments of absolute magic.

As I said the characters are wonderful and the Lost Hours Club girls were amazing, I really hope she brings out books for each of the girls.

This is a most wonderful book, I can't rate it highly enough

I received this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review

5 Word Review: Friendship, secrets, London, fashion, love.
Meet Me in London feels very British in a Love, Actually and Bridget Jones kind of way. The moneyed and polished London that tourists expect, that's romanticised everywhere. And it works perfectly for the story.

This book hits upon one of my favourite Romance tropes - fake dating. Victoria and Oliver enter into a fake engagement (it's not a spoiler, it's right there at the top of the blurb!) and I loved the little twist on what I'd expect.
I loved Victoria's love of fashion - I loved her passion and her style, and it felt so natural that when we looked at fabric she pictured the outfit she would make from it and who she would make it for. I love how she shares her skills, she's so generous with her time and with herself and is a truly lovey person. Victoria as a character is so uplifting and the perfect Romantic heroine. I felt happy reading about her, even when the story explored darker and more difficult themes.

I really appreciated the triumphs of the characters. For all that Meet Me In London is a Romance, so you know you'll get a happy ending, I liked the small victories of the characters too, the hope throughout the story.

For all that everything is pretty glossy on the surface, the story was deeper than I expected. I enjoyed it so much that I'm itching to reread it!

I absolutely cannot wait to read more books about this group of friends. I feel like I'm one of the gang myself and I'd love to know what their happily ever after will be.

The audiobook is narrated by Toff herself and it didn't quite work for me. I think it's purely because I had already read the book and had my own idea of what Victoria would sound like and it didn't match up. That said, the narration by the author does give some different emphasis to certain parts of the story and really brought Victoria's pain to life.

An enjoyable story of a fake romance with, heartbroken after the collapse of her former relationship, Victoria. The twists and turns of this sweet romance are improbable on times but also compelling reading. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy it for a friend’s Christmas present!

This was a really pleasant surprise of a novel.  Victoria was a really strong character and her interactions with Oliver were well written and their romance was lovely to read and well written.   The storyline was interesting and  moved at a good pace. A very enjoyable read which I am sure will sell when released and deserves to.

RATING: 3 stars.

This book was a sweet effort, with some genuine heartwarming moments. I genuinely love the fake dating trope so thought this would be right up my alley.

However, some parts were quite clumsy or didn’t flow that well. I also found it a little difficult to relate to the main characters.

It was a cute Christmas romance, but I wouldn’t go into it expecting much more than that.

What a cute Christmas romance! I strongly recommend every lover of romance to give this a read. This novel ended up being far more than I had expected. I know of Georgia Toffolo through Made in Chelsea and I'm a Celebrity and to be perfectly honest I was not expecting much and I ma happy to say that I was proven wrong.

Toff is a beautiful writer and clearly loves reading as her deputy novel is well written and the story develops in such a naturally beautiful way. I have heard this this is the first of a series of four novel and I really do hope that Toff gets a wiggle on in writing them as I have had a blast reading her work and cannot wait for the next one!

For a good cosy read on a cold night, this is a great book to pick up.

I really liked that although Victoria was cheated on she still has a good heart.  Victoria herself is a designer but at the moment is working in a bar.  She has a lovely heart and loves helping out people less fortunate but she lacks the confidence to motivate herself.  She is the type of person you wanted to hug but also give a good kick up the arse to get herself motivated.

Oliver, the son of the all-powerful/rich Eric Russell who is the owner of Russell & Co which is a chain of department stores.  Oliver has been tasked into overseeing the new store’s opening.  The underlying issue with Oliver and his family is that Oliver’s parents want him to marry and be happy.
This is where you see the wheels turning.

To the mutual benefit of both Oliver and Victoria, they agree to have a fake engagement.  This way Oliver can keep his family happy and Victoria can do what she has always wanted, her fashion designing, she can also get her students the chance of a fashion show on the day the new store opens.

The story is good, there are some parts of the story that you just roll your eyes at as you know there is no way things can happen the way it is written but you just have to remember that this is fiction and it is not a bad fiction novel for this new Author.

I’ve got to admit I was somewhat sceptical regarding this novel by Georgia Toffolo, but I was completely wrong. I was blown away by the book.
As Christmas approaches we meet Victoria, bar worker by night, fashion designer/teacher by day. Newly single she’s happen upon a chance encounter by Oliver Russel, multi billionaire with the power (and money) to make her dreams come true whilst also pleasing his ailing parents. But Victoria has a secret which the readers know of but Oliver does not - will she get her happy every after?
This book was beautifully written, the characters were excellent and I cannot wait to read meet me in Hawaii where hopefully we will see more of Victoria and Oliver.