Love it when a coincidental meeting sparks a bit of fake dating and plenty of confused feelings!
Five people are coincidentally under the clock at Waterloo Station when a lockdown occurs. Two are celebrating an engagement. One is reeling from finding out her husband was cheating on her. And the other two... both stood up by their prospective dates.
Nadia and Tom end up with a friendship that takes on a different guise as they both find themselves unhappy with their current situations.
Step forward the friends and their fake dating idea. Never the best idea, though!
As with any good romance, it was clear from the off to the reader, but not to the MCs, that they were going to be perfect for each other, but the journey they took to get to that end point was very entertaining. There was an obvious chemistry between Nadia and Tom, and I was willing it to finally spark from the beginning!
Plenty of laugh out loud awkward moments as well as those 'will they? won't they' ones to keep you on your reading toes, and a lovely bunch of supporting characters.
I enjoyed this light-hearted story.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an ARC.

This book caught my attention as it is a slow burn style of romance. Even though there are five people that meet at the Waterloo Station, the story focuses on Tom and Nadia.

I loved the interaction and talks between Tom and Nadia. There was a connection there which showed me that it is important to have that and these characters are real. They do have a few will they or won't they moments which I thought was cute. It was fun, sweet and real to me. I enjoyed the journey of fake dating with Tom and Nadia. The tennis, family events, the food, the singing, a tad miscommunication aspect and drama will keep you interested, it did for me!

Heads up the story is from Tom and Nadia's POV.

If you are looking for something sweet to read then this book may be for you.

Question: Do they get their happy ending?

My answer: You'll just have to go pick it up and find out.

I really like Jo Lovett's writing and stories, but unfortunately, this one didn't work for me. It starts off well—five strangers trapped at a railway station become good friends. Nadia has come to meet her blind date, and Tom has come to meet his 'could-be-her-girlfriend,' but both of them have been stood up by their dates. Long story short, Tom ends up at Nadia's flat, and they talk. And that's where I began to lose interest. They talk a lot—about unnecessary and uninteresting things that don't move the story forward. In the next chapter, they (including the other strangers-turned-friends) just talk, sometimes through text messages. Overall, they all seem to cling to each other. I'm totally up for a conversational style of writing (which is why I like Jo Lovett's writing), but this was too much for me. There's no description, no character building... sadly, I couldn't connect with the characters. Their friendship felt more forced than endearing. I had to give up. Sorry.

This is a slow-burn, friends to lovers romance. After Tom and Nadia are both stood up by their dates, they become each other’s plus-one for some upcoming events. I really wanted to like this one, but I wanted to smack both characters upside the head even more. They were spending time with each other, having a great time, but Tom was just so hung up on this other woman and it really dragged on for way too long. It was ok, but it was long at times.
3 stars over for Nadia and Tom,

Nadia and Tom get stood up at Waterloo Station on the same night—talk about bad luck! But fate (and a bit of awkward timing) throws them together, and they hit it off instantly.

What starts as a funny "one for the grandkids" story quickly turns into a solid friendship. Tired of awkward wedding plus-one situations, they decide to fake date—just for convenience, of course. But as they play pretend, the lines start to blur. Could their "fake" relationship actually be the real deal?

I really enjoyed this one!

It hooked me right away, and I loved getting to know Nadia, Tom, and the rest of the gang. It’s got the classic fake dating trope, but something about it felt a little different—in a good way!

There were plenty of will-they-won't-they moments and some hilariously awkward situations that kept things fun. Overall, an easy, entertaining read that I’m glad for the opportunity to read this.

Thank you to NetGalley for the download.

I loved the premise of this book - Tom and Nadia agreeing to be each other's fake plus-ones is such a fun and classic setup for a fake dating story. While the story itself was cute, and I enjoyed the connections with the other characters, I wished there was a bit more depth to their relationship. Overall, it's a sweet, light read that fans of fake dating tropes will enjoy.

3.5 stars ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for providing me with an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from Netgalley. I loved this book. The Waterloo Five were engaging, entertaining characters, the story was well paced, and I was invested in Nadia and Tom's relationship. Possibly my favourite of the Jo Lovett books I've read so far.

Absolutely loved this read! Really likeable characters who kept you engaged the whole way through. Lovely story, very well written, I very much enjoyed and would read from this author again!

Jo Lovett's newest book, Meet Me Under the Clock, is a warm, witty romance read. It is coming out soon and romance readers will love this one.

What a lovely story. A chance meeting during a mutual stand up brings together Tom and Nadia and three other people who meet under the clock during a lockdown and a pivotal life moment. For Tom and Nadia, they become fake partners to get through some difficult social events and then a great friendship develops. Really wonderful story.

A woman just learns her husband is having an affair with her best friend, two women in their 70s get engaged, and Nadia and Tom both get stood up by their dates at the train station. A false alarm happens where these 5 people are now bonded and have formed a friendship.

Tom and Nadia share their terrible dating experiences and learn they both need help getting others to leave them alone and not meddle in their lives. They agree to fake date each other and are successful with fooling their friends, but emotions are quickly blurred between what one thinks the other wants vs what they need. Their new friends are also along for the ride.

There are some awkward and clumsy moments, literally and figuratively, which made pacing kind of tricky, but dating and making friends in real like can be awkward and clumsy? So it felt on brand.

A very fun and witty read with characters that are relatable and you are rooting for the entire time.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood books for the arc!

Such a great premise and fabulous characters - that I really enjoyed this story . I was engaged from page one and the author kept my interest until the last page.

I think the author’s writing skills,carried this story to my 4 star rating because tehre were elements that I really didn’t like too much. Lola was simply ridiculous and I think Tom should have realised how stupid he was much earlier. The behaviour of Tom’s family at the Sunday tennis match was utterly bizarre and Tom’s lack of understanding really off putting.

But overall I really liked it and will read more of his author’s work.

Meet me under the clock is Jo Lovett's latest novel that is due to be released on the 11 April 2025 and it is such a fun and feel good rom com!

The story begins when 5 people meet under unique circumstances at Waterloo Station in London and it is through theses extenuating circumstance that a friendship group is born.

Within this friendship group is a couple who have just gotten engaged, a lady who has just found out that her husband has been cheating on her and then there is Tom and Nadia who have both been stood up by their dates.

This book is written in dual POV and is at times frustrating as although, you can see both points of view, Tom and Nadia's miscommunication and inability to reach out to each othet is a little too much at times.

I love a good fake dating storyline though, and the other members of the Waterloo 5's characters are really lovable and I was so glad that we got to know them a little better throughout the duration of the book.

I have rated this book a 4/5 as although, I found a few parts of the storyline frustrating, I really liked the writing style of Jo Lovett. It was so fun, easy to read and humorous! I am keen to read more books from this Author.

Thank you to Netgalley, Boldwood Books and Jo Lovett for the chance to read this ARC in return for an honest review.

2.5/5

I really liked We Were On a Break, but this one didn't hit the mark for me.

I thought Tom's storyline was very interesting - there's so much romance out there where two people decide to meet at a certain date/time years down the line if they are both single and they do and it's happily ever after. But what if one person doesn't show up? What happens then?

I really wanted to love Tom and Nadia, but I wasn't feeling the chemistry other than the fact that they found each other attractive. They were also very awkward when they started developing feelings for each other and that awkwardness overshadowed any natural chemistry they might have had. They did have some cute moments (like filming the Happy Birthday video), and I did feel for Nadia when she had to set boundaries with Tom.

I also just didn't feel connected to the characters and therefore didn't feel very invested in their relationship to each other, but it was cute finding more about Tom and Nadia as they got to know each other more throughout the book.

Thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

Having both been stood up for their respective dates, Nadia and Tom form a friendship from a unique situation. Nadia has been on multiple disasterous first dates this year, and she believes she should swear off love. Tom is finally all set to meet up with a woman hes always pined over, only to get stood up, but he’s not willing to let this woman from his past go yet.

You’ll enjoy this one if you love::
*** Friends to lovers
*** Dual POV
*** She falls first
*** Found family dynamic
*** Miscommunication trope

I enjoyed this one; the writing style kept me intrigued and was very easy to read. I really liked Nadia as our FMC; she was eternally optimistic, and realized that maybe she needed a reset in her love life. All and all though, I wasn’t thrilled over how they finally came together; personally for me, I don’t enjoy drunk hookups in books when the characters already have a prior relationship. And then the miscommunication in both their parts was frustrating for me.

I would read future novels by Jo Lovett though because I did enjoy her humor and style of writing. This romance just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the ARC of this novel; all opinions are my own.