Meet Me in London

Meet Me in London by Georgia Toffolo 336 pages

For fans of Josie Silver's “One Day in December” and Christina Lauren's “In a Holidaze.” 

I’m just gonna say it now. “Meet Me in London” is a novel that would be a wonderful Hallmark Christmas movie. This rom-com has it all: great setting; girl hates boy before she even meets him; boy is indifferent to girl, yet they need each other; low-level sparks fly; and BAM! they fall in love.

 At her core, Victoria Scott is a vintage fashion designer. I love vintage clothing and I wish author Toffolo had described some of her clothing. Maybe she did, and I missed it. The clothing could have been from any decade from the 1930s to the 1990s. I got the feeling that it was 1950s, but I wouldn’t put money on it.

To make ends meet, she works in a bar in Chelsea; across the street is her ex-boyfriend’s business. The area the two businesses are in sounds quaint and wonderful….lots of little specialty shops and restaurants. However, there is a new store opening down the street that will change everything and probably put all the shops out of business: Russell’s, an old and established department store.

The store is facing its own set of challenges: its way, way behind schedule and its grand opening date in early December may not happen. Oliver Russell, son of the store owner and heir apparent, has been sent to fix things and get the opening back on schedule or they’ll lose the Christmas buying season.

Oliver is also trying to fend off his mother who wants to meet his girlfriend over the holidays; a girlfriend who doesn’t exist. Victoria and Oliver literally run into each other outside the department store. Readers know where this is going so I don’t need to go on.

One thing that confused me is that the novel takes place in London’s Chelsea neighborhood. So how can the title be “Meet Me in London”? Although the novel was predictable, I did like it. It wasn’t great, but reading a holiday rom-com is fun during the dog days of summer. Therefore, “Meet Me in London” 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.