Meet Me in London was one of my festive reads and I absolutely loved it, so I was over the moon when I found out that it was actually the first book in a series!
Meet Me in Hawaii, the second book, is the ultimate feel good feast. It focuses on Malie, a passionate surfer who moved to Hawaii whilst trying to overcome personal tragedy. Trust me, if you loved Meet Me in London, prepare to gobble this one up!
Where Victoria Scott was dreaming of her future life and fulfilling her dream of owning her own boutique, her friend Malie Pukui no longer believes in Happily Ever After and has put her life on hold leaving life in Devon to try and start fresh in Hawaii.. Little does she know how much she is holding herself back.
In comes an affable millionaire and owner of a charitable foundation by the name of Todd Masters! One of the things I loved about this book was it's strong character-driven narrative. Despite ironically meeting in water, Malie and Todd have instant heat, with an intensity established in their relationship right from the very start and carried right the way through the book.
With its backdrop of beautiful beaches, kind hearted people, Hawaii fees like the perfect setting for this tale, and Georgia Toffolo for me really captured some of the vibrancy and warmth of the people and surfer life without making it feel cliched.
This is a romance novel but one that packs a punch because dig beyond the surface and you'll find some other themes interwoven in the plot. I loved the way that the book turned outdated gender stereotypes on their head, emphasised (mini spoiler alert), by the way in which Malie and Todd meet, with her coming to his rescue. In fact neither of them need rescuing but they have to work to confront their demons and meet each other in the middle. And these demons if you look at them bring an element of coping with trauma and looking after your own wellbeing as well, it gave the story more depth and to me made the characters even more relatable.
Romance with a very current feel, loveable characters and a lot of heart. This is a funny, charming, sexy, feel good read - guaranteed to leave you with a smile, and a desire to book a flight immediately. My only complaint is having to wait a few months now for the next book in the series!
Big thank you to the Mills & Boon team and NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for this honest review.
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