I’ve been eagerly awaiting Meet Me in Tahiti, the third instalment of Georgia Toffolo’s Meet Me series, and it didn’t disappoint.
This series explores the lives of four friends – Victoria, Malie, Zoe and Lily who all grew up in Hawkes Cove and were involved in a horrific car accident when they were teenagers. Their individual stories are told across four books, and book three is Zoe’s story. In London, Victoria Scott was dreaming of her future life and owning her own boutique, in Hawaii, Malie Pukui had put her life on hold, instead focusing on her job at a surf school.
Described by the author herself as a “complex and unconventional heroine”, Zoe has spent her life facing battles – for her independence, love life, and the adjustment she had to make following the car accident which left her unable to walk again and when we meet her, she’s in Tahiti at a new luxury hotel, which as a successful travel writer, she is excited to review. Little does she know; its owner is her childhood friend Finn. Over the course of the week, Finn proceeds to show Zoe the best of the resort and struggles to contain his feelings for her. He has carried a torch for her since their teenage years but has always felt he was not good enough for her.
I liked what Zoe and Finn’s story has to say about love and friendship. Their relationship is very intense, sizzling right from the get-go. Described as “a sprinkle of fairy dust amidst the mundane drudgery that was his life” she is the Ying to his Yang, and he hers. The firm placement of the central characters on equal footing really makes this feel a contemporary romance. They are both successful, they both have some personal insecurities to overcome and they really need to meet each other in the middle to face up to their feelings for one another. Zoe is fiercely determined not to have anyone pity or patronise her because she is in a wheelchair and I felt this was handled brilliantly across the book, between her emails with her parents, her interaction with some of the supporting characters and the dialogue Finn exploring the need for independence and trust rather than sympathy.
I also really like that as this is the third book in the series you can see the interlinkages between each story, and also get a wider understanding of the strength of the bond between each of the four women, and the different romances that are explored. Victoria and Oliver literally crashed into each other’s lives, Malie comes to Todd’s rescue and Zoe and Finn’s story is a mix of childhood sweethearts and unrequited love.
This is a book about taking a chance on love, being brave enough to bare your soul and go after what you want and facing up to the past. Zoe and Finn know each other, can read each other but both must work to really say how they feel about one another.
This is definitely a feel-good series, with a lot of heart, I didn’t want to put this third book down. Georgia Toffolo has a way of describing each country in such a beautiful way that has you wanting to travel the more you read! I can’t wait for Lily’s story next!
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