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.