Oh man, I really wanted to love this book. The premise seemed so cute but it just didn't deliver for me. It featured a few tropes that aren't my favourite and had some pacing issues. I just don't think this one was for me, but definitely a quick summery read for those looking for it.

The Meeting Point point drew me in with some great romance staples - a great meet cute, texting, mistaken identity, banter, somehow both instalove and slow burn. Maya is a writer at heart who finds herself unexpectedly in a new place. Our hero Ethan is an accomplished writer. I liked that the majority of the book is written in Maya’s point of view but you get a glimpse into Ethan when we read his novel. However for me the plot pacing was disjointed, on some level it is supposed to be a surprise who is Maya’s “love interest” but I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say it’s quite obvious for the whole book who that is. I also think it adds in too much of a “love triangle” element and I didn’t enjoy. I did however like the writer’s having romance in general in common, the beautiful scenery and some of the fun dates sprinkled throughout.

It is so easy to get attached to what we know, what we are used to, or simply not getting out of our comfort zone just because we are made to believe we don't have what it takes or can't find better options.

That is not true. We can do better than we are told, and deep inside we know it.

I enjoyed so much reading this book, carefully going through its pages, I didn't want to miss anything, I didn't want to finish it. I needed to read more of that encouragement. I needed to be reminded of that lack of bravery that we are so used to have.
To the readers, sometimes we need to be selfish.
To the author and team, Congratulations!

Simply wow! I never expected to enjoy this so much. I enjoyed every minute of Maya's journey when she leaves her bad relationship and heads out for an adventure to find if she can find her true love. I did identify Max right away and I don't think the author wanted to keep his identity hidden from the readers but the wait for Maya took forever with so intense soul-searching. Poor Maya had to go through so much to finally realize who she really loves.

Maya has this amazing day with Max just via texting the entire day but doesn't know who Max is and so heads back to her life in New York. But a year later, she decides to leave everything and go search for Max in California when she finds her perfect day was coming up in a book by Ethan. How is Ethan connected to Max and does Maya get to meet him finally in person?

Such a cute and delightful romcom!

Thank you to the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for the gifted copy of The Meeting Point! All opinions in this review are my own.

When Maya decides to surprise her boyfriend in California, she is devastated to learn that he is cheating on her from a stranger. Now she is alone in California on her birthday. Luckily the "Lift" driver who found her boyfriend's phone has an adventure planned for her. As this mysterious man leads her around an adorable beach town, Maya can't help falling for him.

**Warning: mild spoilers ahead!**

I really enjoyed the first half of The Meeting Point. It is a quick read and there is great tension created as Maya waits to meet the mystery man. However, once it is revealed that he followed her at a distance the whole day, this story lost its charm. I can suspend belief that she would follow his instructions but it seems weird that she is not creeped out about him after learning that. It's also pretty obvious who Maya's mystery man really is so the end dragged out a bit.

You know… I really wanted to like this book. I read it right after The Charm Offensive which might have been where I went wrong. (Thanks NetGalley, for this ARC too.) I absolutely loved The Charm Offensive. I thought the representation in so many different areas was fantastic. It was fun, funny and sweet. I had similar expectations going into The Meeting Point and was sorely disappointed.

The Meeting Point is about a woman named Maya who finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her after he leaves his phone in a rideshare car and the driver mistakes Maya for the woman who was actually with him that night. She’d been with her boyfriend, David, for several years and decided to go and visit him in California on one of his “business trips.”

When she gets to the airport, after not hearing back from many missed calls and texts, she gets a message from David’s phone asking if she was the blonde in the red dress he was with last night when he was in the car. Maya is a brunette who was at home in Brooklyn at the time. Safe to say, she had a lot of thinking to do.

Instead of wasting her one day on the west coast, which was her birthday no less, she spends the day talking to the very nice Lift driver who gave her directions all around a small town called Carmel by the Sea. They talk all day and night, while she goes to places he recommends like diners, the beach and even a party. But as the night comes to a close and they plan to meet up at dawn the next day, David shows up. Maya is looking for her mystery man who was supposed to be there at the same time but he never shows. So she goes back to New York with David.

I won’t spoil any more than that but I knew from the moment that happened, I wasn’t going to like the rest of the book. I don’t do well with second chance romances. I tried it with The Good Luck Charm (which you’ll see words about soon) and tried it here. Luckily, this wasn’t a second chance romance. But the fact that she even offered David a second chance to begin with, threw me off. It made me feel like Maya was a pushover and wouldn’t stand up for herself, which was my exact issue with A Second-Hand Husband.

The rest of the book was filled with miscommunication tropes and I’m not a fan of that either. It’s very frustrating to me how they would keep beating around the bush and running out of time to say things, or cutting each other off so no one could ever get a full explanation out. I was so frustrated for most of this book because the signs were so clear as to who the mystery man was and it felt like Maya was purposely ignoring those signs.

From a writing standpoint, a lot of this story felt very much like telling and not showing. I don’t know why it felt so overwhelming to me here but it did and hindered my experience much more than I expected it to. I guess this book could be considered a slow burn but it was just way too slow for me. 2.5 stars. If you want to give it a try, this book will be available on September 2, 2021.

The Meeting Point by Olivia Lara is a sweet romcom that follows Maya as she’s looking for a Lift driver she fell in love with after spending a perfect day “with him”

This was a fast paced read, I really liked that you don’t have to wait long for Maya and mystery Lift driver Max to start interacting and I loved that we don’t get to see much of David, he just seemed obnoxious and horrible to be honest!
Getting to know Maya throughout the story and following her one year later when she’s back in Carmel-by-the-Sea looking for Max was so much fun! The setting was beautiful, the people were so nice and I really loved how inspired Maya felt surrounded by all of them. I loved the relationships she forms and the places she visits with wonderful company.

I’m keeping this review spoiler free but I will say this — even if I figured what was going on early on, I really enjoyed the journey and I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoys cute romcoms with likeable characters, swoony moments and a little bit of banter.

Keep an eye out for this one, it’s out on September 2nd!!! 🗓

✨Thank you to the author, NetGalley & Aria for an eARC of this book in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own. ✨

This review will be posted closer to publication date on my Instagram account: @bm.bookish.girl

This is a cute heartfelt story written by Olivia Lara.

I read this novel in one sitting. It is a cute and romantic story with a plot that you absolutely engage with and love.
If your looking for a cute, easy read this fall this is definitely the novel for it. The characters are well developed and the romance was so sweet.

Such a cute and romantic story set in such a beautiful location! I love the bond that forms between Maya and Max and it didn't feel rushed at all. This book felt like such a classic Rom Com and I am so here for it!

The Meeting Point was so cute and fun! Just the kind of read I was looking for this summer.

I loved everything from their first "meeting" which admittedly started off super rough for Maya because her current boyfriend is a terrible person. But everything worked out as Max made her feel better by virtually giving her a tour of Carmel by the Sea.

Things happen, etc, and a year later she finally leaves her cheating boyfriend and on a whim goes back to Carmel by the Sea to see if she can find Max. I wasn't a fan of her subterfuge - if she had just been open on who she was looking for she would have figured things out sooner, but also the book wouldn't have been as long so there's that.

She meets some awesome people along the way, and went on a journey she never expected, but desperately needed.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows Maya, an aspiring writer in a job she hates with a boyfriend who she loves more than anything but who seems bored in the relationship. To try and rekindle their romance she flies to California to see him while he is on a business trip but is instead informed by a Lyft driver that her boyfriend has been cheating, so she heads out on a spontaneous adventure that she will remember for a lifetime.

** possible unintentional light spoilers **

This book was really touching and I did enjoy a lot of aspects of it, but I could not get over how slow the main character sometimes seemed in guessing what was going on. I guessed the plot twist as soon as the second act of the book really got going and I sometimes felt frustrated with Maya for not seeing the forest for the trees I guess. I don’t want to post any spoilers so I’ll stop here.

Anyways overall it was a nice story and the banter was enjoyable, a really great beach read if you’re looking for one :)

I would like to start this by saying that I am only giving this 2 stars because I enjoyed Ethan and his sister Celine.

I received an arc from Netgalley for this book and was so excited because the premise sounded so cute!

Wrong.

This was brutal.

This was fight scene in Breaking Dawn brutal.

I’m talking the movie version. Not the book. Brutal.

The amount of errors was just insane. In one part our main character Maya sends her mystery man a picture and the next sentence he wants her to describe the exact thing she just sent a picture of. Later while Maya is reading Ethan’s book the names were messed up. It was as if nobody has screened this book at all.

Speaking of Ethan’s book, it was basically rereading the entire first 20% all over again WORD FOR WORD.

Then we get to the end. The big reveal. Not to be cruel but it was not this giant shock. We all knew who “Max” was going to be. I was giving confused Britney face at such a high level my face might be stuck now.

I really really didn’t like this book.

I literally started this book quite late last night, but I read so much of it before I fell asleep and finished it this morning. I can’t believe how fast I got through it, also quite sad as I was SO invested.  

I loved it. I can’t even describe. I loved the writing, the characters, the story, the ending. ALL OF IT. I normally read thrillers but trying to try get back into my romance books especially and this was amazing. I LOVED Maya. I just wanted to hug her from the very beginning, then her very special birthday, I felt like I was on the journey with her too! It was so beautifully written too; I loved all the little moments. 

I was so invested; I couldn’t put it down and needed to know what was going to happen next. I did kinda guess who ‘max’ was, however I couldn’t wait for the moment for him to be revealed! And it was such a magical moment when it was.  

I'm still feeling so many emotions from this book, and honestly, I say this with every book I've loved, but I NEED a part 2!!! I need to know what happens next... for ALL the characters!

I had a bit of a hard time getting into to the story but once I did, I had a hard time putting it down. The book has a lovely premise; a stranger rescues someone from a difficult and unpleasant situation - and everyone can figure out at least how it's going to end.

I really liked Maya. I enjoyed how she went from secure decisions to doing-what-makes-me-happy decisions, although a few reckless ones (who never?). I just wanted to yell at her multiple times for missing what's right in front of her. It was so obvious what was going on that I was just eager to get to the part where Maya actually figured it all out. We got there eventually, but boy, did it take her some time. She was easy to read about and she had a pleasant, simple point of view.

The love interest was fun, charming and I loved their chemistry and all the building of their relationship. But, reading his point of view regarding the same day, I gotta say that he made some questionable decisions that would raise some red flags for me.

The supporting characters were a plus, giving more substance to the story other than the typical instalove, focused-only-on-the-main-characters plot. I also loved the whole setting. Carmel by the Sea is a real and beautiful city, and I always like to read books that make me want to travel certain places.

This is a great book if you're looking for something simple yet very entertaining to read!

It was good! Felt like brit lit, so a little like sophie kinsella! Just need to add words here because the review needs to be long lol

When Maya unexpectedly finishes a work project early on her birthday weekend, she decides to fly from New York to San Francisco to surprise her boyfriend on his business trip. Except when she gets there and tries to give him a call, all she gets is voicemail. After a few all-caps texts, she finds out his phone has been left in a Lift. Not only that, but her boyfriend was in this Lift with another woman and they looked quite close...Maya is resigned to spend her birthday in the airport alone, but after texting with the Lift driver for a bit, he insists she shouldn't waste her birthday sitting on an airport bench. He gives her an itinerary to explore the small beach town of Carmel by the Sea via text and she follows his instructions, soaking in all that this charming town has to offer. The mysterious stranger keeps her company via text all day and Maya is surprised to feel connected to someone so quickly, just through text. Is it possible to fall in love with someone that you've never met?

The setup of this book was interesting. We get this magical day with Maya at Carmel by the Sea, and quite quickly, it's a year later and the real story begins with Maya trying to find the identity of her sweet Lift driver. I do have a few complaints about this book. The writing felt very basic at times - lots of short sentences and straight descriptions of actions without much interest added to them. I think this story could have benefitted from two POVs - both Maya's and her mystery man, who in fact is not a mystery at all despite Maya's obtuseness. I felt like shaking Maya throughout the book because it was just so obvious. But because we're supposed to be left questioning who her love interest is, we don't actually buy in enough to him. If the goal was to be enemies-to-lovers, it wasn't pushed far enough. I just felt "eh" about both of them.

More than anything, I get frustrated when the conflict in a book could be solved with one simple conversation, and that is the entire premise of this story.

The Meeting Point had a cute premise but fell a little flat for me. However I think fans of Emily Henry's Beach Read will enjoy this new story!

Maya tries surprising her boyfriend on a trip but gets more than she bargains for when he leaves his phone in a Lyft and she was not the woman he just shared the car with. After discovering he was cheating on her she spends a magical 24 hours in a small coastal town enjoying herself and falling for the Lyft driving via text message. After their magical day, Maya goes back to real life but regrets it every day for a year.

The story picks back up a year later with Maya looking for her missed love connection. As you follow Maya on this journey you get to experience beautiful Carmel-by-the-Sea and the great people she meets.

For me this one was hard to get into because I thought the whole story was going to be her communicating with the Lyft driver and that magical day but that was really only the setup. It felt like Maya really should have picked up on what was going on earlier as the big reveal was not a shock as a reader. I didn't really understand her hatred for Ethan, the supposed friend of the Lyft driver who was going to help her find her lost love. I also just really didn't understand how she didn't have his phone number or get his real phone number to be able to continue talking to him.

Overall it was okay but just felt a little unrealistic and had a hard time putting myself in the shoes if the main character. There is a writing aspect to it that I think would make it great for fans of Beach Read though!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Meeting Point is a cute and delicious romantic story that is quickly devoured. I read it in one sitting, because the writing is fluid, but above all because I needed to know how the plot was ending.
Maya accumulates disappointments, she clings to a slight hope: her boyfriend. She decides to go to California to find him to celebrate her birthday with him, but without warning him beforehand.
At the airport, she calls him, but he's not the one answering, it's a lift driver who does. She discovers thanks to this stranger that her wonderful boyfriend is cheating on her. The stranger on the phone feels sorry for her and generously decides to help her overcome her disappointment and have a wonderful day. The two of them text each other, he advises her on places to visit, where to eat, where to relax ... Olivia Lara offers us a sublime postcard from Carmel-on-the-Sea, a small town very popular with writers, full of charms that she describes wonderfully, she makes us want to visit it.
Thanks to a man whose identity she does not know, she has a magical day, the best she has had since a very long time, a day that will change her life. Over the text messages, they get to know each other, they make each other laugh, exchange their feelings ... They therefore decide to meet but ... For unclear reasons, this meeting does not take place. And it is soooo frustrating !
A year later, Maya can no longer bear her disappointing life, especially after having lived an exceptional day several months before. She decides to give up everything and go in search of the lift driver. So she returns to California, to the city where her life has changed ... Conducting her investigation, she meets wonderful and generous people, she can finally let her heart express itself by helping others, by bringing them a smile...
In a way, looking for the man who changed her life, she finds herself, she becomes the real Maya again, a happy Maya.
She meets a writer who can help her find the lift driver but between them the mood is electric, she is angry with him, and he seems perplexed by her. It creates funny and enjoyable to read scenes. The situation of our heroine is more and more complicated.
It's hard to explain what I liked about this book without saying too much. The charm of the small town with its adorable inhabitants offers a very beautiful setting and a familiar and special atmosphere. The secondary characters all bring an additional charm.
Maya is a woman who got lost over the years, her day of discovering Carmel was a trigger, as much by the city as by the exchanges with the stranger of the texts. This day has shown her everything she misses by continuing to live a life that does not suit her. As for the lift driver ... he made me melt with his messages, he helps a woman he doesn't know, he offers her the keys to happiness without expecting anything in return, he has a sense of humor...
Maya falls in love, at the same time as us, with an exceptional man who will know how to make her happy.
There is a lot of magic in this love story, a lot of sweetness and energy too.
I loved discovering the first day from the point of view of the lift driver. Although it wasn't a big surprise, it was still super cute.
We quickly guess the end of the story but despite everything, we find ourselves impatiently waiting for the moment when Maya will understand. And the end does not disappoint at all !
No sex scene here, just seduction, tenderness, humor ... The birth of love, the discovery of the loved one.
In short, this novel is a little gold nugget that will make you smile!

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for providing me with access.

I absolutely adored this book. A serendipitous meeting, missed connections, a case of mistaken identity, and Olivia Lara churns out a wonderful tale that answers the age old question of whether love at first sight exists.

Maya Maas is endearing and charming, and you can't help but root for her as she tries to figure out her life after one day adventure with a complete stranger. I loved everything about her, her story, and how she finally got around to figuring everything out. I loved that Ethan, despite not telling her who he was initially, was still trying to get her to fall in love with him. This book really was a great summer read that hit all the right spots

Fun and yes fairly predictable romcom. I don't mind predictability. I feel thats pretty much a given with romcoms. I DO think though that since it was pretty obvious early on who Max is that we should have gotten more of his POV. I really liked the segments of his book where we got to see what he was experiencing. I do really dislike when there are so many lies and no communication but again thats to be expected sometimes to give some sort of conflict. I do think there was a little too much of Maya's inner thoughts and they were a little repetitive. She was a little immature at times as well, especially for her age. Claire was actually one of my favorite parts of the story and I really wish Maya had confided in her. I disagree with some other reviewers about Maya and Ethan. I really thought they had great chemistry. I was upset that Maya kept denying it so much. I did find it really odd though that Maya was so oblivious. I really think Maya would have at least at one point considered that Max could be Ethan. It was odd that she didn't. Or maybe even have Alisa give that as a theory. The one thing I really don't get though is why David kept calling for so long. It just didn't make sense that he would if he had the attitude Max wrote about in his book. Overall I really enjoyed it! It was a fast and fun read that I would recommend to anyone who loves the movie You've Got Mail, because it definitely made me think of it multiple times.