Maya has decided to surprise her boyfriend David by showing up to San Francisco where’s he’s on a work trip so they can have a romantic getaway for his birthday. She arrives at the airport and texts him...and a stranger texts back. When the Lift driver asks her if she’s the blonde, the brunette Maya realizes her boyfriend was cheating on her.

On a whim, the stranger, who she calls Max, texts her instructions for the perfect day in Carmel, a beautiful beach town☀️🌊. She follows her texted tour guides instructions, and they text each other all day. And somehow, she has the best birthday🎂.

Maya is a romantic and dreams of meeting the stranger responsible for her perfect birthday. She makes some drastic changes in her life in her pursuit of Max, who doesn’t feel like a stranger at all. Maya is an easy character to root for - I just wanted her to be happy.

Other main characters include her best friend Alisa, who encourages her in her quest to find the elusive Max; Celine, who Maya befriends in Carmel; and Celine’s brother Ethan, who knows who Max is 😮.

This was such a cute book - not only was I rooting for Maya to find Max, I also enjoyed seeing her take control of her life and do the things she wants. While I did see the twist coming, it didn’t bother me - this is still a very enjoyable and sweet romance! If you’re looking for a book that makes you dream of being by the sea, and don’t mind some instalove, I definitely recommend it!

Thank you to netgalley and Aria for a free copy of the ebook, in exchange for my honest review!

It took me less than 24 hours to finish Olivia Lara’s sophomore novel, “The Meeting Point.” Definitely a beach read, feel good book that most definitely will have a place in my library upon its release in September. Another ARC I was lucky to read before it hits shelves, Lara captivated me with the California coast and characters I wish I had in my everyday life.

I read so much I constantly ask myself what makes something a good book, or why did I like this more than the last thing I read. The answer for me is consistent- if a book makes me feel things I’m in. And this book gave me alllll the feels. I was hooked from the beginning and flew through the first few chapters, and then something happened and I had to stop reading. I was so mad. Got over my anger pretty quickly and continued reading to see how the story continued.

The main character, Maya, was someone I both identified with and wanted to be my best friend. I am so grateful I got to live life with her for a little while.

After staying up most of the night reading, I stopped around 70% through because I didn’t want the story to end. I read more this morning and again stalled at 91%. Another characteristic of a good book is when you don’t want it to end. I did finish however and as sad as I am it is over I’m so lucky I got to read it early. Such a great book, I’m sure the wait list at the library is already long. Preorder it now, add it to your TBR list, and add September 2 (it’s release date) to your calendar! This one is not to be missed!

Rating: 4.5/5

ABSOLUTELY FREAKING BRILLIANT. I loved this storyline, the characters, and just flat out everything!! It was so different and I was completely Intrigued the entire time!! My heart is still melting as we speak. As you can tell by my start and finish time for this book, I finished it in less than a day because I literally couldn’t put it down. One of the fastest romance reads I’ve had to date! Ugh you guys. I’m sad it’s over. I hope this becomes a series because I. NEED. MORE. I did guess the big reveal, but regardless I still loved it! Who doesn’t love warm fuzzies that come from a good ole romance?! Oh my goodness. Olivia Lara knows what she’s doing!! You guys definitely need to add this to your TBR! It was definitely what I hoped for and what I enjoy in romance novels: slow burn, a bit of mystery, enemies-to-lovers, and a fun storyline and makes you want more! Give this one a chance, you definitely won’t regret it!

This one surprised me and in a good way. After reading the description I thought it would just another sweet love story. I got that but also something else. I kept thinking of Sleepless in Seattle while reading this one. The thing I loved about this book was how real the development of the characters relationship felt. The dialogue felt natural and real. I highly recommend this one to everyone who like a good romantic book. 4 out of 5

Lovely summer rom com read and shows how out of something crappy a beautiful friendship can spark. I read it within 2 days and had me laughing and smiling throughout.

I really enjoyed this book, I absolutely flew through it and was rooting for Maya to find her happy ending!
I really liked the premise of this story that two people who don’t know each spend ‘the perfect day’ together falling in love only for it all to go horribly wrong at the last minute. The majority of this book was the fall out a year later after Maya decides to return to the little town where she had her adventure to try and find out who her mystery guy (Max) is after seeing that her story is being published by a well know author and Max’s best friend. Here she meets Ethan, the author who stole her story, and she immediately hates him but has to spend time with him in order for him to tell her the identity of Max!
I loved Ethan as a character, he was kinda snarky and sometimes came across as rude but also thoughtful and I wish this was dual POV as I would have loved to have read from his perspective as well. I think it was fairly obvious where this story was going to go and I worked out almost immediately who Max was, however I still very much enjoyed the story and seeing how it all played out as Maya worked through her tangle of feelings!

This story is perfect for anyone who is a fan of rom-coms! It was a cute, fun read that I really loved!

This book wasn't for me,

I got 20% into it but the writing style wasn't my favorite, I found it very simplestic and not very plot driven..
I hope someone else enjoys it!

This book has a totally unique premise and I loved this emotional journey! This is sort of a second chance romance with a twist - only one person knows who the other is.

Max saves Maya from the worst birthday ever by sending her on a fun one-day adventure via text. And she kind of falls in love with the guy on the other side of the phone. But when push comes to shove, she has to choose between going back to her old life or taking a chance on Max?

This book is so clean, you can loan it to your most conservative friend, but I didn’t care. This is such a well developed slow burn, I was totally along for the ride.

This book is almost entirely in Maya’s POV and the emotional punch of finally getting a peek into Max’s head was so amazing!

Loved this one!!

Thanks to NetGalley and Aria for an advance reader copy of this book. These are my honest opinions.

This is the first book I read from the author and it won' t be the last . From the first to last page it was amazing .A must read . A woman who is romantic and makes love stories with people she just meet at the road - cafe - bus . The day of her birthday she makes a surprice trip to her boyfriend and she ends texting with the lift driver who drove her boyfriend . After discovers she is being cheated she decide to spend the day to a city the driver tells her about . While texting she realises that is in love with him . After a year she returns back to the city and try to find him and explain why she did not meet him like she promised . While she is looking for him she meets Ethan and slowly falling in love with him without realising it . What will happen at the end ?
I received this book from net galley and the publisher as an ARC. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Maya Maas, lives in New York with her boyfriend of 5 years. When David is on a work trip in California, she decides to go surprise him. When in reality she gets the surprise of a lifetime. David leaves his phone in a "lyft." When the lyft driver starts texting her, and lets her know that David has been cheating, not only did it ruin her day, it is also her birthday!! She ends up calling him Max, as they do not want to get to personal. He ends up taking her all around the small city of Carmel, California! The best 24 hours of both of their lives. When they decide to meet at 6am before Maya has to get on a plan, David is demanding his phone back, and instead of meeting Max at the meeting point, it is David who she see's instead.

A whole year later, Max is still all Maya can think about, and when she finds out an author is writing HER story. She heads back to Carmel, California to find him, and let him know that she wrote this first, and doesn't want her story exposed. But what she finds is so much more!

I absolutely loved this story, it was so different from your typical love story. It took Maya awhile to realize that she hated her job, she didn't like her cheating, lying boyfriend, and she was determined to get answers on who Max was and why he didn't show up at their meeting point the day after her birthday a year ago. Her determination no matter what to find Max is breath taking, because it wasn't about looks, or what he did for a living. It was the fact that he was nice to her, and took her through a whole city through text message, I just have to say it would drive me nuts for a year too! Especially when you have no way of contacting them! I hope other reads enjoy Maya and Max's story as much as I did! I would love to read my from Olivia Lara! A solid 5/5 for a very different, cute, and awesome love story! That by the way I read in 6 hours!!

“Life is a strange restaurant where odd waiters bring you things you never asked for but unknowingly need.”
Maya Maas just got fired from her job . She had a flight to catch on that same day to San Francisco to surprise her boyfriend, David; ironic how she was the one who got surprised in the end. When she tried to call David’s phone, it was the lift driver who answered it; he texted her about David’s affair with another woman whom he made out with on the back seat. The Lift driver whom she called “Max” later in the story, felt bad about making her day even worse, so he played tour guide for Maya and suggested her to visit Carmel by the sea. There, her day turned from the worse birthday to the best birthday ever-all thanks this stranger that she texted all day. Maya never felt this way about anyone before, not even David. Could this be fate? Love at first text? Will she ever get to meet the real Max someday?

A year later, Maya feels empty with her life in New York. She never stopped thinking about that one day at Carmel where she had the best day of her life because of Max. With that, she finally decides to go back to Carmel to try and find him.

This is a light and quick book to read. The itinerary that Max made for Maya’s birthday were well thought off. As I read those scenes, it felt like I was there at Carmel by the sea too enjoying the moment. I love the setting, the people, and the blissful-cozy vibe that Carmel radiated. Although this book is written in Maya’s POV, it wasn’t hard to figure out who Max is halfway through the book, which makes the story cliché and predictable.
Maya is a good and kind character. I’m happy that everything turned out great for her in the end. She deserves to have all those kind people in Carmel in her life, especially the twins Celine and Ethan; I love the friendship that she built up with the two characters. The romance in the story was cute, but I was a bit dismayed at the fact that there were lies hidden between the characters; the truth was revealed during the last part of the book. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading this one. If you’re into insta-love, romcoms, and fate love stories, then you’ll like this one.

This was such a cute romactic tale in an amazing setting. It felt so refreshing and heartwarming. I loved how to frienship was built between Maya and Maz. I don't know if Carmel-by-the-sea is an actual place or not but it seems so dreamy. I love frienships to lovers trope and this was captured in such a beatiful way in this bool. Although I kind of predicted the plot twist but this is a very meet-cute beach read book and i really recommend it.

Oh how I loved this fun romcom by Olivia Lara! I took this lovely read with me on a weekend getaway, and it was the perfect escape to add to my escape! This book promises romance, originality, characters you’ll love, strong chapters and a satisfying ending. I loved Maya instantly. She finds a story in almost any situation (which I can relate). I found the texting that went on between her and the Lyft driver on point! I loved it all, from their silly road games to finding out about each other. Readers of the genre will love this new swoony romance by Olivia Lara. Highly recommend!

When Maya travels across the country to surprise her boyfriend, her life changes. Her boyfriend left his phone in a Lift driver's car only for the driver to reveal that he's been cheating on her. But the mystery driver refuses to let Maya have a horrible day and guides her to a tour of a nearby beach town, all through text. They spend the day getting to know one another, but when her boyfriend gets his phone back, there's not hope for Maya finding her mystery driver. A year later, she's determined to find him again. Even if she has to uproot her life to do it. But she finds that her mystery driver may not be who she thought he was.

I was really hooked by this premise, but this one ultimately wasn't for me. The initial day between the love interests felt so short and I couldn't believe they fell in love with each other from just a few questions back and forth! I felt like they were both more in love with the idea of each other and the possibility of a happily ever after, so I found the rest of the story to be a tad bit unbelievable at times. I do love a snarky hero though and Ethan was this to a t. Their enemies to lovers plot line was great in and of itself, but I was so frustrated that Maya couldn't put two and two together. It was so obvious and I couldn't believe she didn't realize it! Regardless, this is still a cute and sweet read that's perfect for those who love beach town, semi-forced proximity, and enemies to lovers!

Thank you to Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oof, I had a lot of trouble getting through this book - I almost dnf at 30%, but pushed through and ended up skimreading a lot of it instead.

First of all, I really enjoyed the descriptions of Carmel-by-the-Sea, they were extremely gripping and made me want to visit this picturesque seaside town, and I loved the text directions given to Maya from the Lyft driver - it was fun and very easy to read.

As someone who is not a fan of insta-love, things started to go downhill quickly for me and I rapidly started losing interest. I struggled with the writing (it has a slight immature tone?) and found the pacing of events quite odd, especially with the ex-boyfriend drama (for lack of a better word).

As a whole, this was extremely predictable, lending to a dragging of events (who is this mysterious Lyft driver?), subsequently leaving me bored and uninterested in the rest of the story. I didn’t enjoy many of the interactions between Maya and Ethan - I thought a lot of their dialogue was quite over dramatic and unrealistic, and it just wasn’t a romantic pairing I was rooting for.

Overall, a very easy and quick summer read, but not one I would recommend or come back to.

cute, but not for me personally. i liked the concept of the whole mystery lyft driver and whatever but i didn’t really click with the story. i feel like i wasnt a fan of the authors writing style and i didn’t connect with any characters. i also wasn’t a fan of the ending unfortunately. that being said, it was a decent book, 3 ⭐️ thanks to net galley for an arc for an honest review

First, I would like to thank the author and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. I can’t believe that I am saying this, but I kind of wish the book was just a little longer so we could get more of this couple! It was already 88 chapters. I definitely did not expect the book to take the twists and turns it did, but I am so glad it did. The book starts off with Maya showing up in California to surprise her boyfriend for her birthday. And he’s off cheating on her! After finding out about his infidelity, she starts talking to the Lyft driver who helps her experience an adventure of a lifetime. I won’t go into anything else because I don’t want to spoil anything. In the beginning, I was scared about how this book would go and if I would enjoy it especially since it was so long but I feel like the plot really picked up and gave the characters the journey they needed.

"The Meeting Point" by Olivia Lara
Release Date: 9.2.2021

Maya Maas is having a horrible day! She receives a rejection for an interview, which then results in being fired from the newspaper she has worked at for the past four years! Then, when she decides to make a surprise trip for her birthday to San Francisco to visit her boyfriend, David, Maya finds out he is cheating on her! This news comes from the Lyft Driver, telling Maya that he left his phone in her car, and left the car with a hot blonde, who was more than friendly in her backseat!

Maya feels depressed and deflated. The Lyft Driver gives some great suggestions on a trip to the beach city, Carmel, to make her birthday celebration special.

Throughout the day, they play a game of 50 questions to get to know one another. Although she has only texted with this Lyft Driver, she feels a connection. They decide to meet, but Maya does not make it. Luck just isn't on her side. She returns to New York and begs for her old job.

A year later, Maya returns to Carmel to meet the Lyft driver, who she has dubbed "Max." She meets twins Ethan and Celine. Ethan may know "Max" a little too well.

Maya finds out that "Max" is an author who used the one day adventure for his newest book! That's an issue, because Maya also wrote about her adventure!

I'm a sucker for banter, and Maya and "Max" don't disappoint. I loved this story, and the real MVP was Celine. I hope she receives her own story; she deserves her own happy ending!

Thank you to @netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #netgalley #netgalleyreads #netgalleybooks #2021bookreleases #romcom #contemporaryromance #themeetingpoint #olivialara

After getting fired, Maya decides to fly to California on her birthday to surprise her boyfriend. However, what Maya is not expecting to find out is that her boyfriend is cheating on her through his Uber driver when he left his phone in the Uber. This leads to Maya's best birthday where she texts with the Uber driver and he guides her on an adventure through a small costal Californian town. At the end of the day, the driver and Maya decide to meet however it does not go as planned. One year later, Maya is back at that town looking for that Uber driver. She doesn't find him but she finds the author who somehow got their story and is now publishing a book about it. The more time she spends with the author, the less she thinks the Uber driver is the one for her.

This is a great book if you are looking for a fun summer read with plenty of romance and humor!

<i> Thank you to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for a free digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review! </i>

I had trouble getting into this one because of the writing. I don't know exactly why, but. I just felt like a young girl was writing this book and I couldn't keep going. I however loved this authors last book and may revisit this one one day.