A new tropes for me probably?
It's pretty good even it's a bit dragging in the middle. I like their chemistry and the angst all over the book!
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'Who are you and why do you have my boyfriend's phone?'

'He left it in my car. You must be the blonde in the red dress? I'm the Lift driver who dropped you two off earlier.'

And with these words, the life of the brunette and t-shirt wearing Maya Maas is turned upside down. Having planned to surprise her boyfriend, she finds herself single and stranded in an unknown city on her birthday.

So when the mystery driver rescues Maya with the suggestion that she cheers herself up at a nearby beach town, she jumps at the chance to get things back on track. She wasn't expecting a personalised itinerary or the easy companionship that comes from opening up to a stranger via text, let alone the possibility it might grow into something more...

Totally loved the story line behind this book and the creation of the characters. This is my first time reading this author and will be looking for work on their in the future

I really liked this! It was a fast read and I loved the setting. I loved getting to know the characters and the different relationships. This was great!

I am a fan of these instant love type of romances, and this one does not disappoint! The premise of the book is fresh and fun. This is a light contemporary read, but has depth in Maya discovering herself and what she wants in a relationship. Ethan is a lovable character, as he just wants to help Maya and in doing so, he discovers something he didn't know he wanted either. Just a very enjoyable, quick read and I will highly recommend!

This is just what I needed to get out of a reading slump. This is a feel-good heartfelt book that I couldn’t put down, even though I had things to do! It was that good.

I loved The Meeting Point. Getting the birds eye view to Maya and Max’s story, I had a feeling I knew how it would play out. While reading I felt like Maya was friend. I wanted to shake her and point out what was right under her nose the whole time.

I loved the stops through Carmel by the Sea. It brought the town alive, and makes me want to visit and retrace all their steps.

This was the first novel so have read by Olivia Lara, but I will for sure be looking up her previous/debut novel as well.

Thank you to Netgalley and Aria for an eARC copy to read and review.

I really liked this! The setting was described so well, it made it even better!
Really glad I got to read this one!

Parts of this book were an amazing 5 star and parts were an eye rolling 3 star. I loved the text exchanges and the adventure. I LOVED the setting of beautiful Carmel. I found Maya a bit obnoxious at times, but not unloveable. I found the writing or dialog a bit abrupt or cheesy at times. The “twist” was 1000% predictable from the very beginning. I still loved the angst and tension throughout. Overall, an enjoyable read. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC to review.

Definitely loved the characters, the banter via texting between Max and Maya was so fun. BUT the 3 star rating is because the storyline dragged way too long. Had to start totally skimming chapters. Felt like I was read War and Peace. I will,check out other books by this author but I will look for shorter books.

The first part of the book was fast and had me hook, then it started slowing down drastically… I got a little bored. What I loved: the descriptions of Carmel-by-the-Sea, Maya’s friendships with Alisa and Celine, quick read. Overall, a quick cute romance read.

Maya loves giving people the happy ending they deserve. At least in her stories, that is. However, writing stories is a passion Maya has to file away while she hangs onto her relationship with David and struggle to keep her job writing for a magazine. So, when catastrophe hits work, Maya consoled herself that spending her birthday with David in San Francisco is the best thing. Only, it wasn’t…


There’s something, someone, much better.


L' amour, Ai, Liebe, Pag-ibig. I guess, LOVE in any language sounds the same –wonderful. So when people find it, everything seems beautiful. And without it, we sometimes lost our sense of wonder. It’s easy to relate to Maya – to feel her, to be her. I’m glad that Maya found her sense of wonder back at Carmel by the Sea. I’m glad she found the courage to fight off her flight instinct. I’m glad I read her story.


THE MEETING POINT is a story of taking a huge risk falling in love, with someone you have not met. Olivia Lara wrote a heartwarming story. She managed to keep the tight exciting plotlines together, while also keeping it simple and clean. Everyone and everything is absolutely charming. The characters are easy to absorb- fear, anger, and excitement -all their emotions are real to me. And by heavens, Ethan really upped the level on dating! Bearing in mind, Carmel by the Sea seems like a really enchanting place to fall in love. I also like how this story encourages self-discovery, fighting indecisiveness, and pursuing your passion.


Light and heartwarming, I absolutely recommend this book to every reader who needs an extra boost of excitement, encouragement, and wonder!

I'm disappointed that I waited so long to read this book, especially now that I finished it in one night. What a wonderful book! I have never read anything by Olivia Lara before, but now I can't wait to find another of hers. I couldn't put it down, and ended up neglecting my husband and kids so I could find out how this ends. Thank you so much to Netgalley and the Publisher for the chance to read a book in exchange for an honest review - I have found a new favorite. Go read this!

This was an enjoyable read, but it was just a little too predictable for me. I do enjoy an instant fall in love story. I do believe that people will enjoy this book and the modern premise.

This was cute, but it wasn't the best in my opinion. I had a good time reading it, but I think overall it just didn't live up to my expectations. I think one of my main issues was that we spent so much time in Maya's head reading her inner monologue and after a while I just got bored. I also felt that while I don't care too much if my books I read tend to be practicable, but this one felt too predictable, and it just made the book boring for me. And I felt that while at times I like the miscommunication trope if it's done well, this attempt at it just didn't sit well for me and it wasn't well done. Overall this book wasn't horrible, I just felt like it wasn't for me at all.

This was a great book and an excellent meet cute - I'd definitely recommend someone to pick this one up for a fun read!

Although this was quite predictable at times, I really, really, really enjoyed this! I loved how despite what she's been through Maya still believes in love <3

Imagine texting your long-term boyfriend only to discover that he left his phone in a rideshare … a ride that he was sharing with a women who wasn’t you. This is aspiring romance writer Maya Maas’ predicament. In the San Francisco area to surprise her boyfriend David for her birthday weekend, Maya now has a cheating EX-boyfriend and a ruined birthday to boot. But her spoiled celebratory weekend is about to be turned around with the help of the Lift driver, Max, who sends Maya on an epic adventure to Carmel-By-the-Sea, a charming California coast town, by text. As Max and Maya get to know each other over the course of the day through text messages, they can’t deny the chemistry that they feel. But when David unexpectedly shows up in Carmel and gaslights Maya into believing that she has the story all wrong, she believes him and returns back to New York City. Is this the end of Maya and Max? Not if fate has anything to do with it …

Olivia Lara’s new rom-com The Meeting Point has an incredibly compelling, easy-to-read plot that kept me turning the pages. I think that this book is one best enjoyed if not too much is revealed in advance, but I quite enjoyed the surprising twists Lara inserted along the way. Plus, the setting of Carmel-By-the-Sea was amazing! I had never heard of this unique seaside town prior to reading this book, but loved getting to know it through Maya by proxy.

While I enjoyed reading this novel, I am rating it three stars because it feels a bit underdeveloped and amateurish to me, reading more like a draft than a finished novel. It is lacking some of the polish and finesse that is found in mainstream romantic comedies, and while this shouldn’t dissuade anyone from reading this book, it was obvious and distracting to me, and took me out of the story several times. Furthermore, later in the book, the plot becomes entirely predictable, and everyone, except Maya apparently, can see what is coming from a mile away.

The book main character Maya can't seem to catch a break at first. I don't want to spoil anything but stuff goes down in an uber type car. It has to do with a phone and texts. Buuuut it basically changed her life. I enjoyed the story. Not sure if I'd reread though. Possibly.

Thank you, Netgalley for the ARC in return for my honest opinion.

I was really hoping to enjoy The Meeting Point by Olivia Lara, but unfortunately, this story was just not for me. I can't go into detail without giving spoilers. Some of the actions of the characters didn't work for me. However, I would still like to give the author another chance by reading some of her other books.

This was a quick read for me. I really enjoyed the development of the characters and the storyline. I will definitely read more books by this author.