This was a feel good, light hearted, quick read. The plot and premise are unique and quirky. Maya, an aspiring writer from NY, is on her way to surprise her boyfriend in CA where he is on a business trip. Looking forward to spending her birthday with him, she texts him when she arrives. The response she receives is actually sent by a Lyft driver who says that her boyfriend left his phone in the car. Through texts with the driver, Maya realizes that her boyfriend is cheating on her. Her worst birthday is transformed when the driver, via text, guides her with an itinerary to spend the day in a beautiful beach side town. The romance develops solely through texts and sets Maya on a journey of self discovery and growth. The characters are charming and the gorgeous setting comes alive with the author’s descriptions of Carmel by the Sea. An enjoyable escape awaits with this sweet and cute romance.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I knew I would love The Meeting Point when I read its blurb, and I was right. It is one of the three contemporary romances I’ve read last week. Let me just say that all three of them are set in small towns. I love small town romances. I think it’s more intimate and homely, if that makes sense. There’s something about a romance in a small town that makes me feel at home.

Anyway, The Meeting Point is more of a Chick Lit than regular contemporary romance. Maya Maas, the main character finds her life turned upside down when she went to surprise her boyfriend, only to find out that he’s cheating on her, the information given to her by the driver who dropped his boyfriend off. She then found herself in a mini tour, thanks again to the suggestion of the driver.

I love the set up of this novel, from the concept to the execution. The concept of having two strangers seemingly fated to meet. I love that so much because that doesn’t happen often in real life, or actually they happen but we’re too busy to acknowledge fate. Call me romantic or idealistic much, but I do believe in fate or destiny. 🥰

Right from the start I know Maya will have her own happy ending in romance but it’s such an enjoyable journey to see her get her life back together. That’s why I said this is more chick lit for me. The Meeting Point is said to be perfect for the fans of Mhairi McFarlane, Josie Silver and Sally Thorne. I can see why, especially how it started. It’s reminded me of McFarlane’s novel, If I Never Met You. But I didn’t really think of another book while reading it. This book ha sts own charm and I love Maya. Maya had been in a rough patch but she grew as a character in all aspect. I was rooting for her since the beginning and I really wished I was with her in Carmel-by-the-Sea.

Speaking of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Gosh!!! I was so focused on the setting. This book featured a little town in California called Carmel-by-the-Sea. It’s the first time I’ve heard or read the name of this town and I was so happy when it turned out to be real. I am a big fan of stories set in small towns, as I already mentioned. And this book checked all the boxes. I already listed Carmel-by-the-Sea in my bucket list.

Finally, I can say that The Meeting Point, wrapped up well. I love the twists and turns the story takes, even though some parts are predictable, I was okay with it.

If you love romantic stories with a unique concept and amazing characters, this one is for you.

This was such a cute romance. I couldn't put it down! I was hooked from the beginning and swooned pretty much the whole time. I can't wait to read more from Olivia Lara.

When Maya decided to travel to San Francisco to surprise her boyfriend for her birthday she wasn't expecting to be unemployed or find out that her boyfriend was cheating on her from a lift driver. Or that an unexpected companionship would come from the lift driver finding her ex boyfriends phone and suggesting she spend the day at a beach town with him supplying the itinerary through texts. And them getting know each other through a game.

I really enjoyed this story I loved reading about Maya and her quest to find 'Max'. There's a bit of a mystery surrounding 'Max' but as the reader we figure it out pretty soon into the story. Poor Maya takes the whole book to figure it out. The instalove and romance in this was so good and so cute I couldn't put it down. The friendships in this were so good too. Every character was so good in their own way and they were all so friendly and the town was so welcoming and inviting it made me wish I could go there. The way that Maya was made to feel like she'd lived there all her life. I didn't want this to end.

This was such a good romance story and I recommend this to everyone I will definitely be checking out Olivia Lara's debut novel too as if it's anything like this I'm sure I'll love it too.

From the very first chapter, I was swooning over The Meeting Point! I can’t believe this book did not get more hype on Bookstagram, but this may be one of my favorite romances of the year! I was in the mood for a unique contemporary romance to just sweep me away and The Meeting Point nailed it!

The short chapters and swoony romance made this such an easy read for me. Maya forms an immediate connection over text with an unknown Lyft driver after he accidentally reveals that her boyfriend is cheating on her just as she arrives in California to surprise him for her birthday. The mystery man spontaneously plans a day of adventures for Maya in the quaint town of Carmel by the Sea, but they don’t meet. A year passes and then the story really begins, but I don’t want to give too much away. I do have to admit that the story did slow down in the middle, but I was so invested by that point that I didn’t want to stop reading! Regardless, I absolutely loved it!

I highly recommend The Meeting Point if you want to read a sweet and charming contemporary romance that feels very different from others in the genre. If you enjoy the movies You’ve Got Mail and Serendipity, I think you would love this one!

Available on Kindle Unlimited (KU)!

Thank you so much to TLC Book Tours, Aria, Head of Zeus, and Netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

Sometimes you just find one of those romances that just have something special, but it is not often that you do. But, luckily for me this book really was one of those special romances. I was not really in a mood to read but I picked up this book anyway and I am glad that I did. From the first text I kind of became hock for their romances, the chemistry was really amazing! It was one of those chemistries that you could feel in your entire body when you read about it. I could hardly put the book down and when I put it down to sleep, I could hardly sleep because I just needed to finish it! But when I think what really set it apart from other romances was the characters chemistry. Like this kind of good writing is really hard! So, I really need to read whatever this author has written and all the authors future writings. And I really need myself a physical copy!

It was sweet and had such a nice setting, I feel jealous for anyone who could visit the town! I usually read books with nice small-town setting set in Europe, which is much more realistic for me to visit. Me who never set my foot in America feel like it just entered my priority list, so that I can visit Carmel! Also a big plus was the book and author angel of the story, I can never resist it!

This is a really sweet romantic story about finding oneself and discovering love in unexpected places. It's very easy to read, the structure and writing is good, the characters seem well-portrayed, and the plot is effortless to follow.

When it comes to crafting out the main protagonist, Maya comes across as grounded, curious, adventurous and fun-loving. The book starts with her being in a transitional period of her life where she felt stuck and unsure of what to do next, and then follows her journey as she navigates her work and personal life. Bonus points for being set in Carmel by The Sea and its beautiful sceneries.

There are some minor things that I didn't resonate well but overall it's a good romance novel.

I have kindly received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and Aria in exchange of a fair review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I could not put this book down. This is the romance novel that 2021 needed. My heart. I'll be thinking of this for a long time to come. You're drawn into Maya's world as she searches for "Max". Yes it's predictable but it's just just lovely and would make a wonderful movie. It's been a while since Ithought that about a book. If you read one chick lit this year, let it be The Meeting Point.

A very sweet story about heartbreak, love, resilience and getting on with life. A wonderful read that leaves you with a smile.

<b> ↠ 1.0 </b> ★☆☆☆☆

I chose this book because the synopsis caught my attention, it looked so interesting how this romance would envolve, but I felt tricked because the book isn’t about that, all the synopsis happened in the first 20% of the book and then we just focus on finding who Max is, that is, that's the plot and that was super disappointing.

The writing is not the best, some parts made me cringe and I couldn’t never connect with the MC, the one who hated her life, but she simply decided to take it back after the 20% of the book, went back to the job she hates and went back together with her boyfriend who was cheating on her, to one year later repeat all the start of the book… god.

I was hoping that the book told us about the travel of the MC with this Lift driver, how the love start but they can´t expect me to believe that she fall in love with someone she didn’t know just for chatting for two hours, I can’t see why she become obsessed with this guy that she doesn’t know, he can be a stalker or something, and to prove my point is worse because he always was there without her knowledge… creepy.

Simply the plot doesn’t help, she left all her life to go looking who he is, okay, she hate her life but same, I can’t believe she didn’t find another job in the city and that she prefer to go to another place to work in a restaurant rather than search for her dream job, etc, just for follow this guy, add that is so obvious who he is since moment one, so there’s no plot twist, I can’t hook me to a plot like this.

Love this author and this book was just the perfect little story. Once i started it, i couldnt put it down. I did figure out the end but it was still a great little gem of a book.

This book is so adorable! I was hooked from the beginning. I absolutely loved it and I couldn't recommend it enough! I couldn't put it down. Thank you Olivia Lara :)

I thought I knew how this book was going to go but apparently, I did not. But that was what I really liked about it. You know the premises from the synopses but the book dives so much deeper than that in the first 100 pages. And it wasn’t at all what I expected. The main character goes to surprise her boyfriend on his work trip (we all know that’s not going to go as planned). He left his phone in the Lift he took with another girl. So, Maya and the lift driver start texting. I liked seeing how they talked about life and got to know each other better. I really loved one of the main side character and would love to see a novel from her point of view. The energy she brought along was so fun to read. As the main love story didn’t go the way I thought it would in the beginning I did really love to see it played out so well. There was a definite connection between the two love interest and it didn’t came out of nowhere. I really felled for them both and loved the ending. I finished the book in one sitting and I will read it again in the future cause I am a sucker for good romance novels.

I wasn't sure when I started the book how to take the first chapter, I thought it was the foreword written by the author, it didn't hit me until I got into the second chapter that the voice I was reading was the character. Maya is the girl you root for, underappreciated work, in a relationship with a guy for five years but still no ring. Her plan for her birthday is to surprise her boyfriend by showing up on his business trip. Snag, her boyfriend leaves his car in the Lift where the Lift driver unknowingly exposes his cheating. What a birthday! So she's in a strange town, alone on her birthday waiting at the airport for her return flight. The Lift driver encourages her to take the three hour ride to to quirky little town of Carmel by the Sea.
What begins as a distraction trip guided by a virtual stranger becomes more, can you fall in love without meeting, no talking just text? With all fantastical things they come to the ending when reality hit, for Maya it's in the form of her insulted boyfriend and back to New York they went. But the memories stayed, a year of unhappiness, a job she never should have groveled to get back and a less than spectacular marriage proposal shake her life so much she decides her life needs to change. It wasn't until her bestfriend tells her about a new book coming out, a book about her perfect day! She's determined to find her Lift driver Max and explain, off to Carmel by the Sea and so the adventure begins. The town is how she remembers, not to find the elusive author to find out Max's identity. Great story you want to keep reading until all the secrets are exposed!

Quick, easy and enjoyable read.
Maya goes from NYC to San Francisco to surprise her boyfriend for his birthday. Upon arriving she calls her boyfriend, only to have a ride share driver answer the phone. This is the moment she finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her or so it seems. She takes a chance and advice from the ride share driver to have a spontaneous adventure. From there, we watch the adventure unfold, they communicate through the phone and text only, never meeting in person. He sends her to a nearby coastal town to explore, Maya begins to reconnect with herself and her first love writing.
The story continues one year later with Maya searching for the person is who she felt a deep connection with. She decides to leave her life and go back to the coastal town to find him.
I really enjoyed this story, it was lighthearted, yet deep. It was a story of self reflection and discovery, It was a predictable ending, but there was joy with it being predictable, honestly I would have been sad if my prediction was wrong.
I highly recommend this book, it was the right book at the right time.

This was a sweet book but I found myself skimming pages. It just didn’t hold my attention. I liked the whole adventure and being able to change and reinvent yourself

I loved the story line of this book. It was something different to most contemporary romances I have read.
While I did pick up on the story pretty early on, I kept going coz I was having a great time.

I think the ending could have gone a little better but it was great none-the-less.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an eArc of the book.

This book was really sweet! I loved the beginning adventure where Maya has the worst birthday following her impromptu trip to California to surprise her boyfriend. Then she is thrown for a loop when someone else answers her boyfriend's phone, asking if she was the blonde with her boyfriend (she's a brunette!).

Rather than feel sorry for herself, she embarks on an adventure with suggestions from the Lift driver "Max" to a small town. After a whirlwind of a day, they plan to meet at sunrise. Well, that plan didn't quite work out, and Maya is found by her boyfriend.

The story continues a year later where she's still unhappy, but finally changing her circumstances to do something about it. She goes on a quest to find Max as she fell in love with him a year ago. This story takes a wild turn when an author Ethan writes his friend's story between Max and Maya and their one day filled with adventures, and it is set to publish on Maya's birthday.

I loved Maya's progress in trying to discover who Max really is, as well as getting her groove back in her own writing inspiration. She even tries her hand at match making too. I loved seeing Maya come into her own. This was a really sweet love story that makes you wonder: can you fall in love via text?

I absolutely loved this book, and could not put it down. It is the sweetest love story. <3

I feel like Maya or Ethan should have broken out with the the truth a little sooner. Or Maya should have figured out who Ethan was sooner. But, other than that, this is just a gem. A wonderful, modern romantic comedy that has me dying to go visit Carmel!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
#TheMeetingPoint #NetGalley

The Meeting Point is a great story for those who love a good romance. The very beginning I wasn't sure what direction this was going to take and it seemed a little slow to me after the first day my interest in it started to slow. but then it picked up again and then I couldn't put it down because I needed to find out who Max was just as badly as our main character even though I did figure it out way before she did and sometimes she seemed dense.. But that didn't stop me from enjoying the book.