This is the first book I have read by Olivia Lara but it won’t be my last!

I was hooked after the first few chapters and honestly wasn’t sure where the book was headed when everything seemed to be going so smooth.

To my delight, the book turned into an enemies to lovers romance!

I loved the imagery of the region, the comforting environment of the cafe, and the fun banter.

My biggest complaint is the lack of steam. I feel like I have read so many books lately with a great romance but little to no sexual tension or steam and for me, personally, I feel like that is a major factor in a new relationship. I think there is absolutely a market for people who are fine without it, my personal preference is for at least a little bit.

I felt pretty confident that Ethan was Max but the introduction of Aaron made me question myself for the first half of the book. Once we realized the relationship between Aaron and Celine I found myself yelling at Maya to wake up!

All that being said, I read this book in less than 24 hours so I was clearly invested and delighted by the ending!

I was so excited to read this book when I got the opportunity to be on a book tour for it. I had high hopes and heard lots of great things about it, but I was sorely let down when I actually got into reading it.

Characters –
The main character, Maya, was extremely annoying to me. This is supposed to be Adult Fiction, but she came across like a pre-teen. The way she talked and acted were both immature, and even 10% of the way into the book, I barely saw any development from her, aside from putting her trust into a random stranger, whom she’d also never met in real life.

Setting –
I will admit, I was expecting a bit more with the exploration of the shift from the New York area to suddenly being in California, but we weren’t given much of a transition there either. Maya had her friend, in a different country, book a ticket for her to surprise her boyfriend. One second she’s chasing an interviewee in the New York area, and the next she’s already landed in California. It was a bit disorienting.

Writing Style –
Olivia Lara, I will admit wholeheartedly, can draw a reader in. I was captivated with this book at first. But having DNFed it at 10%, there were a LOT of negatives about her writing that overshadowed the hook and pull. For one, Lara’s writing comes across entirely immature and somewhat undefined. I felt like I was reading a fanfiction written by someone who was just discovering how to write. The dialogue was choppy, the pacing was entirely too quick, and all in all, it just read sloppy and lazy to me.

Overall –
Honestly, I believe Olivia Lara has a bit more work to do before I will read another book from her. The Meeting Point fell extremely low under my expectations, and considering this isn’t her debut, I have a feeling her other book will read similar to this one. For that, I do hope that, if she is to put more books out in the future, those ones will be better fits for me.

This book did not work for me personally. Maya flies to surprise her long-term boyfriend in California, only to learn via text from his Lift driver, Max, that he is cheating on her. Max sends her on a birthday adventure in Carmel-by-the-Sea via text. The book continues from there and has many other plot points and details that I found to be distracting and ill-formed. The premise of the story- strangers falling in love via text, was a modern day epistolary romance that I enjoyed greatly. The rest of the book did not work for me. The writing felt clunky and heavy-handed. There was a need for editing both in terms of writing style and tightening of the many threads of the story. The initial plot would have made for an amazing novella, but it continued on for way too long with too many unnecessary, uninteresting twists and turns. This book was a 1,.5 star read for me.
Thanks to NetGally and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was hooked right from the start with this book. I honestly felt like I was right there in Carmel by the sea with Maya, experiencing all these things with her.
Maya decides to surprise her boyfriend on her birthday with a surprise visit. What she doesn’t expect is the taxi driver ‘Max’ finding her boyfriends phone and telling her that he is cheating on her.
I did guess who ‘Max’ was pretty early, but this just made it better as I was constantly on edge about how Maya would find out.
Would love to see this adapted for TV.

What do you do when your life is in a rut, you're in the wrong relationship, and you see a glimmer of how your life could be, but its difficult to make the break towards it?

In Olivia Lara's 'The Meeting Point' by Olivia Lara, Maya flies from New York to San Francisco to surprise her boyfriend David, after she's fired from her dead end writing job. She winds up on an adventure sightseeing Carmel after Lift driver Max finds her David's phone and messages Maya to say he dropped him and another woman off.

Max provides Maya with places to see around the town via text messages. As they grow closer and make plans to meet, they are sadly thwarted. One year later and still stuck with David in New York Maya makes plans to return, especially after her best friend tells her about an upcoming novel that heavily borrows from her adventure the previous year.

She ends up befriending Celine, owner of the cafe she had lunch in the previous year on Max's suggestion, and her brother Ethan while trying to find the mysterious Max.

While at times the book can drag on, its a thoroughly enjoyable read with a unique premise. Maya is clearly stuck with a boyfriend undermines and lies to her, but you can see how she struggles to find confidence to finally leave him. If you're a fan of fun reads to lighten your mood, then add this one to your TBR pile.

Thank you to Aria and Aries and Netgalley.

3.5 ⭐️

To say that Maya Maas is having a bad day would be an understatement. First she’s fired from the newspaper she works for, then learns from the Lift driver who found her boyfriend made phone that he’s been cheating after she’s caught a flight to come see him, AND it’s her birthday.

Now she’s stuck in a beautiful city she doesn’t know, newly single, with nothing to do and no one to hang out with, but the Lift driver strikes up a conversation with her and gives her a guided tour via text.

I thought The Meeting Point was a pretty cute, if not a little cliche, instant love romcom. Despite that the book made me laugh and I really enjoyed reading it.

This book was just lovely. It paints a vibrant story, and gives the reader hope. I truly enjoyed reading this story and wanted to start all over again once I was done.

You’ll meet Maya, who has just had the worst birthday surprise of her life. Unexpectedly, she strikes up a conversation with a delightful mystery man who gives her a beautiful tour of a beautiful town. He turns her worst birthday into her best birthday, but they never meet.

Will they get the chance again? Who is this mystery man? You’ll have to read to find out!

I would like to thank Olivia Laura, Aria& Aries Publishing, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This took me ages to get into and I somehow got a bit lost in the first couple chapters. I really struggled with my rating for this one because I adored the writing and the characters but I really did not like the eventual set up for how the love interests met/interacted. I was rooting for them but also not because of it.

This book is really sweet, sometimes it is at the edge of being too sweet, but all in all I had such a good time with it, that I want to recommend it to everyone who needs some happiness in his/her life.
But you should be aware two things that might make the book less enjoyable:

1. The overall plot or secret identity of Max (the love interest) is easy to figure out. If you want to be completely surprised, this book isn't yours. Nevertheless, knowing who Max really is is sometimes really entertaining, because Maya is often so close but ends up putting together the wrong clues.
2. This book is more or less one long monologue. Maya analyses everything over and over and over again. She is definitely aware of it, tries to stop and make some progress, but I totally understand if this might annoy someone.

On the other hand, there are a lot of things which the book does really well: I am in love with the whole setting. The small town vibes with the café and the small stories about the people fit perfectly to the story without taking up too much space. The only thing I kinda missed is a map, since they often refered to specific streets and it would be nice to visually follow them through Carmel. The characters age is right in terms of they behave according to their age and their worries and struggles in general are also realistic. There is no big drama that drives the couple apart. At one point Maya says things that could've hurt Ethan, but he does not take it personally (right now I am not even sure if Maya has actually apologized).

I am a huge fan of the way Max and Maya meet and that he tries to safe her birthday. I would love to have such a birthday, someone giving me directions, having a nice walk, being on my own but still having someone to share my impressions with. This is a 10/10 birthday 🎁
Somewhere in the early middle of the book, Ethan comes to Carmel and hasn't opened up yet, I didn't really care about the whole Max storyline, because Celine is such a sweet person and so nice to Maya, that I wished they would end up together. It would've been so nice to see them together and I am curious how Ethan would've react.
The second half dragged a bit. Not in a bad way, I do understand why it was the way it is, but I wish there would've been a bit more chemistry between Ethan and Maya. The time they spend together is cute and fun to read, but I hoped to feel more. The ending includes everything that needs to be said, but I would've liked to enjoy the moment of truth a couple of pages longer.

Two things I also want to mention: 1) Both write love stories and I don't know why Maya as a love story lover doesn't get why Max might not have been there to meet her? It still amuses me ... and 2) I like that Ethan is a successful romance author and now I ask myself where are the male romance authors in real life?

I loved this contemporary romance! I was really glad that the texting happened so quickly cause I was hooked! I sped through this book. I really liked Maya, although there were a few times when I wanted to slap her and just be like "do some critical thinking!" I really don't understand why her first instance when seeing there was a book written about that day was to assume it was the author's friend? But Ethan, ugh I loved him.

It’s not a secret that I adore chick-lit, so when I have the opportunity to be part of a tour for a great sounding new book. Thank you very much to Write Reads Tours for allowing me to read this book. I don’t read much American chick-lit, so it’s always nice to dive into some.

Maya was surprising her boyfriend on a trip when she gets a text from his Lift driver. He was cheating on her, and now her birthday is ruined. But the driver feels for her. So he organises her an itinerary for the perfect day at a nearby beach town. They spend the day texting, and Maya finds herself in love.

That summary was all I knew when I picked the book up. What I didn’t know was that the day itself was a short part of the book. I wasn’t expecting to see Maya coming back, but I did think that worked well. It allowed her to get to know people there a bit more, as well as her love interest.

Maya forms some good friendships. I really liked Celine. She was such a good, positive person, and she always made me smile. I also loved seeing Maya’s long-distance friendship with Alisa.

From the very beginning, Maya didn’t really know what she wanted to do with herself. She finds herself in this small town, and that was good to see. It’s also why I consider this a chick-lit rather than a romance novel. Even if the main focus is on her trying to find this guy again.

I did have some issues with Maya as a character. It frustrated me that she was annoyed about someone else writing the story of what happened to her. It didn’t only happen to her, so it just feels like she was bitter that someone else did something with it before she did. That being said, she did have a good heart. I loved that she kept trying to do good things and help people. Even when she was lost, she was still helping others find their happiness. And that is so admirable.

Though this book does seem like insta-love, you do actually get to see some relationship building and growth. Maya and her love interest had some good banter and some cute moments. He’s a romantic guy, and I’d probably be pretty interested myself.

The writing wasn’t perfect either, but the story is very easy to get through. The chapters are short, and I easily got through half the book in a single reading session. This book is a great example of a beach read. So if you’re looking for a light read to get through in a day. This book will give you that for certain.

DNFed. The premise was really cute, but I don't think the writing style was for me. The story seemed to jump very quickly from one thing to another without a lot of context. I also just didn't find myself connecting with these characters enough to want to continue. It definitely seems like I'm in the minority on this, so hopefully it will be a win for others.

|Fantastic, this was a great read and one to be re-read later on. The characters were amazing and the settings were very well set and it felt like you wanted to be there with them. 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this eARC

What I Loved
The story's premise completely intrigued me, just as the telling of the tale thoroughly captivated me from page 1 until the end. I can imagine touring a beach town through text from a stranger and am happy to suspend disbelief that this wouldn't be a dangerous thing to do. It sounds like it could be a great deal of fun, actually.

Whether I loved them or didn't care for them, all the characters are well-developed and intricately layered, with their defining struggles standing out and shaping their current choices. This added a richness to the story and an intensity that went deep below the humor, popping up when relevant. With the feeling like you know each character you're introduced to, the town comes to life in a way that places the reader on a charming book vacation.

I loved that the ending is so predictable. Yes, you read that correctly but hear me out. Just as Maya likes to write happily ever after's for strangers she observes through the course of her day, I found myself invested in Maya finding her happily ever after, whatever that might be. The Meeting Point made me happy for all that is right in a world full of wrong, and that is a priceless quality in a book.

Characters
Maya is the main character. She travels to California to join her amazingly horrible boyfriend, David, only to discover that he left his phone on a Lift and can't be reached. The Lift driver, who finds the phone, ends up in a text conversation with Maya that enlightens her and makes her take a chance on a day in Carmel being guided on tour via texts by a stranger. I loved her adventurous spirit, but she drove me crazy at times with her inability to make hard decisions and to see what is right in front of her face.

Ethan is a romance writer whose next novel is Maya's story of that fateful day in Carmel. A friend told him about the story, and he is so inspired, he turns it into a novel. By far, he is my favorite character, as he remains cool-headed even when everything and everyone around him is in tumult. Not to mention that he is generous to a fault, always trying to find people to help other people in need. He is a solid character and steadfast in his devotion.

What I Wish
My only wish is that Maya didn't drive me crazy with her over-the-top focus on finding Max, which almost causes her to lose everything.

To Read or Not to Read
If you are looking for that one story that will make you look at the world in a new and improved way, The Meeting Point is where you want to be.

This is a cute story. I liked the premise a lot. I liked that Maya (eventually) takes some risks to navigate her life instead of bobbing along following the tide. There are some very funny lines and great side characters.

However the book dragged on too long for me. For at least the second half of the book, everyone (including the reader) BUT Maya knows who Max is.

I loved the setting of Carmel by the Sea. I was there twenty years ago and could so vividly picture where they were especially in the beginning when Max navigates Maya by the fairytale cottages. I also loved tagging along with them on the 17 Mile Drive, and down to Big Sur and Nepenthe.

*I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher and I am required to disclose that in my review in compliance with federal law.*

I’m really torn between a 3/3.5 for this book. I liked it, but some things just didn’t sit right with me.

The Meeting Point is a really quick and easy rom-com. But when I say it’s slow burn, I mean it is ✨slow burn✨. So if that’s your cup of tea, I think you’ll enjoy this book.

TMP centre’s around Maya, who gets fired from her job in New York, flies out to San Francisco to surprise her boyfriend for her birthday. Only to find out via the lift driver who has her boyfriends phone- that he’s cheating on her.

It’s very much a will they/won’t they meet in person kind of book, and around a quarter/half way through, the book jumps forward a year.

I had a couple issues with “Max” and the actions/decisions he made when initially pursuing/entertaining Maya. I found it quite stalkery and creepy. I know the author was trying to make it come across and cute and endearing but the way Maya brushed off all the risks really didn’t sit well with me. I know this is all a work of fiction, but I don’t think “don’t everything and do exactly what a stranger tells you to do via text” is a great thing.

Overall, I really did enjoy this book and if you ignore the creepy aspects I discussed, the author really does take you out of the city and on an adventure around a small town. I found this to be a quick and easy read which flowed well, and had the typical romcom ending - just want you want from a book like this.

For all my fellow spice fans - this is minimal to none. It’s just fluffy and cute, which is what you need sometimes.

CW: infidelity

Thank you to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Maya is about to celebrate her birthday, so she goes on a trip to surprise her boyfriend on his business trip in California. Except... when she texts him, he isn't the one replying. When she asks who it is and why they have her boyfriend's phone, he says, "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." Instead of wasting the trip, the Lift driver makes recommendations for a journey to cheer Maya up on her birthday, and she decides to follow along. She might not be as upset about her cheating boyfriend as she expected to be, though she can't figure out why...

Though the story starts out rough for Maya, this one catches you fast. It was more complex than I expected, but completely mesmerizing. There were so many great supporting characters! Towards the middle, I had a feeling about how things would play out, but it was still fun to read to the end. A great unexpected love story!

The Meeting Point- Olivia Lara @olivialara.writes

This was an unforgettable story filled with sweep you off your feet romance, hope, true to life characters.

The kind of book that give you the good snuggly feels, and uplifts you.

Maya has not much going on for her thanks to her crappy job, she takes a vacation on her birthday to surprise her boyfriend David and goes to California, but David has left his phone in a Lift car. She is texting the driver who incidentally reveals that he has been cheating on her, she has no plans or money, so she decides to stay at the airport.

Continuous texting with the Lift driver lifts up her spirits on her birthday and she finds herself sightseeing and exploring Carmel on low budget, she is enjoying bonfires, and bike rides but doesn't get to see who the person she has an instant connection with is!

They decide to meet each other but fate has other plans, and Maya doesn't even know the name or number of this person she calls Max.

After one year, an incident makes Maya fly back to California to find out who the person she has had an instant connection with is!

The writing was very lucid and you fly through the chapters, there were many endearing characters like Alisa and Celine who you fall in love with.

I find myself at odds with the Insta Love but it works for this book.
One can definitely guess who Max is midway in the book but the end chapters did surprise me. The book keeps one hooked throughout and explores ample of emotions through Maya and Max. I loved the ending and the journey for Maya.

This is perfect for the fans of You've Got Mail and The Ugly Truth. Be sure to add this to your TBR's. 👌

“The Meeting Point” is a heartfelt romantic comedy that will warm your heart and feel optimistic about romance.

Firstly, I loved the concept of the story. Maya’s worst day turns out to be her best as she interacts with Max, a virtual person who shows her around Carmel. While we can see who the mysterious Max is from a mile away, early on, the book is still enjoyable. The author has a beautiful style for writing romance, and it was cute to see how they interacted with each other. Moreover, I loved the way the author describes touristy places. If the author were in real estate, I would probably buy a mediocre house from her thinking it was a fairy tale castle. The way she describes the locations and how Maya experiences, like cycling or going to the beach and other attractions, is simply adorable.

I loved the chemistry between Maya and Ethan. Maya is a lovely character, albeit she does come across as over-emotional and impulsive at times. Ethan is adorable, and I could completely relate to his standpoint. The author also focuses importance on supporting characters like Celine and Aaron, who I also found charming. I loved Celine and Maya’s friendship and how welcoming she is towards her. I also liked Maya’s company with Alisa and thought even David made the story enjoyable.

Overall, I enjoyed reading “The Meeting Point” and thought it is a charming contemporary romance. I would surely recommend this to anyone who loves the genre or is in the mood for a nice romantic feel-good story.

Wow, I just finished The Meeting Point and I have a serious book hangover! You know the type where you are so invested, it comes to a end, you have to go back to real life and all you can think about is the characters in the book and where they are right now. That is me right now! I honestly don't know which book to go to next!
Maya decides to surprise her boyfriend who is in San Francisco on her birthday and things don't go to plan. She goes to the airport to wait for her return flight to New York and then the excitement starts. Maya has a memorable birthday, with a travel guide she doesn't actually meet but the ending just doesn't work out. After this, Maya returns to her life in New York but she cannot settle for this life anymore. She decides that she is going back to Carmel by the Sea to try and find out who the mystery texter from that day actually is. Maya has named him Max and decides to go and revisit all the places she went to that day, in the hope that she will eventually hunt him down.
It is a story not just of romance but of self discovery and you can see that Maya is thriving in her new surroundings while she hunts the mysterious Max.. She makes so many new friends and the description of Carmel by the Sea is just amazing, it makes me want to book a ticket and go myself, right now!
You have to read this book, it really is just wonderful. The only drawback from reading it, is having to follow it by something as good, this is going to be difficult! I am so envious you get to read it for the first time!!
Thank you to Netgalley, Aria & Aries and Olivia Lara for allowing me to read this book as an eARC in exchange for an honest review.