4.5 ⭐

Wow, I really enjoyed this story! I wrote a much more in-depth review on my blog, so you can check my thoughts there. All I’m gonna say here is that I am really, really, really glad I got a chance to read an early copy of this book. Out of all the books I've got from NetGalley so far, I think this is my favorite.

If you usually like this type of books or if you are in a mood for a light, fluffy contemporary romance, I’d definitely recommend this one, especially if you are OK with the usual tropes. This was one of the best romances I read this year…

Thank you to the #NetGalley and to the author and publisher for providing me with an ARC of The Meeting Point by Olivia Lara in exchange for an honest review.

You can find my full review on my book blog NovelOnMyMind.

While I did enjoy this, I think, this could have been better! There were certain things that absolutely did not work for me. The relationship between the two MCs, Maya and the Cabbie driver starts off right after Maya finds out that her longtime boyfriend had been cheating on her. The ease with which she moves away from it felt weirdly off to me. Of course, I am all in for cutting ties with toxic people which include cheaters, but what I cannot comprehend is how quickly everything escalated between her and the driver guy. It read like an INSTA-FRIENDSHIP/LOVE trope and I am not at all a fan of it. Other than this, the story has its moments, but because the starting/foundation of the relationship is so shaky in my mind, I couldn't shake off the general feeling of being disconnected from the story.

Thank you NetGalley and Aria Fiction for the ARC!

This was just the cutest story. The imagery was beautiful to the point where I was Googling all of the locations mentioned in California.

I adored aspiring writer, Maya and the mystery Lift driver (no spoilers!). It’s always a plus when I love all of the side characters as well.

I think part of the book description says it perfectly well, “What if the Lift driver who finds your cheating boyfriend’s phone holds the directions to true love?” This would also be amazing as a movie. It was such a lovely read, I’m off to buy Olivia’s Lara’s other book!

This will be an especially good read to those who are writers, but also those of us that believe in love.

Five stars.

I could NOT put this down. This is such a sweet, unexpected love story! I loved every second- such an original story! Maya plans a surprise for her bf, only to find out his “business” trip is anything but. After her bf forgets his phone in a Lift, Maya finds out the truth and the driver tries to turn her day around by sending her on an adventure for her birthday by texting her directions from the boyfriends phone. What will happen? Will it be love at first text? Thank you @netgalley for providing this early read!

Really sweet love story of missed chances and finding each other again. You could even say it's a You've Got Mail retelling, this time with texts and manuscripts. The author's description of Carmel-by-the-Sea is lovely and dreamy, it transports any reader to that magical place where it's easy to believe in anything, especially love.

What if the Lift driver who finds your cheating boyfriend's phone holds the directions to true love?
After Maya flies to California on her birthday to surprise her boyfriend and finds him cheating, she is left single and stranded in a strange town on her birthday. Instead of flying home, she proceeds to have a one-night texting adventure with Max, the lift driver, who leads her all over Carmel-by-the-sea to cheer her up.

Things I love:
-the texting adventure- i love the never meeting face-to-face but falling in love trope. I think the author did it so well!
-the adventure- also done really well. I felt like i was going along with Maya.
-the relationships- i really enjoyed the interactions with Maya, Ethan, and Celine.
-Book within a book- usually this doesn't work for me but i was here for it.

Things I didn't like:
-The predictability- I guess the twist after the first couple of chapters but I don't think that took away from my enjoyment of the story at all.
-the cluelessness- I felt like the main character was clueless about who Max was and it was slightly annoying. I guess that was the intention but I just wanted to scream at her sometimes.

Thank you NetGalley and Are& Aries for the eARC!

Thank you NetGalley and Aria for providing me with the ARC of The Meeting Point by Olivia Lara.

I absolutely loved this book. I thought it was an adorable, fun and romantic filled story. It was a quick and fun read and I found that I didn't want to put it down. Definitely add this book to your list, you won't be disappointed.

Maya lives for other peoples happily ever afters. She wants to see the good for people and correct their lives with the perfect love story, which I initially thought was endearing, but I’m the end she came off as unrealistic.

I found the pace of the story to be off. Maya just found out her boyfriend of five years has been cheating on her with a stranger and then proceeded to fall for said stranger that same day over text. She seemed to over romanticize her situation at the beginning which made it hard to connect with her initially. She had these idealistic thoughts about love, but settled for the wrong guy and the terrible job for far longer than she should have.

The overall premise of the story seemed so far-fetched of a plot it made it hard to enjoy the story. It was predictable from the beginning which was a shame because it had the potential to be something magical. This book had all the elements or a cute romcom and writing style that was genuinely good but in the end the story and characters fell flat. Thank you NetGalley and Aria for this ARC

The Meeting Point is a cute rom com following a hopeless romantic turned cynic in an entanglement.

This was a really cute concept, and I wanted to love it! It was just okay for me. I found the dialogue to be a bit too far fetched for me. The character was likeable, but it was still a good read.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The story hooked me from the first sentence! I loved how it started and I enjoyed the rest as well. Romance books are my favourite genre and this book proves why

I liked this! It wasn’t so amazing that I’d drop everything and read the author’s entire catalog, but I really enjoyed it.

Ahh! This book was so cute. I love romcoms and this filled the romcom void I’ve had. It was cute and even when I thought I predicted where the story was going, I didn’t!

Thanks to NetGalley for my gifted copy of this book.

The Meeting Point is an adorable rom com about Maya, an aspiring write turned journalist after too many rejections. The story which covers one year, birthday to birthday, is told from her perspective. After being fired from her crummy job, she decides to fly out of NYC to California to surprise her boyfriend. After receiving a text from the Lyft driver who found said boyfriend’s phone that indicates the boyfriend has weekend plans with another women, Maya finds herself on a cute adventure to Carmel by the Sea curated by that Lyft driver. Chemistry, banter, and a push out of her comfort zone later, Maya is at a fork in the road and has to decide on taking a leap of faith and take the road less traveled or continue down the safe and predictable road she’s been traveling.
This story was cute, although I did “figure it out” very early on, but I thoroughly enjoyed it beginning to end. Highly recommend!

This was a fun read. It made me want to go to Carmel by the Sea, just to take in the quaint setting of this story. A light, summer read, this story was predictable, of course, but that is what makes it good. A light and fun summer read SHOULD be predictable! Maya took a bit longer to figure things out than I thought she should have, and there were some scenes where a little communication would have cleared things up quickly, but overall it didn’t detract from the story. They got their happy ever after and I enjoyed a good story!

Thank you to Netgalley and Aria for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a really cute, quick read but was so extremely predictable that it made me want to scream at times. It also somehow managed to be both insta-lovey and super slow burn at the same time.

What I didn't like:
-THE PREDICTABILITY. Can you even consider something a plot twist if it's completely obvious from the very beginning of the book? Granted, I still liked the "twist" and thought it was really cute, but there was a huge gap between what the reader knew and what the characters knew which made this a frustrating read at times. I rolled my eyes so hard at certain points in this book I was scared they would get stuck in the back of my head. Maya was just so dense and oblivious throughout the entire book and I wanted to scream at her to open her eyes.
-Pacing at the beginning of the book was odd and threw me off a little. I ended up enjoying the story a lot more towards the end, but at first I was really confused.
-Small, unnecessary details thrown in throughout the book that made it more confusing to the reader and took away from the overall story. This pairs with my previous point, but at the very beginning a co-worker character is introduced, and I thought that was going to be the main male character (went into the book blind). Turns out, he was completely irrelevant to the story. There were quite a few characters/moments like that one where I feel like the story would have flowed better if they were removed.

What I liked:
-The chemistry between Maya and Ethan was really well written. I was rooting for them the whole time and read the book pretty quickly because I wanted to see them get their HEA.
-The initial text exchanges. While I normally hate insta-love stories (and I still didn't love that aspect), I thought the texts were really cute and well placed and it was a fun plot to follow.
-The setting of the book was beautifully described and really great to read about.

Overall:
I went back and forth between rating this 3 or 4 stars while reading this book. I'm sticking with a 3 rating simply because the predictability and denseness of the characters were super frustrating to me. But I really did enjoy the story and it was a super quick read, which I always enjoy. I would recommend to anyone looking for a simple, lighthearted romance.

I really enjoyed this lighthearted romance and found it the perfect read on a rainy day. While I saw the final twist coming, it still brought tears to my eyes.

Great story! I really enjoyed this book. I thought the story was original and even when I thought I had it figured out, the author would give a little more information to make me question what I thought I knew.

Maya flies cross country to surprise her boyfriend on her birthday. The surprise is on her when another guy responds to a text she sends to her boyfriend's phone to let him know she arrived. "Max" tells Maya that her boyfriend left his phone in Max's rideshare car, where the boyfriend was making out with another girl.

Through texts, Maya spends the day with Max and has so many new experiences. Even thought it happens fast, their feelings grow. Maya ends up going back home with the boyfriend, but about a year later realizes that she needs to find that guy who she fell for through text messages that one day. She sets off on an adventure to find him.

I loved the images created by the author when describing the towns and scenery in the story. I also loved the dialogue and relationships between characters. It felt real and not contrived or forced. I was guessing til the end and the story kept my interest all the way though. Wonderful book!

Thank you Netgalley for the arc.

Cute, heartfelt and special, The Meeting Point is an adorable read with a original and unique story.

Capturing the essence of a perfect day, in a charming and picturesque little town, this book was such a pleasant surprise. The twist might have been obvious, but like Olivia says, although some things in the novel were far-fetched, they didn't take away from the beauty of the story or from hoping the characters would find a way to get past their heartbreaks and fears and just take a chance on each other.

4.5 stars and a day

This was a great read! I really really enjoyed it! The concept was different which is what drew me in at the start. Such a fun read

This was such a sweet and heartwarming story of love and adventure. I'm a sucker for scavenger hunts and this book sort of fit that bill with the text messages taking Maya to her next mystery location.

I love the bookception in this story with a book within the book telling the story we are reading. I also really enjoyed that this book was set in Carmel which is a cute town I grew up near so that extra dose of small town cuteness was nice. This book has miscommunication, sort of enemies to lovers, and just an overall lovely tale of following your heart and being adventurous.