I first want to thank Net Galley for allowing me to read an ARC of The Meeting Point. This book was super cute! I was totally drew in after reading what it was about and it didn’t disappoint! This book is the perfect beach read!

The premise of this book was very cute. The setting was also great. And I did find myself eager to see where the story went. But the execution was clumsy. Some awkward turns of phrase ("the Yankee Stadium") and plot blips (just in the first few chapters: the first time Celine's name is mentioned is with no explanation of how Maya would know her name, $25/hour + tips working at a cafe?!) Instalove can work in some circumstances but I wasn't buying it here. And the twist is so obvious so early on that it is frustrating to watch the heroine be oblivious for so long. Ultimately, I found myself skimming because I really did want to see how it turned out but the writing style.

I’ll be honest, when I saw this was 88 chapters, I was a little worried. But, they went by fast and I quite enjoyed the story! The premise had me thinking romcom, but the story is actually pure romance; kept thinking this would make a great Hallmark movie. The way the story unwinds, you can guess everything that happens, but it’s unraveled in a way that explains so much. I recommend this to romance lovers.

3.5 stars!!

I stayed up til 2am to finish this one, I couldn’t put it down!!

To start with, things I loved: the setting - Carmel by the Sea sounds so quaint, the premise - someone who takes you on a much needed adventure even when you’re not together is so heart warming, the secondary cast - they all have stories that I am invested in and personalities that I (mostly like), the love interest - the man of my dreams and I would do anything to find him, he is kind and funny with just enough mystery

Things I didn’t love: the main character - Maya is extremely frustrating, she prides herself on the advice she gives her friends but doesn’t seem to take it, she has a lot of understandable frustration but doesn’t stop to think about any possible alternatives, the first person pov with Maya as the narrator is difficult because she is the last to realize things and is openly a bit selfish, so I wish we could see her from other points of view; the plot twist - it is obvious to everyone who the mystery man is, which is fine!! What’s frustrating is how long it takes Maya to realize

Overall I struggled to get into this book because Maya and I simply don’t mesh, but the rest of the story stole my heart and kept me invested until the very end!

The Meeting Point by Olivia Lara is all about chance encounters, hidden identities, and a cute little California town. Maya tries to surprise her boyfriend on a trip when everything goes wrong. A mysterious lift driver, Max, then takes Maya on an adventure all through Carmel by the Sea through text messages. One year later Maya goes back to California to find Max. I had a hard time connecting to the characters and I thought Maya was very immature and problematic. I liked the initial texts but after 20% I couldn’t seem to get back into the book. I do love how I felt like I was in the town throughout the whole book!

4 stars!!

This was such a cute book!! This genre has been really hit or miss for me lately, but I actually really enjoyed this book. My favorite aspects were definitely the settings and the quick and short chapters. The author did an amazing job with developing the surroundings and putting a perfect image in my head of Carmel. And the quick chapters made the book such a quick read, and I was constantly wanting to start the next chapter to see how the story would progress on. I think a lot of people can relate to enjoying short quick chapters, especially with this genre, so I think that will really help this book stand out.

However, I did have some issues with this book. None that drastically changed my rating, but they are certainly what made this a 4 star read instead of a 5 star one. My main issue was just how obvious the "plot twist" of the story was, it was so obvious that I actually wondered if it was even meant to be a plot twist at all. It was basically more of a plot twist for the main character, not actually the readers, which is fine, but true plot twists in novels can make them much more entertaining. I also thought it was really repetitive at times. I do understand that going to the Café and calling her best friend were crucial parts of the story, but they were both happening so often that I wondered if they could have been incorporated in differently somehow.

Nonetheless, I did really enjoy this. I thought the chemistry between Ethan and Maya was really well executed, and their adventures throughout the story were some of my favorite parts of the book. I thought they made a really good pair. The first part of the story, where Maya and Max first meet, and spend their day together virtually was also one of my favorites. I think it started the story off really strong, and really made me want to keep reading.

Definitely recommend checking this out on its release date, September 2nd. If you like virtual relationships. slow burns, a main character who also loves books, and a lot of beautiful California settings I think you would really enjoy this book.

The Meeting Point drew me in and did not let me go until I had finished it. I’ve got myself into a bit of a habit of starting books in the evening and finishing them the following day. I couldn’t put this down and was desperate to follow the relationships between the characters.

This book follows Maya, a journalist and aspiring author, who flies to San Francisco to surprise her long-term boyfriend on her birthday. Except when she gets there, a Lift driver answers her boyfriend’s phone and informs her that he had been cheating on her. Maya then proceeds to have a whirlwind day out directed by the Lift driver from text, who she calls Max. Flash forward a year later and Maya is still thinking about that day and wondering what life would be like if the outcome was different. She goes back to the town she visited in order to find her mystery Max and I was 100% invested in search. However, her search was not that simple as she becomes attached to the town and a certain man living there called Ethan.

'"Who knows where life will take me?" Wherever you want it to take you," he said. "You're not a feather in the wind."'

I didn’t want this story to end and there were so many cute bits and lots of tension between Maya and Ethan. Whilst it was predictable and I could tell what was going to happen, I still couldn’t stop reading and wanted the characters to realise how they felt. Maya grows during this story and discovers who she is and the path she actually wants to take and I loved it. She was a likable and real character who you couldn’t help rooting for. Celine, the Café owner who takes Maya in, was a great character also, and I loved following her own little romance story.

All in all, this book was a great lighthearted romcom and I couldn’t recommend it more! I really enjoyed it and would happily read it again.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57602134

🎶 ℍ𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕨𝕖 𝕘𝕠 🎶

Yes. Always read that with *NSYNC in mind. As you should. ANYWAY, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for booking a sister up with a free e-ARC for an honest review from me.

The premise of this book had me hooked.

𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐿𝒾𝒻𝓉 𝒹𝓇𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒸𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒷𝑜𝓎𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹'𝓈 𝓅𝒽𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒽𝑜𝓁𝒹𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝒾𝓇𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒?

I mean, COME ON! Chance encounters? A romance blooming because people took the road less traveled? SIGN ME UP! Unfortunately, the book didn’t land for me. While I appreciate the obvious labor of love this book was for the author and it had its shiny moments, it also had a lot of not shiny moments.

Things I enjoyed:
- the initial text exchanges—magic
- The very end. After all that build up, the big reveal was literally the only thing keeping me invested in the book.
- The setting. Carmel seems sooo freaking cute and I want to go there ASAP.

Things I didn’t love:
- instant love via text in a 24 hour period.
- The stalkery nature of the whole story. Following someone isn’t a cute look no matter how attractive you are. It’s creepy and weird.
- The main character. There were so many moments where she shamed women—a woman who was once beautiful but who didn’t take as much care of herself as she could (literally what the MC said) and this notion that 27 was ancient and that it’s shameful to not have your life figured out by then. Honey I changed careers at 31! And she never really recovered from that thought.
- The dialogue got confusing a few times with the lack of tags.
- The over abundance of reading about menial tasks that weren’t necessary to further the story and just took up space on the page.

I also felt like I was suffering from whiplash during the first 30%. It was challenging to follow the storyline or get a feel for the pacing.

This book has a lot of good ratings, which is great for the author! This book wasn’t for me.

⭐️⭐️.5 stars

Thanks again for the free copy of the book.

The Meeting Point is a fun, romantic tale that gives off a You’ve Got Mail sort of vibe. Maya, a girl who jets off to San Francisco to surprise her boyfriend, gets a surprise of her own. He’s cheating on her. But what follows is an amazing day around Carmel, California spearheaded by an unknown Lyft Driver.

The setting is a quaint new by town that I now want to run off too! The characters are deep and real. While it seemed obvious who Max really was, the winding road to get there keeps you engaged and maybe a tad frustrated (in a good way) to see this story end with people in love!

On the surface The Meeting Point was about chance encounters and live at first sight. It was also about building strength of character in the lowest lows, and riding the highest highs.

This book is a must read summer beach read! It keeps things moving and has you jumping up and down rooting for Ethan and Maya!

I was provided an ARC by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and words are my own.

I LOVED this book - it had major You’ve Got Mail vibes which is one of my favorite movies of all time. I loved the setting of the book: I really felt like I was in the quaint little town of Carmel and it really had me wishing I was at a California beach!
The Meeting Point was a sweet and charming romance that I couldn’t put down! Maya was the main character and you only got her POV which was nice since it helped keep the other persons identity a secret.
This was a very clean book and had little to no language in it! This will for sure be one of my favorite books of the year.

Absolutely, insanely sweet. I didn't LOVE all the deception on both sides, but jeez this was just so swoony. This was such a unique story and I couldn't put it down!

This was a cute book! Maya decides to surprise her longtime boyfriend in San Francisco for her birthday. When she arrives and tries to call him someone else answers her phone. Turns out his Lift driver has his phone and explains that he dropped her boyfriend and another woman off earlier.. Maya is surprised and sad. She continues to text with the Lift driver “Max”. Over the next several hours he leads her to Carmel directing her to different sights as well as getting to know each other by playing 50 questions. Things happen and Maya.s boyfriend gets his phone back and Maya returns to NY with him. Over the next year she continues to think about the connection she had with “Max” in CA.. After several things happen she decides to return to Carmel to find this guy and see if what she felt was real.

This book is a book about a chance encounter, a once in a life time kind of love, falling in love at first sight-ish, happy endings. But it's also much more than that. It's about a woman finding her self, realising her worth, making things happen, and doing stuff for herself. Its about picking yourself up in the weakest of the moments and building yourself back up. It showcases how life is made up of weak moments and strong one's, the ups and the downs, the laughs and the cries. It was just beautifully composed.

The love story was definitely the cutest thing about this. Ugh, it was just beautiful. The romance was so sweet and the chemistry was insane. The banter was to die for.

The characters were also really fleshed out. They felt very human, imperfectly perfect in their own way. The relationship each character had were also very complex. There was a very wholesome cast of characters and even the side characters were to die for.

Overall, a really good book. A 3.5 star for me. This could make a great rom com one day, hopefully we get that.

Y’all this book was so good! I am so glad that I was able to get a arc of Olivia Lara newest book The meeting point. Not only did the story have a good slow burn romance it talked about people getting out of toxic relationships. This book hooked me from the very beginning and it was impossible to put down. I will definitely be purchasing a copy when it comes out!

4/5 stars!!!

Please take in mind it’s my opinion, and everyone is allowed to have one.

The Meeting Point was such a cute, swooning, easy read! I liked the story from beginning till the end, it was nice to see both perspectives.

Half way through I already figured it out but that didn’t take away my pleasure of reading this. Still I did like how it all turned out.

The Meeting Point by Olivia Lara had absolutely everything that I'm looking for in a book. It made me smile, it made me anxious and most of all it made my heart beat faster.

There were so many things to like in this book:

- First and foremost the characters. Even though the female main character couldn't have a more different life than myself, I was able to identify with her and understand where she was coming from. Even though she is guilty of poor judgement from time to time, it was one of her unique traits that made her so lovable. Needless to say, the banter between the main characters was exquisite and witty. It was intelligent and childish at the same time, without being cringey.

- The setting. The description of the small town (Carmel) was on point and painted a beautiful picture. You could almost feel the serenity and beauty through the pages.

- As a personal preference I love my main characters being writers. I guess it's because of the creativity and the colorful words and thoughts the characters use.

- The slow burn. I really appreciated the pace of the story. It was believable at all times and not a forced 'they lived happily ever after even though they know each other for mere seconds'.

The only downer would be, that I'm not able to read this fantastic book for the first time again ;)

I would totally recommend The Meeting Point and thank NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to discover such a gem.

I was provided an ARC by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and words are my own.

What initially drew me into this book was the concept of falling in love using a Uber/Lyft service since I use one literally at least once a week! The characters were easy to like and I felt myself rooting for them but didn’t feel especially connected to them.

What really blew me away that I wasn’t expecting was the seaside town. Olivia does an AMAZING job of capturing Carmel (BONUS THAT ITS A REAL PLACE!!) and getting the reader to really fall in love with it. Like I’m already looking for air bnbs ASAP.

The big twist is pretty foreseeable but that doesn’t make it any less good IMO. Sometimes you’re in the mood for a story that’s sweet, predictable, and leaves you with a HEA-The Meeting Point delivers on all three. A good read but nothing super deep!

A unique and fun story. I found this to be a sweet escape book. Light and fun with characters I rooted for.

This book is so good it was like reading something made to become the next Netflix small town drama! I loved the setting of Carmel by the sea and kept finding myself googling the locations. All three of the main characters are likeable and her ex boyfriend is the perfect blend of over confident idiot to make you honestly dislike a fictional character. I loved it.

I would definitely recommend this as a summer read or for anyone feeling like they want to up sticks and make some major changes in their life. This book gives you a massive confidence boost. The first NetGalley book I’ve reviewed in a while and I wasn’t disappointed.

Maya is flying from NYC to California to surprise her long term boyfriend David, once her plane arrives she gets a strange text back from a Lyft driver saying that her boyfriend was in his car with another woman and they couldn't keep their hands off each other. It's Mayas birthday and she realizes she's all alone, but she isn't! This secret Lyft driver is going to keep her company via text for the weekend. "Max" the Lyft driver takes an interest in Maya, making sure she has a great birthday in Monterey, he has all the perfect plans to keep her interested.
Who is this secret man who she calls Max? because she is starting to fall in love with him.

Absolutely loved this book, really had a feeling for most of the time of who "max" was but the love story was perfectly written and I really enjoyed this read!