Title: The Meeting Point

Author: Olivia Lara

Publication Date: September 2, 2021

Genre: Romance

Number of Pages: 368

Summary: From Goodreads: What if the Lift driver who finds your cheating boyfriend’s phone holds the directions to true love?

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…

Review: Thank you to The Write Reads for organizing and inviting me to participate in this blog tour. Thank you, Aria Fiction and Net Galley, for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book starts with Maya having one of the worst days of her life. She gets fired, and when she flies out to San Francisco to surprise her long-time boyfriend for her birthday, she finds out from his Lift driver that he’s been cheating on her. Instead of moping at the airport for 24-hours, the Lift driver, Max, convinces her to spend her birthday in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Max texts Maya a personalized itinerary, and they spend the entire day texting, making it one of the best days of Maya’s life. A year later, Maya finds herself back in Carmel-by-the-Sea, determined to find out more about the mysterious Max and to sort out the feelings she’s had since her first adventure in Carmel-by-the-Sea.

The first thing I want to say about this book is that it was super cute. Romance is my favourite genre, and this book did not disappoint. Once I started reading, it was hard to put the book down, and I likely would have stayed up all night to finish it if I didn’t have to go to work the next day. This book features the insta-love trope, which usually isn’t something that I’m interested in, but I didn’t mind it in this book because other things were going on.

I absolutely adored the characters in this book. I loved watching Maya take her life into her own hands, become more confident, and grow as a person. I liked that she fit right into Carmel-by-the-Sea and build some great friendships with the people there. I also thought that Maya was a memorable character, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I mention her a lot on my blog when I make various list posts or do book tags. I also liked the other characters, and I’m hoping that the author eventually writes a spin-off novel or two featuring some of the other characters that were introduced in this book.

As far as the story goes, I thought that it was original. I can’t think of any other romance novels that start with the characters meeting in the way that Maya and Max meet, and the idea of exploring a new place with a secret personal tour guide seems unique.

I also liked how bookish this book was. One of the characters is a published author, and Maya writes stories in her spare time.

The one downside to this book is that I figured out what was going to happen. However, I liked the build-up to it finally happening, so it was still an enjoyable reading experience.

Rating: 4 Stars!