Happy weekend friends! Earlier this week, Olivia Lara released her second book, The Meeting Point. Once in a while, it is so much fun to read a light romance and this one did not disappoint.If you are looking for a quick cozy read, I might have found you just the book! In today’s post I will review The Meeting Point Come back tomorrow for my Q&A with the author. Let’s begin with the synopsis and content notes first.
What if the Lift driver who finds your cheating boyfriend’s phone holds the directions to true love?
‘Who are you and why do you have my boyfriend’s phone?’
‘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.’
And with these words, the life of the brunette and t-shirt wearing Maya Maas is turned upside down. Having planned to surprise her boyfriend, she finds herself single and stranded in an unknown city on her birthday.
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…
Content Notes: Depiction of infidelity, toxic relationship.
Thoughts on The Meeting Point
Something different! No sections today. 😀
First off, let me start off by saying that this is a lot more to this story than what’s in the synopsis. Maya is an aspiring author by night journalist by day who has been working her hardest but getting nowhere because of the boss she works for. She had a long stable boyfriend but there doesn’t seem to be any spark left in their relationship. Hoping to revive it one last time, Maya decides to surprise David while he is out of town. Unfortunately, when she lands at the airport and tries to contact him, a stranger replies on his phone and mistakes her for the girl David was actually with. But one thing leads to another and realizing that it is Maya’s birthday, the Lift driver convinces her to follow his itinerary and have a blast of a day.
Exploring the small town of Carmel, Maya enjoys a memorable day while texting with a stranger. They do not share their names and ultimately decide to meet up by the beach the next morning. I’ll be honest, the first couple chapters went fast and were kind of predictable. As their meeting was getting closer, I was getting worried if this would be a cliched love story about their relationship… but hey that is not what happened! Author Olivia Lara hooked me right in with her twists and I think the event portrayed in the book aligned well with Maya’s character as it is introduced at the beginning and the practicality of the situation.
Maya has always been a sucker for love stories and making up stories of the people she meets has been an integral part of her creative journey. Writing is also a way for her to cope with the present. After the incident with the Lift driver, Maya writes down all her thoughts in a story… only to find out eventually that a renowned author will soon publish pretty much the same storyline from a guy’s perspective.
Could this be the Lift driver she met? This is where the story truly begins and what most of it is about. The search for the Lift driver. Piecing together who in the town of Carmel was he and seeing if what they had was real.
See what I mean? The synopsis does not do the book justice.
Maya’s first encounter with the Lift driver is completely virtual. It has been a long time since I have made a friend online without meeting them in person or talking to them via video, except due to work and COVID. The Meeting Point in that way made me reminisce about how easy friendships used to be when we were teenagers. Maya is about my age (late twenties) and feeling cheated in a caged relationship can offer a major incentive to be more adventurous. Thankfully, the Lift does not have bad intentions and she isn’t completely naive.
The Lift driver aside, Maya and her friend Alisa share a close bond while living oceans apart. I loved that Maya is an aspiring writer and Alisa is an editor herself. Reading about writing and publishing worlds (and review copies!) in the novel was really fun because I live in that world in my free time too. 😀 Maya’s friendship with Cafe Azure owner Celine was pretty sweet too!
Reading Experience Summary
The Meeting Point was a sweet read about taking control of one’s life and doing what the heart desires. Maya grows a lot throughout this book and I love how her love for writing stories and connecting people changes those around her. The main cast of characters was well thought out, though I felt that some of them could have had more dimension. I read this book in maybe 3 settings so it definitely kept me engaged throughout and never felt like a drag. It gave a nice small town feel and I enjoyed it.
Will you pick up this book?
The Meeting Point is available in stores. Be sure to check your local library and order it through there to help this book reach more readers.
Amazon Print
Amazon Kindle
Many thanks to the author for providing me a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you for reading this post about The Meeting Point! Come back tomorrow when I chat with author Olivia Lara about her books and more! I’ll be revealing the new look for the Book Review Index in the next week or so, so keep an eye out for that too!
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