Book Review | THE MEETING POINT by Olivia Lara

Welcome to my stop for THE MEETING POINT Ultimate Tour, hosted by @TheWriteReads.

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THE MEETING POINT by Olivia Lara
Publication: September 2, 2021
Publisher: Aria Fiction
Genre: Romance
Rating: ★★★★★

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 personalized 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...

Maya loves giving people the happy ending they deserve. At least in her stories, that is. However, writing stories is a passion Maya has to file away while she hangs onto her relationship with David and struggle to keep her job writing for a magazine. So, when catastrophe hits work, Maya consoled herself that spending her birthday with David in San Francisco is the best thing. Only, it wasn’t…

There’s something, someone, much better.

L' amour, Ai, Liebe, Pag-ibig. I guess, LOVE in any language sounds the same –wonderful. So when people find it, everything seems beautiful. And without it, we sometimes lost our sense of wonder. It’s easy to relate to Maya – to feel her, to be her. I’m glad that Maya found her sense of wonder back at Carmel by the Sea. I’m glad she found the courage to fight off her flight instinct. I’m glad I read her story.

THE MEETING POINT is a story of taking a huge risk falling in love, with someone you have not met. Olivia Lara wrote a heartwarming story. She managed to keep the tight exciting plotlines together, while also keeping it simple and clean. Everyone and everything is absolutely charming. The characters are easy to absorb- fear, anger, and excitement -all their emotions are real to me. And by heavens, Ethan really upped the level on dating! Bearing in mind, Carmel by the Sea seems like a really enchanting place to fall in love. I also like how this story encourages self-discovery, fighting indecisiveness, and pursuing your passion.

Light and heartwarming, I absolutely recommend this book to every reader who needs an extra boost of excitement, encouragement, and wonder!

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About the Author:

As a child, Olivia not-so-quietly ‘observed’ (AKA bothered with countless questions) her grandfather — who worked for the biggest publishing house in Romania — edit hundreds of books. And when he wasn’t editing, he read. Everything, all the time. Just like her father, who wrote short sci-fi stories, and was set on building the largest library she’d ever seen and her mother who’s never found without a book…wherever she goes. Her love for words came naturally, and after studying marketing, communications & photography, Olivia worked as a journalist for a newspaper and news television network in Romania.

An unapologetic citizen of the world, she spent a few years in Greece, Sweden, France, before settling in sunny California with her photographer husband and young daughter, where she works in marketing and writes. Oh, and let's not forget the ever-growing menagerie that completes the family: Pumpkin, the Maine Coon mix, three black cats and a siamese kitten.

When she's not writing or thinking about writing, she reads (across genres), watches old movies and collects vintage books, vinyl records, and eerie paintings. She loves traveling (and can’t wait until she can do it again, safely), swimming, biking, hiking and of course, photography.

SOMEDAY IN PARIS, her debut, published by Aria Fiction/Head of Zeus in May 2020 became a B&N, Apple, Kobo and Amazon Top 100 Bestseller and was shortlisted for the Romantic Novel Awards 2021. Her second novel, THE MEETING POINT, a contemporary romcom set in Northern California, is set to be published as an e-book on September 2, 2021 and in paperback in December 2021 in the UK and March, 2022 in the US.

Keep up with Olivia: twitter || instagram || facebook || blog

*Thanks to Aria Fiction for the egalley in exchange for this unbiased review.
*This post is a part of the monthly linkups organized by Lovely Audiobooks! You can click here to check it out and be a part of it.