The story goes like this.
The Meeting Point, Chapter 1 opening
Thirty-year-old Bartholomew von Coffenberg comes out of Madison Square Park Tower’s underground garage in his red Corvette.
Hello! Today I’m thrilled to share my thoughts on The Meeting Point by Olivia Lara at my stop on TheWriteReads blog tour. Fellow bloggers @alicesbookshelf, @nrgrae, and @jenjenreviews are also posting today so feel free to check them out as well!
Author: Olivia Lara
Publication Date: 2nd September 2021
Publisher: Aria Fiction
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Find it on: Goodreads, Amazon
Many thanks to the author, Olivia Lara, publisher, Aria Fiction, and tour host, TheWriteReads, for providing a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis
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…
Come on this 5* journey to love, laughter and back again, perfect for fans of Mhairi McFarlane, Josie Silver and Sally Thorne.
From tour host
Review
In The Meeting Point Olivia Lara delivers a sweet, summery book about unexpected companionship and rebuilding. Set in a quaint beach town, we follow main character Maya as she recovers from a devastating blow to her relationship. In a unique twist, the Lift driver who originally broke the news to her plays an integral role in her healing process and becomes an amazing friend through the ordeal.
I really enjoyed both the characters and the setting. As we’re nearing the end of summer it’s nice to harken back to warm summer days by the water, sand between your toes. There’s a lot of great nostalgia and comfort that comes from a beach setting for me! Maya was very likeable and easy to be sympathetic towards. Her journey through the book was enjoyable to follow, and interactions with Max were sweet.
The insta-love rebound style romantic interest is something I struggled with, but it’s a known plot progression decision I have trouble with in many books so it’s not entirely surprising. For many this may not be a problem, and even for myself it was more a dislike than a real issue.
Overall I found The Meeting Point to be a light summer romance with all the tingly feel-good emotions you’d expect. The setting and Lift-driver plot mechanics were real selling points for me and didn’t disappoint. Consider picking this up for a beachy heartwarming romance ♥
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.
Renee Reviews 
Fab review!
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