The Meeting Point

 Tell me a story... about finding what you want 

The Meeting Point by Olivia Lara

Publication date: September 2, 2021

Date read: October 28, 2022

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..

I first want to state that there are parts of this book that are extremely problematic. There is a thing with romcoms where it is, for some reason, okay to lie and be manipulative in the name of love. (Think Joe Fox in You’ve Got Mail). This behavior is not okay in real life, but we accept it in our romcoms. And I’m not judging the people who enjoy these movies and books - I love You’ve Got Mail. And I really liked this book. But I do feel the need to be upfront about the problematic behavior.

There are a lot of romcom tropes throughout this book. The story would have been just fifty pages long if Maya had just once paused to think instead of jumping to conclusions based on baseless assumptions that she had made about one character or another. Is it annoying? Incredibly - but in a weirdly acceptable way, as the act of jumping to stupid conclusions is the basis for at least fifty percent of romcom films. 

This story moves very fast, with each scene passing fairly quickly to the next. Nothing dragged. There are at least two points in the book that could have led to a dramatic kiss with the music swelling and credits rolling, but one wrong move kept the story going.   

I thought the characters were pretty perfect for this type of story. Annoying decisions aside, Maya was kinda fun, and the male lead was intriguing and sweet, in his way. Despite the problems and questionable choices, I really wanted to see them get together in the end. 

Overall, I did really enjoy this read. It was fast, easy, and made me feel all the feels. It was a romcom through and through, predictable plot points and all. If you’re a fan of romantic comedies and can get past the problematic behaviors in this scenario, then this book is for you. If you’re on the fence about romcoms, skip this one, because I can’t think of a time I’ve read a book more stereotypically romcom than this one. 

Rating: 4/5 stars

Content warning: gaslighting, stalker behavior 

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.