The Meeting Point by by Olivia Lara Blog Tour

 I have to say, some books are predictable. However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. It depends on the story itself. If you can kind of guess majority of the plot but still be entirely engaged with what's happening then that's a sign of a of really good storytelling.

Olivia Lara for that reason is a master storyteller.

Something which I had the pleasure of discovering when I read her latest novel The Meeting Point.

'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..

A story within a story is what we get with this tale.

Our main character Maya is a journalist (although she's always dreamed of being a 'real' writer) and let's just say that luck hasn't been on her side recently. 

After discovering that her long term partner is cheating on her via a LYFT driver who she doesn't actually get to see face to face.

Not the sort of surprise she had in mind when she planned on travelling to San Fransico.

But as bad as things seem in that moment, this could actually be fate giving Maya a nudge to make a change. This is when the mysterious driver offers to take her on an adventure in Carmel-on-Sea all by the median of text. 

Risky, maybe but sometimes its worth taking a leap of faith especially when this will become a day/night that neither of them will forget.

So much so that they both re-tell this moment to themselves by writing their story. 

Fast forward one year and life has become mundane again. Still with her maybe cheating boyfriend, Maya makes the decision to break free. And after reading a story that sounds rather familiar to the one she lived through just one year ago, this means re-visiting that picture perfect small town, with the hope that she might find the one that got away.

What if the Lift driver who finds your cheating boyfriend's phone holds the directions to true love?

This is an utterly adorable and light-hearted read.

Filled to the brim with humour and heart, you'd be hard pressed not to fall in love with both the characters and their surroundings.

Olivia does a fantastic job when it comes to describing Carmel-On-Sea. I automatically went to look it up to see if it was a real place and discovered that yes it is and it is just as gorgeous as the author writes it to be.

Mix that in with a cast of loveable characters that added an extra depth to the tale with their own backstories, and I felt as though they all sort of found themselves along the way. I got a real sense of joy when reading certain parts, as if these were old friends that had just shared their happiness with me.

Although the ending was in no way a surprise to me, sometimes as a reader that's exactly what you need, that expected happy ending, you know the ones that simply leave you with a satisfied smile.

The Meeting Point is a charming romance and I for one would like to see more love stories from Carmel-On-Sea

Make sure to follow the rest of the blog tour. Look out for more reviews and insights.