Book Review: Calling California by J.P. Grider

Title: Calling California

Author: J.P. Grider

Genre: New Adult, Romance

Review copy from: Xpresso Book Tours 

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Cali Parker is poor. She has a lot on her plate - her father is dying, she's working to help pay the rent, and she's two-years behind in college.

Griffin Brooks is rich. He has not a care in the world - he's acing his engineering courses, his hobby is restoring his fifty-thousand dollar classic car, and he has a different girl on his arm every week.

When Cali sees Griffin on her first day of class, she's immediately smitten and thinks she's found the perfect guy. When Griffin sees Cali at the bank, he immediately forgets the blonde he was with that morning. Then they meet, and their worlds collide.

Cali doesn't belong in Griffin’s world, and he doesn't understand hers. But just when Griffin convinces Cali that their two different worlds can blend, a secret is revealed that tears them apart.

Is their love strong enough to bring them back together, or will their worlds drift further apart?

Calista Parker, Cali for short - California to Griffin Brooks - never had an easy life. She began taking jobs here and there in order to support her family when her father was diagnosed of lung cancer.

When their paths crossed in more ways than one, her life changed drastically.

Griffin challenged who she is and what she believes in. Along with his entrance to her life, Cali was exposed to not only just love, but the harsh realities of life and the truth. 

What I like about this book is the twist at the end. Another thing are the character's relationships with one another. These were tested, making the character's experiences coincide with one another. It's a web of intricate, fragile strings connecting the characters together. Once the secret was out, those strings were tested and at the end, they managed to remain entangled, despite the lesions here and there.

My only gripe about it is that I wish there was a focus or even a moment on Cali's father. It was like he was just a throwaway character. Heck, it's as if he served no other purpose than just to die in the end. This goes the same for the other characters as well. I wished to see more of them and the stories they have and how it interweaves with Cali's and Griffin's.

Still, this book is filled with surprises that can almost (ALMOST) rival with my favorite NA book. The twists and turns of the story was the one that won me over despite the rich-and-poor aspect.

"I've developed butterflies, and I think, what fucking guy gets butterflies in their stomach?" 

 

 J.P. Grider is a Young Adult and New Adult author. She is the author of six novels. Her young adult series The Honor Trilogy consists of A Touch of Honor, A Man of Honor, and A Heart of Honor, while her first two novels - Unplugged (A Portrait of a Rock Star) and Maybe This Life - are standalone adult contemporary novels. Her most recent release is the new adult romance Calling California, which is the first in her Hunter Hill University series. The next book in the series – Mending Mick – will be released in October, 2014. All the books in the Hunter Hill University series will be standalone books and can be read in any order.

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