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?
Story Line: I completely fell in love with the story line from the first chapter!! I loved that the story started out with the anecdote of Cali as a little girl and the little boy at the Christmas party. I thought this story was a modern rendition of Cinderella and Pride and Prejudice because of the fact that the hero who is rich and falls for the heroine who is poor and the heroine misjudges the hero because he is rich. I really loved that it had a fairy tale like quality to the story; yet, it was not boring or predictable AT ALL, especially when the "secret" is revealed!!!
Relationship: Cali and Griffin are immediately drawn to each other!! Cali first sees Griffin in their shared class but Griffin doesn't notice her and Griffin first meets Cali at the bank while she is working. Their relationship has the most change on Griffin because by meeting Cali he automatically goes from being a player to only wanting to be with Cali! Also, their relationship experiences many difficulties. One of these difficulties being the fact that Cali has a problem with Griffin being rich; however, through it all both Griffin and Cali come out being better people.
Characters:
Cali: Her real name is Calista but most people call her Cali, except for Griffin who nicknamed her California. I enjoyed reading about Cali's character; she is sweet, caring, and generous. Her father is dying and she does what she can to take care of him and her mom both emotionally and financially. One of her flaws, to me, was her obsession with money and major dislike of rich people that was drilled into her by her parents. While I understand that it was an important concept of the story, I felt as if almost every word out of her mouth was about money, her lack of it, or her disdain for rich people. However, I do appreciate her character for the strength she showed while her father died, when she found out about the "secret", when her mother lost her job, and when she lost her home.
Griffin: I LOVE HIM!!!! He is sweet, caring, smart, charming, respectful, and humble!!! I loved that his character was down to Earth even though his family is rich and even though he started out as a player, he changed. I loved the chapters that were told in his perspective because it showed how much he cares for Cali and how much of a romantic he is!! I found it really unique that his character admitted to so many feelings that he had for Cali, such as getting butterflies around her. I have not read another book where the main male character admitted that! I just absolutely loved his character from the very beginning and I can't find anything wrong with him!
Overall: I enjoyed the book a lot; although, Cali's constant obsession with money took me out of the story sometimes. However, Griffin always brought me back in with his chivalry and his powerful emotions. The story line was excellent and the characters added a flare to the book that made it very enjoyable!!
Rating: I would give this book a 9 out of 10!!!
About the Author:
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.
Thank you so much for your wonderful review. I really appreciate it, and I am so glad you enjoyed it. :))
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