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?
Calling California is about a story of a really poor girl who managed to capture the attention of a guy who was very rich. Little did they know that their love story was made many years ago when the little guy exchanged his latest Gameboy and his games to a classic Gameboy owned by the girl. And the day they met again, they weren’t prepared for the secrets that were lurking behind their families. A secret that may destroy the relationship they carefully built. Will they be brave enough to fight for their relationship?
Calista was a first year college student. She’s a piss poor girl who had stopped for two years just to help her mother with the finances since her father has Stage IV Lung Cancer. She’s on a tight leash financially but she can’t do anything about it. She works in a bank as a bank teller when she is not studying. She has a very low opinion about the rich kids especially when she sees them buying very expensive things when it can probably help other people.
Griffin first saw him when he was about to encash the check he received from his friend. When his account doesn’t have enough money, Cali offered the last 10 dollars in her purse. Griffin was in awe of her kindness. It was the first time someone showed him that level of compassion. Above all that, she’s also stunning. He may just found the new apple of his eye. But would he stand a chance knowing that she has a very strong repulsion against people with money.
Boy, this girl affects me big time. And I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not. I’ve developed butterflies, and I think, what fucking guy gets butterflies in their stomach?
He thought it was just an attraction, but as he learns more about her, he begins to wonder if it was just a physical attraction. He began to care about her to the point that he wants to do more for her. He wants to take care of her, help her with her financial problems, buy her expensive things, and give her anything she wants. He wants to be the one to cause her face to light up with her gorgeous smile.
She's timid and scared, but behind the little girl who'd been knocked down one too many times, there is a fighter. I'll just have to prove to her that I'm worth the fight.
He was in awe of her strength to hold on even though he knows that she has so much emotions she wanted to express but she always downplays it. She acts like she can handle everything but he knows that she’s thankful when he volunteers to do something for her. Even when she’s faced with the difficulty of dealing with her sick dad, she still chose to care for him. And with everything Griffin saw, he wanted to prove himself worthy of her, because she deserves so much more than he could give.
I will never discount your feelings, Calista. Everything you feel, I want to feel. I want to be there when you cry, be there when you laugh, I want to be there...for you...always. I want to feel your heart beating against mine, and I want to be the one that makes it beat. Every breath you let out, I want to inhale. Every breath I take, I take for you. You are the reason I've come alive, Calista. You are the reason... I breathe.
Their relationship was put to test when he discovered a terrible secret that may not only destroy his high regard for his step father but also Calista’s family. He’s torn between sharing what he knew to Calista and keeping the secret knowing that it may also destroy their relationship.
He cares about me. And taking care of me. He's the boy who gave me his new Gameboy in exchange for my crappy old one. He's the boy that enjoys listening to my parents' old rock albums on my record player. He's the boy that sold his many hours of hard work, sweat, and tears to keep me from a life of the same. He’s the boy who bought me a puppy, because he knows how much I need one. And when I look into his eyes, I see his love, not his pity. And I see that we don't live in different worlds after all. He lives for me...
I am his world.
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.
You can follow J.P. on Facebook at J.P. Grider, Author, on Instagram and Twitter @JPGrider1, and on her blog at jpgrider.com.
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