It's always exciting when there is a new Kerry Lonsdale book to read. I've read every book that she's written and I think that Find me in California is my new favorite. It's got mystery, suspense, family and maybe even a love story between two basic strangers who find themselves working to solve the same mystery. It's also about friendship and family love - loss and forgiveness. And it's definitely a page turner.

There are four main characters in this story with Julia and her grandmother and Matt and his grandmother. This is a dual time line story with the earlier time line about the two grandmothers and the recent time line about Julia and Matt while their grandmothers are in a memory care unit. Both Julia and Matt had been raised by the grandmothers but their attitudes toward their grandmothers is totally different. Julia loved her grandmother and couldn't imagine life without her. She worked long hours to make enough money to pay for her grandmother's care. Matt was raised by his grandmother but she basically ignored him from the day he came into her house at 10 until he left at 18. He basically has no contact with her and is reluctant to help her out with expenses at the home she is in. Matt and Julia meet on the phone and she convinces him to come to California to meet with his grandmother. He basically agrees but runs into a strange situation on the way.
Will the two grandmother's lose their home? How will Matt and Julia feel about each other when they finally meet? Be prepared to get so involved in the lives of these four well written characters that you won't want to put the book down until the last page!

All four main characters are well written but I have to admit that my favorite was Julia. She basically gave up her own life and happiness to take care of her grandmother because her grandmother had taken care of her since she was a child. She is the one character that I was really hoping would get her happily ever after ending. You won't get the answer to that until almost the end of the story but it's well worth the read to find out.

Find Me in California by K. Lonsdale, published by Lake Union Publishing, is a full length, stand alone romantic novel.
Julia and Matt's story is heartwrenchingly beautiful, gives all the feels, is just right for a romantic like me. I loved the connection between the characters, the beautiful writing and the well deserved hea.
Blurb:
An achingly romantic novel about chance meetings, buried secrets, and the multiple facets of love and family bonds by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Kerry Lonsdale.

Raised by her fiercely passionate and free-spirited grandmother, Julia Hope has never gone without love. But as she tends to her only living relative during her final days, Julia struggles to overcome her fear of being alone.

A thousand miles away, Matt Gatlin has managed to avoid the coldhearted grandmother with whom he once lived. But after twelve years of her being blessedly out of sight, she needs him. His resentments still raw, Matt packs up his car and reluctantly heads to California to confront a bitter past he thought was long gone.

Over the next six days, Julia’s and Matt’s fates intersect. An old diary exposes the tragedy of a long-lost love. A history of secrets in two families comes to light. And on a lonely back road, Matt picks up an unusual yet captivating hitchhiker with a secret of her own.

For Julia and Matt, something heartbreaking and heartwarming, mysterious and beautiful, will touch their lives—with neither of them realizing that maybe they’re destined for each other.

This was so good I finished it in one day. Julia Hope made a promise to her grandmother-she’d never move her from the Alzheimer’s facility where she lives. Thousands of miles away, Matt arrives home to find 15 boxes of his grandmother’s in his driveway- the grandmother who raised him after his parents died and treated him horribly- because she’s being evicted from the same care facility where Julia’s grandmother lives. I loved how Kerry wove together the lives of these two, as well as how their grandmothers lives intersect. Family secrets always have a way of coming out. Highly recommend

Julia finds herself between a rock and a hard place trying to keep a promise to her gandmother who stepped in to raise her when she was abandoned by her mother. her fierce loyalty to Mama Rose is draining her bank account and wearing on her body and soul as the only person who truly loves her now barely remembers who she is.
The book is filled with secrets to be discovered, deep friendship, and raw emotion. You won't want to put it down.

Families are messy and yet beautiful.

Find Me In California edges on a thriller as Matty and Julia work through family secrets, forgiveness, self-worth, and their ability to love. I couldn’t stop reading, invested as they slowly pull back the layers of all the love stories. Sometimes in order to move forward you have to go back to where it all began…

#FindMeinCalifornia #NetGalley

Kerry's writing is a breath of fresh air, I usually read romance and while Kerry's stories do have that aspect in them, that is not the main focus of the story. I was blown away by Matt and Julie's story, I laughed, cried, and went on that trippy feeling that Matt had while they were both solving pieces to their puzzle. Find Me in California is about love, loss, and finding the truth no matter how hard and painful it is, and how it can eventually set you free.

I adore Lonsdale's books and this one is terrific! It begins with Matt finding 15 boxes of his grandmother's things in his driveway and he's confused as she's in a care home and they haven't been close. In the same care home, Julia is a massage therapist and her grandmother is being evicted as new owners have taken over and she can no longer afford it. Of course Matt and Julia don't know each other...yet! It's a wonderfully convoluted story of hidden secrets, lost diaries, fantasies, and familial love and loss! It often feels "other-worldly: but it's an awesome story that will warm your heart!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC of this book. All opinions in my review are my own.

I enjoyed this one for the most part. Julia, the main character, is managing get grandmothers care at a facility for Alzheimer's. She is struggling to pay and has basically let all the the things she loves in life go. Matt's estranged grandmother lives in the same facility. Julia and Matt forge a bond over the phone and their lives turn out to be intertwined because of their grandmothers friendship. The details of it were fairly complex and parts of the story (mostly the parts involving psychedelic drugs) felt weird to me. That being said it was still an enjoyable read with a satisfying ending.