I set this book down at chapter 9 - by no fault of the author. I was reading reviews early on, and came across a MAJOR spoiler that ruined the ride for me. The spoiler wasn't blocked, so I learned my lesson with that. With that being said, my comments are based on those chapters (1-9).
"Find Me in California" found a way to hook me from the start. I think it was the fact that I clicked with the author's writing style. I enjoyed how when the point of views changed, it picked up smoothly and left no room for confusion as I've experienced in some other books. There is room for growth in chapter 3 as I found it to be quite choppy with the amount of periods and short sentences - the rest of the book flowed well and I'm disappointed that I can't make myself see it through, but a spoiler really does ruin it for me. I hope my feedback can still be helpful to others. I'd definitely recommend giving this book a try!

Such a fun and mystical story by Kerry! Julia and Matt are connected through their grandmothers and as the story evolves, you find out how. They both had absent mothers but Julia was raised by a loving grandmother while Matt was raised by a cold and heartless one. A few twists in this story make for a great great! Thank you Net Gslley for this ARC! 4.5 stars

I sat down to read this and somehow found myself finishing it all in one day! It was impossible to put down! I loved the story of Julia and Matt finding out their history and figuring out how to let love into their lives. Kerry Lonsdale continues to astonish me with her writing. It is powerful and evokes so many feelings! I almost forgot I wasn’t a part of the story!!!

Going for honesty here, this book is definitely not one I would normally pick up. As I started reading I thought for sure I wouldn't be able to make it through. Wow, was I wrong.

This book was absolutely incredible. Kerry's writing just sucked me in and made me cry and broke my heart. I'm really just at a loss for words cause I have no idea how to surmise this story. Just an incredible story of love and life, the trials it can throw you and the years of trauma and eventual healing that the characters faced.

100% amazing and highly recommend. Doesn't matter if it's not your usual read or not, you'll love it.

Matt arrives home to find his driveway covered with boxes from a grandmother he hasn't seen since he left her home at 18. Why would these boxes be here? The grandmother who raised him after the death of his parents never showed him an ounce of love. On a whim, Matt decides to call the number of the facility the boxes shipped from, Rosemont Assisted Living and Memory Care Facility. His grandmother is broke and is being "evicted" from the facility. How would this Hollywood Princess lose all her money? His grandmother had more than enough money to live out her life there.
Julia hasn't had the greatest start in life. Abandoned by her mother as a young child, Julia grew up with her grandmother Ruby Rose. Ruby Rose made sure Julia had the best life she could give her. Now, many years later, Julia is watching her grandmother's memory fade and her life may never be the same. She vowed to never take her grandmother from Rosemont, the memory care facility her grandmother chose to live in.
As Matt and Julia come together with their grandmothers at the Rosemont, what a story unfolds! Old time Hollywood at its best!
Find Me in California is a wonderful ride through old Hollywood and the present time. Choices that were made years ago, even decades ago, affect everyone as time passes. Kerry Lonsdale writes from several points of view in this tale and alternates through past and present time. Her writing is so easy to follow and read. I was never lost in the story line. I have read many works by Kerry Lonsdale and I think this might be her best work yet! I loved all the characters (even though I wanted to yell at Matt in the beginning). I would love to see more about old Hollywood and see where Elizabeth's life began. There is more story here to be told! I was so intrigued by Magnolia Blu and would love a whole book on her as well. What a free spirit! I read this book over the span of one day. I can honestly say, when I finished it, I wanted to restart it again. Lonsdale had me sad, laughing, intrigued, crying, mad, and absolutely engaged in the story the entire length of this book. I couldn't stop thinking about the characters long after I had finished the book.
Special Thanks to Kerry Lonsdale, Lake Union Publishing, and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion. 5 HUGE Stars for me!
#FindMeinCalifornia #NetGalley #TeamKerry

Kerry Lonsdale is an excellent writer! I recommend all her books!
Find Me in California is Kerry's latest book, rife with suspense, intrigue, family drama, and plenty of romance.
I'm not the fastest reader, but I tore through this in just a few days, it is a fun easy read to get lost in.

The story is about two older women, Ruby Rose Hope and Elizabeth Holloway; both are aging and end up in the same nursing home.
Ruby's granddaughter Julia volunteers at the home and is trying her best to care for her Grandma, and also help Elizabeth (known to most as Liza). Liza is on the verge of being kicked out of the home as she doesn't have the money to cover her fees, so Julia gets in touch with Matt, Liza's estranged grandson, and asks him to come to California to help his grandmother. He doesn't want anything to do with her, but he finally relents and says he will come. Matt hits many obstacle on the road to California, namely meeting a mysterious women known as Magnolia Blu. His reality begins to blend, and we are not sure what is really going on, or exactly who Magnolia Blu is, but we do know she sounds a lot like the younger version of Julia's grandmother, who went by that name when she was younger.
The timeline alternates between the present and the past, filling us in on the relationship between Ruby/Magnolia and Liza... and Liza's now deceased husband Matty.
When Matt finally gets to California, not all is a happy ending, but a lot of past grief gets sorted and reconciled, and the future looks bright for Matt and Julia.

Find Me In California is another must-read book by author Kerry Lonsdale. She has once again created multi-faceted characters I fell in love with. This is a multi-generational saga that will tug at your heartstrings.

Complicated family relationships, long-lost loves, long-held resentments, and closely-protected secrets are at the center of the story. Matt and Julia are the grandchildren of two very different women living in a residential care facility. They "meet" by phone under difficult circumstances, forging an unlikely and tenuous friendship. As Matt reluctantly heads to California, he and Julia continue to get to know each other over the phone, and they make plans to meet.

Matt then crosses paths with a mysterious female hitchhiker, giving him an entirely different perspective. Family secrets begin to unravel, and everything he and Julia believe is turned upside down.

The only thing I wasn't crazy about in the story was the amount of drug use by Matt, but I recognize it was integral to the story.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Find Me in California was fantastic and Kerry Lonsdale did not let me down!! There were so many stories going on and they all intertwined so nicely and was not confusing in any way. The characters were loaded with personality. Each story was so special that I can't even tell you which one was the most interesting. Matt and Julia were strong characters each mixed up in their own way, but were able to help each other. The ending was superb. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC! I will recommend this to everyone I know.

I felt like this could have been a beautiful story, with the dual timelines and the characters connections throughout the generations. That said, I was lost with the 3-day binge and Matt's hallucinations. They were stressful and unrealistic, actually unbelievable. I was also concerned that Julia and Matt were siblings falling in love throughout 75% of the book, until that was cleared up. I wanted to love this book so much, but it was lacking for me.

Grief is a very interesting thing. Can it manifest things that aren't actually there? That's what Kerry Lonsdale would like us to believe. This is the story of multiple people grieving loss - Liza grieving the loss of both her husband and her daughter, Ruby Rose/Magnolia Blu grieving the loss of both the love of her life and her daughter, Matt grieving the loss of both his parents, and Julia grieving the loss of both her parents and her grandmother. These four individuals have a connection in more ways than one, Is it coincidence that both Julia & Matt's grandmothers wind up at the same assisted living facility, or is there something deeper that binds them together? PS- love the epilogue!

From the moment I started reading, I was captivated. This book is a masterpiece that kept me on the edge of my seat, eager to uncover the connections between the characters and what twist awaited them next. The author skillfully weaves a tale where you become deeply invested into each characters life, feeling a range of emotions for them. As the story unfolded, I found myself not wanting it to end, yearning to dive deeper into the world. The book beautifully portrays, the fleeing nature of life and the power of forgiveness, even in the face of challenges. It’s a poignant reminder to open our hearts and embrace the complexities and beauty of life. This is a journey that immerses you in the characters, joys, and sorrows, showing how hope can shine through even in the darkest moments. It I s a compelling read that will touch your heart and leave you reflecting on the intricacies of human connections and the resilience of the human spirit. I highly recommend for anyone looking for a story that is both heart,wrenching and heartwarming to read this book.

My first review of a NetGalley advanced copy! This was fun because there are two timelines with characters connected across generations with enough suspense and intrigue to keep me interested in reaching the conclusion. I didn't love Matt's days-long binge with Magnolia Blu; he had his reasons but it stressed and annoyed me. Both Matt and Julia also had very similar past traumas and working through them in the end felt a bit redundant.

I have enjoyed all of Kerry’s books, Find Me in California, her 10th book, did not disappoint!! Julia is struggling while caring for her grandmother who raised her, Matt is estranged from the grandmother he lived with after his parents died. Julia & Matt’s lives collide when Julia sends Liza’s, Matt’s grandmother, belongings to him. What transpires is how secrets that have been kept by both grandmothers for many years have affected both Julia & Matt plus many others. As Julia & Matt work through their emotions of loss & loneliness, they look to each other & the people they meet as they unfold their grandmothers’ secrets. They learn family, love, living life to the fullest are what is important in life!

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!