When separate lives all interweave to bring the past and present together, you get a delightful story by author Kerry Lonsdale. I listened to this book on audio form. The narrator did a wonderful job. The characters history, the setting, I could definitely see this book becoming a television series.

Find Me In California, the newest book by Kerry Londsdale is an unforgettable story that will keep you interested throughout the whole thing. A story that will resonate with you long after you've finished reading it , I still think about it a month after I read it myself. I don't re read many books, usually once I've read it once I'm done but this is definitely one I will be re reading . Like all of her books , the characters are likeable and realistic. The story of Julia and Matt and their grandmother's is a story of betrayal , loss and love that will have you on the edge of your seat. If you've read books by Kerry before , you shouldn't even have to read the reviews to know it's time to purchase this one . Once again Kerry has hit the ball out of the park for another home run. You will not be disappointed

Cathartic Trippiness. Imagine a Stanley Kubric type acid trip - and now imagine it in full virtual reality 8K. That is what reading one particular pivotal scene of this book is like, and it is in this sequence in particular that Lonsdale pulls out storytelling elements that even after having read literally every book she's written to date, I didn't know she had. Which is one of the reasons I love checking in every year for her annual release and seeing what she has come up with now - she is a master of evolving and expanding her skillset while still remaining true to the emotional depth and complexities of characters that she has crafted in every book, no matter the particulars or particular mechanics of the book at hand.

This is one of those books where the current fad of "magical realism" is done particularly well, even competing with one of my favorite scifi based such scenes in any medium ever, where in the movie Frequency (2000), the ending sequence features things happening in two timelines at once at a pivotal moment and the past being shown to directly impact the present in a key way. What Lonsdale manages to do is almost the opposite yet also quite the the same in a sense, and eventually we get to where we can almost *see* the character at hand's neurons re-wiring as all that has happened becomes known.

And then there is the catharsis on so many levels. As noted above, Lonsdale excels in creating particularly complex characters, and this tale is no exception. That she manages to create *so many* characters that are each equally complex shows true skill - I've read quite a few books even just when counting as starting around the same time I read my first book from Lonsdale, and rare indeed does a book have quite this level of depth and "flavor".

Overall truly an intriguing book that will likely be remembered for many years by at least some.

Very much recommended.

Find Me in California
A Novel
by Kerry Lonsdale

Find Me in California by Kerry Lonsdale is a beautiful and captivating story about family, love, and secrets. Julia Hope, raised by her loving but free-spirited grandmother Ruby Rose, fears being alone as her grandmother’s health declines. Matt Gatlin, dealing with his own bitter past, returns to California reluctantly when his grandmother needs him.
Their paths cross, uncovering old diaries and hidden family secrets that connect their lives in unexpected ways. Julia and Matt's journey is filled with heartwarming and heartbreaking moments, as they navigate their own traumas and find solace in each other.
The dual timelines and multi-POV storytelling keep me engaged, revealing the depth of the characters and their histories. The setting in California adds a mystical touch, and the story's twists and turns keep you guessing.
Overall, this is a heartfelt story about forgiveness, love, and finding where you truly belong.

Very grateful to the publisher for this copy, opinions are my own

What a fun book! Kerry Lonsdale always writes books with fantastic characters that make each book shine, and it has happened again with this one. I love when I am sucked into a book because of the characters. I wasn’t sure where this one was going for a while but was gripped while trying to figure it out. I loved that it had a little bit of everything - love, loss, friendship, forgiveness, mystery, and fun. There are emotional topics and triggers but Lonsdale has carefully presented and carried them delicately and expertly. My favorite part of the book is that though many topics are familiar, it is wildly unique and set apart from others! It was a great read!

Can Kerry Lonsdale write a book I don't like? No, I don't think she can. I love everything she writes and Find Me in California is right up there with the rest. There's mystery, betrayal, heartbreak, and friendship and it kept me up til 2 am so I could finish.

I have read all of Kerry Lonsdale’s novels and loved each and every one. They are all unique but at the same time they all say, “Kerry Lonsdale wrote this.” There is something mystical and just out of reach that keeps you speculating and guessing until the end. Just a few minutes in and I am captured, enraptured and caught up.

The stories are about family connections, problems, old wounds from the past that inevitably affect the future. The characters aren’t always (usually aren’t) easy to understand or relate to, especially at the beginning. They make choices that seem ill-advised, selfish, reckless, not well thought out. But as the story unfolds and the layers unwind you see more and more into the depth of these people. You start to see the threads from the past that contribute to their current suffering, that explain some of the things they do or say or want or don’t want. At the onset it seems so simple: if they didn’t do that then this wouldn’t have happened. But life isn’t that simple, is it? Lonsdale carefully crafts the world her characters live in until you start to see into their hearts and minds – and souls.

Julia is Miss Happy-Go-Lucky. Or – the truth – she is so miserable she doesn’t know how she can go on if she doesn’t always force herself to look on the bright side, to look for a silver lining. Never knowing a father, abandoned by a mother she barely remembers, she was raised by her grandmother Ruby Rose. One of those very unique characters that pop up in a Lonsdale story. She loved Julia unconditionally but she was also quirky and free-spirited, marching to the beat of her own drummer. Now Ruby Rose is in an assisted-living facility, suffering from dementia, and Julia’s world and future have narrowed down to go to work, buy only necessities, don’t have relationship, pay Ruby Rose back for caring for her. Not much of a life – or much hope for one – for Julia. So young to be so burdened and encumbered. She’s willing to do it but it’s wearing her down and wearing her out. Matt is the opposite of Julia in almost every way. He does remember the loving parents he lost at a young age, and also vividly remembers being raised by his grandmother Elizabeth who didn’t want him there, who didn’t even want to see him – literally. He is successful and financially secure but has lived a wild and reckless life and is always trying to control his anxiety. Julia feels first unloved and then wanted; Matt feels first loved and then unwanted. Fate – and a previously secret connection between Ruby Rose and Elizabeth – brings them together, but what could they possibly have in common? How long could their connection last after their “business” is completed?

Julia volunteers at the facility where both Ruby Rose and Elizabeth reside. Elizabeth is going to be evicted and Julia contacts Matt to “do something” – come and get the items Elizabeth has left to him, take care of her. Sticking her nose in a little – or a lot – where it doesn’t really belong, Matt wants nothing to do with his grandmother, but he is eventually persuaded by something about Julia to make the trip to California. A trip that involves a lot of side trips and a mysterious hitchhiker, and that takes a lot longer than it should.

To say much more would reveal too much and deprive the next reader of the twists and turns and revelations and surprises that make Find Me in California the exceptional story it is. Julia and Matt are both suffering, and something neither of them can explain draws them together, but will it help or will it hurt? Can they get past the secrets that are revealed, the past hurts and actions that have bled into the present?

Thanks to author Kerry Lonsdale for allowing me to be a member of her advanced reading team and for providing an advance copy of Find Me in California via NetGalley. It’s mysterious and suspenseful, brings a tear to your eye and a smile to your lips, and as with all of her stories it will leave you incredibly fulfilled and satisfied when it ends. I cannot recommend this book, or this author, enough. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.

This is only the second book that I have read by Kerry Lonsdale and I am so happy she reached out to me to receive an arc if her latest release.

Find Me in California is a magical book about friendship, mistakes, and words left unsaid. It's about forgiveness, kindness, loving others and most importantly loving ourselves.

This is an emotionally moving story told in multi POV and multiple timelines. It's a special book that I hope I never forget.

It was heartbreaking to read but therapeutic as well. Nothing was dragged out; the unraveled secrets were well executed.

Dual timelines are tricky, but The themes of forgiveness, family secrets, self-worth, and love are all handled nicely. It was a lot to unpack for the main characters, but Confronting your past to progress in life is often necessary. Sometimes, feeling lost and isolated can be overwhelming, especially when you've been left behind and think you are unworthy of love.

This felt like a massage for the soul.

Upon reading the premise of Find Me in California, I was really intrigued. I love dual timelines and multiple character point of views! It had a historical fiction vibe that I was really drawn to as well. The book started out really good and I was enjoying it. I was hooked immediately after Liza and Magnolia Blu were introduced and wanted to know more about their history. Unfortunately, as I got a little deeper into the story, that’s where things changed.

I really dislike giving bad reviews of books. I respect Authors and their craft so much, that it pains me to do it. But the characters weren’t really developed enough, were a little repetitive and a couple of them even unlikeable.

The Matt & Magnolia parts of the book were just really strange and his constant drug use was a turn off. The relationships between the characters were really unhealthy and off-putting. I just felt like so much more could have been done with this story and the characters.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I know Kerry Lonsdale is a popular Author. Maybe I’ll have better luck with one of her other books!

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Lake Union Publishing for an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review. Opinions in my review are my own.

I've never read a book by this author that I didn't enjoy reading, and Find Me in California was no exception! It had just the right amount of drama to be exciting, but also real enough to be relatable. I loved how the characters and storylines connected and kept me guessing.

Without giving away spoilers, there was an element to the story that added an extra twist, but did catch me a bit off guard and felt a little bit far-fetched. Regardless, it was an extra twist that kept me wanting to read more to make sense of the story. With this being Lonsdale's 10th novel, I appreciate the risks she took with this book, which really makes it stand out among the rest. I cannot wait for her next one!

Once again, Kerry Lonsdale has written a story that will stay with me a long, long time. She weaves a great storyline with memorable characters that takes me to a place and time I never want to leave. As always, I devoured this story but then was a little sad that it was over. I need to learn to pace myself, but it's impossible with her books.

Matt and Julia are thrown together as they each deal with their elderly grandmothers, each facing their last days in the nursing home before they are kicked out. Little did they, or we as the readers, know how intertwined their lives would become or how much of a past they shared. Be prepared to unravel a lot of stuff!

I loved the dual timelines as we watch how Matt and Julia get themselves out of the predicaments they find themselves in, but also as we learn how the past got them to this point. Maybe there really is something magical and 'meant-to-be' in that whole destiny thing.

Find Me in California is another book by Ms. Lonsdale that blew me out of the water. I loved everything about it. She does an amazing job of storytelling and I thoroughly enjoy all of her stories. This one is one of her best! I highly recommend it.

I had previously read [book:Everything We Left Behind|36396964] by Kerry Londsale and enjoyed it, so I was happy to delve into another of her books. I'm glad I did.

Description:
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.

My Thoughts:
There are really four separte stories in this book, Matt's, Julia's, Liza's and Ruby Rose's, and yet they are all woven together in a satisfying way. I was totally engrossed in this book. Each has a tragic feel at some point. I loved Julia's and Matt's stories best. The estrangement in families is prevalent in the book, as well as unresolved grief. Secrets and lies that drove family apart. The story is told with a lot of heart. I recommend to anyone who likes stories about relationships.

Thanks to Lake Union Publishing for an advance copy.

Kerry Lonsdale’s book Find Me in California is another winner for her. This is a beautifully written story you will love. A story of family relations that weaves the past with the present. Filled with family bonds, secrets, betrayal, forgiveness, passion and grief. The characters are well developed and you will love them. This heartfelt story deals with over coming your past so you can move on to the future. I highly recommend this one and all of Ms. Lonsdale’s books, you will not be disappointed.

Thank you NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Kerry Lonsdale for this heartwarming story to read and review. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
#netgalley #lakeunionpublishing. #kerrylonsdale. #findmeincalifornia. #kerrystikilounge.

Ugh. I really didn’t enjoy this book at all. I’ve read some of her others and this book was just weird. There was magic realism that I just wasn’t ready for. I also thought that some of the words and phrasing throughout the book felt formal and choppy. I couldn’t imagine someone actually speaking like that in real life. And pretty much every other page had one of the main characters taking edibles or smoking pot. Just not my cup of tea.

I didn't enjoy this novel. I felt that it was confusing there were two main characters with the same name and another that had two names and was present in both timelines via hallucinations. The blurb the publisher released didn't indicate that this book included magical realism, which is fine, but it created a mismatch of my expectations when picked up the book. I would have appreciated better expectations settings from the blurb. I also just wasn't a fan of the way the author handled the "its destiny" vibes I was getting. I got 32% of the way through this book and just couldn't keep going.

“Don’t live you life with regrets, Just live as fully as you can. Take it from one who knows: you can reshoot a scene multiple times, but you cannot do over your life”

Julia Hope, raised by her loving and free-spirited grandmother, faces the fear of being alone as she cares for her during her final days. Meanwhile, Matt Gatlin, who has avoided his coldhearted grandmother for twelve years, reluctantly returns to California to confront his painful past when she needs him. Over six days, Julia and Matt's lives intertwine. An old diary reveals a tragic love story and family secrets.

A beautiful, touching tale of love, forgiveness, and secrets.

I was absorbed in a maze of feelings after making each connection, sometimes losing track of time but always totally absorbed in the experience.I am struck, once again, by the narrative's poignant passages, which serve as a constant reminder of life's fragility and beauty.The story's narration highlights how life's fleeting nature gives each event an emotional depth, creating an imprint that lasts long after the last chapter. Furthermore, the characters are so charming and endearing that we can't help but grow attached to them throughout the narrative!

Im a huge Kerry Lonsdale fan and this one definitely did not disappoint. Highly recommend!!!

I truly enjoyed the dual points of view as well as the dual timeframes throughout the book. This really brought the full story together. There was a lot of mystery, secrets, family and love throughout these pages.

I loved how the learning of their ancestors really came through and it was very relatable.
Can’t wait for the next.

Julia Hope is struggling with knowing that her grandmother, Magnolia Blu’s health is deteriorating and that her days are numbered. She has cared for Julia when her mother walked out when she was three years old. She works at the aged care facility to pay for her grandmother’s care and in doing so, discovers Magnolia’s connection to another patient Liza. When she finds out that Liza will soon need to leave the facility as she has no more money, she contacts Liza’s grandson, Matt Gatlin who lives thousands of kilometres away. Matt initially refuses to visit his grandmother with whom he lived with after the death of his parents. Reluctantly, Matt packs up his car and reluctantly heads to California to confront a bitter past that he has with Liza, a woman who ignored him for the time he stayed with her. Spiralling out of control, Matt calls Julia and reveals some of his past. Yet, over the six-day trip to see Lia, he picks up a hitchhiker which changes his thoughts on everything.
I did find this story quite puzzling when Matt meets the hitchhiker, not quite understanding who she was. Other than that part of the story, I enjoyed each character’s storyline and how they finally intersected. I must admit, without revealing the story, that I particularly enjoyed the last quarter of the book, when secrets are revealed and families connect.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Lonsdale is good for a consistently good read. I didn't like this as much as her Everything series but it was solid. Two stories play out here in this relatable look at being open to love...and not. Two grandmothers have a connection in the past while their grandchildren grapple with their own connection. The real life aging in assisted living and heartbreak of Alzheimer's is navigated by the granddaughter while the grandson is on a trippy journey laced with edibles to see his estranged grandmother. The outcome is somewhat predictable but satisfying.

Copy provided by the publisher and Netgalley