Review: Calling California by J.P Grider

Synopsis
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?

Review
This novel follows the formula for YA fiction; it's full of teenage angst (to the point where I found myself skim reading huge chucks just to get through it) with a 'rich-boy poor-girl' standard plot, but the characters are a lot more three dimensional than I've found in other books in the genre. The flashback at the beginning of the book was a nice touch, and the 'secret' was a twist that I definitely didn't see coming! Cali is a troubled soul to say the least, and I was almost shouting at her at times to stop being so proud and accept Griffin's help. As for Griffin, well he was just all kinds of perfect! Although I have to admit that I find his change of character - changing from a self confessed skirt chaser to a one-woman-man in an instant- a little hard to believe. I've noticed a running theme in YA fiction of music, all of the stories seem to have a soundtrack of some kind -an idea which I love- and in this case it was classic rock. The choices of songs complimented the characters and their situations perfectly, and I was even introduced to a few songs that I hadn't heard before. I'd love to know what happens to Cali and Griffin in the long run, and given that the book is subtitled Hunter Hill University #1, I'm hoping that we're going to get a sequel of some kind! 3/5 stars.

*I received a free e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*