“Opposites may attract, but I wouldn’t put my money on a relationship of financial opposites.” –Suze Orman
Rating: trigger warning: attack attempt…though not successful: clean, faith-based story with references to God and Jesus Christ, scriptures read and quoted, prayers for self and others will be mentioned and a stream of conscience dialogue between a character and God. Exchange of stories between characters on their conversion experience.
The girls: the classic story that centered around 20-something-college-aged characters. We have a trio of rich mean girls [Alexa, Calista and Lynette] who grew up together privileged and entitled and attended the same private school together. Their days centered around shopping, spa treatments, shopping, expensive clothes, shopping, shoes, shopping and self-indulgence that seemed to be the only driving force in their lives. That is, until Alexa found a new meaning to her life in accepting Christ as her Lord and Savior. This new perspective gave her an opportunity to examine her life style and discover who she was as a person of Christ and what she wanted with her new life. She soon pulled away from the influence of the other two so called friends. There would be conflict as they didn’t understand her new perspective.
The inside of the cover stated that this was “An Opposites attract Romance,” and “The California Elite Series.”
Daughter vs Mother: cliché rich snobbish mother wanting her daughter to marry a rich husband no matter his character. She herself was a trophy wife and that was good enough for her daughter. She refused to listen when her daughter tried to explain that she didn’t love Armstrong and he certainly didn’t love her. She saw the world through her own colored lens and made excuses for his bad behavior and tried to explain… that was the way things were in their circle.
Rich guy vs poor guy: Lucas Armstrong, the rich snobbish and entitled young man that wanted to marry her… his reason… in order to get his inheritance, he had to marry. Dylan West, scholarship kid who attended the same private school with the others, was a talented artist who had loved Alexa since high school. He wanted to see the best in her regardless of her friends’ influence.
Father vs father: Armstrong… a maniacal, controlling billionaire who had married his own trophy wife, saw nothing wrong with whatever his son wanted. West… a man with many secrets, was determined that his son would have a career that could support him and or a family… did not approve of his son dabbling in the arts. This was the greatest conflict between father and son.
What I didn’t like: early in the story, I think the author went too far in the negative descriptions of the West father character. When the reveal happened at the end… which was a total surprise and I loved it… however, I had so pictured him a different negative way… as this horrid person… that my dislike of him was so negative and engrained that when the surprise happened in the pairing… I just couldn’t accept it due to my negative picture of him. This cognitive dissonance was a terrible jolt to me. I saw him one way and the author really wanted him another way. I think that bridge could have been shored up a bit and made the transition better for the reveal. Other than that I liked the story.
Religious references: Although this was a faith-based story… it was not preachy. Characters would have a normal conversation about their religious experience and preferences and was not intended to proselytize. Not all of the characters were people of faith and there would be conflicts between believers and non-believers. There were references to scriptures, a pastor giving counsel to a troubled church member, silent prayer for guidance and a faith-based life decision.
I volunteered to read an ARC [Advanced Reader Copy] prior to the July 3rd publication date. This is an honest review [3.5-stars round to 4-stars].