ARC Review: Breaking Fences by Juliana Haygert

Breaking Fences is the second book in Juliana Haygert's NA Breaking series. This one can be read as standalone but does contain interconnecting characters. This book started off really promising and I did enjoy several parts of it. But I do have to say that I thought that as good as this one started off, it went downhill from there. I wish that a few things had been done differently, but this one was still enjoyable and will be a good read for plenty of fans of the New Adult genre.

After being tired of living in the shadow of her brothers and cousin, Beatriz "Bia" Fernandez leaves her family and their ranch in California and heads to Colorado to attend college. Although things start off well for Bia and her roommate, things quickly deteriorate as her roommate and her sorority sister friends quickly turn on her. Soon they are spreading rumors of Bia being a slut based off the fact that she is Brazilian and the fact that the boys they want are interested in Bia instead. Bia not only has to deal with the sorority girls, but several guys that won't stop hitting on her and assuming that she is the slut they have heard about. Garrett, the only guy that Bia is remotely interested in seems to be running hot and cold, and she has no idea what is going on with him. When she turns to her love of horses at a nearby ranch to help her get through, she comes across Garrett and finds out that not only does he work at the ranch but that his family owns it. Soon Bia and Garrett are getting closer as they share their love of horses and ranch work. But when secrets are revealed and the torture Bia has been subjected to worsen, Bia soon begins to wonder if she made the right choice going to Colorado or if she would be better off returning to California.

I liked Garrett, but honestly it took awhile for me to really even see him as the love interest in this story. He wasn't even around for a good portion of the start, and by the time he was I felt like we had been introduced to several male characters that seemed to have been possibilities also. I did like him though and was able to warm up to him quickly. I thought that he acted strangely at times though, and although I knew there was more to him I felt like we never did get to really know him that well. He was a mystery for most of the story, and he ran so hot and cold I just got tired of waiting to see what he was up to. By the time we actually figured out what he was up to, I felt like the character we had come to know was so different from his real self. He should have been more honest with Bia, and it really upset me that he didn't open up to her more. Bia was made out to be self-sufficient and strong, and she showed some of that at times, but I felt for most of this story she was actually the exact opposite. She showed moments of weakness and ran easily, and she took way too much crap from others. I also felt like she show moments where she was tricked too easily and completely naive. I kept waiting for her to wake up, but it took much longer than I would have expected from such a smart girl. I felt like Bia and Garrett did have chemistry and they were passionate about the same things, but their relationship progressed far too slowly for my taste.

Overall, I would say this one was enjoyable but fell short of being great. It was slow at times and didn't seem to be progressing at all at points. I felt like there wasn't a lot going on in the story for the majority of it except for there were a lot of people being stupid. I read a lot of NA books, and honestly these were some of the most close-minded and mean spirited immature kids I have ever read about. The worst part is the amount of people apparently afflicted by stupidity in this small college, and I just couldn't believe that that many people would continue without ever wising up. It got really old and just really made the story drag. Even Garrett had times where he gave in to the stupidity and would doubt Bia, despite knowing her better than almost anyone else in the story. I just didn't get it and it didn't work for me. I will also say that Beatriz being Brazilian while speaking in English for the most part, she did have a tendency to use Portuguese words. There is a dictionary at the beginning of the story, but without printing it out it got to be too much work to constantly flip to the front to try and figure out what she was saying. That got annoying to me and after awhile I just didn't care anymore. Those parts I would just guess what she was saying or move on if I couldn't figure out any clues from the text. I think that if you have read the first book in the series that you will enjoy this one and like seeing familiar characters. But if you are looking for a NA read that is new or different or has really deep characters and connections, this one probably isn't for you.

**ARC Provided by Xpresso Book Tours**

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