Review: Vibrant & Sexy - Can't Wait For More In This Series!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 8, 2014
THE STORY:Bia is going through a real time of self discovery, trying to find some independence away from her parents and out of the shadow of her successful Polo playing brothers. Moving away to go to college, she has plans of becoming a vet, making new friends, and having a fantastic adventure. But it doesn't all go according to plan. She catches the eye of one very persistent frat guy, Jonah, along with the wrath of his ex girlfriend Audrey. In hopes of winning him back Audrey makes Bia's life hell, spreading rumours and lies, purely because of her Brazilian background. Bia struggles with the unwanted attention and questions everything she says or does, worried how everyone will perceive her usually fun and carefree personality.Her only escape is on the range with the horses, where she actually feels like her old self again. But even there she can't completely escape realty with horse trainer,  Garrett making her feel so confused about everything. Bia has to ask herself what being independent and finding herself truly means, and if Garrett fits into her new life?THE CHARACTERS:Bia, the happy, outgoing Brazilian girl with a passion for horses. She's such a vibrant character when we first met her in Breaking the Reins, but we get to see another side to her now. She's vulnerable and afraid to truly be herself for fear of being labeled a 'slut'. Bia does a lot of soul searching in this book, trying to discover who she is away from her family, while not letting the ignorant rumours affect how she acts. It was great to see her grow into a person she was comfortable being.Garrett is quite a mystery early on, and we only leaner little snippets of information about his past. He's very closed off and doesn't open up easily to anyone. He has he's reasons and it takes a while for him to open up, but when he did it was clear why he acted the way he did.There are quite a few supporting characters, Creepy Jonah, Queen Bitch Audrey and her loyal followers, Garrett's father, Wise Tom the Stable Manger and Bia's brother & his girlfriend - Leo & Hannah make a few appearances too. And while Audrey and her sorority friends where a little cliched, it didn't effect my enjoyment of the story.THE ROMANCE:With very few people in his life who actually love and care about Garrett, he doesn't share he's secrets easily, but when spending time with Bia he starts to find happiness that he never thought possible. With their shared love of horses, they connect and start to fall for each other - these two where really good for one another.THE WRITING:This is my third book by Juliana and I just love her writing. She has a fluid and very natural writing style that makes her stories flow very smoothly. They are also filled with emotion and passionate characters.FINAL WORD:After reading Breaking The Reins,I  immediately started begging for a companion novel because I loved it that much! And I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed! I will now pester Juliana for Hilary's book, because I just know there is an awesome story to be told there!!!CONTENT:Sexuality: medium / sex scenes, discussions of sex and slut-shamingViolence: mild / some minor animal cruelty (more verbal than physical)Language: medium / several f wordsDrugs & alcohol: mild / some drinking at parties