Raquel, "Rocky" as her
friends call her, is an introverted girl, on the brink of turning
eighteen. Having already been dealt a bad hand recently, her life gets
even more complicated when her parent's divorce forces her to relocate
with her mom to the city of Rancho Cucamonga, California. She will be
facing her senior year in a new high school. Fortunately Natalia, her
best friend since birth, will be there. It's the one thing keeping Rocky
from completely going off the deep end.
She plans to stay focused on her future, which includes trying to join the Peace Corps. Then in walks Dante. He's cocky, handsome, well-built, popular and so not her type. She is determined to keep her distance. The last thing she needs is someone prying into her past. Dante loves a challenge though, and when his relentless pursuit captures her attention, she just can't stop herself from falling for him. They soon realize that things aren't always what they seem and find themselves forging an intense bond. But when life continues to hand them obstacle after obstacle, can their new found love help save her or will she finally find herself Breaking Down?
She plans to stay focused on her future, which includes trying to join the Peace Corps. Then in walks Dante. He's cocky, handsome, well-built, popular and so not her type. She is determined to keep her distance. The last thing she needs is someone prying into her past. Dante loves a challenge though, and when his relentless pursuit captures her attention, she just can't stop herself from falling for him. They soon realize that things aren't always what they seem and find themselves forging an intense bond. But when life continues to hand them obstacle after obstacle, can their new found love help save her or will she finally find herself Breaking Down?
Amidst a terrible scandal, Raquel's parents get divorced and she has to switch schools. Switching schools your senior year is not something anyone wants to go through but luckily, Raquel has one of her closest friends by her side. Raquel has plan after plan all lined up for her after she graduates but little did she know that everything in her life would be thrown off track by a handsome man named Dante.
Breaking Down follows Raquel though her tumultuous senior year of high school. That this book occurs during high school is an important thing to remember because I think that some book reviewers have lost sight of that little point. High school is full of drama, especially with teenage girls (especially) because they are fickle, moody creatures that no one understands, not even themselves. And I bet that a lot of girls (and women) can relate to this book ... the immaturity, the rash decision making, the drama (oh, the drama) over things that seem so minute and miniscule now were life changing issues at the time. That being said ... the conversations were a little immature at times, even for these teenagers. There is one saying that occurred quite frequently in the book and while I understand WHY it was being said, it still grated on my nerves each time I saw it ... it was "swear to bears". Raquel and her best friend said this all the time because they didn't like saying "swear to God". I personally don't like saying that either but the repetitiousness with which it showed up was a little much. But then again these are teenage girls saying this and that makes it understandable. Let's move on ... I've run this topic into the ground.
I found Raquel's love interest ... interesting. It took me a long time to really warm up to Dante. But the conversations between these two ... well ... we've all had that one guy in high school that makes us girls nervous and excited and flustered. I really loved the realism put into their relationship. It took me back a little bit to those carefree days of young love. It was interesting to watch their love ebb and flow on the pages.
This was a pretty good book. But. You knew there was going to be one, there always seems to be with my reviews. There was A LOT going on. A. Lot. This one book could easily have been multiple books if the issues were fleshed out a bit more. The story also jumped around a little bit and that made it feel jerky and stilted in places when I think that it could have flowed a little smoother. I would probably read something else by this author, I believe that this is her first book and it would be cool to see how her writing has changed and evolved.
Oh, one last thing ... no girl, woman, or child should EVER say this about a guy/man ... "This guy has no idea how scrumptious he is." That is never okay. No self-respecting man would ever take that as a compliment and no one uses the word scrumptious unless they are talking about their grandma's oatmeal cookies.
* I received this book from Ms. Calista Smith in exchange for an honest review *
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