Crawling Over the Pages: Blog Tour: Breaking The Reins by Juliana Haygert

Horses, mansions, tea parties, and lies are twenty-year-old Hannah Taylor’s life. To others, her family and her relationship with Eric is perfect. But she knows the truth. She lives it.

After a fire takes her grandma's life and kills her horse, Hannah's immaculate life spirals out of control. Her father disapproves of her decision to run her grandma’s ranch instead of focusing solely on learning the family business; Animal Control brings her Argus, a mistreated horse that she can't turn away even though she's not ready for another horse; and her boyfriend, Eric Bennett, a world famous polo player, becomes possessive and authoritarian. Despite her best efforts to disguise it, Hannah grows wary of him.

Then, Leonardo Fernandes struts onto the polo scene. A cocky rookie with a messy life of his own, he’s drawn to Hannah and isn’t afraid of showing it, even when Eric makes it clear she is his and he’ll do whatever it takes to keep it that way. Hannah suffers for Eric’s jealousy. The abuse only gets worse when Leo steals the title of best polo player in the world from Eric.

But the title isn’t enough for Leo. He wants Hannah too, and she can’t deny her attraction to him either. Somehow, she must find a way to break free from abusive Eric before he breaks every bone in her body.

The story is really almost the same with the other new adult novels being written today but with the addition of new and exciting twists and that is what I liked about this book. The main character Hannah, is at the first chapters portrayed as a very strong-willed person who never wavered despite being given new responsibilities that people around her doubt she’s going to meet. But then, Hannah is just an ordinary person who also has weaknesses. And these will be one of the conflicts in this book. Hannah versus her inner desires and logical reasoning.

Leo, on the other hand, is a new-comer in the world of polo gaming in America. He came with his whole family to look for greener pastures but aside from that, he hides a secret that might endanger the friendship he has with Hannah. Upon first encountering Hannah, he already has felt the instant attraction between them. What he failed to ask is if she has a boyfriend.

Eric, the best Polo Gamer in America, is Hannah’s perfect boyfriend. They’ve been together for two years. He took over his family’s business. Upon the arrival of Leo and his family, he instantly felt jealousy and from then on, he slowly showed his true color.

Good parts of this story includes the gradual development of the relationship between Hannah and Leo. How Hannah became a model of women empowerment, showing how to fight and standup for herself. Showing how love can become a source of strength to fight for what you really want. How important family is and that whatever happens, they’re still there. You might not be amenable to what they want for you, but bear in mind that they only want what’s best for you. Family is still family in the end. You just have to show them what you really want.

The low point of this one is the words being spoken in Portugal language. Even if the words were defined in the beginning of the book, sometimes I can’t connect with the dialogues. You can’t expect a reader to memorize all those words or every time I encounter those words, I’ll have to go back to first page.