Since I was on a Ritter University kick I decided to read Christmas Breakdown after fishing Major Renovations. I read the series a little out of order but the books don’t overlap too much to where I was confused at all about characters. We didn’t know too much about Nica, other than her status as an RA, so I was excited to get to learn more about her in Christmas Breakdown.
Synopsis
As long as Nica Bradley can remember, she has relied on her grandmother. So after an epic meltdown at college crushes her dream of becoming a graphic designer, her car naturally heads back home. With the holidays around the corner, a little Christmas cheer is just what she needs to gain new perspective. Instead, she returns home to find her grandmother has given away her bedroom to a hot, annoying Latin-truder. She’s torn between wanting to kick the man out of her bed or join him.
Cruz Lazaro loves living with Lori Bradley and her grandson… until her quirky granddaughter comes home for winter break and disrupts everything. She’s bossy and demanding. And considerate and kind. She’s everything he’s looking for— too bad he’s not looking.
They’re a disaster waiting to happen. But maybe a little disaster is just what they need to get their lives back on track.
My Thoughts
Much like Major Renovations, Christmas Breakdown was a short, yet perfect, weekend read. Christmas Breakdown took place over about a two week period of time and a whole lot happened really fast!
I loved Cruz. Usually I prefer the perspective of the girls in the story but I loved being able to read how the situation was going to play out from his perspective more than I did Nica’s. It was very obvious he was in a bad situation with Trina and he knew it. Somehow he seemed like the most stable person in the story even with the crazy girlfriend attached to him.
As for Nica, I struggled with trying to decide how I felt about her. For the most part she was trying to do the right thing in helping her Grandmother and little brother. Yet, she was so quick to drop out of school because of one class I was glad that Cruz was able to step in and knock a little bit of sense into her. As an RA you would think it is something she has faced from some of her girls and would know better than to rely on the opinion of one professor.
Benji turned out to be my favorite character of the story even though he played a minor role. I guess sometimes it happens that way!
One thing I wished we could have learned a little bit more about was Nica’s parents. There was a quick paragraph or two about what happened but I felt like for the most part they weren’t mentioned even though they were a huge part of Nica’s story.
By the end of the book I was happy for the way that Cruz and Nica were able to work things out and help each other face their fears but also chase their dreams.
Now we have to wait for Rushing In to make an appearance in January of 2016!
Get The Series
Major Renovations
What Happens in College
Christmas Breakdown
Rushing In