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witcheep's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I love how Zapata writes a love story here: it progresses very slow, evolving from a neutral working relationship to friendship and finally love. This gives time and space to really get to know the characters, and to let them both get emotionally comfortable and build trust around each other in a pace that feels real. I much prefer this kind of approach to insta-love that seems to be very (maybe too?) prominent in the romance genre.
However, at the beginning of the book, the pace feels a little too slow and as a reader I was just impatiently waiting for a more emotional section in the story to start. The later phases make up for the slow beginning with all the struggles to come to terms with the impact the awakened emotions have on the characters.
Besides the romance, the book gives weight to different types of relationships as well: there are work relationships, meaningful friendships, and familial strain. That is great, since it balances the plot to make the lives of the main characters more well rounded.
Both the main characters have very dark back stories (they've experienced domestic violence and abandonment as children ), and that plays a role in who they are now; these experiences still have aftereffects. The dark pasts is something you'll want to keep in mind, if you don't want to read about certain subjects.
The past trauma feels quite dire, and it made me question if they both really needed that dark pasts; couldn't the issues have been addressed even if they affected the characters to a smaller degree? Now, I wondered if it was mostly just to create shock value to the characters.
The audiobook experience is great. I love when there are different narrators in the same chapters reading different characters' dialogue. It makes the listening experience feel more immersive and authentic compared to one narrator doing different voices. The narrators here work great for their roles!
However, at the beginning of the book, the pace feels a little too slow and as a reader I was just impatiently waiting for a more emotional section in the story to start. The later phases make up for the slow beginning with all the struggles to come to terms with the impact the awakened emotions have on the characters.
Besides the romance, the book gives weight to different types of relationships as well: there are work relationships, meaningful friendships, and familial strain. That is great, since it balances the plot to make the lives of the main characters more well rounded.
Both the main characters have very dark back stories (
The past trauma feels quite dire, and it made me question if they both really needed that dark pasts; couldn't the issues have been addressed even if they affected the characters to a smaller degree? Now, I wondered if it was mostly just to create shock value to the characters.
The audiobook experience is great. I love when there are different narrators in the same chapters reading different characters' dialogue. It makes the listening experience feel more immersive and authentic compared to one narrator doing different voices. The narrators here work great for their roles!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Grief, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Alcohol
imkedogger's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book was ok, really not more than that. I hated Aiden during the first 25 percent or so, and to be honest it didn't get better until the last ten percent. He was just such an asshole, and even though he sort of redeemed himself later on, I just can't let that slide. Vanessa, our female main character, was nice, but nothing more. Her family dynamic was really sad but for some reason I just didn't feel connected to the story. The writing style wasn't it for me either. There would be this whole build up to something that was gonna happen, and in the end we never really saw it. We know it happened, but we didn't get any of the details. That's probably just Mariana Zapatas writing style, but I'm not into it. It read pretty quickly though and I didn't mind the fact that it was really slowburn.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Sexual violence and Car accident
Minor: Death and Violence
booktalkwithrae's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is my first time reading a book by this author, and I have heard that this author is repetitive… But boy I did not expect it to be that repetitive.
The amount of times that this main character talked about her family, but always said the same thing… it got annoying. Which is unfortunate because the point of the strained family dynamic helps create an understanding of the character and her history, but in the end every time she brought up her family I was frustrated. Not to mention the main characters dialogue also felt extremely repetitive and overall made the book way too long. It got to point where when the couple finally got together, there was no satisfaction.
The main character herself is also very infuriating. Being in her head throughout the whole story, just became frustrating with the repetitiveness. Her constant thought process was in never-ending loop and I just wanted to yell at her to move on. Everyone in her life was a problem, she complained about everything, and she became a very unlikeable character because of it. Thus, making it very hard to enjoy the romance.
The romance was not as swoon worthy as I would’ve expected, especially for how long it is. It’s strange because I feel like the book needs to be severely shortened however, I would love to have seen more of a buildup of characters romance. The storyline was definitely there. It was not executed well. I wonder if this book was duo perspective if the relationship growth would have translated better.
The audiobook was so well done. If you do want to try this book out, I highly recommend listening to the audiobook because it was so good.
The amount of times that this main character talked about her family, but always said the same thing… it got annoying. Which is unfortunate because the point of the strained family dynamic helps create an understanding of the character and her history, but in the end every time she brought up her family I was frustrated. Not to mention the main characters dialogue also felt extremely repetitive and overall made the book way too long. It got to point where when the couple finally got together, there was no satisfaction.
The main character herself is also very infuriating. Being in her head throughout the whole story, just became frustrating with the repetitiveness. Her constant thought process was in never-ending loop and I just wanted to yell at her to move on. Everyone in her life was a problem, she complained about everything, and she became a very unlikeable character because of it. Thus, making it very hard to enjoy the romance.
The romance was not as swoon worthy as I would’ve expected, especially for how long it is. It’s strange because I feel like the book needs to be severely shortened however, I would love to have seen more of a buildup of characters romance. The storyline was definitely there. It was not executed well. I wonder if this book was duo perspective if the relationship growth would have translated better.
The audiobook was so well done. If you do want to try this book out, I highly recommend listening to the audiobook because it was so good.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Violence
nikkiblack17's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body shaming
hereiskyra's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
These two really snuck up on me. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel at the beginning and it definitely took some time but I fell in love with both of them like they fell in love with each other.
Something about this book was just comforting. It felt a little like a warm, strong hug when you’re having a tough day. The kind of hug I would like to imagine Zac would give (who, by the way, is a big ole teddy bear and he deserves everything he wants in the world).
There is something magical about a book that has you intensely invested in the love of two characters who haven’t even kissed at 80%.
She is the queen of slow burn romance that doesn’t lose your interest along the way.
It feels like you follow the entire journey from start to finish with these two. I think it’s being with Vanessa and Aiden for so long in the day to day that makes it that much sweeter when they finally admit their feelings for one another. It isn’t a rushed timeline or a forced end goal because we need on page romance. It’s worth the wait because it feels so genuine and honest to the characters and their individual development.
I love me some spice but this special Mariana Zapata brand of slow-burn is absolutely unmatched. You have so much time to get attached to the characters emotionally and their relationship has room to breathe that when they do finally have their moment, everything is that much better.
Van’s family sucked. I hated all of them and I’d like to think they all got cut off (except little bro, of course) because she deserves better and needs to protect her peace. But even though they are all terrible, I enjoyed the depth of her background and just how far she’s come.
And I need a book about Big Texasssssss! Ugh. Just the sweetest.
I have no doubt this book will be on my list of favorites for a long time. Never thought I’d say that about a romance novel with barley any romance in it but these two absolutely have my heart!
Tropes:
Marriage of Convenience
Grumpy x Sunshine
Football Romance
Spice:🌶️
Something about this book was just comforting. It felt a little like a warm, strong hug when you’re having a tough day. The kind of hug I would like to imagine Zac would give (who, by the way, is a big ole teddy bear and he deserves everything he wants in the world).
There is something magical about a book that has you intensely invested in the love of two characters who haven’t even kissed at 80%.
She is the queen of slow burn romance that doesn’t lose your interest along the way.
It feels like you follow the entire journey from start to finish with these two. I think it’s being with Vanessa and Aiden for so long in the day to day that makes it that much sweeter when they finally admit their feelings for one another. It isn’t a rushed timeline or a forced end goal because we need on page romance. It’s worth the wait because it feels so genuine and honest to the characters and their individual development.
I love me some spice but this special Mariana Zapata brand of slow-burn is absolutely unmatched. You have so much time to get attached to the characters emotionally and their relationship has room to breathe that when they do finally have their moment, everything is that much better.
Van’s family sucked. I hated all of them and I’d like to think they all got cut off (except little bro, of course) because she deserves better and needs to protect her peace. But even though they are all terrible, I enjoyed the depth of her background and just how far she’s come.
And I need a book about Big Texasssssss! Ugh. Just the sweetest.
I have no doubt this book will be on my list of favorites for a long time. Never thought I’d say that about a romance novel with barley any romance in it but these two absolutely have my heart!
Tropes:
Marriage of Convenience
Grumpy x Sunshine
Football Romance
Spice:🌶️
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, and Abandonment
garbage_mcsmutly's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Violence and Car accident
mels_reading_log's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is a grumpy/sunshine, fake marriage, slow burn, sports romance novel. Both of the main characters have childhood trauma and trust issues to work through. I really enjoyed the transformation of Aiden, as he opened up and became more comfortable with Vanessa.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Domestic abuse
sea_tea_books's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
slow-paced
3.0
Happily Ever After. Spicy scenes (eventually).
And now, the cons:
Such a slow burn; like, too slow. The pacing was odd. It felt like the story was riding at 20mph through a school zone for 90% with a few bumps along the way, then suddenly floored it to two spicy scenes at the very end. The result was a clunky story that abruptly ended just as the story picked up steam. Was this why the author included not only an epilogue but also bonus content at the end, to compensate for the abrupt ending?
This book should come with trigger warnings due to themes of childhood trauma, parental alcoholism, and domestic violence within toxic families in both main character backstories.
Not a fan of the main character Vanessa continuously threatening violence against others. And the other main character Aiden being emotionally dysregulated on a daily basis. Let's not normalize these issues by excusing rage and threats as unavoidable consequences of her upbringing, or accepting rudeness and apathy as the norm because he's just a grumpy guy.
Finally, a small pet peeve (pun intended) of mine is when people claim being a pet owner is the same as or similar to being the parent of a human being. In the About the Author section, Mariana Zapata calls her dogs "her...oversized children" and she wrote "child" when referring to the dog Leo in the story. We'll have to agree to disagree on that one, Mariana.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Abandonment, and Alcohol
storieswithannej's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Proper review to come.
All I know for now is that I love this book and made me feel so much. I just can’t put all these feelings into words now. BRB, swooning over Aiden.
All I know for now is that I love this book and made me feel so much. I just can’t put all these feelings into words now. BRB, swooning over Aiden.
Content Warnings
Minor: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence
jackiemcee's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Child abuse and Violence