The Wall of Winnipeg and Me: A Novel

I loved this book from start to finish, I couldn't put it down. A great story throughout, well written and so much detail of Aidens muscular body.... I loved all the characters, well all except Trevor and Christian...but I'm completely in love with Aiden. I just didn't want it to end.

My first Mariana Zapata book and I really enjoyed it. From the blurb, I can't say it was exactly what I expected (I had an idea in my head how it would go) but it didn't matter I really loved the story and Mariana's take on it. There were some very raw emotional moments and some that made me smile. Overall I would call it a grumpy/sunshine, slow burn, sports romance with a fake marriage. If you are looking for a ton of spice from this read you won't find it but the story is good enough without it. The female MC is pretty tough and doesn't let too much bother her but she has her moments where she just gets pushed too far, but her personality is mostly a happy fun one. The male MC is very much the opposite. He barely talks to anyone, he's grumpy and a little rude even if it's unintentional, he's super focused on his career and lives by some very strict self-imposed rules that he doesn't deviate from. It's obvious that these two are going to have their moments and find it hard to communicate and that's the heart of this story. Two people who don't really know how to deal with each other trying to confront what they are feeling and how the other one feels. This is told only from the female point of view and I would have loved to hear some of the inner workings of the male but I think not knowing what he was thinking kept us guessing just as much as she was. A good read that I'm glad I gave a chance. . . . Vanessa has been a PA for the last two years for Aiden, a professional footballer and she's just about at the end of her rope because he was never going to change. She didn't want much from him but over the last two years, he's never even bothered much with hello or thank you and now that she has saved enough to be secure while she starts her own business it's finally time to quit and get away from Aiden. She gave her notice to a few weeks ago and he gave no indication that it bothered him in the slightest she doesn't know what she expected but some reaction would have been nice. The final straw is when his manager talks smack about her and Aiden does nothing to put a stop to it. She leaves on the spot fully expecting never to see him again. Weeks later he shows up on her doorstep insisting he wants her back as his PA. She refuses again and again but Aiden doesn't let it stop him. He has more going on than she knows with his contract up he has plans but he doesn't want his visa tied to work so after asking again and again for her to be his PA he changes tact and asks her to marry him instead. Shocked and with no idea how they got here it takes a while for it all to sink in but Aiden doesn't stop asking and eventually, she gives in and agrees to the plan when Aiden offers to take away her biggest burden. Things are bumpy to begin with, she doesn't know how to act around Aiden an...

A slow burn perfection! Love her writing Love both the H and h. Just love!

It took me a while to get to this book manly because of the single POV and how much of a slow burner everyone said it was. But it is so worth it! I think it was better not knowing Aiden’s side and instead figuring it out along with Vanessa. Also, the characters and the plot were really well developed, nothing was dragged, unnecessary or too far fetched. It felt real and exciting, relatable and moving.

I'm not a dark romance kinda gal (this isn't one but you'll see where I'm going with this in a minute). I intensely dislike domineering, strong alpha male, unlikable character types. I like alpha but unlikable jerks are not my thing. I don't think I've explained that very well but never mind. And I really didn't like Aidan in the beginning at all. I nearly walked away from the book. So glad I didn't. I have seen this book described as grumpy/sunshine. It was more like nasty/temperamental lol. Aidan was so horrid in the beginning that I just couldn't see how he was going to redeem himself. I sure as heck wouldn't have forgiven him. In fact I was ¾ of the way through the book before I was like hmmmm hang on...he made a joke that was actually funny. And he smiled. But there is a definite point in this book where I tumbled head over heels in love with Aidan. I rarely have book boyfriends but OMG Big Guy is most definitely mine. I like the female character too. I like how flawed she is and how she holds grudges. And yet how caring and nurturing she is. This is the second book I've read in a row that has an extremely slow burn spice. But the way it's written is that the sexual tension builds and builds and builds then, well, let's just say that I thought it was worth the wait. Now there is one negative to this book in my own opinion. It made me contemplate taking a star off but I'm too in love with Aidan to do him dirty like that. But the author probably had about 20 pages worth of telling us just how big, strong, muscular, hot etc that Aidan was. It was drummed into you that he was massive and that everyone was in awe of him. Trust me, I got it after the 10th description. It became a bit boring if I'm honest. But I enjoyed the rest so much that I can forgive that. Anyway, make of this what you will. In the beginning I was pretty sure I was going to hate this book. I'm happy to say that I definitely do not. Now I need to try another book by this author. Oh and is this a masterpiece of literature? Nope. I hate those types of books. Too boring. This book did exactly what I need books to do...cart me off to another place and time. As corny as it sounds, that's why I read.