Showing posts with label mariana zapata. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mariana zapata. Show all posts
Release date: April 1st, 2021
Series: / standalone
Pages: 551
Genre: Romance
Losing people you love is hard.
Aurora De La Torre knows moving back to a place that was once home isn’t going to be easy.
Starting your whole life over probably isn’t supposed to be.
But a small town in the mountains might be the perfect remedy for a broken heart.
Checking out her landlord across the driveway just might cure it too.
 |
| * |
❝I don't know how anybody would let you walk away, and it isn't going to be me. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever. Are we clear?❞
I have to admit that, maybe, I was a little too excited for this book, especially when I recently read Under Locke and fell completely in love.
I absolutely adore Mariana Zapata, but the lost two books of her didn't really give me what I wanted.
I loved the idea of this book and I had high expectations because, hello, going to live in the middle of nowhere, meeting a single dad who's tall and muscled and broody? Sign me the hell up!
But the issue I had with this book is that I really missed the romance. This is a long book and, while I usually love slow-burns, the thing was ... for almost the whole half of this book it wasn't a slow-burn, it was basically a no-burn because nothing really happened. We didn't get to see much of Rhodes, couldn't really meet him and their interactions were limited and there just weren't many. So, yeah, getting 270 pages of absolutely no romance really threw me off a little.
It was all about Aurora moving on from her previous bad relationship, trying to build a new life, reconnect with an old friend and going on hikes. That was it and it made me frustrated. I couldn't help but compare this book to Under Locke where that sweet, sweet burn was always present, we could read about their interactions and we could feel the connection.
We got little of that here.
And, so, at around 80 % when they finally get together, it all felt rushed and like they didn't really know each other that much because the first half of the book we got almost nothing out of them.
There was also this weird thing about Rhodes calling Aurora Buddy as an endearment word and ... it was weird. And Rhodes calling Aurora angel and her thinking he's getting her name wrong? That's just way too dumb to be believable.
I did not like the fight Rhodes and Aurora had at the end because it made absolutely no sense and Rhodes overreacted. It really wasn't that big of a deal.
I still liked this book, it was beautifully written, but I just didn't love it as much as the others.
Series: / standalone
Pages: 497
Genre: Romance
He was my boss, my brother’s friend, a Widower, an ex-felon, and a man I’d seen casually with a handful of women. But he was everything that gripped me, both the good and the bad. Worst case scenario if things turned awkward between us, I could go somewhere else. I’d gotten over epic heartbreak before, one more wouldn’t kill me.
After moving to Austin following six months of unemployment back home, Iris Taylor knows she should be glad to have landed a job so quickly... even if the business is owned by a member of the same motorcycle club her estranged father used to belong to. Except Dex Locke might just be the biggest jerk she’s ever met. He’s rude, impatient and doesn’t know how to tell time.
And the last thing they ever expected was each other.
But it was either the strip club or the tattoo shop.
… she should have chosen the strip club.
*
❝You've gotta be the best thing I never knew I wanted.❞
It's official, I'm completely head over heels in love with Dex Locke.
This book ... dear God. This was such a good read that captivated me from the first page. Props to Miss Zapata because she just knows how to do it and she totally has me wrapped around her pinky with the guys she creates.
I was having a little trouble between 45 % to 60 % because the story kind of lost my interest for a bit with all the drama about Iris's father that just felt like it kept dragging on and on and there was no end to it, but, oh, the last part of the book made it all too worth it.
I loved Dex, most of the time at least. I loved him a little less when he was being a jackass, but he was still a sexy jackass, so I forgave him all too easily (I know, I know, shame on me). I don't care and I don't want to hear any judgment.
I love this thing in Zapata's books how she makes it obvious to readers that the characters are obviously in love with each other, but they're completely oblivious to it because she makes it work every time.
I just loved seeing Dex being all possessive, frustrated and all in knots because he had a thing for Iris since the moment she stepped a foot into his tattoo shop.
And out poor, oblivious Iris ... She really didn't know the storm with the name of Locke that was just waiting for her.
Honestly, this super slow burn book made me feel all kinds of things and the slowness of the story was so worth it. Zapata really knows how to captivate her readers. She's literally the queen of slow-burn stories.
Series: / standalone
Pages: 529
Genre: Romance
Before he was Big Texas, he was Zac the Snack Pack.
Bianca Brannen knows time—mostly—heals all wounds. Including those your once loved ones might have unintentionally given you. (Those just take longer.)
She thinks she’s ready when a call has her walking back into her old friend’s life. Or at least as prepared as possible to see the starting quarterback in the National Football Organization. Before the lights, the fans, and the millions, he’d been a skinny kid with a heart of gold.
Waltzing out of Zac Travis’s life should be easy. Just as easy as he walked out of hers.
 |
| * |
Well ... This is going to be painful. One thing that's for sure is that I absolutely love Mariana Zapata and I usually eat everything she writes because she's just that good. Hands down (see what I did there), she's one of my favourite authors.
But this book ... I wasn't feeling this one. When reading Zapata's books, you have to know beforehand that her books are slow-burn and it takes time to get to the real deal.
With this book, I just felt at some point, that things were dragging on and on. At 50 %, I still wasn't feeling the chemistry between Zac and Bianca and their romantic relationship was non-existent, except for occasional jealous glares from Zac, but that's about it. I started to get bored with this book because nothing was really happening for a long time. And this book has 529 pages so you can imagine how painful it was.
But after 50 %, things started looking up and it got really interesting. I still couldn't feel the chemistry between the characters and I just wanted a little more and even expected more, but Zac's character, at first, felt like reading Kulti all over again. I changed my opinion afterwards, but still.
And then, I could survive all of Zac's "darlin'"s, but I couldn't get past him calling Bianca "kiddo" all the time. Even during sex at the end. Yuuuuup, weird. Super, super weird.
There were a few things in the book that were just unnecessary (the farting scene, for one, because what the hell was that?) and then, at the end, Zac's "I don't think I have any cum left in me" sentence after they did the deeds ... Minor things that are survivable, though. I could get past that.
There's that. But Bianca and Zac's friendship was a fun thing to read about. The book was actually delightful and funny. It's not the best one I've read from this author, but it's okay - somewhere in the middle.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons