The Wall of Winnipeg and Me

One of the worst books I have ever read. If the author had mentioned the hero's muscle 25% less, the book would have literally be half the size it is.
Nothing happened the entire book...very predictable and without any story arc.

1.25/5 and only because I didn't dnf it.

If I could go back in time and stop the author from writing it, I would.

It was so boring. Oh my god. The FMC was such a doormat till the end and MMC was a grumpy asshole who didn't care. He didn't care at all. Ugh.

Aiden Graves takes a good 1/4 of this book to even start opening up, but when he finally does... hot damn. What a lead. I love the marriage of convenience setup here because there's no way these two characters would ever have spent the time together to actually seed true romance without it. But when it finally worked out, it was fantastic. I really liked Vanessa, but Aiden was the true star of the thing. His arc from surly scowling grunting man to an actual viable boyfriend/husband was really well done.

4.5 Stars ⭐️

I loved it, the slowest slow burn but I was here for it. Grump meets sassy sunshine. ⭐️⭐️

The Wall of Winnipeg, was such an interesting phrase and unique. I really loved this book. My favorite Mariana Zapata book thus far ❤️

Man, I'm all for slow burn but damn this was excruciatingly slow.
I really didn't like Aiden until the last 20% of the book. He has absolutely zero personality. Zac was a good side character. There was also a LOT of inner dialogue which made the book move pretty slow. There is a tiny bit of spicyness at about 97%. Maybe I struggle with single POV. 

Vanessa has been putting up with Aiden's grumpy attitude as his personal assistant for two years while she's been saving enough money to fully focus on her graphic design business. When she tells the Canadian football player that she quits, he doesn't seem to care. And when she leaves, it is not on good terms - she had overheard his agent Trevor make fun of her behind her back, and Aiden couldn't be bothered to stand up for her.

A month later, Aiden shows up at her doorstep trying to convince her to come back and work for him. And her answer was a clear and resounding NO. But that doesn't dissuade him, and he keeps showing up every few days with the same request and getting the same answer. Until one day he tells her his work visa is experiencing in a year and he is afraid of being forced to leave the country. When she jokingly tells him to find an American woman to marry, his immediate response is to propose to her. Aiden manages to bribe Vanessa into this fake marriage by promising to pay off her massive student loans, and buying her a house when they have to divorce in five years. 

Vanessa ends up moving with Aiden and his friend Zac (Hands Down), and they slowly start becoming friends, and eventually fall in love.

Reading this book with pink-colored glasses is a lot of fun. If you want to pick things apart, you can find a lot of issues with Vanessa and Aiden's relationship. But for a fluffy slow-burn romance, it's as perfect as it gets. I love how Aiden missed her teasing him, and his attempts at teasing her back and joking with her with a straight face were chef's kiss. I loved the tender moments between them when he twisted his ankle and she brought him his pillow and comforter, or when he helped her through her panic attack in the elevator and during the thunderstorm, or when he showed up in Toronto to keep her company during the book convention, or especially when he showed up at the end of her marathon.

I also love Zac!! The reason a reread of this book happened now is because I just finished Hands Down, and it took way too long to realize it was the same Zac from this book. I LOVE his friendship with Vanessa, and how he called her Mrs. Graves. Also, I hated Trevor less knowing that regardless of his attitude, at heart he was a softie with Bianca.

Rereading this book after Wait For It made me feel less horrified at Diana's storyline in this one, knowing that all of the hardship that she goes through in this book and later will lead her to her happily ever after with Dallas.

This was a perfect slow burn


Also the fake football team names made me laugh

Vanessa Mazur tidak mau merasa bersalah karena berhenti dari pekerjaannya, karena dia tahu dia melakukan hal yang benar. Pekerjaan sebagai asisten personal dari salah satu pemain defensif Organisasi Nasional Football seharusnya hanya sementara.
Vanessa punya rencana untuk hidupnya, dan salah satunya bukan mengurus cucian dari Aiden Graves yang tidak pernah menyapanya selamat pagi, menyelamatinya apabila kerjaannya bagus, atau mengucapkan selamat ulang tahun. Sang legenda “The Wall of Winnipeg” memang dipuja semua orang, tapi Vanessa merasa sudah cukup.
Namun ketika Aidan Graves muncul di depan pintu apartemennya, memohon supaya Vanessa kembali bekerja kepadanya, Vanessa benar2 terkejut. Terlebih Aidan memberinya penawaran yang terlalu bagus untuk ditolak. Akankah Vanessa menolaknya?
Buku pertama karya Mariana Zapata yang dijuluki The Queen of Slowburn. Awaknya aku merasa bosan, buku ini terlalu banyak kata-katanya, yang menurutku bisa dipersingkat. 460 halaman kurasa terlalu tebal untuk sebuah novel romance. Singkatnya terlalu slow burn untuk seleraku.
Aku juga bermasalah dengan tokoh utama wanitanya. Vanessa karakter yg sulit untuk disukai. Okay dia mengalami masa tumbuh besar yang sulit, dengan ibu yang alkoholik dan kakak-kakak perempuan tukang tindas. Tapi tidak menjadi pembenaran dia menyebut manager maupun teman Aiden dengan julukan kasar dan berpikiran yang terburuk pada hampir semua orang disekitarnya. Dan aku lelah setiap kali Vanessa berulang-ulang mengatakan Aiden tidak akan tertarik padanya dengan berbagai alasan. Jadi mengingatkanku pada Spanish Love Deception yang juga tidak begitu aku nikmati.
Spicy scene nya harus kuakui menjadi nilai lebih, yang kemungkinan besar banyak pembaca yang menyukai buku ini, atau menyukai karya Mariana Zapata secara umum. Bagi penggemar romance, khususnya slow burn buku ini layak dicoba.

Read if you like:

- Boss + Assistant
- Workplace Romance
- Marriage of Convenience
- Sports (Football)
- Family Drama
- Friends to Lovers
- Complicated Past
- Slowwww Burn

At first, the length scared me but I breezed through it.
Very addicting book!!!

I guess I prefer Zapata novels where the girl gets to be a sports star too.

10 stars. I loved this book so much. I already want to start it again.

Grumpy and sunshine. Fake marriage. Can't get enough!!!

I felt like I was Vanessa, I felt her feelings so strongly and her character is written so well.
She is so strong and has been through so much, to come out the other side I was so proud of her.

Aiden is such a secret sweet heart. He always showed up for her when it mattered. I caught myself smiling so often because of him. He showed he cared in his own way, and it was perfect.

They work so well together and I'm so happy for them that they got the happy ending they deserved.

I only wish that we had more of Vanessa and Aiden together after they finally said they loved each other. (Prior to the epilogue) I wanted them together as a couple before they started their next chapter as a family.

***re-read Jan 2024
This is such a comfort read for me. While it's a bit angsty, it still just warms my heart.

5/5
10/10

I LOVE AIDEN GRAVES. I LOVE VANESSA MAZUR. I DON'T KNOW WHICH ONE I'D RATHER DATE.

I am a binge reader, most books I read are done so in one day, sometimes even one sitting if it's that good. That is the case for me today. I couldn't put this book down. It was so easy to read, and so difficult to put down.

I understand why some people don't like MZ books - the inner monologue can go on for so long but when your main character is Vanessa Mazur, it's hard to dislike that style of writing. Vanessa is such a likable character, and I can see myself and most of my friends relating to her.

I can't finish this review I'm still screaming over how much I love them together KSHGJKSD

I knew it was going to be a slow burn, but I didn't understand how slow! Holy Guacamole! This one was sloooooowwwww! Overall, cute story, it was fairly well developed, the romance was too short for me - they didn't admit their feelings until the very last chapter. I was dying waiting for them to come together! Overall, nice story, not sure I'd recommend.

This was a chunky book that I ended up reading in 2 sittings. The queen of slow burn has done it again. I loved this book so much. I was eating up this slow burn romance and when I say slow burn I mean slow burn. I can't ever decide if I like slow burn or not because I'm the type that wants things to happen immediately but when I read a good slow burn I am hooked. This could be considered and enemies to friends to lovers and I loved the progression from hate to love. The only thing that I think could have made this book even better would be if we got Aidans point of view as well. I loved this book and can't wait to read more by this author. 

Começou incrível e terminou bom

4.5/5

Erstes Marianna Zapata Buch und sicher nicht mein letztes - ich liebe Slow burn romance .❤️ Ende war dann die. Etwas Hop Hop, daher 4 Sternen

OMG!!!! MARIANA ZAPATA SURPRISED ME AGAIN AHHHH DJDJSJXJS THIS BOOK ALSO HAS MY HEART SO MUCH OMG OMG OMG

THIS AUTHOR IS MY TOP FAVORITE LIKE WTH!!!! I ALWAYS WANTED TO GET BACK INTO ROMANCE AND LETS JUST SAY HER BOOKS GOT MY NECK IN A CHOKEHOLD!!! A FUCKING CHOKEHOLD.... MARIANA CAN STOMP ON MY NECK AND SHOOT ME IN THE CHEST AND I WILL STILL LOVE HER!!!!!

my very first mariana zapata book. the slow burn frustrated me but also i found this to be a bit dull.

Can't believe it took me 5 years to pick this book up. It's been on my GR TBR since 2016...
And now... after finishing it in a day, because I couldn't put it down, I'm kicking myself for not picking it up sooner.

I loved it! Both Aiden and Van are amazing characters and MZ has a very skilled way to making the readers fall in love with her characters. The story flows at a perfect pace (for a slow burn) and the writing is great.

This is the most delicious, entertaining, sweet slow burn romance EVER. I need to read more MZ's books, I've only read Dear Aaron and I really liked it.

I never really had any luck when it comes to romance book. I really wanted to try reading romance and I thought, why not read books about the type of guys that I like—silent and reserved. 
When I searched for silent hero this book came at the top. Though Aiden was definitely not the type of silent that I'd go for, I had zero regrets reading this. That was understatement. I freaking LOVE this book!

Their interactions were so precious. Especially when he tried to make up for his mistakes. Both of them were very similar to each other. The thing that I like the most about them is how they both used the people they hate as a benchmark to how-not-to-be.

And the epilogue was so sweet! Ughh my heart!!

3.5*

“I'm starting to understand that you can always make time for the things that matter.”

I CAN'T, I LOVE AIDEN AND VANESSA SO MUCH, IM

Oh my gosh. Be still my pounding heart!!! This was so much fun.

Honestly, I went into this not caring one bit about American football. So, I thought I wouldn't enjoy it very much.

But wow oh wow was I wrong. Vanessa and Aiden were the cutest pair. I love that their relationship stems from respect and friendship (the best relationships often do)

I loved their banter. And that Aiden was saved under Miranda P. on Vanessa's phone. I loved that they both loved their jobs. That Aiden was so honest and open with Vanessa, and so unlike how he is with anyone else. Every time Aiden or Vanessa told people that they were husband and wife, my little heart soared!

I'm sure you already know this but this is a slow burn. Like, SLOOOOOW burn. But they both knew. Well, we all knew that they were in love with each other from the start.

Best Nickname award goes to:
Big Guy (aka Sunshine) and Muffin ♡

Sigh, there was just so much to love. 5 stars all around!