When Gracie Met the Grump

Eu não o li, eu devorei-o

Gracie was getting ready to be on move again when a member of the Trinity lands injured in her backyard. And he showed no appreciation to her efforts of taking care of him as he healed in her trailer home. As luck would have it, the cartel that has been after Gracie's family for years have finally caught up with her, and her companion is still in no shape to help out. But what if him landing in her backyard was no coincidence? 

I enjoyed the sci-fi twist in this book. It paired nicely with the romance while allowing more suspension of reality than what a regular contemporary does. The interactions between Gracie and Alex were funny at times, cute at others, and sometimes even downright gut-wrenching. I stayed up till the wee hours of the morning to finish this book, and for the next three days after I kept returning to it and re-reading the parts I enjoyed the most.  I hope that we will get to see more of Alex's siblings find their happily ever after in upcoming books, especially after Selene's statement that at least now one of them won't die sad and alone.

I like this author a lot, and Kulti is a favorite of mine. Spoilers ahead!

This book *is* Kulti. Seriously. There are superheros and a drug cartel instead of famous soccer players and the evil media. Otherwise, it's pretty much the same book. The heroines even use the same phrase a time or two. It probably didn't help that the main audiobook narrator is Callie Dalton, who *is* Sal in my head.Like Sal, Gracie has a heart of gold and always puts others before herself. Yet, when it comes to love, she's too-stupid-to-live at times. It feels like the author thought the stories needed to be longer, so she chose to make the heroines just completely, unbelievably dumb when it comes to love. In both Kulti and this book, it doesn't feel genuine and detracts from the overall love story. It makes me roll my eyes at times, and I don't think a good book should ever have that reaction. Why do I love Kulti? It's not Sal. It's the idea of the story and that I fell in love with Kulti a little bit even though he's kind of a dick. But I couldn't digest the same story a second time.Bottom line, if you love Kulti, you'll like this book. You might even love this book because it is Kulti. But I'd rather just re-read Kulti than this version. Just my opinion.

“You make it really hard not to like you”


OK. Beginning was soooooo slow. But I was hooked. You know what I mean? Some parts went on for too long but like they were still interesting.

A classic MZ slow burn, with a superhero twist.

Hmm..welp I think this was just too long and not long enough.  I feel we spent too much time in Gracies head going over repetitive thoughts.  Over and over and getting no where.  Then when we finally get to the love confessions/romance, it seemed short and the book ended rather quickly after. 

For me it was just uneven.  I feel like a good editor could have cut a couple of hundred pages out especially in the beginning.  I mean they don't even kiss until after page 550.... so 550 pages of Gracies repetitive thoughts and some storyline but not really romance.  I didn't feel the romance at all even at the end.  I love slow burn romances but this one just didn't work for me.  But I'll definitly read the next mz book that comes out.  

I usually love most things MZ writes but this one was a miss for me. I can take her usual toilet humor in small doses but it just seemed like it was dialed up quite a few notches in this book. The first half of the book was so hard to get through, I nearly considered DNFing. Thankfully the second half got a little better but I was overall disappointed.

1.75/5 stars

Extreme Slow Burn/Superheroes/Medium Suspense

Updated Review:
This book prioritizes character development over plot, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. If you're reading this strictly for the superhero plot you'll probably be disappointed. What you're getting is the story of two people coming to terms with fate, family ties, and their ability to make their own choices. One of them happens to be a superhero (and an absolute grump, the title is accurate).

It's slow and the pacing is a little odd. The bulk of the action happens in the middle and there's not really a big climax at the end. The bulk of the book is spent in three different settings. It's not going to be for everyone.

I enjoyed it, enough to reread it. I love that Mariana Zapata dipped her toes into a different genre.

Previous Review:
Definitely a departure in genre from her other books but everything that makes them great exists in this one. Extreme slow burn romance and lots of little significant moments building up to love. Due to the setting and plot there's a heavier focus on the relationships and conversations.
The sci-fi aspect felt organic and shouldn't be off-putting to fans who don't normally read sci-fi.

2.75

thoughts while reading:
- the amount of times gracie says “did I do something in another lifetime” LIKE OK WE GET IT RELAX (mind you this is only like 25% into the book)

- her inner monologue is fucking annoying

- 30% so far it's been repetitive and boring

- cartel storyline is actually SO dumb how is this even a major plot point

- gracie's constantly apologizing and saying thank you but like... the story hasn't progressed enough for her to be saying it this much

- imagine being imprisoned with someone and every time you speak she apologizes. just kill me already

- girl does not stop crying omg she's just like me!

- hate the butthole banter. please just say asshole instead, gracie curses anyway

- 60% I'm living for this angst

- some of his family is just trash, and i kinda wish there was a bigger focus on his siblings (or at least the ones that like her) befriending her more for a found family vibe. maybe that's just me but her going out with selene just isn't enough. gracie's been through a lot and i want better for her.

- this book is definitely he falls first, but girl could've a lot reciprocated the feelings and given us more than just her constantly noticing he's hot. BUT i will cut gracie some slack because she did often mention she's not well socialized.

- i like slow burn (how could you not if you read MZ?) but please give me better payout than that wtf i went through all that for crumbs.

and after that i just don't care. book is pretty forgettable. wish MZ did better because this could've been so good.

ALSO i'm sorry but i just can't imagine a hot MMC named alexander. sorry to all the alexander's out there but it just isn't for me.