Mariana Zapata

Most people would describe Katherine Berger as a responsible girl with a big heart, a loyal friend who takes care of those close to her, and the possessor of a wicked sense of humor. There was something about her that most people didn't know. "My name is Kat Berger, and I love porn." When twenty-five-year-old Kat is dragged to a porn convention by her best friend, she's both embarrassed and nervous. The last thing she ever expected was to meet someone who makes her laugh like no other. This is a story about acceptance and friendship, and a love born out of the most unexpected of places.

Lingus

Honestly, my least favorite Mariana zapata book

Tiana holt

Vitória 

Petaco

Ms. Mint

I didn't expect to like the storyline. Call me a prude, but I wasn't sure I could warm up to the idea of being in a relationship with someone whose job is to f*ck other women on camera, and so I was afraid I'd be unable to relate to the heroine. But I could relate. 

Some people might think Kat's a hypocrite for having a double standard about the industry. She was okay with Zoey, her bestfriend, being the porn star Zoey Starr but disliked Tristan's other persona as the one and only Robby Lingus. I don't approve the double standards, but as far as the story goes, I just think this part of her charazterization only makes the story more realistic. And honestly, if you read the extra scenes written from Tristan's POV (if you haven't read it already, head over to MZ's website and read it!), you'd see that Tristan also has a double standard when it comes to Kat. He didn't see any problems with him keeping Kat as a friend while he f*cked others on the job but hated it when Kat was out dating other men. 

Again, as the blurb promotes, this story is less about a young woman and a porn star falling in love with each other, but it's about love being born out of the most unexpected of places. At its core, love is all about acceptance and sacrifices, and that's exactly what Kat and Tristan did for each other. Kat, finally coming to terms with Tristan's other persona and accepted that despite him being a porn star, Tristan is still the sweet and goofy man she fell in love with, and Tristan making the needed sacrifice in order to be with his most precious girl.

jupiter

actually her worst book. the transphobic and homophobic comments made by the cishet characters were completely unnecessary considering we had to deal with the constant misogynistic comments made by all the girls, especially the protagonist. the main guy was probably the only good thing in the book and even then he couldn’t save me from completely disliking it. i do not recommend this book to anyone. 

tw // mentions of parent death (also all her books have parent death if anyone plans to read them)

Sampurna Saha 

the romance was sweet but the female lead was not the best
the male lead is hot and all for being a porn star but any other female co star or performer is a whore according to her ? like I didn't think her thought process or opinions were justified

Jasmine

I was in the mood for a light-hearted book with a little bit of humor so decided it was time to read another one of Mariana Zapata's books. Of course, throw in one her phenomenal slow burning romances and you can't go wrong because she writes them so freaking well. This book was pretty great! I had a couple of laughs and especially liked the slow burn between Kat & Tristian but unfortunately, once again I think Kulti and The Wall of Winnipeg & Me seem to have ruined me because it just lacked in comparison. Lingus is nice light easy read, maybe a bit too predictable but fun none the less!!

Krista 

My first Mariana's Zapata's book and I LOVED IT. ❤️ The characters. The slowburn. No need to say more. 5/5 ⭐

para generalizar, el libro me gustó, fue fácil de leer, rápido, pero me quedo con gusto a poco.

siento que le faltó un montón en ciertas partes y fue resuelto muy rápido en otras cosas ¿? no sé cómo ponerlo en palabras claramente ese es el porque no soy escritora ni crítica etc, me hubiera gustado más desarrollo de Tristán, lo amo porque llegue a conocerlo y aunque si bien Mariana nunca hace pov de parte del varón, es la reina de saber desarrollar personajes a través de los ojos de las protagonistas pero en este caso siento que podría haberle agregado más y profundizado más, una lástima, también me quedé con ganas de saber más de Zoe y de Nikki, de la mismimisima Kat etc

shar

para generalizar, el libro me gustó, fue fácil de leer, rápido, pero me quedo con gusto a poco.


siento que le faltó un montón en ciertas partes y fue resuelto muy rápido en otras cosas ¿? no sé cómo ponerlo en palabras claramente ese es el porque no soy escritora ni crítica etc, me hubiera gustado más desarrollo de Tristán, lo amo porque llegue a conocerlo y aunque si bien Mariana nunca hace pov de parte del varón, es la reina de saber desarrollar personajes a través de los ojos de las protagonistas pero en este caso siento que podría haberle agregado más y profundizado más, una lástima, también me quedé con ganas de saber más de Zoe y de Nikki, de la mismimisima Kat etc

meha 

5 stars!!!

tristan and kat are my everything!! i swear these two kept me smiling and laughing from the first page to the end! also they are very adorable!

catia

Again, Mariana Zapata did it again!
This book might not be for everyone but omg Tristan and Kat were the softest and I am in love. Tristan is probably my #1 hero from Mariana Zapata, he is so soft and dork and he freaking blushed, I love him! And Kat was funny and some actions she did I could truly relate!
Loved their story so much, I can't stop reading Mariana Zapata's book and I don't mind!!

anessa lawrence 

(3.5)

 i absolutely HATE the way kat talks about other women

Laja

Mixed feelings. That’s pretty much I how feel about this book. This is only the second book I have read from Zapata (the other being Rhythm, Chord, & Malykhim) and so I have an idea of what her pacing is like. Since Zapata is known to write very slow burn romance I went into this expecting that but it definitely wasn’t as slow burn at the other book I have read. I overall liked the idea of having an adult entertainer as a love interest and getting to see that dynamic. I did like Tristen a lot and even some of the side characters. Some things that really bothered me though was the humor. It almost felt childish to me. The constant discussion of a bowel movement and pictures of them was getting old. Another is that that the fact that Tristen was an adult performer was kind of glazed over. Kat had issues with it but she never saw him preform or was exposed to much of it besides they conventions. There was also some wholes in the story because we really very got to see Tristen working or doing school which I thought was odd since they spent so much time together. Overall, I did like this story but I wasn’t wowed and it kind of fell flat for me in some areas. I definitely would try another title from the author though. 3.5 stars⭐️.

Jessica Blatz

Maggie Hepditch

This is different than anything I've ever read by Zapata. I liked that the characters in the book were so open and unashamed when it came to sex but the way Zoey kept talking about porn was really disappointing. The word "whore" was thrown about way too often. It made me uncomfortable that she loved him but couldn't stop thinking about him "whoring it up". The conflict was also so minimal, which I was glad for because I'm not in the mood for a big break up fight scene or miscommunication, but without the conflict there's no real special moment where they truly realize how much they love each other. And, at one point she mentions that all her friends thought she'd get married first and that's never explained. I was interested in learning more about that, I feel like it would have made me appreciate her relationship with Tristan more.

Nedu

Becky

3.5 stars

This was a really good friends to lovers story and I enjoyed it. I didn't fall head over heels for it like Zapata's later books but you can see the essence of the great stories she writes and I did enjoy it.

The book starts at a porn convention so it was safe to say I was a little hesitant going in to see whether I'd like it. Turns out it was hilarious and I enjoyed it. Sure, occasionally Lat and her friends seemed a bit OTT, almost like caricatures of who they really were because they were too much. But I did enjoy it and I loved Kat's close-knit group of friends and how they were all so close. 

I thought some stuff went too fast in this book and some things too slow but the pacing wasn't a major issue. It was the first time I felt like a Zapata book was a touch too long though. I actually noticed a bit of a drag in the story towards the end. 

As a whole it's a funny romance that I enjoyed as a weekend read. It may not have ticked all my boxes but it did tick a lot of them.

S. M. 

Didn't quite have the same charm as Mariana's other books but it was sweet nonetheless!

Samantha Emery

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★Book Basics★ 


  Genre
: - Cont. Romance 

  Series
: - Stand Alone

  Love triangle?
 - (view spoiler)[No (hide spoiler)]

  Cheating?
 - (view spoiler)[No but (view spoiler)[ the hero is a porn star and there is one episode of him going away for the weekend for a job, but this is while the H/h and just friends and is completely off page and not discussed or detailed at all (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

  HEA? -
 (view spoiler)[Yes (hide spoiler)]

  Would I read more by this author/or in this series? 
- Yes

  Rating 
- 5

★Review★

Have to be honest, I was unsure how I would like this with the hero being a porn star and all that night entail.

However, I loved it. It is a bit different from the usual for this author (especially as I had just read Kulti and The Wall of Winnipeg and me), the hero is friendly, and very likeable.

And even him being a porn star was not overly shoved **ahem** in my face. (no more than any other romance with a hero who had slept around and we get to meet any number of his ex's anyway) Yes they meet at a porn convention, and he has to go away to film for a weekend once but that is not at all detailed. It is actually the story of a lonely guy and a girl living in a very narrow world, becoming friends, then becoming more.

And it was funny! Yes it is crass in places, but done in a way that is funny and just highlights the closeness between this group of friends.

And it is so endearing the part where Kat invited Tristan to go bowling, and it describes how he had a big smile on his face and he was so happy, nearly had me tearing up! This was a guy begging for friends tbh.

And toward the end, when they get together, them waiting and moving slowly, just serves to highlight how what they have is real and heartfelt despite Tristan's former career.


Loved it.

Find this review and more at 
  kimberlyfaye reads.


I loved this book. I loved it so much that I've read (or listened to) it twice in three months. The storyline and the characters — not to mention Mariana's writing — are straight up addictive. I might've just finished it for the second time last week, but I'm already thinking about my next reread. No lie.

I first heard about this book a little over a year ago from a SUPER picky reader friend. She praised it so highly that I knew I needed to read it at some point. But, as it often happens, I forgot all about it and moved on to other books. It wasn't until I started my Mariana Zapata binge that I even realized this book was written by her. (I know. I'm awful.) Regardless, it was the third of her books that I read and I absolutely fell in love with it. I think I can safely say this is the first book I've read about porn stars or a porn convention. I was a little iffy going in, but it didn't take long for me to realize my preconceived notions were just WRONG.

Tristan and Kat were amazing. I fell for both of them right from the meet-cute. (Which had me blushing on Kat's behalf and literally laughing out loud.) I loved the chemistry they had and the friendship they built. I spent a good portion of the book putting myself in Kat's shoes, trying to figure out what I'd do if I was in her position. (I'm still not sure, to be honest.) Regardless of my particular holdups with the idea of dating a porn star, I'm glad she gave in. Tristan was too damn perfect for words and what they had was too special not to give it a shot. They gave me plenty of feels and swoons as they navigated this thing between them. And the laugh out loud moments! My gods. Literal tears of laughter. Don't even get me started on the AMAZING slow burn in this book. And when the tension finally broke? Hot. As. Fuck.

I adored the secondary characters almost as much as I loved Tristan and Kat. If Mariana ever decided to do a book about Zoey or Nicole, I'd be all over it. Those two had so much personality and jumped off the pages for me. (Or out of the speaker when I was listening to the audio.) I loved the friendship between these ladies and I could absolutely read more about all of them.

It could probably go without saying that Mariana is my favorite new-to-me author this year. I'm so glad I discovered the amazingness that is her writing. I just can't get enough of it. Her books make me smile, swoon and laugh out loud. (And even occasionally shed a tear or two.) I can't wait to see what she gives us next. If you're not reading her books, you should be.

FAVORITE QUOTES

  "Repeat after me: My name is Kat Berger, and I love porn. There is nothing wrong with enjoying watching two people fuck."

I wished there was a version of Pepto-Bismol for verbal diarrhea, because I'd invest in it. 

“So, what you're trying to say is you wouldn't let him fertilize your flower?" Nikki snorted. Zoey made a stupid noise that sounded like a cough and a choke. "You wouldn't let him hide his salami?" "Pump gas into your tank?" "Hibernate in your cave?" "Catch a ride on the Kitty Kat Express?" "Tenderize your meat?”

A man that hot should have a squeaky voice. Be dumb. Have a tiny wiener. Even have chicken legs. A third nipple! Or big nipples! Anything to balance out the perfection that he was overall, but fucking — and I didn't mean that literally — Tristan was just perfect, and I kinda hated him for it.

"You're my favorite person in the world. Goodnight."

"I'd do this all over again an hundred times as long as I met you in the end."

This man lit me up from the inside out, scoring me with slow kisses on the corners of my mouth, burning something deeper into me than any tattoo ever could.

Lingus

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