Mariana Zapata

Vanessa Mazur knows she's doing the right thing. She shouldn't feel bad for quitting. being an assistant/housekeeper/fairy godmother to the top defensive end in the National Football Organization was always supposed to be temporary. She has plants and none of them include washing extra-large underwear longer than necessary. But when Aiden Graves shows up at her door wanting her to come back, she's beyond shocked. For two years, the man known as The Wall of Winnipeg couldn't even find it in him to tell her good morning or congratulate her on her birthday. Now? He's asking for the unthinkable. What do you say to the man who is used to getting everything he wants? 

A Novel

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me

dija

I definetly do NOT recommend reading romance novels at 3 in the motning when you are very single and boyfriendless

bella <3

Beatriz Aguiar

Sampurna Saha 

3.75
the dude literally did end up having the personality of a wall. 
and the number of time his size and muscles were mentioned were excessive.
The slow pace aspect and the female lead were definitely what won me over.

Jasmine

Re read: August 17th/ 2021

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  "Home is where you are."

AHHHHHHH!!! LOVEE THIS BOOK!! SLOWBURNS FTW! MZ IS ALWAYS A SLOWBURN QUEEN BUT NONE OF HER OTHER BOOKS WILL PROBABLY EVER TOP THIS ONE FOR ME!! The way this book just pulls on my heartstrings and fills me up with so much happiness<3333 This was my 2nd Mariana Zapata book I had read back then, and now after reading nine over the last six years I can safely say she is still one of my favorite romance authors. Some of her books are my all time favorites like Wall of Winnipeg, Kulti, and Lukov with Love. Some are just temporarily enjoyable but either way I have yet to find one I haven't liked. Still, I was so nervous going into this reread that maybe I wouldn't have the same feelings from 5 years ago because my emotions first time were very intense, but I was so wrong! Aiden and Van still own my heart they're story is the perfect mix of emotional moments, friendship, comedy, tension, and romance. Only second to Outlander this is my favorite marriage of convenience story and I will never shut up about the development. The characters are amazing and the romance is even better!

 I forgot how much I didn't like Aiden at the start he's not exactly rude but more unappreciative, loner, and aloof, but boy does the big serious but lovable jock worm his way into your heart. You do get hints of his true nature early on but it's not until he and Vanessa start to get closer do you really see his heart and intelligence. Also, something I love is when you have a character like him who rarely smiles or jokes around start to around a certain person, it just makes those simple moments so special. Van is awesome! She has a heart of gold but knows her worth. Both she and Aiden had really hard childhoods and once they let their guard down find they both have been through a lot and can really understand each other on a different level. My favorite moments are them quietly talking at night getting to know each other and then all the subtle little things that show their true emotions. Aiden calling Vanessa "his girl" is my undoing! It takes a long time for them to get there but it is most definitely worth it. Those end chapters almost make you wish it was longer!

This might be the slowwwwest of slowburns I have still ever read in a standalone but you wouldn't know it from how natural she develops it. Proof that over 500 page romances when done right can be just as engaging and addictive as any shorter ones. Hell I could go for 50 more pages if it meant more domestic Van&Aiden! I flew through this reread in one day. So many little details and moments I forgot and it was so great to experience them again!! Other than feeling a little weird that I'm older than Vanessa's character now and even without her mountains of student debt I'm nowhere near where I thought I would be... but it's my own personal issues I'll get over it😭😂 Love for this book still goes strong and I can't wait to dive into Zac's story, which was one of my excuses to reread this book in the first place HAHA

Ashley

“shut up” 

THIS BOOK IS SOO GOOOODDD UGGGGHH

i can’t bring myself to write a serious review SIMPLY BC OF HOW GOOD IT IS I CANNOT DOWN PLAY IT AAA

Mariana Zapata NEVERS disappoints. 

 AIDEN GRAVES PLEASE BE REAL  😭😭😭😭

loved every moment, every sentence, every letter. 100/5

Amelia 

I’m obsessed !! 🤩 I was a little hesitant to start this due to the thickness of it but my god I finished it in two days and didn’t want it to end. Vanessa and Aiden are everything and I will protect them with my life!! 😫

Lenina K Anindita

this is the first time for me to read a 500+ pages book and its Fine i gwess

Kathleen Tom

** spoiler alert **
           5 Stars!!!! 5 AMAZING STARSSSSSSSSSSS 

“𝙀𝙭𝙩𝙧𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙮? 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙣𝙤 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙧𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙮. 𝙐𝙣𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙟𝙤𝙗.”

SO GOOOOOOOOD! SO AMAZING! HILARIOUS! & I STILL CAN'T MOVE THE FUCK ON FROM THIS. 

I was listening to the Audiobook but when my ass can't move on then I decided to read the book. I just love the storyline, I love the character, I love how the story twisted and turn. I was laughing so hard that I cry. I love the ending of the story. 

1...2...3...4...5-1...2...3...4...5...6...7.............

HAHAHAHAHA for those who have read the book they will definitely understand what I mean when counting those number. I love how cool Vanessa is, how she reacted when she doesn't like Aiden and Trevor. Her inner voice was hilarious and I almost died from laughing so hard. 

“𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙨𝙨. 𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮. 𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙄 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙩, 𝙨𝙤 𝙣𝙤 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙢𝙚.” 

And-Aiden?!!!! Who would ever thought, a tough, quiet, moody, cranky man could've fallen in love with his assistance and married her. Even at first, the marriage was basically is strictly business so he can have his permanent us residence. He always has a soft spot for her. He takes his vow seriously and it really warms my heart when he said that to Her. 

Thanks to Mariana Zapata for this lovely book and I really can't wait for Zack's Story coming soon. 

“𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸," 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥, 

"𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦?" 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱.

 "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥," 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦. 

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭.”

Highly Recommended! :)

Kasey Montagnat

Lover of Romance 

This review was originally posted on Addicted To Romance

This is the second book that I have grabbed up by Mariana Zapata and I have to say that I keep admiring this author because of the way she writes slow burn romances....they have become my favorites. I took a lot longer to pick this one up than I wanted to in the beginning, mostly because of the mixed reviews on Goodreads and so I wanted to wait until I was in the mood for this type of story and yeah after reading this one, I still have no idea why I waited so long to actually read this one here. *banging head against wall in shame* because really.....Zapata is a wonderful romance storyteller and I ADORED this book so much. Definitely has become one of my favorites of the year so far.

The premise of this story, may not work for everyone, but it totally worked for me in every way. Vanessa is in high debt to her student loans, and when she snatches up the assistant job to the infamous pro football player "The Wall of Winnipeg" she totally works it because it pays so well and she really needs the money. But after two years of working for Aiden Graves, she is done. She doesn't feel appreciated, and she wants to build her own business in graphic design. And working for Aiden keeps her too busy and so she quits. But then later, Aiden shows up on her doorstep and proposes a marriage of convenience. At first Vanessa thinks he is joking with her....but he isn't. He is Candadian and his visa will be up in a year and wants to not go back to Canada. So he wants to marry Vanessa for five years and in return for his "green card" he will pay off her student loans and buy her a house. At first Vanessa refuses, but then she shocks herself into agreeing into this crazy scheme....which could put her in prison if they fail. She just doesn't understand why Aiden of all men, would want this when he could have any willing woman. But Aiden is private and only has a handful of friends and he doesn't really like most women, they annoy him. But Aiden likes Vanessa, and he admires her and he enjoys her company but soon their marriage of convenience turns into something more than either of them expected.
Like football and art, like anything that anyone in the world has ever wanted, love was a dream. And just like a dream, there were no assurances behind it. It didn’t grow on its own. It didn’t blossom without food to feed it. It was the greatest in its subtleties. It was the strongest in its selflessness. And it could be forever with someone who wasn’t afraid to never give up on the possibilities it presents
I really had a blast with this book. I grabbed this up through the Audible Romance Package (and yeah I know I rave about this package, but honestly if you haven't tried it....TRY IT! It has so many goodies). The narrator was brilliant and really brought these characters to life. Its a 16 hour audiobook, so it took me a few days to get through....but what a story this turned out to be. I do have a weakness for football player heroes, and so this book really appealed to me especially since the hero isn't your average football hero in most romances. In fact, I ADORED his character so much because he is a bit different. He is famous, but he works his butt off for his success. He is one of the best defensive players in the sport. He is huge, has big muscles and works out for hours every day. And he is a vegan...never read a hero that was vegan but it was HOT! Seeing a hero that is so focused on his health was beyond sexy but boy does he eat a ton of food. The heroine is sassy, determined to be successful with her graphic designs, and is pretty creative. I loved how playful she is, and doesn't take sass. Neither the hero or the heroine, have great families they have come from. They both have had families that have been abusive in the past, so they really have more in common than they realize at first. And yeah the humor is AWESOME...I love the way that talk with each other.
“What if everyone hates me and no one talks to me? What if someone throws something at me?” Aiden snorted, setting the shirt he’d been holding aside and picking up the next one on the pile. “What are they going to throw? Bookmarks?”
Like I mentioned before this is a slow burn romance....when I say slow burn...I mean SLOW. Their romance develops very slowly, but you can see them falling love and how much they care for each other. There are only a few sex scenes towards the end of course, since that is how it works with slow burn romances. But this totally worked for me, because it really made their story so much more real and comes alive with emotion more fully. And when the moment comes that they admit their feelings for each other....my heart just about falls apart with these two. Yeah "burst into tears" type of moment that sneaks up on you and the ending was so perfect and leaves you feeling high on happiness and smiles all around. I honestly' don't think I can recommend this book enough.
Home is where you are. I would go anywhere for you if you wanted me there.

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me A Novel

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