Mariana Zapata

If anyone ever said being an adult was easy, they hadn't been one long enough. Diana Casillas can admit it: she doesn't know what the hell she's doing half the time. How she's made it through the last two years of her life without killing anyone is nothing short of a miracle. Being a grown-up wasn't supposed to be so hard. With a new house, two little boys she inherited the most painful possible way, a giant dog, a job she usually loves, more than enough family, and friends, she has almost everything she could ever ask for. Except for a boyfriend. Or a husband. But who needs either one of those?

Wait for It

Reina Boo

I love this, i think i’m from this family without knowing, gotta go ask my parents if i’m adopted

“I came from a hugging family. I was descended from a long line of huggers before me. We hugged for good things and we hugged for bad things. We hugged when there was a reason and we definitely hugged for no other reason than because we could. We hugged when we were mad at each other and when we weren’t. And I’d always loved it; it became a part of me. A hug was an easy way of showing someone you cared about them, of offering comfort, of saying, “I’m so happy to see you” without words.”

Their dynamic is so weird and mature and fun, i want it 

“I’m gonna hug you as long as you promise not to grab my ass, okay?”

DALLASY BOO- you’re breaking my crying heart 🥲 where can i buy one ? Are they on a secret amazon ? SUGN ME UP (he wasnt even the reason to her tears 🥹)

“he made this “shh, shh, shh” sound, like he was trying to soothe me. “This is my fault.” When I didn’t say anything, he leaned in even closer to me. “Don’t cry. I’m sorry.”

HE’S TRYING TO PROTECT HER WHILE SHE’S CRYING WITH HIS 11 YEARS OLD BODY 

I want one. I want a josh, lemme fo ask my brother real quick if i can find him a wife 🥰

“Can I talk to your aunt, Josh?” a rough, voice filled the bathroom, making me look up to see Dallas standing three feet away. When the hell had he walked in without us noticing?

      The boy in my arms tensed before he turned around, his stance wide and protective. “No.”

“As I got older, I realized more and more the things I found attractive. Like patience and kindness. When I was younger—and a hell of a lot dumber—I’d always gravitated toward hot guys with nice cars. Now, there were things like credit scores to worry about, employment histories, and personality traits that couldn’t be picked up over dinner and drinks.”

“I wasn’t just going to kick the kid’s ass, I was going to kick his mom’s ass too. And after I was done kicking his mom’s ass, I was going to kick his grandma’s ass to teach the whole family a lesson.”

      “What’s suspended?” Lou asked.

      “I can’t go to school for a day.”

      “What!” he shouted. “How can I get suspended?”

“But that’s good she’s old,” he explained his reasoning. “She’s lasted longer than all her other friends. She said her Georgie died. She won.”

“there was no way I could or would break down in front of him. If I cried, he’d cry even if he had no idea why. And I’d be damned if that happened”

“In the middle of reaching over to grab the pillow next to me to—I didn’t know what the hell I was going to do with it, pillow fight Willy Wonka’s evil Oompa Loompa or something—I realized it wasn’t a travel-sized disciple of Satan about to sacrifice me to the Dark Lord. Camouflaged in the nearly pitch-black room, the little face a few inches away from mine wasn’t really the devil’s minion; it was a five-year-old. He was a five-year-old. My five-year-old.”

amé amé amé, Dallas es perf, el slow burn estuvo increíble 

Valeria 

Easy to read, entertaining enough, I liked it.

Christine

big ab

there’s definitely some obvious plot devices that could have been a bit more strategic and flushed out in this book, however what can i say? mariana zapata and i both love a silent grumpy man who is an acts of service love language kinda guy. and therefore, i will eat up every single one of her books.

Aanddd this is moving up to the top of single parent romances. I haven’t read a Zapata book in like 2 years and I wanna punch myself for waiting so long to read this. Idk how the author does it every damn time but NOBODY does true slow burn romance like she does. This story was so much more than a romance and I loved every second of it

Jordan Leatherdale

Ilham

this completely shattered and then mended something inside my soul 

Ralie Sutton

aleksandra

4.5/5

Mariana Zapata knows how to find the way to my heart. It was amazing.


  
    „Diana, I love you, and every bone in my body tells me that I’m gonna love you every day of my life, even when we want to kill each other.”

„You never know what will happen an hour from now, a minute from now, but I won’t make you regret any of it too bad, even when I get on your nerves and we bicker because we’ve been together forever and know everything about each other. That time could be a month, or could be until we’re both in diapers, but I’ll be there.”

Isabella 

I love this book with my entire being. This is the first Mariana Zapata book that made me cry. I love it so much. I love the plot, the characters, everything about it. I love books with kids, and maybe that's why I loved this so much. Seeing the family dynamics of Diana with Louie and Josh made me so happy, and seeing how Dallas entered their lives was so heart warming. The epilogue. OH GOD. I love it so much. I'm so sad it ended; I want to see more of them. I want to see more romance and more family dynamics. And this has been one of the things I always look for in MZ books, but I guess this is just her writing formula. Nevertheless, I loved it so much.

imo this book > wall of winnipeg and me !

as expected from MZ, the slowburn was slowburning

₍ᐢᐢ₎

imo this book > wall of winnipeg and me !

as expected from MZ, the slowburn was slowburning

meh’s:

- the relationship with mom and brother (jackson) were kind of too negative (especially the brother since the rs with her mom improved a little at the end) i was also curious about what was gna happen with the brother (he has no book yet(?)) 

- 9 inch ? 

- im so sorry but the way the first ‘baby’ slipped in threw me off a little 

wah’s:

- i LOVE THE KIDS <33

- winnipeg cameo !!

- i like the development of the rs although the miscommunication at the beginning had me ?! because wdym u thought she was hitting on u by bringing cookies

- the many talents of dallas

- the epilogue (crying)



Ana Luiza

Eu amo tanto a Mariana Zapata e tudo que ela escreve 😭😭😭 esse é um dos livros mais bonitos, essa trope é maravilhosa mas o jeito que ela escreve a torna muuuito melhor do que já é.
Gosto muito desse trope de single parent e o Louie era a coisa mais fofaaaa me apaixonei. O Dallas é um dos melhores personagens masculinos dela, muito bem escrito.

Gostei muuuuito de ver o Aiden e a Vanessa que vao sempre ser meu casal favorito dessa autora :)

Mal posso esperar pelo próximo dela ❤️

How do you think will be my review when i tell you it’s my third reread ? 

And no i’m not only talking about the couple. It’s a slowburn romance where there’s way more than just romance. There’s struggle, friendships, and serious trouble, aka her nephews who are now her responsibility. 

I think without them, the book is nothing. Literally, i think i’m in love. 

There’s one of many things he said that stuck with me: 

“Look, I appreciate you looking out for me, but I’m a grown woman. I can take care of myself.”

      “Maybe you can take care of yourself, but have you thought for one single fucking second that maybe somebody else might want to take care of you too?”

She really is an amazing supportive person. Without her joshy-poo and the little devil won’t survive that’s for sure. 

On of the scenes that really…i mean wow, is when her neighbor’s house was burning and she went straight in to save her neighbor, and then went right back to save the goddamn cat. 

OH did i forget to mention they got a dog ? 🥰

How do you think will be my review when i tell you it’s my third reread ? 

Yeah, well it’s amazing, i love them 

I honestly love them.

And no i’m not only talking about the couple. It’s a slowburn romance where there’s way more than just romance. There’s struggle, friendships, and serious trouble, aka her nephews who are now her responsibility. 

I think without them, the book is nothing. Literally, i think i’m in love. 

It’s one of my comfort books  

There’s one of many things he said that stuck with me: 

“Look, I appreciate you looking out for me, but I’m a grown woman. I can take care of myself.”

      “Maybe you can take care of yourself, but have you thought for one single fucking second that maybe somebody else might want to take care of you too?”

I mean…

She really is an amazing supportive person. Without her joshy-poo and the little devil won’t survive that’s for sure. 

On of the scenes that really…i mean wow, is when her neighbor’s house was burning and she went straight in to save her neighbor, and then went right back to save the goddamn cat. 

OH did i forget to mention they got a dog ? 🥰

Renata

pls i love MZ romance’s sm idc abt the angst anymore it’s always so good 

dallas and diana with the kids are so cute fuck 

- "Tell me what his name is, and I'll put him six feet in the ground”

- “He wasn't.…. there was no way.. What exactly was it that I had told him and Trip in my kitchen during Josh's sleepover what felt like forever ago?”

- “are you fucking kidding me? Being your friend has been the hardest fucking thing I've ever had to do.”

- "You are the most ridiculous fucking woman I have ever met in my entire life, Diana. Half the time I want to shake you and the other half of the time...”

- "Of all the houses you could've bought, you got the one across the street from me. Of all the sports Josh might have played, it was baseball and I happened to coach his age group. You were meant to be in my life.”

- "I want you. I want your smile. Your hugs. Your love. I want your happiness." He paused. "Every single thing.”

- "This is serious to me too. I won't break your heart, Diana. I've never been scared to work for things or wait for them. I know you, and I know that you're it. I just had to wait to get divorced so I could do this right for you. Life is so fucking short, Peach, and I'm too old to not know and go for what I want. And you know what I want. What I've wanted. For a long, long time." He paused. "You.” 

- "I gave it to you a long time ago, Diana. In little pieces and then bigger pieces, and the next thing I knew, I didn't have anything left in me, so I hope it's enough. (..) "I do, baby. Trust me. I know exactly what I'm doing. You three feel like my family. It isn't every day you look at your friend and two kids and know this is where vou were supposed to be. Do vou believe me?"

- "I know that now, Diana. I learned that every time I was around you. You can see how much you love your family, and it's the thing I love the most about you. I wanted someone to love me like that. I wanted you to love me like that.”

- "Did you guys beat someone up?"
 "Yes. He deserved it."
 "Where did you go?"
 "Fort Worth.”

I don’t know what else to say besides I deeply enjoyed this book. I loved the way the relationship build so organically and effortlessly. Mariana Zapata truly knows how to write a slow-burn! The cameos were definitely one of my favorite moments as well!

Cherry

melina25

I'm surprised more people aren't talking about this book. While I am usually not a biggest fan of age gaps personally, I absolutely adored Dallas&Diana's relationship. Such an amazing book, I cried and laughed. The epilogue made my heart so warm. Louie and Josh deserve the world.

Ms. Mint

“When you’re old, I’ll hold your hand when we cross the street. I’ll help you put on your socks,” he promised.
 I started laughing, even as tears came into my eyes. “What if I have to help you put on socks?”
 “Then you’ll help me put on socks. And if I’m in a wheelchair and you’re not, I’ll give you a ride.”

Frick, I love this story so much, I don't even know where to start. Diana is one fierce mama bear and I gotta give it to Ms. Zapata for nailing her characterization down perfectly. I think she's one of the best romance heroines ever. Dallas goes straight to my collection of the hottest, awesomest book boyfriends ever. He's a freaking unicorn, that's what he is.

And don't get me started on Joshie Poo and Louie Gooey... oh gosh, these two... 🥺🤧 I love them so much, I want them to be real. This may be Diana and Dallas's love story, but these two are undoubtedly the heart of this book. 

There's so much more to say, but I'll just end it with: if you love slow burn romance with lots of life in it, then read this book. It's worth it, as much as the kind of love it's portraying--the fierce kind of love definitely worth waiting for.

Megan BV

Faith Kitowski

i literally thought i tweaked my shoulder freaking out over this book, but we’re all good now, it doesn’t hurt anymore ahahah. i was so not prepared to fall in love with dallas. and lou and josh, literally the sweetest. yet again, mariana zapata adds another book boyfriend to my ongoing list

This was an easy read. I appreciate a good single mom trope even if Diana’s situation is a little different. We all know Mariana always does a perfect job with the slow burn process, but I wanna say that I appreciate the fact that she brings attention to careers that has nothing to do with college, and supporting others if they didn’t want a highly maintained career. Some of us just want to cut hair, or have a coffee house or a library. Dreams are dreams I don’t care how big or small they are. Also I loved the way Diana thinks! Every time she was in a complicated situation or a hard place she thought what action would be put the best influence on Josh an Louie, and don’t even get me started at those two. I loved them so much I cried when they did and laughed when they did. Diana had the best relationship with them. 

Samaa

Janessa Tolpa

Ok really? Will I never NOT love one of her books? They all get me so wrapped up in the characters life!

🧸

Jasmine

3.5 Stars
Please don't get me wrong I absolutely adore the relationship in this book and the reason this is rated so low is purely the pacing issues I had with it. I love Mariana Zapata she writes such amazing, funny, heartwarming stories and her slow burn romances are seriously the best thing ever! I automatically freak out whenever she announces a new release because they are always incredible but that being said the pace of this book almost felt too slow at times and while I did still genuinely enjoy it just wasn't the same connection I had with some of her other books. Still, an awesome read with wonderful characters, a beautiful story, cute kids, a moving story, and a fantastic slow burning romance but sadly it didn't grab me the way Kulti and The Wall of Winnipeg & Me did.

Kasey Montagnat

I love Marianna and her books are just so amazing I can never get over them gets me out of a slump every time <33

There was a lot of internal monologues but that's routine with Mariana Zapata books. Diana is such a strong character but as the plot progresses, we see how human she is and realize how much she struggles with, which she hides for the sake of their nephews. I like that Dallas can be her safe place/rock where she can be vulnerable and Diana along with Josh and Louie became Dalla's family. I'm glad the kids didn't become background characters to the romance. Josh and Louie have my heart ahhh they're so precious! (view spoiler)[ My favorite part was when Josh was comforting Diana after that rudeass mom encounter (chapter fifteen) "do i embarrass you?" TEARS especially when Josh hugged Diana and became protective of her when Dallas entered the bathroom. I wasn't prepared for such a tender moment and ended up crying into my blanket  (hide spoiler)]

favorite chapters: 15; 19

Connor 

I loved this for Diana (and also loved seeing Vanessa a bit).

Wait for It

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