Mariana Zapata - The Wall of Winnipeg and Me

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 plans 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 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?

Comment: So far, out of the 13 books GR says Mariana Zapata has published, I've now read 9. As it always happens with any author who has published many books, of course I've liked some more than others, and this one, which I know it well liked by the majority of people who like the author's work, sadly didn't end up on my top favorites.

Vanessa Mazur has been the assistant of the famous Canadian football player Aiden Graves for two years and while she has been paid more than fairly and has managed to juggle her work for him with her own design business, she is now ready to quit. When she learns the taciturn Aiden and his agent Trevor discussed her, and Aiden didn't seem to defend her from Trevor's rude opinions, she feels she can give up on the great paycheck now that her finances are more or less balanced.

The problem is that Aiden was used to her, even if he didn't express himself, and a slightly bureaucratic issue with his VISA makes him look for Vanessa and ask her to marry him and he sweetens the deal by telling her he will give her a house after the time necessary for them to be legally bound, plus he will pay her students' loans, a debt she had not shared with her closed ones. Now Vanessa feels she can finally get a better control of her finances and life, but at what price for her heart?

This author certainly has a unique style and beyond the "slow burn" types of plots all her books have, the most obvious detail is her first person female narrators. I usually don't like this much in romance but when well done, it's not so annoying. Of all the books I've read by the author, I'm now used to this choice and sometimes I can even overlook it if the plot is fascinating, but sometimes it's too glaring. In this book, there were times where this tactic felt so unfair...I say this because the heroes are distant and grumpy per nature, when compared to the heroines, but not having their POV makes them feel extremely poorly developed and here that just seemed more obvious.

Vanessa, as heroine and narrator, is a sympathetic character, she has faced some traumas in the past - all the author's heroines face some difficulty or challenge - mainly psychological due to her family issues, but also some physical. As the story develop, we are slowly given information on what and how, and the consequences to Vanessa's self esteem, but since she is telling us the story, most time she seems to be a friendly and sometimes bubbly type of person, even when she's being mad or annoyed at something.

The heroines in mrs Zapata's books are always approachable and this is practically a requirement, otherwise how could these stories be palatable since the heroes are quiet and silent figures? I think the reader is supposed to infer a lot from the heroine's descriptions, but there are scenes and situations where this fails to be obvious and there are times I felt Aiden was too distant for too long. Some of his actions, such as looking for Vanessa to propose the marriage deal, felt a little out of character. This is what can happen if we only have one side of things or if some things are deliberately not shown.

Most of the story is about the evolution of Vanessa and Aiden's relationship, but to be fair I need to say they aren't demonstrative people and it can feel as if the romance is non existent. When they finally get together for real, the story ends one chapter and one epilogue later, so... of course the fun is in that, in seeing or noticing the little things that can make them become closer or that make them think about one another differently. Since, as I've said, this is not that obvious, I can understand how the pay off feels  weak for some readers.

The main reason why I like these stories is because the heroines do face some inner issues, they usually have complicated situations in their lives and/or past, and I do like plots where people get the upper hand after having problems. I was rooting for Vanessa, independently of her rich husband of convenience. It is true he does help, but once she starts living with him, I could see the improvement in her life and in her emotions and I felt happy for her.

Comparing this book to the ones I liked more by the author, I'd say the difference is precisely the evidence of the hero's feelings, both in actions and in dialogue. Somehow, the ones I liked more seemed to have had more page time...or perhaps it was only an impression.

Nevertheless, this was a story I had a good enough time reading, I knew what to expect even if I'd change a few details and this made it worth it for me. I'll certainly read the other books by the author in the TBR at some point, and I hope the dynamics and the premises will play out more to my personal taste.

Grade: 7/10