Grumpy/ sunshine
Slowburn
Assistant

Vanessa put her life on hold in order to become a personal assistant to a star athletes, but she had an ulterior motive - save enough money to finally be able to live her dream. After two years, she finally gets up the courage to quit.
But when she does tell Aiden that it's time for her to move on, he shows absolutely no interest and shrugs it off only telling her to let his agent know. Now here's the interesting thing - she's been his personal assistant for two years and they barely talk because he never holds a conversation. He doesn't say hello to her when she utters the words to him every morning hoping today would be the day. There's absolutely no appreciation for everything she's done from cooking his meals
But then we find Aiden on her doorstep weeks later wanting her to come back and work for him She doesn't give in easily.
This was a really really slow burning romance. But because of that we got to see the relationship build up slowly, and that allowed me to really trust their connection to one another. And even though it took the whole book to get there, I really felt their chemistry at the end.

This always has been, and I think it always will be, my favorite straight romance book. I’ve read this book as a digital copy and as an audiobook, and no matter the medium I always seem to love Vanessa and Aiden’s story just the same.

The bonus content in this book was adorable. Not gonna spoil anything, but it was a cute way to wrap the story up and seal it altogether. It wasn’t anything major of course, but I liked that it was just a few pages of the same story that I’ve grown to love.

ALSO THE COVER ?? I love me a cutesy cartoon cover and this story was CALLING for one. Mariana Zapata, you have my heart 🫶🏾

TW: parental abandonment, parental abuse, sibling abuse, mentions of drug and alcohol abuse

If you don't know by now that Mariana Zapata is the Queen of Slow Burn then you will after reading The Wall of Winnipeg and Me (Winnie for short). Vanessa has finally scrimped and saved enough money to be able to quit her assistant job in order to pursue her dreams of graphic design full time. Her boss, Aiden Graves, the top defensive player of the NFO has always been a unique boss. He's super particular about the way things are done in his life and though he acts like Vanessa leaving is not a big deal and that he couldn't care less...he's crawling back to her only a month later. But Aiden doesn't just want Vanessa as an assistant, he has the audacity to ask her to be his wife! No he's not head over heels in love with her (allegedly)...he's seeking US citizenship because his Canadian visa is about to expire.

I read this once before way back when and I remembered loving it and I'm glad to report that my opinion hasn't changed. The slow build up (and I do mean slow) in Vanessa and Aiden's relationship is so delicious and satisfying. The way they both eventually open up to each other and tell each other things they have never told another soul...whew my heart was a puddle of goo. I really loved the way Aiden grew into the man that Vanessa deserved, it's hinted that he cared for her long before she quit but it was really hard to see especially in the way he treated her the last few weeks before the end of her job. I felt really horrified for Vanessa's childhood and even present day relationship with her family, it was really tough to read about. I was so glad she was able to eventually choose her own family with Diana, Zac, Oscar and Aiden.

Like I said Winnie is a slow burn but honestly it's not a slow book. I found myself not wanting to put it down, always looking forward to what would happen next. What little event in Aiden and Vanessa's lives could I obsess over next that would bring them even closer together. The epilogue was beyond cute and I'm so glad we, the readers, got to take a peek at their future. It was a great read and I look forward to Avon putting out more of Mariana's books with these cute as hell covers!

Thank you so much to Avon and HarperVoyager for providing me with an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

This is one of my favorite all time books so I was SO excited to have gotten this arc!!

Everything about this book is amazing. My first time reading it I was a little bit worried because I’m not a sports fan and didn’t know how much that would contribute to the story, but I think it actually made for a really interesting premise! The pacing was nice, and I enjoyed seeing the relationship and trust grow between our two MC’s.

Speaking of our main characters, I can’t say much more than I loved them both. They are total opposites but also have so much in common. Vanessa is relatable, intelligent, and always sticks up for herself and those she cares about. I’m so glad I loved her so much; it made the story that much better. Aiden is quiet, brooding, and only cares for one thing- football. Learning (along with Vanessa) what his facial expressions meant was one of my favorite parts of the book, but my absolute favorite was the intimacy that grew between them. They got so close, trusted each other, and had these moments that squeezed my heart in the best way. The one thing I wish this book had done was given us more time with Vanessa and Aiden as a couple; I feel like the ending was little abrupt, but this tends to happen in romance books!

As much as I loved Vanessa and Aiden, the other characters were great too. The friendship between Zac and Vanessa was adorable, and learning about Van’s family was wild. And I can’t forget Leo, who gives Zac a run for his money in the cuteness department.

And the bonus content in this book made it that much better!! Thank you so much for the arc and much love to Mariana Zapata for creating such wonderful characters and stories!

So I struggled A LOT during the first 30 ish per cent of the book.
I was not enjoying the hero or the relationship at all. He truly didn't care or notice her and that's just not my cup of tea I guess. I was hating the guy to the point of almost DNF'ing this.
But the second half of the book truly redeemed the story. He was amazing. Their chemistry really blew out of the page. And I really appreciated the heroine and her strength.
I liked the secondary characters and the ending was very sweet.
I would have liked a tiny bit of drama or angst later instead of at the beginning though, and I still would have loved it more if he was different at the beginning or groveled more. But I really liked the book.
The bonus scene was very sweet and I liked it but it's nothing huge, very short and I wouldn't die for not having it.

I've been hearing about Mariana Zapata's books for a while now, everyone was recommending “From Lukov, with love”, but I decided to start with The Wall of Winnipeg and I wasn't disappointed at all!

Famous for her slow burn novels, this one was no different. I really liked the way the author builds each character to later we get them falling in love. If you like instalove, you can turn around and choose another reading.

I LOVED EVERY BIT OF IT! Looking forward to discovering the author's other titles. :)

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for allowing me to read an early copy of this book!

Whatever you have heard is correct, Mariana Zapata really is the queen of the slow burn. There's something so comforting about the way she writes—while her characters have a decent level of distinction from one another, I feel like I typically know what I'm getting from the jump with her stories, and they've become definite comfort reads for me.

This one was no exception! The male lead here is Aiden Graves, a grumpy-verging-on-rude pro football player, who admittedly is pretty on track with other Zapata leads. That said, I feel like Aiden had really impressive character growth in a way that we don't typically see with the male love interests in these books. Romance as a genre is so female centric that it's surprisingly rare for me to exit a book fully believing the man in the story has grown and realistically could maintain a relationship (I realize how crazy this sounds, but if you're a frequent flyer in the grumpy x sunshine subgenre, you know EXACTLY what I mean).

Our female lead, Vanessa Mazur, is Aiden's personal assistant who moonlights as a graphic designer and hopes to fully work for herself someday. My favorite thing about Vanessa is how strong-willed she is as a character, and how much of a spine she maintains the whole time. This is where I find Mariana Zapata best justifies the length of her novels and the sheer amount of slow burn—sure, by the time I finished the book I liked Aiden, but he really had to win me over, and all too often the main character folds FAR before I do. This was one of the few circumstances where I felt the lead's actions were realistic in the level of skepticism and wariness for the man, given she'd spent years having him as a (lowkey pretty awful) boss. I also love the effort Zapata always puts into building a thorough, realistic backstory for her leads, and Vanessa most definitely lived up to that expectation. Not only did we get to spend a lot of time seeing her dealing with familial issues and past trauma, but on a more practical level, we felt her stress about student loans and finances on a level that I found really refreshing, given these are things we all deal with that so rarely make it into fiction.

All in all, I really enjoyed the story as a whole, and if you're a fan of slow burns and a good ol' grumpy x sunshine trope, I think you'll enjoy it too! Thank you again to Avon and Harper Voyager for the early copy.

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for access to this advanced copy. I am so excited they picked up this amazing book!

Short Review: “Only Mariana Zapata could write a 500+ page book, make it the slowest of slow burns and there still not me enough.” Aiden and Vanessa 🥰🥰🥰

Rating: 4.5/5
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Warnings: Domestic Violence, Parental Neglect
Read if you liked: Marriage for One/With You Forever
Steam: 2/5
Tropes: Marriage of Convenience , Forced Proximity, I Hate Everyone But You, Sports Romance, Slow Burn, Grumpy/Sunshine

Another day, another Mariana Zapata book review…I only have one more left in this binge and I could cry! Only MZ could write a 600+ page book, make it the slowest of slow burns and there’s still not enough for me.

Things I Loved: Aiden and Vanessa…the pining, the tension. Aiden begging to get Vanessa to marry him. The ring. Literally anytime Aiden said my wife or took care of Vanessa in a tiny way. The grumpy/sunshine. Vanessa friendship with Zac. That epilogue 🥰

Honestly, trying to write this review is hard because I just adore these books and I just want eve to one to read them!

Title: The Wall of Winnipeg and Me
Author: Mariana Zapata
Release Date: July 4th, 2023*
*Refers to an ARC referred through NetGalley for newest addition. Original publication date was February 28th, 2016.

Category: Romance

Synopsis: 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?

Quote: “Vanessa.” He didn’t ask if it was me; he just sort of said my name as if demanding it to be.

The UnReel Take:
Story: 8
Writing: 7
Characters: 8
Setting: 3
UnReel AR: 6.5

Bottom Line: Mariana Zapata is the queen of the slow burn and one of the best authors on Kindle Unlimited. The Wall of Winnipeg and Me is a mishmash of tropes (sports romance, marriage of convenience, enemies to lovers, and more) that somehow results in a really unique story. Aiden and Vanessa feel like people you might actually know, and neither of them fits cleanly into their “normal” character types. Aiden is a rich, successful football player, but he’s not a ho and Zapata actually shows how dedicated he is to his work. Vanessa is a likable girl-next-door type, except she’s low key always contemplating ways to murder people and get away with it (my kind of lady). What really makes this story excellent though, is that Zapata gives it time to breathe. By not rushing things along, we have the opportunity to really watch Aiden and Van’s relationship unfurl, so we actually buy in to their happy ending.
Also, Aiden is a dog dad and isn’t that just the sweetest thing ever?

Ideal Reading Location: You know when someone in your household wants to watch football, but you know you’re going to be bored the whole time? Pick up The Wall of Winnipeg and Me.

Drink Pairing: Gatorade, duh.

I don’t know how or why I’m just now hearing if this book, but I’m so happy Avon gifted me a copy. I haven’t enjoyed a sports romance this much in awhile.
The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata is the perfect grumpy/sunshine.
I had an absolute blast and didn’t want it to end so soon.
You know you’re reading a damn good book when you don’t want it to end.
And that’s how I felt here.
From the amazing banter to the conversations, I was truly hooked.
This book was perfect Zapata really set the stage for the characters.
Their connection was explosive. I was absolutely enamored with this story and the characters.
A stellar slow burn romance!

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Avon for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

“Home is where you are. I would go anywhere for you if you wanted me to be there.”

Vanessa and Aiden. He’s a demanding, cranky, arrogant, grumpy goose, and a three-time National Football Organization’s Defensive Player; also known as the Wall of Winnipeg. She’s been his assistant for the past 2 years, but is unhappy with her job and wants to quit to pursue graphic design. But then she didn’t expect the Wall of Winnipeg to ask her to come back and to marry him so he can become a resident.

I have iffy feelings about this book with how frustrating Aiden throughout the story. It bothered me when he kept persisting Vanessa to marry him, even when she says no then he expects her to still be his assistant? He’d get so angry even though he was in the wrong and Vanessa would feel guilty/bad about it after.

Unfortunately this book wasn’t it for me, although I did enjoy the last chapter, epilogue + bonus epilogue!

🏈READ IF YOU LIKE🏈:
- grumpy x sunshine
- forced proximity
- marriage of convenience
- sports romance: football player x personal assistant
- the slowest of slow burns
- puzzles & Dragon Ball Z
- graphic design
- Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada

cw: panic attack, parental neglect, domestic violence, addiction, alcoholic, strained relationship with family, mention of cheating, knee injury

Thank you to @netgalley and @avonbooks for the advanced copy! The Wall of Winnipeg and Me is available on July 4, 2023!

Oh man, no one in their life has ever written a slow burn like Mariana Zapata does and this is an instant CLASSIC. This book is nothing short of amazing. Vannessa and Aiden's chemistry and small moments leading up to their eventual relationship ATE. The end scene where he says "that's my girl, that's my fucking girl" you guys people literally DIED. Cities CRUMBLED. I'm so glad this author is getting trad pubbed and finally getting all the recognition she deserves. If MZ has one stan, I am her. If she has no stans, I am dead. I will read WHATEVER she writes from no until eternity!!

I’ve been seeing this book everywhere and now I get it. I’m surprised at myself because I thought there’s no way this big oaf is going to endear himself to me and then he went and did it anyway. I thought Vanessa was going to be my one true love of this novel and I was so happy to be wrong. I ended up loving them together. I appreciated that she made him work and it wasn’t a switch flip Insta-love situation. I do wish that Aiden had been a smidge more forthcoming with his words to her because he let her flail and shouldn't have done that.

The part of this book that made me love him was after her solo trip home and he wanted to make a speedy clandestine trip back to have a conversation with her sister's husband. Shouting for Zach to get his car for an alibi made me snort laugh.

You saved the spice for the 97% mark though. Girl.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

I am #TeamGraves for life. If you love a vegan giant of a sports star, an independent heroine, a fake marriage, touching friendships, and an adorable puppy, read this book! I have re-read (and re-listened to) this book at least once or twice a year since I first read it, and it is still one of my favorite slow burn romance reads of all time. The way Vanessa and Aiden slowly recognize and acknowledge their feelings for each other? Gets me in the feels every time.

I didn't notice any changes to the original story, however the addition of the new bonus epilogue would make me happily repurchase this version. That new epilogue was so sweet and it feels like such a privilege to get a new update (on what feels like old friends) after so long!

Thank you NetGalley and Avon or Harper Voyager for this ARC. Thank you Mariana Zapata for this update to Vanessa and Aiden's story!

This story was slow burn perfection for me. The compelling intimacy of Mariana Zapata's writing coupled with the brilliant love story pushed all the right buttons. These two characters are unforgettable. The story telling is first class. I'm just so freaking happy about this book. It's something totally different than what I've been reading but still perfectly romantic, full of friendship and understanding. Just a really great story. I loved every page.

A masterpiece!!!! How does Mariana Zapata do this?! The slow burn magic. The connection between Vanessa and Aiden was undeniable. The bonus content in this arc made me so happy. I enjoyed reading this book! I am now obsessed with Mariana Zapata.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books for the opportunity to read The Wall of Winnipeg and Me!

Absolute LOVED this book. I love a good slow burn. The sports. The cute names. So much funny banter. This is a must read if you love slow burn rom coms!!

Mariana Zapata is queen of slow burn! This was a delicious marriage of convenience, almost enemies to lovers, celebrity/average person romance, and I ate it up. It’s a longer book for contemporary romance, but I loved it so much I’d have happily read another 500 pages. The new cover on this is absolutely adorable, too.

Thanks so much to Avon books and Mariana Zapata for the ARC of this amazing story.

Vanessa has been the personal assistant for pro football player, Aiden Graves, for 2 years. Feeling unappreciated by her boss and having saved enough money to pursue her dream career in graphic design, Vanessa quits her job. A few weeks after quitting, Vanessa finds Aiden waiting outside her apartment and he asks her to come back to her job. Aiden finds himself in the predicament on his work visa expiring and not wanting to return to Canada and they strike up a deal for a marriage of convenience: Aiden gets a marriage visa and in return he will pay off Vanessa's student loans and buy her a house. Vanessa moves into Aiden's house and through numerous trials they become close.

I did like this book, but there were times where I felt it was a bit lengthy. It took much time throughout the book to see that Aiden cared for Vanessa because I think through at least half of the book (maybe more) he seemed pretty indifferent. Once you get to the end, it is clear he is better with actions than words and it is more tolerable when you find out their histories and as Vanessa brings him out of his shell.

This book is a masterpiece. I have never felt more of a connection to characters than Vanessa and Aiden. Mariana Zapata is an auto buy author for me and Winnipeg was the book that started it all. The bonus content in this arc made me so happy and it’s amazing to get more from Van and Aiden. Mariana knows how to write romance with so much substance, it’s always an amazing experience. 10/10. Thank you NetGalley for the arc with bonus content!!