The Wall of Winnipeg and Me

My god the book hangover I'm having right now. This book was INCREDIBLE! I can't believe it took me two days to read it, I thought it would take me a while week considering how LONG it is, I was actually SCARED of starting it. I'm usually reluctant to read more 350 pages and those are mostly PNR but this one was simply IMPOSSIBLE to put down. I sat HOURS Saturday reading up until 3 a.m., then woke up cranky and kept the mood the whole day until I was home again and resumed reading maybe 10 minutes after I returned home. 4 hours later - finished the book - and truly I have no words to describe how amazing this book was. It wasn't what I was expecting on SO many levels. Perfection really. I know this book - Van and Aiden - would stay with me for a while keeping me company.Where to begin really? I'll start by saying I was amazed how well written this book was. I mean, it's not that easy to write this kind of long "slow burn" (as they call it) book and making it so captivating. The whole book is written from Vanessa's POV which made Aiden even more of a mystery. We were getting to see the change forming in him the same way Van did but more over we could see HER and who she is so clearly. Every thought and decision she made felt utterly genuine. It was a JOY reading her POV, It was never boring being inside her head, even when she kept revisited her insecurities and painful past. She is such a strong determined woman, and yet even though she is remarkable, she is also in a way so normal and also flawed with a sad and heart breaking past. Though I don't really have anything I could think of in common with Van, I felt her and connected with her so deeply I couldn't put thinking of her aside the whole day I was at work, wanting to get back to the book, to Van and Aiden, and see the impossible happen between them. Slowly slowly and yet so apparent with every step of the way.We start with getting to know Van and her life being the PA of the legendary top defensive end Aiden Graves, also known as "The Wall of Winnipeg". Aiden isn't a "bad guy" he is just focused on Football and NOTHING else. Though she is probably the best PA anyone has ever had, Aiden doesn't even notice her or react to her. Not even "Hello" when she comes into the house. Wanting more from her life than being his PA for the rest of her life, she quits when she believes she can make a decent living from her small business of graphic design. She planned on staying until a replacement was found, but being hurt beyond words by Aiden's behavior she leaves him one night never to return again.We don't know what goes on in Aiden's head. Not then and not really any step of the way. He is closed off as sure as you'd expect a wall to be, but truthfully I couldn't hate him, I was always trying to see what he's hiding and through his awkward sentences I could see he was sometimes trying really hard at something he sucked at.. If there is something that could be said about The Wall of Winnipeg is that he is stubborn and persistent. That's what it takes to get to the top and so when he realizes he has lost Van he comes after her, doing his best to convince her to return. Van wasn't going to return no matter what, and yet in the end Aiden "won" when he offered her the one thing that could change her life situation in a way she could have never worked herself off. But in order to do that she needs to be more than his PA, she needs to become his wife.Becoming Aiden's wife isn't something Van takes easily which I could really appreciate. She understood how serious what she was doing and the consequences as well. All of them. Yet she finally agrees but not before stating they clearly need to become friends in order for this to work, for them to work as a (fake) couple. For Aiden it's not that easy. He doesn't really have friends. Okay, he has three friends, one he is lives with but doesn't talk to much and two who are VERY far away most of the time, and there is his high school coach - the closest person he has in his life (whom he sees several times a year). But he does his best and he accepts the vows they declare for one another as genuine ones. While they are married he intends to honor those vows even if they are still no more than friends.When they say this book is a "slow burn" they mean it. It takes FOREVER for them to even exchange a hug. Though I was craving for it to happen, it all happened just at the right timing. Aiden needed time, and Van needed to forgive Aiden and be able to start trusting him and in him, not something so easy for her. I loved the way their relationship was building, so slow and exactly because of that - so realistically. I have a feeling Aiden cared a lot about Van even when she thought he didn't, or even when it looked like he didn't, but we don't get a time-frame to when he realized the woman in front of him is the one he wants. We just see the little changes he makes in his life, baby steps really, but every one noticeable to anyone who knows him or like us followed him and Van this whole way.Both Van and Aiden have a sad family story, I think it's one of the things that brought them together without them even realizing it. Though Aiden acts as though he put those things behind, it made him who he is, the closed off cold man who would never let anyone near him. Van changes all that with how much she cares for him. She inserted herself into his life and meant to do her damn best for him and in the end he DID appreciate all of that. I know a lot of people would find it hard to be sympathetic for him in the beginning, but I guess because I knew this is a romance novel I was basically waiting to see the change and I got exactly that in the most realistic way. It's obvious Aiden hasn't been happy for years, but having Van made him at least content, and then she was gone and he had to get her back. That's how I see it, though there is no proof as to what exactly made Aiden chase Van until she accepted his surprising offer.Though this is Aiden and Van's story, it wouldn't be what it was without Zac and Diana. Daina being Van's best friend from childhood and Zac (Aiden's roommate) her "2nd best friend" after Diana. These two evolved as well throughout the book, while being supportive and caring for her (especially when Aiden wasn't).I loved everything about this book. EVERYTHING. The pace was EXCELLENT, though if you're here for the sex, you won't get it till the very end.. Yeah it takes them THAT long. I loved that it wasn't about the sex even though Van was clearly VERY attracted to Aiden (who wouldn't be really???). I loved the baby steps Aiden made and the painful struggle Van was going through to try and trust Aiden and somehow to keep her emotions at check when he kept surprising her. I loved Aiden for being the flawed creature that he was. For doing the best and being his best when it concerned the game and knowing NOTHING of how to make Van stay, to make her WANT to stay, with him, for him. I loved their banter, how stubborn they BOTH are. How strong willed Van is, to make herself succeed no matter what she sets her mind to do even when she has her misgiving and fears she has one hell of a backbone and an iron will. I have more than respect for her, for who she is, for who she made herself to be even with the "bad start" she had in life.PERFECTION. Grab it and read it ASAP!I'm going to add EVERYTHING Mariana wrote to my list, and make my very best to schedule them the soonest I can. Thank you Marinan for this INCREDIBLE book.Tags: Contemporary MF RomanceMore @ Ultra Meital Reviews.

...I've owned this book for years, but never reviewed it. I just finished rereading it for the third time, and, like the very first read through, couldn't help my cringing at each time "passed" was incorrectly used when Vanessa said instead of texts word "past" as the context of what she was saying demanded. For example, she told Zac she thought a certain something every time Aidan walked passed her. You don't walk "passed" someone; you walk "past" them. Zapata does this at least a half dozen times in the book (I didn't think to do a search, but it might add up to even more than my guess).Another reason for my lukewarm review (which has nothing to do with my liking this book - I really liked Aidan's character as a whole, which balanced my overall discomfort with Vanessa, who I felt was a goofball and not the greatest match for Aidan. I think Zapata could have had at least one scene where she got a makeover that knocked the socks off of Tevor, Rob, and a room full of some charity, which would have validated how attractive she was, something that hadn't been obvious until she dropped over fifteen pounds from her previously ordinary and chunky frame. She just wasn't as powerful as a female lead. She needed to be recognized by everyone who believed her to be less than, even though she and Aiden SAID they didn't need to think anyone else's opinion mattered. Vanessa did care, because she wasn't the extraordinary and powerfully dominant, very attractive and talented athlete that Aiden was. She's had a very different lifestyle and background from Aiden outside of their similar experiences with abusive family members. I truly believe that giving her more of a build-up as a woman - an attractive, accomplished and recognized by the public woman - would have given the push Vanessa's character needed to bring her on her par with Aidan, even though he already worshipped and valued her.Did I think these characters were realistic? No way. Vanessa was, unfortunately, a very believable, real life example of a downtrodden, abused her entire life, very private person who made the most loyal and trustworthy friend anyone could hope to find. Zac, Diana and Aiden recognized these qualities in her, but never got her to that spotlight she really needed to settle her self-doubt. Aiden was a bit glorified and exaggerated as a character. I cannot fathom a man as physically perfect and beautifully proportioned as Aiden would yearn for and fall for an ordinary, awkwardly hostile woman like Vanessa. Yeah, he admired and valued her loyalty, dedication to her responsibilities, and determination to follow through and not let anyone she cared about down. However, the book did NOT offer enough data to support his transition from grumpy, demanding perfectionist who ignored her for most of the first half of their story to the madly-in-love, couldn't keep his hands off of her, passionately perfect lover he became in the last ten percent of the book. That is not as believable, despite it being fiction. Without magic, uh-uh. Therefore, I could only offer three stars, because aside from that cringe-worthy scene following their first shared orgasm (whereupon Vanessa gives a rudimentary, perfunctory description of Aiden's penis as "long," " hard," "mauve-colored," with a " nest of short, bristly, hair surrounding the base," then gush "you're the sexiest man"), the fact that this was their only hookup, and happened with less than ten percent of the book left gave the impression that their successful marriage and HEA was rushed. We needed another hundred pages or so to establish their true connection, being completely comfortable with one another, her getting pregnant, giving birth, everything! The epilogue was a cop out to top all cop outs. This is not surprising, as this writer does that in every single book she has written. I think the only book I really, absolutely love (despite its abrupt epilogue that was more than a little disappointing) was Under Locke. That book, as well as its lead characters Dex and Iris, was believable.

I really enjoyed this book, although it was a bit of a slow burn. I loved the chemistry between the two characters and their banter was great. However, I really wished it would have been written from dual POV just so that I could get Aiden's thoughts and insights throughout the book.I just wanted to say I really enjoyed this author writing style, it took me a chapter ow two to get into but honestly once I was into it, they had me hook line and sinker and I couldn't put the book down.SPOILER! DO NOT READ ON IF YOU DON'T WANT THE BOOK SPOILED FOR YOU!They took way too long to get together, the book was over 90% finished when they got together which was disappointing because I enjoyed Aiden and Vanessa so much that I wanted to read more about them as a couple. I'd have been less disappointed if this wasn't a standalone and there was a book two that allowed me to read more about their dynamic as a couple.Overall, a great book but should have been dual POV and I was disappointed it took them so long to get together. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author, I am now a huge fan.

So glad that I listened to everyone's rave reviews about this one because I've never been SO SATISFIED by a slow burn romance before--and when I say slow burn I really mean a slow burn! YAS team AIDEN and VANESSA! I think this was my second book by Zapata (the first being Luna and the Lie) and while I wasn't sure I liked her stuff after reading that book, the Wall and Winnipeg and Me changed the game! Zapata is the QUEEN of slow burns and every single one of her books that I've read after this have been incredibly satisfying, tearing up at all my feelings and it's safe to say that she's now one of my all time favourite romance writers. Give me more! This one is definitely in the favourites list.

Anyone that has spoken to me about books will know that this is one of my favourites 🤗.I absolutely adore The Wall of the Winnipeg and Me, Vanessa and Aiden are just couple goals.Vanessa has been working as Aiden's PA for a few years, she does anything and everything for him including his laundry but after overhearing his agent calling her and misreading Aidens reaction, she decides its time to leave.Flash forward a few months, Vanessa comes home to find Aiden on her doorstep, needing her help and willing to pay whatever the cost for it. So with university debts to pay and a new business plan, she reluctantly agrees to help him out (best decision ever👌).OH MY GOD did I love Aiden Graves, he's a man of very few words, and when he does speak it tends to be straight to the point or grunts, fortunately for Vanessa she knows him well and this works out fine un the beginning because she doesn't want to be friends with him.As the story unfolds, it is the sweetest thing to read and see how they slowly let the walls down and get to know one another. Aiden is so caring, he dosnt know how to do friends, he's spent most of his life alone and only concerned about his football career, but Vanessa is different, she has always been different to Aiden 🥰. So he starts to open up to the idea of wanting more in life than just a career and things start to shift for him the more time he spends with her.Vanessa has  dealt with some issues with her family in the past and other than her best friends tends to keep to herself, after the misunderstanding with Aiden at the beginning her trust needs to be earned.  I enjoyed watching her thaw a little everytime Aiden did something sweet and unexpected. Vanessa seemed to be the only one who truly cares about Aiden outside of football and it very protective of him, it's so cute with him being a giant of a man ❤.This is why Mariana you are the QUEEN of slow burn romances, you keep us hanging onto every page, every word, until the right moment comes alone and then BAM, I'm melting. There are some beautifully written scenes in this book that just make me smile and feel all gooey inside everytime I read them 🥺.All I can say is pease please read this book, you will not regret it.

Vanessa was the assistant to a very grumpy work obsessed NFL player. Aiden only seemed to think about the game, working out and his image. He wasnt a nice guy to work for and finally Vanessa had had enough and resigned. She was not expecting to see him again so was shocked when he pleaded with her to return. He needed a green card to stay in the USA and he bargained with her to marry him. Initially their time together was hard, but Aiden found himself enjoying her company and gradually things changed between them. Nice ending.

Loved this slow-burn sports romance. The characters and the story were really enjoyable. Like all Mariana Zapata books I’ve read so far, It had some laugh of loud moments and parts that made me teary.I liked that the story focused on Vanessa and Aidan and that other characters didn’t impact their ending. It felt right for them.I did struggle to visualise Vanessa at times…I think part of it was the hair dying and going from reddish-brown to teal and then to pink - speaking from experience, how did that go?With Aidan being the strong silent type, we get lots of internal monologue from Vanessa during the first half. Still, I loved seeing Aidan and Vanessa’s relationship develop, with him opening up more as the story progresses. This book reminds me a lot of Kulti, and I finished that one feeling similarly about Rey - that I would have liked to see more of his character.