Vanessa Mazur is the assistant/housekeeper for Aiden Graves bigshot football player. The plan was always to quit but when she does, Aiden shows up wanting her back.

This is totally a slow burn romance and it took me a bit to get into it. Once I did though it was hard to put down. It is a lovely coil of learning about the characters and if Aiden and Vanessa can work it out. I liked Vanessa from the beginning. Aiden is a jerk but he makes more sense as the book goes on. Over all this was a pretty great read.

This is a very well loved book by many people, and I would definitely recommend trying it!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher

This was the slow burniest slow burn ever. I did find the book very charming. I adored Vanessa. But I did not understand the appeal of Aiden, other than muscles. He was too taciturn way too late. It shouldn't have taken 300 pages to get him to speak for a significant period of time.

A slow burn for sure but one that is sooo worth the wait! I loved this book, I lovd the characters, I loved their love, I loved everything about it!!!!

Definition of a slow burn... Typically I like a little more of a mid burn but this one was just too good. I appreciated characters (MC was't *too* quirky), and enjoyed the plot. This is definitely one of my favorite Mariana Zapata books!

I rated this book between a 3 and a 4. I really liked the slow burn of the romance. The story was cute and I had a great time reading it. I found it kind of hard to like the MMC but it was good!

This book, I actually read years ago and kind of forgot that I did. Okay, but to be fair, it was during my period of reading a lot so, it kind of just gotten lumped in and forgotten with a lot of other books.

But this time around, I actually started to remember it after a few chapters and was pretty excited to read it again with fresh eyes.

Typically, I don’t do the slow-burn thing. I appreciate a quick, scorching (not the same as spicy) romance where the couple just seems to get it from the start. But this book’s characters were so amazing that watching them realize their feelings for each other was tons of fun.

Mariana Zapata is known for her lengthier books and slow-burn love. And I get why she’s so popular. The ride this book took me on, even after reading it already, was so incredibly enjoyable.

Aiden was the perfect grumpy to Vanessa’s lovely sunshine. I was hooked from the start with this one!

I was never a fan of sports rom coms or romances. But I've quickly discovered that I love a good hockey rom com. Who would have thought I would fall for a hockey player even if it's only in the pages of a book. There's just something about them that you don't even feel like your reading a sports romance.

This book was my introduction to Mariana Zapata and I devoured this book in one day! It hits all my favorite tropes and just the grumpy sunshine aspect of it was perfect!

The slooooooowest of slow burns. I mean, s.l.o.w. But so, so good. The character build up is wonderful, the plot flows so nicely, and the protectiveness was elite. I won’t lie - I struggled through the first 25% because we get it, you quit your job! But keep on keeping on and I promise it’s TOTALLY worth it! Aiden Graves is an elite book boyfriend and the book is worth a read for that alone! Thanks for the opportunity to read!

This is a good book. The two main characters are Vanessa and Aiden. Vanessa worked for Aiden as his assistant. She quit to start her own business. Aiden ask her marry him to help him stay I the country. She accepts his offer because he said he would pay off her student loans. There is an attraction. They each have issues but together they work them out and fall in love.

This took a minute to get into because I was so annoyed by Aiden in the beginning. I was like how can we change our opinion of him, he's so self centered. But I knew I just had to wait, I love Mariana Zapata's writing and her setups for awesome situations. There were so many times where Aiden showed up and he was amazing and then the book just flew by.

I received this book for free for an honest unbiased review from Netgalley.

I wish more books were this well written. Characters were witty and the setting fantastic.

I feel like this may be such a controversial opinion buuuuut, this wasn’t my fav. It didn’t really hook me. This was my first MZ book and I don’t know - I don’t think this lived up to the hype, and now I’m nervous to try another. There was such a slooooooow burn. And I honestly feel like it just starts slow in general. I almost DNF’d this book (which is soooo rare for me) bc it took me weeks to get through the first half. It brought me back to my Archer’s Voice days (which, if you don’t know, I wasn’t a fan of either).

I truly wish we had a dual POV. While they’re grumpy and enemies, it would have been amazing to know what Aiden was thinking. Because it really felt like stuff was one-sided and I think that may have been what contributed to the book not hooking me like I was expecting. And the spice??? Like… it doesn’t happen until like 98% done and it wasn’t even all that much.

I was really excited to read this book, and was not disappointed. Sports rom-coms are really having a moment, and this one is worth a spot on that list.

I really wanted to love this one but I started it a few times and just couldn't get into it. It reminds me a lot of the Sarah Adams Cheat Sheet book with the pro football player, and maybe that book broke this one for me. There's something about the FMC's care-taking role in the beginning that just didn't get me excited about this book. I know others will love it though.

I’m so so happy I was told this book was torturously slow burn. I think it perfectly set my expectations and I was able to enjoy the story of Aiden and Vanessa. Aiden is just the grumpiest humbug ever and I love him for it.

This is a great sports romance with lots of spice. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC.

I liked this more once the actual romance started picking up! I'd heard Zapata has more of a reputation for being a slow-burn author, but I think I've pinpointed exactly what made this book feel TOO long in terms of page count — the fact that Vanessa and Aiden seemed to have the same conversation multiple times, often within the same scene. Trimming out those repetitive instances of dialogue, introspection, and/or circular arguments between them probably would've made the book's pace a bit tighter. I do think the slow-burn romance served the story well in this particular instance, but some of Aiden's emotional repression read more as indifference at first, and I need my love interests to start showing some <i>interest</i> a little sooner, thank you! (Also, a few too many instances of him telling her to "shut up," tbh.)

That said, once those big emotional moments started dropping I was way more invested in the progression, and any marriage-of-convenience tropes are things I'm going to eat up with a spoon. This one definitely has quite a few CWs attached including familial abuse (past, recounted on-page), and partner abuse (side character), so just tread into this one with caution if you're more sensitive to those topics.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this edition from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Oh man is this a slow burn but so so worth it! This is a romance with a teeny tiny bit of spice (be patient!). The development of Vanessa and Aiden's relationship is so so well done. Zapata understands subtlety and weaving a story.

Loved Aiden's pining and protectiveness and how much he just wants to scream "SHE'S MINE!" 🔥🔥🔥

We love the "wife" 🥵

For a slow burn, sports romance with a marriage of convenience, and 12 hours of wonderful agony, fall for Aiden Graves ♥️

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶

I immediately downloaded the spin-off about Zac, a friend of the couple seen in the book, and can't wait to read more of Zapata (and hopefully get a look into Van and Aiden's life!). I'm going to be on a sports romance kick for awhile after this one.