NetGalley has been extremely generous in allowing me to read this fantastic e-ARC. I cannot express how much I love this author's writing style and storytelling ability. This book in particular has left me spellbound since the very first page. The plot is truly captivating, and the characters are so well-developed that I found myself completely invested in their lives. I would definitely give this book a well-deserved 4-star rating

Wow, I'm feeling A LOT of emotions right now and I was not ready.

To be completely honest, I didn't expect much of this book. I was interested because I love Mariana Zapata and I wanted to read her newest release but I didn't expect much from this book. By that I mean the synopsis didn't really have me EXCITED, if that makes sense? Not in a bad way, but if I was choosing a new MZ to read, this probably wouldn't be first choice. Am I making sense? Definitely not.

But anyway, this book was just such a breath of fresh air. It was heartwarming and funny and endearing. And I thoroughly enjoyed it.

From all of Zapata's books I've read so far, this one is most different to her usual formula. It's still amazing slow-burn, but the development happens a bit faster than the rest. That is not a complaint in any way, because I actually think it worked for this story. This book is not only a romance, but it's about starting a new life, finding your place and your people and overcoming grief. And Ms Mariana Zapata handled that so beautifully, I loved it. I really just loved that inclusion so so so much and I appreciated this slightly different message from her other books.

I truly don't know how she does it but the relationships always feel so tangible. Obviously loved Aurora and Rhodes, as well as Amos. Especially loved watching Aurora and Amos connect and literally become besties, love to see it. Auror also had some stunning female friendships. Double love to see it.

THIS BOOK OMG!!!!!!! *cries*

Apart from that, this book has quite a lot to offer *wink wink*. We've got single parent (kinda, you'll see), age-gap, stunning friendships and lots of outdoorsy adventures. It's a great time. If you love Mariana Zapata's magical touch just as much as I do, then you definitely need to read this one. If not for that, read for a delight of a slow-burn romance complete with finding your path, along with the people who will love you most <3<3<3

The team was looking forward to receiving All Rhodes Lead Here after it gained a strong following online. It did not disappoint!

4.5 stars ⭐️

No one does a slow burn like Mariana Zapata and I absolutely fell in love with these characters. I also want to go on a hike like asap lol

A big thank you to Netgalley + Avon for the review copy!

Aurora has broken up with her long term boyfriend and goes back to the small Colorado town where she grew up and where her mother disappeared while hiking. She wants to go on the hikes her mother loved.
Aurora finds a room but it turns out the owner’s son Amos rented it out without the knowledge of his father, Tobias. He’s a sexy ranger who doesn’t want Aurora there, at least at first. As they spend time together recreating her mom’s hikes, they get close and start a relationship.

What no one knows is that Aurora’s ex is a famous country singer, and that she’s been writing all of his Grammy winning songs. Amos is an aspiring songwriter and singer, and it’s not easy for Aurora to keep her secret, especially now that her ex (and his domineering mother), want her to forgive and forget. Aurora knows he wants her back because his latest albums are terrible!

This is an entertaining book that I didn’t want to put down. It’s got an outstanding plot, quirky characters and a wonderful love story.
4.5 stars.

Thanks to Avon and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

I am not a person who stays away from - or is afraid of - long books. But good golly Miss Molly this one was WAY TOO LONG.

I also must not be a very patient reader because the start of this book made me cranky. There’s nothing that turns me off a book faster than when the author alludes to some big, terrible event in a character’s past and draaaagggggsssss out the reveal forever. Which is exactly what we get here, times two. We know something went horribly wrong early in the heroine’s life, but we don’t know what. We know something more recently went wrong with her life. We know something went wrong with her long-time relationship. We don’t know what her career was. We just don’t know much. Just that she’s running from her old life and thinks going to a place she once lived while she was growing up is a good place to start figuring out the rest of her life. And because the whole book is told from Aurora’s point of view, there’s even more unanswered questions about everyone in her new life until she screws up the courage to ask.

And it just goes on and on and on. With so many words describing so many inane, repetitive details. The humor felt contrived, and the requisite third-act conflict an unnecessary, overreacted result of noncommunication. My overwhelming feeling reading this book was frustration instead of pleasure.

The only good part about the book was Amos, the hero’s teenage son. And finally finishing it (which took me two weeks).

I think this author’s slow-burn, glacially slow paced, extra long books may be better suited to my audiobook tastes. But then again, I didn’t much enjoy being in this heroine’s head. So maybe it wouldn’t have helped here. All I know is I’m not inclined to read the author again if it’s going to take me two weeks to finish her book…

* thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

The plot was cute, but this book was entirely too long. This did not need to be as long as it was. I started to lose interest before it was halfway through. The backstories to the characters were great, but it needed to be edited down quite a bit.

This story started out really strong and I found myself very interested and invested in the characters and storyline. I was definitely entertained by this book and enjoyed a good bit of it.
I do feel like it was way too much book for the story that we followed. I think this book could easily have been split in half and we would have still gotten the same feelings and story that we did. I think there was a good bit of fluff in here I would have preferred not to have.
Other than that, I really enjoyed Aurora’s back story and everything about her mother. I think the author did a good job of tying that all together and giving us a resolution at the end.
I enjoyed that Aurora and Rhodes didn’t instantly go from enemies to lovers and there was a lot of meat to their relationship. I liked seeing them become friends and how she always referred to Amos as her friend.
Overall I am happy I read this book and would recommend if you want a very long love story, with a bit of drama.
Thank you NetGalley for my advanced copy, I am leaving this review on my own.

I LOVE ME SOME MARIANA ZAPATA and this book DID NOT disappoint. I love the slow burn, sweet, wholesome vibes of this book. Tobias Rhodes is the ultimate book boyfriend. It was an emotional rollercoaster and I will FOREVER be re-reading this book. Thank you MZ for yet another fantastic read! It was sweet, it was emotional and made my heart flutter. I could not put this book down and neither will you!

Where are all my slow burn romance fans at? This book is for you. I loved this one. There is so much I adored about this book. First, you have a small town in Colorado. The outdoor setting really captured me. Aurora moves back to this small town when her relationship of over a decade ends. Her memories of living in Colorado with her mom have always stayed with her. She ends up working in an outdoor gear store and going on tons of hikes. As a fan of all things nature, this was great! Then, you have the biggest grump that ever was. I fell for single-dad Tobias from first grunt. He is grouchy yet kind. He has a great teenage kid. He is a good person. There was so much to like. Finally, you have a finding your way aspect to this. While our main characters are not in their 20s, they both begin to imagine new lives for themselves and decide to go for it. It was refreshing to see two people stop accepting their circumstances and decide to reach for what they want at an age where so many seem to think you should have it all figured out.

Aurora and Tobias have this slow friendship that builds in such a believable way. It was a delight to watch. I highly recommend this book and cannot wait to read more from this author.

All Rhodes Lead Here is my first Mariana Zapata and it will not be the last. I adored our main character, Aurora, and rooted for her the whole way. There was so much going on in her life than just the romance and Zapata interconnects our love interest, Mr Rhodes, with Aurora's struggles without it feeling like he's just shoved into her life to magically fix it. He helps her deal with things but in a supportive and loving way. You can feel how much he adores her.

The slow burn of it all was glorious. Watching them build a deep friendship and enjoying her growing bond with teenage Amos was so lovely. It made Rhodes and Aurora's first kiss at over 70% in that much better. I even had a moment of worry that they were going to kiss earlier in the book and was so relieved when they didn't. The stars were not fully aligned yet!

The side characters were fleshed out and felt real. I loved Aurora's relationship with all of them and was so happy with how at home she felt. Her relationship with Amos felt natural and real. His quiet way of showing affection was realistic, which I'm sure anyone who knows a teenager will attest to. Also, shout to out the supportive BFFS, Yuki and Clara. I haaate when MCs don't have any friends or family in romance books. I just loved the relationships in this.

One of my issues was that it is a long book that takes a while to get going. Once it does though it doesn't drag at all. My other nitpick was only that tears were being shed by Aurora just once or twice too many for me. Though I do get that it could be that she's been repressing a lot of feelings for over a decade and is finally letting them out. Finally, I did not mind the "Buddy" nickname, I just wish it had been explained earlier cause it was head scratching for most of the book.

I really need a Mr Rhodes.

Thank you to Avon & NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 Stars

This was such an excellent slow burn romance and had all the hallmarks of what I love in a story.

We have a grumpy but loyal hero and a sunshiny heroine that has truly made lemonade out of the lemons life has thrown her way. We have the great outdoors and camping/hiking. Forced proximity. Found family. A missing person mystery subplot. I absolutely enjoyed it.

I will say, even for a proper and well done slow burn, I felt like the story was a bit longer than it needed to be and was sometimes repetitive, but overall I enjoyed it and found myself thinking about the story and characters when I wasn’t reading.

The audiobook narration was great and was super unique in that it was two narrators doing one POV. Anytime the hero’s dialogue happened, we had the male narrator delivering his lines. Super different from most audiobooks, but I liked it!

I knew going in this was going to be a slow burn, but I didn't realize how nervous I was going to be. Honestly, at a couple points, I wasn't sure they (or me) was going to make it!

Ora is such a wonderful human being. Despite what she's been through, she seems to be open, caring, honest, and overall kind. She lost her way a bit, but ultimately her heart never changed. I loved seeing her dig into who she truly is and just settle with all the people that brought out the best in her. When she moved in next to Rhodes and his son, I honestly wasn't sure any of them would make it. The chasm between them seemed to be too large to travel, but somehow Ora did it.

Rhodes was a character that even though I wanted to knock upside his head a time or two, I really kind of admired. Stepping up for his kid, protecting his community, and just being as strong of a person as he was. I know that opening up or letting happiness in was truly difficult for him, and the first time he laughed ... it made the whole story for me. And once he started randomly calling Ora "angel" ... *swoon.*

Not only did I fall in love with this little family, I also fell in love with the town. Ora's friend Yuki - hilarious and wonderful. Everyone needs a Yuki! Also, her friend Clara and Jackie, and well, almost everyone else I encountered in town made me want to move there.

This book really pulled me in and made me feel at home. I felt their love growing down to my bones and it caused me to be dissatisfied with several storylines for many days after. There's something about the worlds and the love that this author creates that always makes me long for it well after the story is done. All the feels. I also would love to go back and re-live this story as if hadn't already read it.

3.5 stars

i've read a few mariana zapata books at this point and i think this is my second favorite behind the wall of winnipeg.

it had the usual tropes the author writes about but honestly i didn't mind because she knows how to do them well (age gaps, grumpy sunshine, slow burn, etc).

overall this book was a fun time and gave me the hit of romance i was looking for at the time.

thank you to Netgalley for the review copy as usual!

It has been years since I last read a Mariana Zapata slow burn. Y-E-A-R-S. Her books are just so intimidating for me. All the waiting!

All Rhodes Lead Here hooked me from the start. Immediately Rhodes is the grump to the sunshine, Aurora. He’s her reluctant landlord, after his son rented out their garage apartment without permission, but his exterior begins to thaw after she helps his son in an emergency.

It wasn’t until 40% in that she stopped calling him Mr. Rhodes. It was the slowest of the slow, but the character development and the relationship progression was just on point. I loved how so much of this story wasn’t about the romance, it was about Aurora’s personal journey and the friendships she makes along the way. The side characters were all well-fleshed out, and they felt integral to the story.

Like every Mariana Zapata book, I loved it. But…maybe I’ve matured a little bit? Because I honestly couldn’t stand some of the humor. Literally potty jokes. Farts. Diarrhea. Urine. ALL THE TIME. That really took away from my enjoyment of All Rhodes Lead Here. So for the first time in history…I have rated a MZ book as 4 stars. But despite all that, I’m happy to have revisited this author.

Thank you to Avon Books for the review copy.

This is my third time reading this book, and I can tell you that it still holds up to my original rating. I do think it leans a bit towards women's fiction, considering how heavily it focuses on Aurora healing from the past and becoming stronger as an individual. That's not a complaint- just something to be aware of going in. Rhodes makes my heart so warm and melty, and Amos is my favorite quiet teenager. This book started my MZ journey, and it will forever be a favorite from this author.

This book is amazing!  I went into it expecting a super slow burn romance with my kryptonite - a grumpy single dad instead I found something more.  I’m going to be honest this is one of the times I’ve found myself unable to formulate my thoughts.

Aurora has dealt with a lot, she’s faced loss, heartbreak, and drama.  She’s ready for an escape and rents a room and returns to the town where she lived with her mother.

Ora is a delight. She’s witty, funny, and full of sunshine. The book is written in her PoV and her inner monologue was entertaining. It’s no wonder everyone instantly loves her. 

Can I stop to mention Rhodes?  My gosh, this man was perfect. He goes from OTT grump to softie.  His protectiveness, endearing nicknames, and sweet gestures were top-notch. 

This book is sweet and heartwarming with a tiny bit of steam at the very end. There is some heartbreak and the drama is low. The plot focuses more on the characters and their relationships. I loved the strong found family feel of the story.

⛰️ grumpy/sunshine
⛰️ close proximity
⛰️ small town
⛰️ loss of a parent
⛰️ outdoor adventures
⛰️ found family
⛰️ single dad
⛰️ age gap
⛰️ slow burn

This may be the slowest slow burn romance I have ever read but the payoff is so worth it. Aurora and Tobias relationship is full of tension, banter, and tender care taking. He's the strong, silent type who only is soft for her. The small town has a full cast of loveable characters and the ex boyfriend plot was handled well.

Single POV, Spicy, Small Town, Age Gap, Single Dad, Grumpy x Sunshine

Rhodes. RHODES. A silver fox for all time. An outdoorsy hunka hunka with a heart of gold. If you liked that Captain America wood chopping scene, this book has that energy sprinkled through it and the age gap and slow-burn worked for me.

This is a chunky boy but I thoroughly enjoyed it and I have loved getting to know Aurora/Ora and all these characters.

It was sweet. I loved Aurora’s character growth. I loved grumpy Rhodes and his love language is definitely acts of service!

I love Marianna Zapata's writing and was so happy to get an e-arc of this edition of this book. I like her writing style, and the way she brings the characters and story to life. This was an enjoyable and emotional read. Thank you Netgalley for an arc of this book.