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?
I started this book at 2 a.m. while halfway through Luster by Raven Leilani. I wasn’t feeling great – insomnia was doing its thing, my mood was tanking, and all I really wanted was a solid romance to cocoon myself in. If Luster had been within arm’s reach, I would’ve stuck with it. But it wasn’t. So I did what any sleep-deprived, emotionally unstable person would do. I searched “slow burn marriage of convenience” on Pinterest. This one popped up and I had seen it discussed somewhere on the internets of the world and I thought, “why the hell not. Hopefully it puts me to sleep.”
It did not put me to sleep. I read the first 100 pages in the delirious mopey state I was in and finished the other 400+ as I writhed in pain and wallowed in bed the next morning. Peak romance reading conditions, honestly.
I realized he’d let me down when I didn’t have high hopes for him to begin with.
― Mariana Zapata, The Wall of Winnipeg and Me
Right away, I liked the main female lead, Vanessa. She’s competent, kinda witty and has that fed – up energy I respect. The main guy, Aiden? Not so much. He was an actual douche those first few pages. But the kind of emotionally constipated douche I knew I’d eventually root for. He’s brooding, silent and thinks throwing money at all his problems would solve them.
In fact, Aiden is actually quite insane. But like in the normal insane way that male leads usually are. ‘Cause here’s the thing – this 600 digital pages book does not reinvent the wheel. It’s tropes and plotlines? You’ve seen before. A grumpy rich sportsman technically bribes a competent funny woman who needs money.
And listen, it’s not like she wanted his money per se. She’s actually his ex assistant and she’s quite done with his crap (re: he was an emotionally constipated douche). But then he needs to get permanent residency so of freaking course he asks her to commit a felony and marry him. To her credit she says no the first couple of times and I was actually interested to see how Aiden would convince her cause I didn’t think he would. But then he offers to buy her a house and pay her student debt and my jaw was on the freaking floor. Couldn’t fault her for saying yes, really.
Getting my loans paid off—and the possibility of having a house bought for me—enticed me a lot more than my morals would have ever expected.
― Mariana Zapata, The Wall of Winnipeg and Me
When I found out Vanessa was my age, 26, I immediately thought, where too can I get a rich sportsman the size of a mini building to buy me a house (cause thank God I don’t have a $200k student loan).
And yes, Aiden is described like a mini building, which is common in this type of story, but this felt kinda excessive. The number of times we’re told how big Aiden is? Unhinged. Vanessa literally reminds us every other page just in case we forgot.
You can’t live your life bottling everything up. You need people, even if it’s only one or two, to believe in you, and as smart as that boy is, he doesn’t understand that.
― Mariana Zapata, The Wall of Winnipeg and Me
The pacing of the book is extremely slow burn, which I don’t mind but I think it’s good to know there’s literally close to no sexual tension. The build-up to the feelings and emotionally fluffy stuff I think is good. But the build-up to the filth … not so much. Like I think any sort of spiciness happens in the last chapter. I am actually not convinced the author cared very much about the physical and sensual aspects of this story. Even the kisses weren’t very developed or dwelled upon.
Because of that, I think there’s a lot of missed opportunities in this book. There are sweet moments – little domestic beats that made me smile – but there were also several chances not taken for more tension, more fluff or more heat. Like when Aiden visits Vanessa’s booth in Toronto. Perfect chance for a sneaky hotel – oh no there’s probably one bed – moment. But no we just breeze past it, which surprises me given that this book is like 600 pages long. I also wished the book had somehow explored Aiden’s perspective for a more premium experience of his thought process cause the morsels weren’t angsty enough. Like I would sell my left lung for bonus material of his POV for real.
Still, it’s a good book that made me blush. I’m not fully convinced that I’d have enjoyed this as much if I wasn’t in the particular situation I was when I read it. Honestly, romances hit different when you’re moody and on your period. However, it did change something in me, because after I put it down, all I have done is gone on all socials and searched ” slow burn marriage of convenience sports romance books.”
In the end, this is a comforting, low-stakes kind of romance. It won’t change your life, but it will keep you company when you’re achy, hormonal, and wide awake at 2 a.m. Will I read more from Mariana Zapata? Probably. This specific life scenario happens to me a lot. 3/5 stars. But a high 3/5.
I wanted to be better. I wanted to be a good person. I wanted to be someone—not necessarily someone great or someone important—but someone I could live with.
― Mariana Zapata, The Wall of Winnipeg and Me
