Under Locke

This must be my 3rd read of this book.I just love it. Grumpy grumpy MMC, sunshine with hidden awful back story FMC.The angst and the love is just everything you want in a Mariana Zapata book!!

It was such a good story and I couldn’t put the book down! It’s one of the few books that I’m sad about being a standalone.. I would love to read more about the side characters like Sonny and Trip.The only reason for the 4 starts is because I found Iris a bit tiring at times but the story was good enough to make up for it.

I want to say first and foremost it was so refreshing to read a book that doesn’t just have sex thrown into it every chapter to maintain a story line.Feel like I’ve been stuck in a rut with those kind of books and it’s not been fun.Anyway, I really loved Iris as the main fmc. She wasn’t the typical submissive fmc you see in most books like this. She was easy to relate to, Mariana made sure to convey that iris may be battling with anxiety and may be a nervous Nelly. She also is firm in her beliefs and doesn’t back down, she does what she thinks is best and isn’t just a yes girl, who will listen to what anyone has to say.I love that she went through with her plans and when she messed up, she was human, relatable. In the sense of at times she was stubborn with her viewpoint but after a while would question it and if she felt she was wrong, apologise.All in all I loved her!Dex, again was a great mmc. He was rough around the edges, but was mature. And I understood how these two worked.My problem was it just was too much of a slow burn. I think I was on chapter 27 thinking okay…. But it’s been 27 chapters and not much progress has been made. I get where Mariana was going and how the slow burn was needed for Iriss character. However, some chapters really seemed to drag and at one point I caught myself skin reading it.That is my only complaint with this book.Otherwise, it’s brilliant.

Love her books and the way they build slowly, this one is one of my favourites. I would definitely recommend it!

It's official: I'm a big Mariana Zapata fan and I think she'll be an auto-read (maybe even auto-buy) author from now on. I absolutely loved this! I was waiting for the right time to start it because past experience has shown me that once I start a Zapata book I won't want to put it down.Under Locke wasn't as much of a slow burn compared to her other books, although compared to most other romances, it was still very much a slow burn. I don't think there's anyone who does slow burns as well as her. It's always so damn satisfying when the MCs finally get together and it's absolutely always worth the wait! This one was no different. Although Dex did grate on my nerves a little bit with his extremely volatile temper and asshole-ish behaviour, I pretty much fell in love-lust with him at the same pace as Iris did. Although his attitude does soften as the story goes on (especially towards her), he's unapologetically himself and while I can see how that can rub people the wrong way, I appreciated that about his character. Can I also say that tattoos + men + me = (almost) guaranteed win? They're kind of like my achilles heel? Especially when they're tall, brooding and totally inked (mega bonus points to Dex for owning his own parlor)!Unsurprisingly, Iris is the total opposite of Dex. She's sweet, shy, very innocent and it doesn't take much to make her blush. She's a pretty strong and resilient character, and did I mention that she's also bookish and smart? Iris has been through some pretty tough stuff in life that made her have to grow up faster than usual. While she's only in her early twenties, she comes off as pretty mature and I really admired her character! Is the dynamic between Iris and Dex sounding a little too cliché and tropey right now? Well, maybe it is...but Zapata really does it so well and I ain't mad about it! Their chemistry was FIRE and those steamy scenes... Damn, those steamy scenes! I was doing a lot of swooning while reading this book (lmao).What I also really loved about Under Locke were the side characters. The friendships that form between Iris and the rest of the artists at the parlor really gave me 'found family' vibes and I was here for it! The banter (oh, the banter) between everyone that worked at the store had me genuinely bent with laughter and the scenes that showed Dex relaxing/laughing with the group were also some of my favorites! Iris' half-brother was another character that really grew on me and I really hope that we get his story because he's such marshmallow/cinnamon roll and I want to know more ASAP!Overall, I clearly loved this book. I took off half a star because of some repetitive things some characters did which I found slightly eye-roll inducing. I've definitely noticed this repetitive trait in Zapata's characters in other books though, so by now it's not unexpected, it's just a little eh.

I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself in for when I started reading this book this morning. But god damn, am I simping for a grumpy possessive biker? Yes. Yes I am. Seeing the progression of Iris and Dex relationship from grumpy, harsh and rude Dex to smitten, head over hills, touch her and you die Dex was everything. I liked how Iris found strength in herself and not siphoned it from someone else. She was strong, a fighter and she just needed a nudge to take control.That ending was exactly what I needed.

I’ve been hearing about Mariana Zapata’s books since i got back into reading romance. It seemed that everyone was ranting and raving about how amazing and impactful her stories were. I put off reading her work for so long, honestly, because I was afraid that the books wouldn’t live up to the hype, as so many other popular books i’ve found on Booktok and Booksta have proven to be. But let me be the first to say, that Mariana Zapata’s talent for writing an intriguing, interesting story that sucks you in so deep is one of a kind. This book was one of very few that had me wanting to finish it to know how the story ends, yet not wanting to finish it because I did not want to say goodbye to characters and a story that filled my heart and mind. Dex and Iris (and Sonny, Slim, Luther and Blake, of course!) captured my heart and attention, making me fall as in love with them as they are with each other. I don’t want to give too much away, but if you like the following to be a part of your story, then i highly suggest reading this book.-slow burn-motorcycle club-grumpy/sunshine-bit of an age gap-brother’s friend-workplace romance-witty banter between characters but also in the FMC’s personal point of view