When Gracie Met The Grump

Okay so let me preempt this review by saying that Mariana Zapata is a goddess and seriously one of my favourite authors…but this book for me just wasn't itI found it confusing and I felt like every page I thought I can't believe MZ wrote this because it was just so far from what she does. It was kind of fantasy/alien/otherworldly but never really went far enoughLet's start with the character Gracie who was giving off 'i'm not worthy' vibes the whole time which bothered me because I normally love MZ women. And then there is Alex who I absolutely hated…. And that was only because for 200 pages he was literally an absolute nightmare, and then for the next 350 pages he was just cold and standoffish. So after that I feel like every time he was nice to Gracie it felt manipulative…like he just wanted her to do what he wanted. It never really felt loving and that's the problem with no dual POV - I just hated him and that never changed because he was just icy cold and even after he gave his semi reason I just didn't dig itThe book was easily 200 pages too long and felt slow and sluggish which is unheard of from MZ books, which although slow are always beautifully built up and moving towards something. The story ends with too many loose ends and open questions - I don't think there is really any doubt that a second book must be in the works…Which don't get me wrong I'll definitely read because my love for MZ is deep.I can't tell you how painful I find not loving this book but I really didn't, I got through it and found bits of it interesting but not really being into either of the MCs kind of leaves you in limbo even if the story was okayish.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to read this book. I'm used to Zapata's books being contemporary romance, so I was afraid to be disappointed in this genre. Boy, how wrong I was. As usual, there were so much feelings between Gracie and Alex. Alex, although being a superhero, he wants to choose the path of his life. Gracie too wants the same. She's been in hiding for all of her life, and now, thanks to a fortunate (maybe?) encounter with Alex, she's tired to run away.I can't express in words how much I loved this book.

I mean really this wasn’t what I was expecting but I kind of like that about a book to be honest.Gracie is alone for all intents and purposes when a superhero crash lands in her garden. With a lifetime of secrets to hide from the world, she’s used to being solo. To relying on herself and her abilities - but the defender who landed on her patch isn’t well, isn’t himself and is keeping plenty secrets of his own.I’d describe this as a book of two halves. The first is scene setting and it goes places really I didn’t see coming at all, but it’s nice when a book surprises you and actually includes an entire genre you weren’t expecting!

💖grumpy sunshine💖all the angst💖he takes care of her a lot💖forced proximityi have 97 kindle highlights for this book and i cannot choose my fav quotei finished this earlier this week and i have to say, the queen has done it again!!!! i love the defender, lol soz i will not be saying his name for a while, not sure why it feels like such a spoilersuperheroes and romance MY FAV THINGS and the subtle references to greek mythology!!!mariana i am begging you please write a greek mythology inspired romance PLEASElisten i did not care for all the plot lines that were left open, i have a feeling she left them open for another book in this world, or i'm just wishful thinking for another one.gracie was super relatable to me. i love the fact that she really finds herself in this book, one quote that really stood out to me in the beginning was this one, when she was talking about living alone"It was the closest thing to a hug I was going to get anytime soon, after all. I missed hugs. I missed them a lot.Hugging yourself didn't release any oxytocin in your body, so it didn't have the same effect as getting one from another person.”"But this place was the closest thing to home l'd known in forever. I'd settled in. I had found peace and, honestly, part of myself too while being on my own.”i truly felt these two in my bones because it reminded me so much of the vear i spent living alone.and the love interest.. i have added another to the topMZ men listi cried, i laughed and i cried some more. another great book i cant wait to reread before the year is over !

Gracie has spent almost her entire life on the run. In hiding. She’s never really had a friend, and now that her grandparents are both gone, she’s never felt so alone.She knows she should be looking to move on to the next town again, and yet every time she thinks about choosing somewhere, she can’t make herself do it.So one night, when she has a particularly strong sense of foreboding, she isn’t totally surprised when something crashes in her yard. But then she could never prepare herself for what she finds…none other than The Defender, injured and grumpy as hell. A superhero. In.her.garden!OMG I am almost lost for words, I loved this so much!I’ve never read a superhero romance before, and it certainly wasn’t a trope I was expecting from Mariana Zapata, but it was everything! Although a new subject for her as an author, it was still very true to her writing, the hero just happened to also be an actual hero. With superpowers.I felt Gracie’s loneliness and perceived rejection deep in my soul. I always resonate so hard to these things in books for some reason. It makes for such an immersive read because I felt like I was experiencing everything in tandem with Gracie.The Defender was so damn grumpy. Until he wasn’t. I absolutely adored their banter and the slooooooow progression of their relationship.Zapata is the queen of the slow burn for a reason, and I love how well she writes the trope. I spent 80-90% of the book wishing for it to go quicker but not wanting to skim read, and then at the end I wished it wasn’t over!And that epilogue…are we getting a sequel???