"The Wall of Winnipeg and Me" by Mariana Zapata

Genre: Contemporary/ Romance
Format: Paperback (Library Edition)
Publication: February 2016
Cover Rating: 2/5 Stars

From Goodreads: 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? 

My Thoughts: First of all, huge thanks to my lovely friend Anna over at Annaberry Reads for recommending this one to me!

When I picked this up from the library my first thoughts were "Holy cow this book is huge for a contemporary romance!", I figured it would take me a while to read it (especially since I've become a slow reader thanks to my little), but I was wrong. I read it in four days. It was so good and well paced, I didn't even think about it being 673 pages long.

The thing you need to know about The Wall of Winnipeg and Me is that it is very character driven. There's not a lot of action going on, but we get to know the characters so well we feel like they're  our friends by the end of the book which is what I love. In that sense, it reminded me a little of Thoughtless but without all the angst.

I'm also going to gush for just a second on how freaking awesome Vanessa is. Rarely do we see a heroine like her in novels- one that we can actually relate to and who's not perfect. Not to mention, Vanessa takes NO crap from anyone which I loved. She is definitely a character I would want to hang with and watch Dragonball Z with 😂

I really believe the only reason I'm not rating this one five stars is because Aiden just wasn't my type and I didn't feel quit as connected to him as I should have. To me, Aiden took the strong SILENT type to a whole other level, and honestly he doesn't get a lot of dialogue in the book. At least, it didn't feel that way for me. Some of his exchanges with Vanessa and personal moments felt a little awkward and that threw me out of the novel, but it was never enough for me to think "Oh, I"m not enjoying this." I knew I wanted to continue reading to find out what happened between these guys and how Vanessa's life turned out.

Bottom Line: I would definitely recommend this one to anyone who loves a contemporary novel!

My Rating: 4/5 Stars