When Gracie Met The Grump

Set in a modern world where superhero-type figures have made themselves known while helping in world crises, the premise of this book was right up my alley (I'm a huge comic book fan). That being said, even though the book was a decent length, if you took out the excessive repetition (and I mean excessive), the story probably should have been at least a third of the size that it was. More on this in a bit, but it was the reason I gave it four stars when all of the other Zapata books I've read have been a solid 5 stars for me.So, what's the premise? Gracie, our heroine, lives a lonely life. After her parents stole money from a cartel, she's forced to live on the run with her grandparents, keeping a low profile and staying off the grid in order to stay safe. She doesn't make friends, go out, or interact with people in general, mainly so she's not forced to lie to them while trying to keep herself safe. She's lonely, but makes the most of the cards she's dealt. Gracie's life is thrown into turmoil, however, when the best looking man in the universe lands critically injured in her yard. Enter Alex, aka The Defender. One of the Trinity, superhero-esque individuals that have cropped up around the world recently, he's the last person Gracie would have expected. While knowing he might put her carefully constructed world at risk, she takes him in and tries to help him recover. The book then focusses on their changing and developing relationship as the two find they have more in common than they realise and maybe there's more to the The Defender's crash into her life than initially meets the eye.I loved the world the author created throughout this book. A trio of mysterious do-gooders with superior talents, complete with costumes and all, made a really entertaining spin on Zapata's usual slow burn romance. If you've read any of this author's books before, a lot will be familiar. Gracie is the down on her luck female lead that tries to see the glass half full and make the best of a poor situation. Alex definitely fits the grumpy card and is borderline rude for three-quarters of the book, grunting at Gracie or just flat out refusing to talk. Sound familiar? It will. This isn't a negative, by the way - I'm a fan of this author. As always, the romance is definitely a slow burn - I don't think they even kiss until the 92% mark or so, although there are several clunky hints thrown around about the circumstances leading to their relationship (I won't go into that here in case readers are avoiding spoilers, but it's not rocket science). The first third or so of the book had a good chunk of drama with Alex landing in Gracie's yard and then the cartel entering the scene, with the remainder of the book focussing on the main couple's bonding and tentative relationship.I like this author's style of writing even though her phrases tend to be more flowery even when stating something simple. I took a star off because the amount of repetition in the book was almost to the point of ad nauseam - like I said, I'm a big fan of this author but I almost gave the book three stars because I really felt like I was reading the same thing over and over: the words and catch phrases, the themes, the lot. Gracie is constantly harping on about how hot Alex is - his good looks, his body, etc. - and how he's one of the greatest powers on the planet and had fallen into her life. He was constantly grunting, speaking gruffly (or not at all), snorting or huffing. If you want a fun drinking game while reading the book, take a shot every time The Defender trots out one of these characteristics. Just kidding - don't do this. You'll die or at the very least make some regrettable life decisions. There were the constant references to Gracie being on the run without the reader getting an explanation of why and then when you did find out, that was jammed in all over the place, along with the fact her life was never going to be the same, she had no one, could only rely on herself and had been alone and taking care of herself since the dawn of time, yada, yada, yada. Then there was Gracie always bringing up that he was a grumpy jerk who couldn't stand being around her or didn't like her. This was harped on about both in her internal monologues and in her dialogue to Alex, laying on the 'feel sorry for me' vibe pretty strongly and almost making her a bit of Mary Sue. That or coming across as the girl everyone knew at school that depreciates herself so she gets compliments. The one thing that really drove me crazy, though, was Gracie's constant 'poor me' moments. She was forever going on about how rough and lonely her life had been and it wasn't long into the book where I was answering back, 'Okay! We get it!' By half way through the book, I'd pretty much had a gutful of what I came to refer to as Gracie's pity parties as she did the whole 'I know I'm a nobody and I'm okay with that and understand why I'm not important' while bringing it up regularly enough to readers for them to be pretty sure that maybe it's a bit of a sore point since she's not giving it a rest. Oh, and a phrase that cropped up a couple of times that made me laugh: Alex's roundish-shaped eyes. What does that even mean lololol?Aside from the repetition, I love a grumpy/sunshine read and this fit the bill. The dialogue was good and I liked the sarcasm thrown in. The relationship between Gracie and Alex was on point as I'd expect from this author. I probably would have like a bit more closure as I felt a couple of aspects of the plot that had been focal points (the cartel threat and the grandmother) suddenly became non-existent or non-issues after quite a bit of build up. I really liked both of the main characters (despite the repetition) and I hope the author does a follow up for this world. As an added bonus, there was a cute cartoon depiction at the end and I absolutely loved this - it made the comic book nerd in me squeal a little.

‘When Gracie met the grump’ is the newest story of the writer Mariana Zapata. A writer whose books I really love, so I find it hard to say that this book was a bit of a disappointment for me. It left me with mixed feelings and thoughts about the story. I think my biggest disappointment was that the story had a chance to become one of my favourite of hers (just like ‘All Rhodes lead here’) but it didn’t. Because I don’t want to spoil the story for new readers (because I think that you have to discover all the secrets for yourself) I will try my best to explain what I liked and didn’t like without giving away any spoilers.When I first read the blurb and heard that the story was about superheroes I didn’t really know what to expect. But after reading the story, I can say that I liked and enjoyed the superheroes theme. I’m glad that the writer choose this special theme and went with it. It was entertaining.The story is about a not so social, grumpy superhero, whose known to the world as ‘The Defender’ (but his real name is Alexander) and Gracie Castro, an almost thirty year old ‘normal’ woman who lives alone in a very remote place. She was brought up by her grandparents but they died some years ago. For reasons that we discover during the story, she keeps to herself and has no friends and no contact with other family members.The Defender isn’t the only superhero in this story, there are three superheroes in it, two men and one woman. Nobody knows who they are or where they came from. Nobody knows their name so people just gave them one. The guys are named ‘The Defender’ and ‘The Centurion’ and the woman is called ‘The Primordial’. Together they are called ‘The Trinity’. They help when there are major disasters. And just like all superheroes they wear a suit and a cape and they have superpowers. They can fly and have extraordinary strength, speed and other super powers. Nothing can hurt them too.The story starts when one night Gracie finds one of them, The Defender, in her garden. He’s wounded! Gracie is in shock, not only to find a superbeing next to her house but also that this superhero is injured! She helps him into her house but soon she discovers that The Defender isn’t an easy or social roommate. He’s grumpy, not talkative and very bossy too! And that’s the start of Gracie’s and The Defender’s adventure. She helps him heal and he protects her against danger from her past. Both are hiding many secrets from each other but during the story all (or almost all) of them are revealed. Just like Gracie, we discover the secrets of the superheroes, who they are, where they come from and also secrets from Gracie’s past. Can lonely Gracie find a new home with these superheroes or not? And what about her feelings for Alexander?I have to admit that during the first half of the story I did consider giving up reading a few times. I found it hard to get into the story and connect with both of the main characters in the first half. I think part of that was that the focus of the story was more on Gracie’s thoughts and inner dialogue (the story was told from her POV) and that The Defender (Alexander) was very distant and recovering from his injuries so he slept a lot and so there was little to no action. But I kept reading for two reasons, some friends of mine liked the story and I was also curious enough to want to know more about the superheroes so I decided to continue reading and luckily the second half was better. There was more interaction with other people (Alexander’s family) and the banter/bickering between Gracie and Alexander became more entertaining and funny. I did like how Alexander started caring for Gracie during the story and that he surprised her now and then in little sweet ways. But just like in the first half of the story, there was also a lot of repetition here of the same insecurities and self-doubt of Gracie and I personally found it a bit too much. I did like Grace’s honesty (and the fact that she didn’t have a filter when she said things, that was entertaining at times), you could also feel that she had loved and respected her grandparents very much. She cared for other people and was friendly and helpful. Her clumsily had me smiling at times. Alexander was grumpy, bossy, distant but also very observant. I was a bit confused by him at the beginning but later when I got to know him better, I discovered that he hid a good heart and he was very protective of Gracie . He could be thoughtful at times but other times he could do or say things that I found very thoughtless and confusing. I found did Gracie and Alexander a cute couple. Just like her other stories, this was again a slow burn story and there was one sex scene in it.The many names of Alexander’s family had me a bit confused at times. I did like the secondary characters, they made the story more special and interesting. Although all the family members were very nosy, they also cared for each other in their own way and I really liked how they cared for Gracie too.One of the things that I though was a bit too much in this story were the (family) secrets, I have no problem with secrets in my stories and especially family secrets but in this story I found it a bit too much. There were so many secrets that I felt a bit overwhelmed by it. You had secret, after secret, after secret,…I also missed some more details about the ‘superheroes’, there was an explanation but not much. There was also not much action in the story, after all the fear of Gracie, the ending was a bit of an anti-climax for me, it left me a bit dissatisfied. I missed an epilogue too.So to finish, I liked some things and parts of the story and other things I didn’t like.

I love Mariana, her books are a one click buy for me and one of the few authors where I constantly find myself rereading her books. For the first time I've struggled alot to finish this one and have found myself skimming multiple pages. Mariana is known for her slow burns but this story is just slow. I honestly feel that the other 5* and 4* reviews are based on how liked the author is rather than the quality of the story. Marianas characters are usually relatable and full of depth, there character building in this book for me was lacking. Its mentioned a few times that the main FMC is dramatic, but I just found her annoying and her inner monologue tedious at times. Considering the book was based around superheros very little action happened. Overall I just found this book boring. I'm still a fan of Mariana and look forward to her next release but this ones a hard no.

This author is an automatic buy for me. I saw the fb post that said it was out and I immediately bought it.Then I read the blurb and thought superhero? Really?Then I read the book. I absolutely loved it. I had to eek it out or I would have devoured it, as it is I read it in 24 hours. Lexi was was moody, bossy and as the title said grumpy. Gracie was sarcastic, blunt and real.Can we have the rest of the family now? Please?

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???

I'm a big fan of MZ. I have read most of her books (apart from 2) and I know her style. The books are long and super slow burn. And I love them - usually.But this time I felt it was quite repetitive when it came to Gracie and her hang ups. Her not understanding things between them that was obvious. And I felt the superhero family (which was super interesting) wasn't utilised to its fullest potential.Yes, there was a HEA. But I feel the epilogue should have shown us grandma's visions in greater detail. So perhaps a second epilogue?It really felt like dragged and if I didn't like the superhero concept so much I thought this would have been Mariana's first book I was going to DNF.If it had been an unknown author I would have given up. But I love Mariana and so I continued. I didn't hate the book. But I also didn't love it. It was OK - hence the 3 stars.So if you have a lot of time and really love the author and think it's cool she's embarking in the supernatural world, like me, I would still recommend this book. Of you don't tick these 3 boxes than I would recommend another book from MZ.

💖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 !