I haven't read a slow burn for a while and damn I have missed it. I was giddy when their lips brushed at like 73% of the way through, and fully hopeful and invested in Luna and Rips life/relationship by the end. 

I felt like you really got to know the characters, their backstory and the different facets to their personalities as the book progressed. It was drip fed in a way that kept me invested but not bored. I loved Luna, she tried so hard and deserved so much and despite everything really tried to be an optimist and a good person even when not everyone deserved it but she did show how tough she was as well. Rip was interesting, he didn't give a lot away at the start but his actions really said more than his words ever did and considering the book is from Luna's POV it makes sense that she didn't make the connection between his actions and his feelings sooner. 

There were a range of complicated relationships and I liked that they didn't brush over them and that it was also shown that it's okay to not forgive someone and you can still move on with your life without that when necessary. 

Because Luna was a touch oblivious when it came to Rip, but we as the reader could blatantly make the connections, sometimes it felt a little repetitive with her thoughts and her questioning what it could mean. However, the crux of it is, Mariana Zapata can write realistic characters that suck you in and have you begging for something, anything, to happen between them. 

I'd say this is one of Mariana's best build-ups when it comes to character relationship. The scenes where the FMC and MMC interact have such a nice slow, realistic tension. You clearly see the MMC go from tough to soft, and I'd say there were plenty(!!!) of interactions between the two characters that made the relationship seem realistic and REAL.

The backstories of both characters were so real and raw, I think Mariana did such an excellent job fleshing out realistic characters with real problems/trauma and making them so special to watch grow. 

I will say, that if you are a person uncomfortable with age gaps, I'd skip this one. Similar to Kulti's age gap, the FMC is 26 or 27 (can't remember) and MMC is 41. It's not awful, it made me scratch my head a few times, personally, but I think it can be looked past. I think unlike some of her other works, the dynamic didn't seem uncomfortable (No "old man" jokes.. like Hands Down... ick for me personally). 

I think all side characters were super interesting and fun when they made appearances. The sisters, Mr. Cooper, and Miguel were all some of my favorites.

For others interested in the Mariana-verse, spoilers in case you want to skip:

We had a reference to the Reapers from Under Locke, and the Maio house from Hands Down.

Overall, I'd really recommend this book to those who love these tropes:
-Age gap
-Grumpy x Sunshine
-(Adoptive) father figure
-Independent, successful FMC

Man, the way my eyes bug out of my head when Mariana slips in a “baby girl” half way (or more) through the book. Gets me every time.

I really liked this one! This has a lot of god tropes: grumpy x sunshine, workplace romance, enemies to friends to lovers, touch her and you die, age gap. The list goes on. Slow burn though which isn’t my favorite, but only Mariana could make me read a ~500+ page book where I wait until about 90% in for them to bang. 

mariana zapata is one of my favourite authors, i read her books once in a while so i don't finish her backlist too quickly.

i really liked this! i've been in a reading slump, so it wasn't easy for me to be captured in a book, but from the very first page i fell in love with luna. i'll admit, at some point of the book her romance with rip felt like a subplot and i was fine with it. one thing about mz is that her characters inner dialogues are amazing. im always highlighting a lot of things and i loved luna and i learned a lot of thing from the way she views life. i related a lot to her so seeing the way she copes with things felt very familiar.

rip... wasn't my fav mz man but also wasn't the worst. at first i was just okay with him because he just felt like the usual grumpy man that says two words (im not hating, that's literally my fav trope). until half in the book when his character really develops. he really won me over, im not gonna lie! 

family dynamics are SO complex and not everything is black and white. this did a really great job highlighting that. 

luna my beloved i'd go to war for you <3