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Dear Aaron
Ruby Santos knew exactly what she was getting herself into when she signed up to write a soldier overseas.
The guidelines were simple: one letter or email a week for the length of his or her deployment. Care packages were optional.
Been there, done that. She thought she knew what to expect.
What she didn’t count on was falling in love with the guy.
The guidelines were simple: one letter or email a week for the length of his or her deployment. Care packages were optional.
Been there, done that. She thought she knew what to expect.
What she didn’t count on was falling in love with the guy.
500 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 10, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 6,327 reviews
August 3, 2020
DNF @ 45%
I give up.
I love slow burn romances and I love this author but I can’t do it anymore. I’m sorry.
The heroine is immature, self-deprecating, weak and lacks confidence.
The story is boring and uneventful. There’s no chemistry, no delicious anticipation, no excitement, no plot, no feels. Nothing. At least for me.
I couldn’t connect with the characters. And frankly, I don’t care if they get together in the end or not.
But hey, that’s just me. The idea for the book is great. Hopefully you'll like it better.
June 22, 2017
4 stars!
Every Mariana Zapata book I’ve read, I’ve LOVED, so when this book went live, I one-clicked it and started reading it straight away. What I love so much about MZ’s books is that they’re long, but they don’t feel long. I flew through this long book in a day and a half.
Dear Aaron has MZ’s signature slow burn quality, but it was a little different to me. Aaron and Ruby start out as friends, or pen-pals to be exact. They don’t have the animosity and ‘rub’ to start with. The first 40% of the book was a mostly letters, emails, and IM’s. I liked that the characters got to know each other this way. I wouldn’t call the first half slow, but the last 40-50% was sooooo much faster.
I loved Aaron so much. I loved how Ruby’s letters and messages got him through such a hard time in his life. It was almost strange to read a hero in a Zapata book that wasn’t a grouch LOL! Ruby had some insecurities, but I adored her as well. It was apparent to me that these two were made for each other. I rooted for them. I wanted more of them ‘together’. I guess that’s the only reason this wasn’t a 5 for me. As much as I loved the emails, letters etc, I wish it was only 25% of the book or so. More Ruron time ;)
Mariana Zapata is such a talented writer. Her books have this way of sucking me in. I adored this couple and their story. If you’re a fan of friends to lovers, military romance, and want a unique and heartwarming romance, pick up Dear Aaron!
“Ruron forever.”
Every Mariana Zapata book I’ve read, I’ve LOVED, so when this book went live, I one-clicked it and started reading it straight away. What I love so much about MZ’s books is that they’re long, but they don’t feel long. I flew through this long book in a day and a half.
Dear Aaron has MZ’s signature slow burn quality, but it was a little different to me. Aaron and Ruby start out as friends, or pen-pals to be exact. They don’t have the animosity and ‘rub’ to start with. The first 40% of the book was a mostly letters, emails, and IM’s. I liked that the characters got to know each other this way. I wouldn’t call the first half slow, but the last 40-50% was sooooo much faster.
I loved Aaron so much. I loved how Ruby’s letters and messages got him through such a hard time in his life. It was almost strange to read a hero in a Zapata book that wasn’t a grouch LOL! Ruby had some insecurities, but I adored her as well. It was apparent to me that these two were made for each other. I rooted for them. I wanted more of them ‘together’. I guess that’s the only reason this wasn’t a 5 for me. As much as I loved the emails, letters etc, I wish it was only 25% of the book or so. More Ruron time ;)
Mariana Zapata is such a talented writer. Her books have this way of sucking me in. I adored this couple and their story. If you’re a fan of friends to lovers, military romance, and want a unique and heartwarming romance, pick up Dear Aaron!
“You’re my Ruby, and you have been for a long time.”
Want to read
June 26, 2017Oh my God, when can I have it, when, when, when, when...
March 21, 2024
4.45/5 ⭐
Full review on my Blog: The Dacian She-Wolf 🐺
UGH ZAPATA STIKES ME AGAIN!
And. It. Hurt. Right. In. My. Ticker!
When I thought that From Lukov with Love is my favourite MZ book, I had to reconfigure and add Dear Aaron up there on the highest step of the podium together with From Lukov… because it was nearly perfect.
Yeah, nearly, you heard me right, I don’t believe in perfection, suck it up.
The structure of the book is very interesting – it consists of letters/emails/IMs for the first half of it and then later on, the actual narrative takes place.
I liked the message-exchange idea of the first half; this is how we see Ruby and Aaron bonding, becoming friends and then slowly catching strong feelings for each other. And that’s great because they are EXTREMELY adorable together.
And also, what amazes me the most about this whole story is that because of constantly writing to each other for about 9 months, they started liking each other more and more without even knowing how they look like. Like, how amazingly cool and beautiful is this?? (Answer: extremely).
Ruby is a total mood most of the time – I truly love her goofy outbursts and silly jokes and quirks and all. She’s a great gal. But also, she annoyed the hell out of me with her occasional insecurities regarding Aaron’s feelings for her. Girl, the man is head over heels in love with you, you’re a catch, stop overthinking like that!!
Aaron is amazing and he deserves all the love in the world and all the happiness.
He’s also one of the very few contemporary romance male characters that I actually managed to fall in love with – this makes him a big special, compassionate, down-to-earth, funny, protective, soft, smart, awkward, adorable giant (because he’s freakishly tall and fit too – a total dish, mind you). He’s a total puppy.
Their relationship builds up so terribly slow – a slow-burn in its truest form. I was about 80% in and I was wondering if I would start growing a beard right then and there it’ll be faster than those two managing a kiss.
Towards the end though, things start getting a bit more on the dramatic side. We are witnessing some social and familial issues that the two of them encountered in their lives until that very point and we also get to feel the trust they have in each other – so much that they are willing to share the saddest parts of their souls and know that their secrets would be fiercely guarded by the other forever.
Their love is so pure and so beautiful that by the end of the book I couldn’t help but swoon right into a puddle of goo. They become more and more adorable and they are perfect for each other and honestly, this book is going to end up being re-read by me at least once. It’s easily one of the best slow-burn romances I’ve ever read.
It was nearly perfect overall.
Full review on my Blog: The Dacian She-Wolf 🐺
UGH ZAPATA STIKES ME AGAIN!
And. It. Hurt. Right. In. My. Ticker!
When I thought that From Lukov with Love is my favourite MZ book, I had to reconfigure and add Dear Aaron up there on the highest step of the podium together with From Lukov… because it was nearly perfect.
Yeah, nearly, you heard me right, I don’t believe in perfection, suck it up.
The structure of the book is very interesting – it consists of letters/emails/IMs for the first half of it and then later on, the actual narrative takes place.
I liked the message-exchange idea of the first half; this is how we see Ruby and Aaron bonding, becoming friends and then slowly catching strong feelings for each other. And that’s great because they are EXTREMELY adorable together.
And also, what amazes me the most about this whole story is that because of constantly writing to each other for about 9 months, they started liking each other more and more without even knowing how they look like. Like, how amazingly cool and beautiful is this?? (Answer: extremely).
Ruby is a total mood most of the time – I truly love her goofy outbursts and silly jokes and quirks and all. She’s a great gal. But also, she annoyed the hell out of me with her occasional insecurities regarding Aaron’s feelings for her. Girl, the man is head over heels in love with you, you’re a catch, stop overthinking like that!!
Aaron is amazing and he deserves all the love in the world and all the happiness.
He’s also one of the very few contemporary romance male characters that I actually managed to fall in love with – this makes him a big special, compassionate, down-to-earth, funny, protective, soft, smart, awkward, adorable giant (because he’s freakishly tall and fit too – a total dish, mind you). He’s a total puppy.
Their relationship builds up so terribly slow – a slow-burn in its truest form. I was about 80% in and I was wondering if I would start growing a beard right then and there it’ll be faster than those two managing a kiss.
Towards the end though, things start getting a bit more on the dramatic side. We are witnessing some social and familial issues that the two of them encountered in their lives until that very point and we also get to feel the trust they have in each other – so much that they are willing to share the saddest parts of their souls and know that their secrets would be fiercely guarded by the other forever.
Their love is so pure and so beautiful that by the end of the book I couldn’t help but swoon right into a puddle of goo. They become more and more adorable and they are perfect for each other and honestly, this book is going to end up being re-read by me at least once. It’s easily one of the best slow-burn romances I’ve ever read.
It was nearly perfect overall.
March 8, 2023
I love Mariana Zapata. She is hands down one of my all time favorite authors. Her last three books have all been amazing and 5 star reviews. I love her unique style, the slow burn, and all of her books have been devour-in-one-sitting kind of books. I think what makes her books so unique is her way of writing about real people and her characters are so easy to connect with.
I’ve known since the author announced it on FB that this book would be different. I didn’t know exactly how different it would be but I’ve read pen pal books before, so I had an inkling of what was to come. In Dear Aaron, the exchange of letters and emails, and later on the messaging between Ruby and Aaron lasted almost 40% of the book. I think all of us Slow Burners know what to expect when we read a Mariana Zapata book, but still, I don’t think I was quite prepared for that long of an exchange.
The letters between Ruby and Aaron were super sweet. Starting out as strangers they slowly and gradually worked their way to being friends. Throughout their conversations they got to know each other by sharing tidbits of their daily lives, family, hopes, fears and doubts. When they started messaging it became clear that they really liked each other. Their exchange, banter and jokes were wonderfully poignant and deeply touching.
Ruby was such an interesting character. Sassy but also insecure at times. Hardworking and deeply loyal to family. Her fears and worries about the future were mirrored by Aaron’s trepidation about what to do when he was done with the army. He became a soldier because there was nothing that interested him right after high school. Even though he never regretted that decision neither Aaron nor Ruby had everything planned out or knew what to do with their lives. It felt unapologetically real. How many young people don’t know what to do with their lives. I’ve been there once. 😀
I’ve always loved the authors skill of waving captivating and emotional stories about regular folks. People like you and me. Nobody extraordinary, just next door kind of people.
And let’s not forget the supporting characters. I adored Ruby’s family. Especially her mother. She sounded like a woman to be feared but also someone that was a hoot in a crazy kind of way. It was easy to picture her thanks to Zapata’s incredible skill of writing unique characters.
That being said, I really enjoyed Dear Aaron.
Was it as good as Wait For It or Wall of Winnipeg or Kulti? NO
It was sweet, but it wasn’t the same fleshed out and captivating novel I’m used to. For me unfortunately, letters never work as well as regular plotted storylines. There can only be so much explained and described in letters. And whereas texting and messaging can be cute and funny, it’s not the same as a regular dialogue.
I truly admire the author for writing something different. She stepped outside the molt and delivered a unique concept and plot. It just didn’t work for me as well as I hoped it would.
Nevertheless, I love her style of writing and Dear Aaron was without a doubt an entertaining book that I finished in one sitting. I just wanted it to be a bit more amazing and special. But I also acknowledge that the first 40% just didn't connect with me as much as regular chapters would have. Nevertheless her writing was excellent and it's a Zapata book - so it will never be anything else than remarkable.
ARC generously provided in exchange for an honest review.
I’ve known since the author announced it on FB that this book would be different. I didn’t know exactly how different it would be but I’ve read pen pal books before, so I had an inkling of what was to come. In Dear Aaron, the exchange of letters and emails, and later on the messaging between Ruby and Aaron lasted almost 40% of the book. I think all of us Slow Burners know what to expect when we read a Mariana Zapata book, but still, I don’t think I was quite prepared for that long of an exchange.
The letters between Ruby and Aaron were super sweet. Starting out as strangers they slowly and gradually worked their way to being friends. Throughout their conversations they got to know each other by sharing tidbits of their daily lives, family, hopes, fears and doubts. When they started messaging it became clear that they really liked each other. Their exchange, banter and jokes were wonderfully poignant and deeply touching.
Ruby was such an interesting character. Sassy but also insecure at times. Hardworking and deeply loyal to family. Her fears and worries about the future were mirrored by Aaron’s trepidation about what to do when he was done with the army. He became a soldier because there was nothing that interested him right after high school. Even though he never regretted that decision neither Aaron nor Ruby had everything planned out or knew what to do with their lives. It felt unapologetically real. How many young people don’t know what to do with their lives. I’ve been there once. 😀
I’ve always loved the authors skill of waving captivating and emotional stories about regular folks. People like you and me. Nobody extraordinary, just next door kind of people.
And let’s not forget the supporting characters. I adored Ruby’s family. Especially her mother. She sounded like a woman to be feared but also someone that was a hoot in a crazy kind of way. It was easy to picture her thanks to Zapata’s incredible skill of writing unique characters.
That being said, I really enjoyed Dear Aaron.
Was it as good as Wait For It or Wall of Winnipeg or Kulti? NO
It was sweet, but it wasn’t the same fleshed out and captivating novel I’m used to. For me unfortunately, letters never work as well as regular plotted storylines. There can only be so much explained and described in letters. And whereas texting and messaging can be cute and funny, it’s not the same as a regular dialogue.
I truly admire the author for writing something different. She stepped outside the molt and delivered a unique concept and plot. It just didn’t work for me as well as I hoped it would.
Nevertheless, I love her style of writing and Dear Aaron was without a doubt an entertaining book that I finished in one sitting. I just wanted it to be a bit more amazing and special. But I also acknowledge that the first 40% just didn't connect with me as much as regular chapters would have. Nevertheless her writing was excellent and it's a Zapata book - so it will never be anything else than remarkable.
ARC generously provided in exchange for an honest review.
September 27, 2022
YO! F*CK THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have such a love/hate relationship to Mariana at this point, call us enemies-to-lovers-to-enemies if you will.
I fell into the Mariana rabbit hole after I read both Wall of Winnipeg and All Rhodes Lead Here and absolutely fell in love with BOTH of them. Five stars, and then I decided to read the rest of her blacklist.
worst mistake of my life
IT DOES NOT COMPUTE IN MY BRAIN HOW THE WOMAN WHO WROTE WINNIPEG AND RHODES ALSO WROTE THIS and Lukov.
(Yes, I also absolutely despise Lukov)
But I can LIVE WITH Lukov, I CANNOT LIVE WITH DEAR AARON.
THIS GOT ME ABSOLUTELY STRESSED THE F*CK OUT.
Okay, Okay, let's get on with this so I never have to think about this book ever again.
This is supposed to be a pen-pal romance. He is stationed somewhere in the army and she works for a company that assigns people to military men who are far away from home (so they won't feel as lonely and someone will check in with them weekly). Totally cool, right?
There is nothing I love more than texting and long distance slow-burns. I love the whole pen-pal trope and I thought: well this should be pretty easy to love...
It took only 3 letters from her for me to want to shoot myself. Listen, if you love this book, I am deeply, deeply sorry. I just can't keep this inside me. It burns.
He doesn't reply to her first five letters because he is busy, so the first 20 pages are just: Hey, checking in with you again. No worries if you can't respond, but I'd love to chat when you can. Heyyyy, sorry, don't mean to bother you, checking in again. Heyyyy, I hope this finds you well. It's okay if you can't respond, just checking in with you again... when she finally gave up at the last letter I almost cried with relief...
but guess what HE DID????? HE RESPONDED.
It was like reading about two four year olds exchanging letters. She would make fart jokes, dad jokes and he would respond with: wow, you are so funny, you made me spit my coffee, no one makes me laugh like you do.
HOMIE I JUST THINK BEING IN THE ARMY without talking to women for so long has seriously affected you.
She literally shares in the earlier letters that the last army guy she was e-mailing sent her pictures of his and I QUOTE "TRICK" because this female main character is such a fucking prude that she can't even say DICK (she does it multiple times, she can't type the word dick because it would be too much) And once Aaron asks her, did you send anything back to him? Do you know WHAT SHE SAID?
THAT SHE DOESN'T SEND PICTURES OF HER NO NO ZONES.
How in the WORLD am I supposed to cheer for these two characters to end up together and want to FUCK each other, when you both talk like the most pathetic/under developed adults I HAVE EVER SEEN?
She also is a NERDY GIRLLL and spends tons of e-mails talking about how she plays video-games, and watches lord of the rings, and plays world of warcraft.
SHE'S NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS AND AARON HAS NEVER MET A GIRL WHO'S INTO VIDEO GAMES OK????
I've had video-game consoles since I was five and I know plenty of girls who did too. I've been playing MOBA and RPG games for YEARS. YOU'RE NOT SPECIAL.
Not to mention, she did it again. They talk about poops, shits, farts, burps, having someone piss on you... Mariana has this uncanny obsession with bodily fluids and I honestly CAN'T. I PHISICALLY CAN'T.
Romances are supposed to be sexy, even when they're wholesome. Mariana focused so so so so so hard on the wholesome that now I can read this to a newborn and they will probably have a great time.
NO CONNECTION, no chemistry, no sparks, nothing redeemable about the most boring characters I've ever read in my life.
Also why do ALL OF HER FEMALES FORGET TO CARRY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING: A PERSONALITY???? All of them are meek, and perfect, they are so good and caring and they don't have a single drop of darkness or duality or SEASONING.
I just can't stand reading about ANOTHER female who helps the elderly cross the sidewalk, and gives flowers to the old lady down the street, who never drinks and loves her family more than anything and has the personality of a ten year old boy.
I want/need FLAWED FEMALES, REAL FEMALES. Who have trust issues, women who won't forgive everyone who hurts them because they don’t have some fucking snow white complex. Women who are not constantly trying to be the “bigger person”. I want REAL WOMEN.
I really am beginning to think Mariana is a two hit wonder, I wish I enjoyed her other books. I guess two really GREAT ones is enough for a lifetime and I will give her that.
It just pisses me off because I know she can do better. Anyways, this is the end of my rant. The most boring book I have ever read in my life. I can finally move on.
Thank you for reading.
June 22, 2017
5 Stars
"Dear Aaron, My name is Ruby Santos, and I'm your new pairing through the Help a Solider Foundation."
Even though my rating is high, I did have a few issues with this story. I did think that the heroine was a teenager until her age was revealed and honestly at times those letters and conversations were slightly boring...
Regardless of my gripes, I still one hundred percent LOVED this story!
"Him as a person was beyond by expectations."
"Dear Aaron, My name is Ruby Santos, and I'm your new pairing through the Help a Solider Foundation."
Even though my rating is high, I did have a few issues with this story. I did think that the heroine was a teenager until her age was revealed and honestly at times those letters and conversations were slightly boring...
Regardless of my gripes, I still one hundred percent LOVED this story!
"Him as a person was beyond by expectations."
February 12, 2023
Dear Ruron,
You have given me impossible standards to even consider getting into a relationship.
With love (and maybe a little envy),
A fangirl
Although the epistolary exchange was only about 40% of the entire book, I loved it more than Ruby's POV. She was perfectly nice, but the e-mails were more articulate, a lot less biased and had a quaint charm to it. And definitely added a zing to their budding romance. Also, it was good to read about Aaron's side of things since there's no other chapters from his perspective.
The slowwww romance bubbling between the lead characters was definitely what made this book stand apart from the meet-date contemporaries these days. The character growth of the protagonists was also neatly done. Aaron pushing Ruby to be bolder and Ruby influencing Aaron to be better was just so lovely. Their relationship was too adorable for words. RURON FOREVER. Enough said.
Would have liked to read another hundred pages or so, swooning over these two!
Was hoping to see Aaron kick Ruby's brother's ass of a best friend in the epilogue. And maybe see how many kids they have. And bandana wearing dogs.
Definitely gonna start reading more of Ms.Zapata!
You have given me impossible standards to even consider getting into a relationship.
With love (and maybe a little envy),
A fangirl
Although the epistolary exchange was only about 40% of the entire book, I loved it more than Ruby's POV. She was perfectly nice, but the e-mails were more articulate, a lot less biased and had a quaint charm to it. And definitely added a zing to their budding romance. Also, it was good to read about Aaron's side of things since there's no other chapters from his perspective.
The slowwww romance bubbling between the lead characters was definitely what made this book stand apart from the meet-date contemporaries these days. The character growth of the protagonists was also neatly done. Aaron pushing Ruby to be bolder and Ruby influencing Aaron to be better was just so lovely. Their relationship was too adorable for words. RURON FOREVER. Enough said.
Would have liked to read another hundred pages or so, swooning over these two!
Was hoping to see Aaron kick Ruby's brother's ass of a best friend in the epilogue. And maybe see how many kids they have. And bandana wearing dogs.
Definitely gonna start reading more of Ms.Zapata!
December 18, 2018
2.5 stars
Interesting idea, good writing.
But…
The female protagonist…. *shudder*
Sweet, but childish and weak and uncertain and whiny, whiny, whiny….
Everyone was bad or/and unfair: her aunts, her friends, her brothers, her sisters - the whole world…
Poor girl, no one made her life easier :-( *let me wipe my tears*
Not that she was a bad person; she was just über-whiny and acted pathetic.
Child-woman is not my coppa.
I’m a complete opposite of it and couldn’t connect. Not at all.
Male protagonist was ok I guess. Apart from his model looks and perfect bone structure *eye roll* – as FP told me repeatedly – he was ok. Glad he had over 30 gfs and found the love of his life before he turned 30.
Odd epilogue.
I finished this book only thanks to the fabulous writing talent of the author.
Love her books!
This one was my less favorite, but the next one will be a winner – I’m sure! ;-)
Interesting idea, good writing.
But…
The female protagonist…. *shudder*
Sweet, but childish and weak and uncertain and whiny, whiny, whiny….
Everyone was bad or/and unfair: her aunts, her friends, her brothers, her sisters - the whole world…
Poor girl, no one made her life easier :-( *let me wipe my tears*
Not that she was a bad person; she was just über-whiny and acted pathetic.
Child-woman is not my coppa.
I’m a complete opposite of it and couldn’t connect. Not at all.
Male protagonist was ok I guess. Apart from his model looks and perfect bone structure *eye roll* – as FP told me repeatedly – he was ok. Glad he had over 30 gfs and found the love of his life before he turned 30.
Odd epilogue.
I finished this book only thanks to the fabulous writing talent of the author.
Love her books!
This one was my less favorite, but the next one will be a winner – I’m sure! ;-)
June 20, 2022
actual rating: 4.5 stars ⭐️
June 13, 2017
Review before reading the book:
Oh my god.
Did you guys know???
That this was happening???
New book from Mariana Zapata?
Can I have this now, please?
Review after reading Dear Aaron:
I'll try to be nice because... Mariana Zapata.
Now, I'm sure you know how much I love her previous works 'Kulti' and 'Winnipegg'. The characters are intricate and layered. Their problems are multifaceted and in general the slow burn romance was believable and to die for. Not only that but, the female characters were strong in their own right and also vulnerable (because you can't only be strong. you have to be atleast sometimes
vulnerable).
I gave this book a real chance. No BS I swear. I started this book and read every single sentence (however boring) up to chapter 8, where I realized that things were not going to be better, that I would NOT care about what they wrote about and I would definitely NOT laugh about all the toilet jokes (cue eye roll).
Now here we have two characters. Ruby and Aaron.
Ruby is...how should I describe her? She is 23 years old, a seamstress and she works for her Aunt or Aunts (I don't really remember). She likes to cry A LOT. She has never had a boyfriend and she has a major inferiority complex because the boy she was in love with for so long never liked her back.
I'm not a bad person. Some might call me even compassionate! *cough cough* However, Ruby did not endear me in anyway to her predicament. Mostly because she spoke like a fourteen year old girl.
A teenager who doesn't know anything, really. I get that it's 2008 when she starts writing to Aaron, but the internet existed then, did it not? Women in 2009 acted quite a bit like today did they not?
The fact that a man she went on one date with and wanted to have sex with her, should not be considered such a bad thing, right? She acted so astonished by him...like how could he?
Girl you crazay. Ruby acts like this is some sort of mistreatment. Whines about it to Aaron and says she couldn't believe he did that. I'm sorry, am I missing something here? Did men eight years ago, not want to have sex on the first date? Also, if a woman does have sex on the first date, is she considered a whore in our heroine's eyes?
That kind of pissed me off.
So naive...such a blatant push-over. And not in a charming way, in a I'm-so-quirky-and-young-I-don't-know-anything-of-vital-importance way. So cutesy I wanna throw up.
But since I'm compassionate and nice I won't use the real vocab I thought when reading this story.
Spoiler alert, they were bad words.
Also, just a side note: our heroine used the word idiot when referring to herself and/or her actions. I always sided with her when she would say that, no matter what Aaron made her believe later.
Let's start with Aaron now, shall we?
Hmmm... Aaron is a 30 yo soldier who is...a man, who likes to read but not a lot.
A man who likes cheesy jokes...a man who wants pizza...a man who-
Sorry. Fell asleep there for a second.
But yeah, that's basically it.
That's right. No personality. I mean literally zero, zilch, nada, τίποτα...
He has some family issues. He thinks talking about pooping and peeing is funny (although our heroine is even worse than he is-seriously though what is up with all the toilet talk?) and he has a dog back home or something.
Oh and he used to have a girlfriend.
Now, I understand that the author was kind of going for the strong silent type. But see now, that can't really work because of the books format!
Half of the book is written in email, letter or IM format. With no written text telling us the characters feelings or actions or anything in between said correspondence. It's like reading some strangers' facebook messages. And they aren't even that interesting.
So yeah, after that we meet Aaron when he practically begs said heroine to meet up with him. She of course declines at first because she has issues or whatever (I really couldn't care less) but in the end she goes because if she didn't there would be no book to read in the first place. Now from here on out the novel is written normally, with paragraphs and actual dialogue and actions.
Even together though they were boring! As in, I just couldn't get into the book. The writing felt choppy. I didn't understand Ruby's train of thought all that well, because we had missed a large part of character development with all the emails and IMing. I didn't feel investing in either characters. Also, a major downer was the fact that I hated, HATED Ruby's internal voice. Such low self esteem. So much doubt. Such juvenile behavior. What is this? A middle school book?
In the past I have read books by other authors that have made this sort of email, text, diary thing work. Most prominent has to be Meg Cabot. She has written several books that have a diary format (duh) and emailing/texting format. Yet, she has made it work! I have enjoyed her books because they make me understand the characters.
Here unfortunately it didn't. At all.
I'm disappointed. And really I just want to read 'Winnipegg' again. You know what? That's what I'm gonna do.
So yeah. I guess I'm sorry. I'm sorry because I love Mariana Zapata.
I'm sorry if this is ranty. I'm sorry if I didn't get the book. I tried. I did. I just hated it though.
Oh my god.
Did you guys know???
That this was happening???
New book from Mariana Zapata?
Can I have this now, please?
Review after reading Dear Aaron:
I'll try to be nice because... Mariana Zapata.
Now, I'm sure you know how much I love her previous works 'Kulti' and 'Winnipegg'. The characters are intricate and layered. Their problems are multifaceted and in general the slow burn romance was believable and to die for. Not only that but, the female characters were strong in their own right and also vulnerable (because you can't only be strong. you have to be atleast sometimes
vulnerable).
I gave this book a real chance. No BS I swear. I started this book and read every single sentence (however boring) up to chapter 8, where I realized that things were not going to be better, that I would NOT care about what they wrote about and I would definitely NOT laugh about all the toilet jokes (cue eye roll).
Now here we have two characters. Ruby and Aaron.
Ruby is...how should I describe her? She is 23 years old, a seamstress and she works for her Aunt or Aunts (I don't really remember). She likes to cry A LOT. She has never had a boyfriend and she has a major inferiority complex because the boy she was in love with for so long never liked her back.
I'm not a bad person. Some might call me even compassionate! *cough cough* However, Ruby did not endear me in anyway to her predicament. Mostly because she spoke like a fourteen year old girl.
A teenager who doesn't know anything, really. I get that it's 2008 when she starts writing to Aaron, but the internet existed then, did it not? Women in 2009 acted quite a bit like today did they not?
The fact that a man she went on one date with and wanted to have sex with her, should not be considered such a bad thing, right? She acted so astonished by him...like how could he?
Girl you crazay. Ruby acts like this is some sort of mistreatment. Whines about it to Aaron and says she couldn't believe he did that. I'm sorry, am I missing something here? Did men eight years ago, not want to have sex on the first date? Also, if a woman does have sex on the first date, is she considered a whore in our heroine's eyes?
That kind of pissed me off.
So naive...such a blatant push-over. And not in a charming way, in a I'm-so-quirky-and-young-I-don't-know-anything-of-vital-importance way. So cutesy I wanna throw up.
But since I'm compassionate and nice I won't use the real vocab I thought when reading this story.
Spoiler alert, they were bad words.
Also, just a side note: our heroine used the word idiot when referring to herself and/or her actions. I always sided with her when she would say that, no matter what Aaron made her believe later.
Let's start with Aaron now, shall we?
Hmmm... Aaron is a 30 yo soldier who is...a man, who likes to read but not a lot.
A man who likes cheesy jokes...a man who wants pizza...a man who-
Sorry. Fell asleep there for a second.
But yeah, that's basically it.
That's right. No personality. I mean literally zero, zilch, nada, τίποτα...
He has some family issues. He thinks talking about pooping and peeing is funny (although our heroine is even worse than he is-seriously though what is up with all the toilet talk?) and he has a dog back home or something.
Oh and he used to have a girlfriend.
Now, I understand that the author was kind of going for the strong silent type. But see now, that can't really work because of the books format!
Half of the book is written in email, letter or IM format. With no written text telling us the characters feelings or actions or anything in between said correspondence. It's like reading some strangers' facebook messages. And they aren't even that interesting.
So yeah, after that we meet Aaron when he practically begs said heroine to meet up with him. She of course declines at first because she has issues or whatever (I really couldn't care less) but in the end she goes because if she didn't there would be no book to read in the first place. Now from here on out the novel is written normally, with paragraphs and actual dialogue and actions.
Even together though they were boring! As in, I just couldn't get into the book. The writing felt choppy. I didn't understand Ruby's train of thought all that well, because we had missed a large part of character development with all the emails and IMing. I didn't feel investing in either characters. Also, a major downer was the fact that I hated, HATED Ruby's internal voice. Such low self esteem. So much doubt. Such juvenile behavior. What is this? A middle school book?
In the past I have read books by other authors that have made this sort of email, text, diary thing work. Most prominent has to be Meg Cabot. She has written several books that have a diary format (duh) and emailing/texting format. Yet, she has made it work! I have enjoyed her books because they make me understand the characters.
Here unfortunately it didn't. At all.
I'm disappointed. And really I just want to read 'Winnipegg' again. You know what? That's what I'm gonna do.
So yeah. I guess I'm sorry. I'm sorry because I love Mariana Zapata.
I'm sorry if this is ranty. I'm sorry if I didn't get the book. I tried. I did. I just hated it though.
September 2, 2017
4.75
Dear Aaron,
I love you! I love you so much I could burst!
Love,
Your lovemuffin xoxo
This book definitely gave The Wall of Winnipeg a run for it's money! And it came close! The only complain I have and why I didn't give it the full five stars is because I wanted a longer epilogue. It's not that the epilogue we got was bad, I just simply wanted more. We spend most of the book reading about how they are getting closer, building foundations, connections, friendship and ultimately love. This book is the epitome of slow burn. So when it comes to the epilogue of a slow burn I need it to be spectacular. I want to know everything that came after. Their HEA in all it's glory. Do NOT read the spoiler if you have not read the book.
This book will remain close to my heart as it reminded me in many parts of how me and my hubby got together. Especially that fear before you meet and think that you may be falling in love with a serial killer. Luckily for both of us, neither turned out to be an axe murderer. Though I scared the living daylights out of him when I picked him up from the airport that first time and the car broke down in the highway, middle of nowhere, well after midnight and I turned around and said "Well, if I was gonna kill you this would be the perfect time", cue evil laughter. I relived my own memories while reading this and it made it extra special for me.
If you are a fan of the slow burn romance, and love living the journey of two people finding each other do not miss any Mariana Zapata books. The Wall of Winnipeg and Me along with this one are my favourites of hers and I thoroughly recommend them to everyone.
Dear Aaron,
I love you! I love you so much I could burst!
Love,
Your lovemuffin xoxo
This book definitely gave The Wall of Winnipeg a run for it's money! And it came close! The only complain I have and why I didn't give it the full five stars is because I wanted a longer epilogue. It's not that the epilogue we got was bad, I just simply wanted more. We spend most of the book reading about how they are getting closer, building foundations, connections, friendship and ultimately love. This book is the epitome of slow burn. So when it comes to the epilogue of a slow burn I need it to be spectacular. I want to know everything that came after. Their HEA in all it's glory. Do NOT read the spoiler if you have not read the book.
This book will remain close to my heart as it reminded me in many parts of how me and my hubby got together. Especially that fear before you meet and think that you may be falling in love with a serial killer. Luckily for both of us, neither turned out to be an axe murderer. Though I scared the living daylights out of him when I picked him up from the airport that first time and the car broke down in the highway, middle of nowhere, well after midnight and I turned around and said "Well, if I was gonna kill you this would be the perfect time", cue evil laughter. I relived my own memories while reading this and it made it extra special for me.
If you are a fan of the slow burn romance, and love living the journey of two people finding each other do not miss any Mariana Zapata books. The Wall of Winnipeg and Me along with this one are my favourites of hers and I thoroughly recommend them to everyone.
February 9, 2018
4.5 Stars
Ruron Forever!!
My first Mariana Zapata read, and I adored it!!
I will warn you, one does need the “patience of Job” to get to the nitty-gritty passionate part of this romance, but for me, it was so worth it!
Although this was the S.L.O.W.E.S.T. slow burn I have ever read, the characters, the dialogue (lots of dialogue), the premise of the storyline and Ms. Zapata’s writing style is superb! My anticipation for the HEA was all consuming!!
I also have a weakness for a man in uniform, especially a military uniform ;)
November 5, 2024
What the sigma
October 27, 2022
4.75 ⭐️
[April 4th 2022 - first read]
This was so much better than I expected it to be. I really wasn’t sure how I would vibe with the format of this book… but I loved it! So freakin much!
One thing I always notice with MZ books is that her guys are always very quiet & somehow don’t say much… & while Aaron did have that type of personality, we got to see so many more conversations between them because of the pen pal thing. It just set them up for such a different type of relationship than I’m used to seeing from MZ, but in a really good way.
I think why I connected with this story as much as I did, was because it reminded me a lot of how I used to text guys I had crushes on as a teenager. The late night convos, getting excited for your phone to buzz, the slow build up of that type of friendship and it always being on your mind type of vibes… this book just brought back all those feelings and I loved it.
One negative thing about this book though was that it wasn’t long enough… but I feel that way about all her books. Since the couple only ever gets together at the very end, every time, I’m always aching for more. I seriously could have read 500 more pages of this without complaining.
———————————————————
[October 26th 2022 - second read]
I get that the format of this book is not something that would work for everyone… but I absolutely love it. I said this the last time I read this book, but I’m saying it again… it reminds me so much of when I was a teenager and I used to text guys all hours of the day and we’d have these super deep conversations that just never ended… the feeling of getting excited for your phone to buzz, waiting for that next message… the slow build up of that type of friendship… this book brings back all those feelings and I love it for that.
But… this time around I did realize that even though I like Aaron and think he’s a solid love interest, I don’t like him as much as my other favorite MZ men (like Ivan, Reiner, Aiden, Ripley, Tobias, Dex and Dallas). MZ generally has this way of writing male characters that don’t talk a lot and only share the bare minimum, yet somehow they say just enough that you end up loving them anyway because their actions speak louder than their words… and I don’t think Aaron is any different in that regard, but I think that it hinders his character in the specific situation of this story and it made me like him less because of those character/personality traits.
Since him and Ruby had such an open and communicative relationship, it bothered me how Aaron kept things from Ruby at certain times and I wish he would have been more open with her in general. I feel like Ruby shared a lot more with him than he did with her and it felt a bit imbalanced to me. It was all fine by the end because he eventually opened up to her, but in the moments throughout the story when he didn’t, it had my anxiety and trust issues spiking and that’s why I didn’t love him as much as I wanted to.
[April 4th 2022 - first read]
This was so much better than I expected it to be. I really wasn’t sure how I would vibe with the format of this book… but I loved it! So freakin much!
One thing I always notice with MZ books is that her guys are always very quiet & somehow don’t say much… & while Aaron did have that type of personality, we got to see so many more conversations between them because of the pen pal thing. It just set them up for such a different type of relationship than I’m used to seeing from MZ, but in a really good way.
I think why I connected with this story as much as I did, was because it reminded me a lot of how I used to text guys I had crushes on as a teenager. The late night convos, getting excited for your phone to buzz, the slow build up of that type of friendship and it always being on your mind type of vibes… this book just brought back all those feelings and I loved it.
One negative thing about this book though was that it wasn’t long enough… but I feel that way about all her books. Since the couple only ever gets together at the very end, every time, I’m always aching for more. I seriously could have read 500 more pages of this without complaining.
———————————————————
[October 26th 2022 - second read]
I get that the format of this book is not something that would work for everyone… but I absolutely love it. I said this the last time I read this book, but I’m saying it again… it reminds me so much of when I was a teenager and I used to text guys all hours of the day and we’d have these super deep conversations that just never ended… the feeling of getting excited for your phone to buzz, waiting for that next message… the slow build up of that type of friendship… this book brings back all those feelings and I love it for that.
But… this time around I did realize that even though I like Aaron and think he’s a solid love interest, I don’t like him as much as my other favorite MZ men (like Ivan, Reiner, Aiden, Ripley, Tobias, Dex and Dallas). MZ generally has this way of writing male characters that don’t talk a lot and only share the bare minimum, yet somehow they say just enough that you end up loving them anyway because their actions speak louder than their words… and I don’t think Aaron is any different in that regard, but I think that it hinders his character in the specific situation of this story and it made me like him less because of those character/personality traits.
Since him and Ruby had such an open and communicative relationship, it bothered me how Aaron kept things from Ruby at certain times and I wish he would have been more open with her in general. I feel like Ruby shared a lot more with him than he did with her and it felt a bit imbalanced to me. It was all fine by the end because he eventually opened up to her, but in the moments throughout the story when he didn’t, it had my anxiety and trust issues spiking and that’s why I didn’t love him as much as I wanted to.
October 29, 2017
4 stars!
Full confession, I totally went into this book knowing mini spoilers. By that I mean I knew the majority of the first half of the book was in epistolary form aka written in emails, IMs and texts. I think it helped knowing that going in, because if I hadn't I think I would have quit this book, and that would be a damn shame.
Dear Aaron is a love story between a soldier and his assigned pen pal. Ruby and Aaron meet via email when he is deployed in the Middle East through a letters to soldiers program. Over time, they become very good friends and some feelings develop, at least on one side.
I really don't want to say more than that, go into this knowing it's a slow burn, the first half the interactions are all written, and that it's a long book and you'll be good. Mariana Zapata writes the best slow burn romance. Hands down. You want a romance you'll long for? Turn to this woman's books. And while this one was on the sweeter side for me, I still found myself smiling as I was reading it.
This book was really a double edged sword for Zapata, and by that I mean the way it's written is a tough balance. Too much written interaction and it's too long, not enough and then people would complain it's not developed enough. While it's not perfect, I think she did an excellent job in building the relationship she did and that many readers will enjoy it.
I'm off to read the rest of Zapata's books! I have two more to go until I run out and will sit here waiting for her to publish more!
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Full confession, I totally went into this book knowing mini spoilers. By that I mean I knew the majority of the first half of the book was in epistolary form aka written in emails, IMs and texts. I think it helped knowing that going in, because if I hadn't I think I would have quit this book, and that would be a damn shame.
Dear Aaron is a love story between a soldier and his assigned pen pal. Ruby and Aaron meet via email when he is deployed in the Middle East through a letters to soldiers program. Over time, they become very good friends and some feelings develop, at least on one side.
I really don't want to say more than that, go into this knowing it's a slow burn, the first half the interactions are all written, and that it's a long book and you'll be good. Mariana Zapata writes the best slow burn romance. Hands down. You want a romance you'll long for? Turn to this woman's books. And while this one was on the sweeter side for me, I still found myself smiling as I was reading it.
This book was really a double edged sword for Zapata, and by that I mean the way it's written is a tough balance. Too much written interaction and it's too long, not enough and then people would complain it's not developed enough. While it's not perfect, I think she did an excellent job in building the relationship she did and that many readers will enjoy it.
I'm off to read the rest of Zapata's books! I have two more to go until I run out and will sit here waiting for her to publish more!
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June 5, 2020
1 Star
Okay. First of all I don't hate this book nor the author. Hate is such a strong word for it so maybe I could go for resentment over the fact that there was racism shoved in its part and characters even made fun of a Filipino food. Worse is that the heroine herself, a half-Filipina, tolerated it and called the food "gross".
Apart from that, I didn't feel an ounce of connection to the characters. There was no chemistry or a spark between them.
So the story was all about Ruby Marisol Santos and Aaron Hall whose friendship started virtually. Their means of communication is only through e-mails and chats. Aaron is a soldier who is based in Afghanistan and Ruby lives with her parents in the US.
They e-mailed back and forth the first half of the book. For me that was quite exhausting and it really took a bit of patience for me to get through it because who knows, there might be things that are interesting in their e-mails, but then there was none and I felt like I was just wasting a lot of time for nothing.
The thing I also noticed is that the characters seem to act like teenagers in this book. Especially Ruby. She is 23 years old and Aaron is 28 but reading Ruby's POV felt like perceiving a 16 year-old's voice.
It took me a really long time to finish this book, because (not surprised) it's a Mariana Zapata book and her novels are known to be really, really long. I have nothing against it. I love slow-burn romances, but this would be an exception because nothing really important or note-worthy happened until the 80% mark. I couldn't even say I liked what happened from there. I have read the author's previous book The Wall of Winnipeg and Me and I loved it immensely. However, this book was a disappointment for me.
Okay. First of all I don't hate this book nor the author. Hate is such a strong word for it so maybe I could go for resentment over the fact that there was racism shoved in its part and characters even made fun of a Filipino food. Worse is that the heroine herself, a half-Filipina, tolerated it and called the food "gross".
Apart from that, I didn't feel an ounce of connection to the characters. There was no chemistry or a spark between them.
So the story was all about Ruby Marisol Santos and Aaron Hall whose friendship started virtually. Their means of communication is only through e-mails and chats. Aaron is a soldier who is based in Afghanistan and Ruby lives with her parents in the US.
They e-mailed back and forth the first half of the book. For me that was quite exhausting and it really took a bit of patience for me to get through it because who knows, there might be things that are interesting in their e-mails, but then there was none and I felt like I was just wasting a lot of time for nothing.
The thing I also noticed is that the characters seem to act like teenagers in this book. Especially Ruby. She is 23 years old and Aaron is 28 but reading Ruby's POV felt like perceiving a 16 year-old's voice.
It took me a really long time to finish this book, because (not surprised) it's a Mariana Zapata book and her novels are known to be really, really long. I have nothing against it. I love slow-burn romances, but this would be an exception because nothing really important or note-worthy happened until the 80% mark. I couldn't even say I liked what happened from there. I have read the author's previous book The Wall of Winnipeg and Me and I loved it immensely. However, this book was a disappointment for me.
May 2, 2022
The Aarons have pulled it off again people
Aarons remain to be superior. We have Aaron Warner, Aaron Blackford and now we have Aaron Hall. At this point I honestly think having the name Aaron is a huge green flag.
Anyways, this book. Mariana Zapata is the slowburn QUEEN and i love her but this book was a bit too slow for my liking. Because for the first 50% of the book it was just them exchangine emails and text messages which is fine but I was getting really bored and just couldn't care less.
But then when they finally met up it was magic and I loved it. All of the stolen glances, all of the obsessing over the other was so magical and I know it's a slowburn but maybe meeting up sooner could have been a bit better in my opinion.
Ive read From Lucov with Love and that book was actually what made me want to read this book because they mention that Aaron and Ruby meet by exchanging emails and letters and I thought that was so cute and so decided to read this. I really enjoyed seeing all of Ruby/Jasmine's family again because they are so chaotic and I love them all with all of my heart.
It may be a bit concerning how much I resonated with Ruby but I love that little sugar pop with my entire heart.
This book was an enjoyable read but it is definitely not my favourite book by Mariana Zapata
Aarons remain to be superior. We have Aaron Warner, Aaron Blackford and now we have Aaron Hall. At this point I honestly think having the name Aaron is a huge green flag.
Anyways, this book. Mariana Zapata is the slowburn QUEEN and i love her but this book was a bit too slow for my liking. Because for the first 50% of the book it was just them exchangine emails and text messages which is fine but I was getting really bored and just couldn't care less.
But then when they finally met up it was magic and I loved it. All of the stolen glances, all of the obsessing over the other was so magical and I know it's a slowburn but maybe meeting up sooner could have been a bit better in my opinion.
Ive read From Lucov with Love and that book was actually what made me want to read this book because they mention that Aaron and Ruby meet by exchanging emails and letters and I thought that was so cute and so decided to read this. I really enjoyed seeing all of Ruby/Jasmine's family again because they are so chaotic and I love them all with all of my heart.
It may be a bit concerning how much I resonated with Ruby but I love that little sugar pop with my entire heart.
This book was an enjoyable read but it is definitely not my favourite book by Mariana Zapata
December 6, 2022
"Everything is going to be all right."
Dear Aaron is another Zapata winning read with slow-burn passion, complex characters, and a heartwarming romance! Ruby Santos was thrilled to have made a new friend through an "adopt a military" penpal program. Aaron, a military man, and Ruby begin emailing and a friendship is formed. When feelings begin to bloom between the two, both are anxious to meet. When they finally come together, there is nothing or no one that could tear them apart.
Dear Aaron is a witty read full of fun and everything I have grown to love about Mariana Zapata. Although Ruby struggles with severe insecurities, I found her quirkiness grew on me as the plot unfolded. I adored Aaron and the way in which their friendship transformed into so much more was utter perfection!
"Loving Aaron wasn’t something I could just keep to myself, it burst out, stretching every seam in my soul and body. When you loved someone, you told them. There was no other option."Overall, Dear Aaron is an absolute must-read for Zapata fans or slow burn fans! Zapata never fails to amaze me with her masterfully crafted stories. I adore her writing and I cannot wait for more Zapata goodness to come!
For more reviews/reveals/giveaways visit:
July 22, 2021
Dear Aaron is another great MZ slow burn. Not as good as the previous two I’ve read but still a sweet, emotional, angsty read.
This typically would not be the kind of book I would normally read but because it’s MZ I gave it a shot and I’m glad I did.
Ruby is quirky and funny and the most adorable but with just enough sass. While I do like Aaron, he’s not up there with Aiden or Kulti. Too much sweet and not enough spice.
The only thing I didn’t like about this one was the lack of communication. It’s the one kind of angst I’m just not a fan of. Also, Ruby is a little too naive and dense.
Overall this one made me feel all the feels, just not as intense but Aaron and Ruby are still so stinking cute!
This typically would not be the kind of book I would normally read but because it’s MZ I gave it a shot and I’m glad I did.
Ruby is quirky and funny and the most adorable but with just enough sass. While I do like Aaron, he’s not up there with Aiden or Kulti. Too much sweet and not enough spice.
The only thing I didn’t like about this one was the lack of communication. It’s the one kind of angst I’m just not a fan of. Also, Ruby is a little too naive and dense.
Overall this one made me feel all the feels, just not as intense but Aaron and Ruby are still so stinking cute!
May 16, 2018
2.5 stars
Ah well, this didn’t go as planned. I know that Zapata’s books are slow slow sloooow burn romance but in this case the overall pace was just too slow for me. The first part of the novel is entirely written in an email style format, which was fine in the beginning, but by the time the 25% mark had rolled around, I was starting to grow quite bored.
I’ve seen this working in other novels, you know, where you manage to fall in love with the couple and swoon over the guy just because of their online conversations, but the difference is - that unlike here - you usually get a regular kind of novel style in between those electronic conversations. That wasn’t the case here so I constantly found myself wondering when the real story would finally start and I struggled to really connect with the characters.
I don’t think it’s a spoiler if I tell you that you have to wait until the 45% mark for the format to change, which is really damn long. When the switch came, I was kinda thrown off at first but at least things did pick up a little after that. Still, Zapata just has this way of describing the most boring, mundane things in excruciating detail, so even though I did like the second half better, it was still too slow.
If I could take a pair of scissors to this book and snip snip snip away a couple of chapters here and a couple of chapters there, I think I’d end up with a decent end result. Honestly, had the emails been reduced by 50% I probably wouldn’t have minded the slow pace all that much.
Now another thing that was a bit difficult for me was the female MC Ruby. She was just so damn virginal and naive. If you know me and the kind of words I’m usually throwing around in my reviews you probably get why I’d struggle with a chick that can’t even say dick pic.
She just read really young and sheltered and wasn’t the kind of MC I usually like in my romance reads.
And Aaron...idk. I liked him but he came across as just a tiny bit controlling and condescending in a few situations, which I didn’t appreciate. There was one situation in particular in which he really pissed me off, since he blamed Ruby and made her feel bad for something that wasn’t her fault and that whole scene made me wonder a bit about the mindset of the person who wrote this.
Anyway, the last 20% or so were more like 4 stars for me, because the fact remains that Zapata does know how to write romance that make your toes curl. I actually had goosebumps when I read their dance scene. I also don’t think I’ve ever read such well written kiss scenes. Sadly, a perfect 20% in the end were not enough to make this a truly enjoyable read for me.
There was one more thing that made me pause, which I don’t consider a spoiler since we all know how these stories go, but I still wanted to put a little warning in here. So...maybe stop.
Can someone, who’s read the book, tell me if I overlooked something (because honestly, I started skimming a little towards the end) but have Aaron and Ruby ever talked about safe sex and whether Ruby was on the pill? Did I miss that conversation? Because if not, I found it kind of a questionable move on Aaron’s part to just plunge his dingdong in there - bare - without even bringing up the topic of protection. I mean, the guy did have sex with quite a few people, they’ve known each other irl for like a week, and considering how innocent Ruby was and the fact that she even told him that her mom never had the birds and bees talk with her, it kinda irked me that he would just do that. And is pulling out an approved method of contraception now? Cause the way Zapata wrote that (slightly clinically) sex scene, made it seem like it was the most normal thing in the world. Even in the raunchiest romance novels I’ve read, safe sex was always a topic. And for the record, pulling out just doesn’t cut it and it certainly doesn’t protect you from STDs.
Ok, this isn’t a reason to dislike a book but I found it strange and it bugged me nonetheless.
Whoops, this ended up being longer than I intended.
**********************
Buddy read with lucie 🌻
Ah well, this didn’t go as planned. I know that Zapata’s books are slow slow sloooow burn romance but in this case the overall pace was just too slow for me. The first part of the novel is entirely written in an email style format, which was fine in the beginning, but by the time the 25% mark had rolled around, I was starting to grow quite bored.
I’ve seen this working in other novels, you know, where you manage to fall in love with the couple and swoon over the guy just because of their online conversations, but the difference is - that unlike here - you usually get a regular kind of novel style in between those electronic conversations. That wasn’t the case here so I constantly found myself wondering when the real story would finally start and I struggled to really connect with the characters.
I don’t think it’s a spoiler if I tell you that you have to wait until the 45% mark for the format to change, which is really damn long. When the switch came, I was kinda thrown off at first but at least things did pick up a little after that. Still, Zapata just has this way of describing the most boring, mundane things in excruciating detail, so even though I did like the second half better, it was still too slow.
If I could take a pair of scissors to this book and snip snip snip away a couple of chapters here and a couple of chapters there, I think I’d end up with a decent end result. Honestly, had the emails been reduced by 50% I probably wouldn’t have minded the slow pace all that much.
Now another thing that was a bit difficult for me was the female MC Ruby. She was just so damn virginal and naive. If you know me and the kind of words I’m usually throwing around in my reviews you probably get why I’d struggle with a chick that can’t even say dick pic.
She just read really young and sheltered and wasn’t the kind of MC I usually like in my romance reads.
And Aaron...idk. I liked him but he came across as just a tiny bit controlling and condescending in a few situations, which I didn’t appreciate. There was one situation in particular in which he really pissed me off, since he blamed Ruby and made her feel bad for something that wasn’t her fault and that whole scene made me wonder a bit about the mindset of the person who wrote this.
Anyway, the last 20% or so were more like 4 stars for me, because the fact remains that Zapata does know how to write romance that make your toes curl. I actually had goosebumps when I read their dance scene. I also don’t think I’ve ever read such well written kiss scenes. Sadly, a perfect 20% in the end were not enough to make this a truly enjoyable read for me.
There was one more thing that made me pause, which I don’t consider a spoiler since we all know how these stories go, but I still wanted to put a little warning in here. So...maybe stop.
Can someone, who’s read the book, tell me if I overlooked something (because honestly, I started skimming a little towards the end) but have Aaron and Ruby ever talked about safe sex and whether Ruby was on the pill? Did I miss that conversation? Because if not, I found it kind of a questionable move on Aaron’s part to just plunge his dingdong in there - bare - without even bringing up the topic of protection. I mean, the guy did have sex with quite a few people, they’ve known each other irl for like a week, and considering how innocent Ruby was and the fact that she even told him that her mom never had the birds and bees talk with her, it kinda irked me that he would just do that. And is pulling out an approved method of contraception now? Cause the way Zapata wrote that (slightly clinically) sex scene, made it seem like it was the most normal thing in the world. Even in the raunchiest romance novels I’ve read, safe sex was always a topic. And for the record, pulling out just doesn’t cut it and it certainly doesn’t protect you from STDs.
Ok, this isn’t a reason to dislike a book but I found it strange and it bugged me nonetheless.
Whoops, this ended up being longer than I intended.
**********************
Buddy read with lucie 🌻
June 18, 2022
I had high hopes going into this book. I know so many people love it, and I love a good epistolary romance, but those messages and emails were dragged out wayyyyy too much. Half of the book is Ruby and Aaron sending messages back and forth. They form a friendship, but they just talk about life and mundane things. It was nice in the beginning, but I got bored pretty fast and just didn't care. When they finally met halfway through the book, I really enjoyed their banter and dynamic, but then the book just turned boring again. I really didn't like how Ruby was in a constant state of unknown, which made her anxious and on the verge of tears all the time. Instead of Aaron assuring her, he does things that only make her doubt their relationship even more and feel even worse about herself. I just felt so bad for her and didn't love that for a romance. And then we didn't really get a sense of closure. I know the ending brought the book full circle, but I would have like to see them actually live out their HEA. Overall, this ended up being more of a miss for me.
November 25, 2022
im just glad it ended.
___________
idgaf fucking bored me to death
___________
idgaf fucking bored me to death
Read
June 12, 2017So .. here's the thing, I'm not going to do a huge review. I'm just going to jot down a few random thoughts on this book because I don't know what to rate it. I wouldn't consider this a huge spoiler review, however, I don't like knowing ANYTHING about a book before I go into it, and if this were me reading this review, I would say LIGHT SPOILER ALERT in paragraph 2! OK? Okay!
Firstly, this was my first Mariana Zapata read and I. FREAKING. LOVED. THESE. CHARACTERS. I really want to give this book five stars because the second half of this novel ran away with my heart. I couldn't stop reading. I just could not stop reading this story and I ate up Mariana's writing. It was breathtaking. I felt everything these characters were feeling. My heart raced, my chest ached, my eyes bled tears, I was just in it. I loved the pacing of this book. Sure it was a slow burn but in that second half it just felt like an organic unfolding of the sweetest romance. And was wow.
That said, my biggest issue with this book is that I wanted to DNF in the first half. :::cries sadly::: I literally had to force myself NOT TO GIVE UP. I did not love the first half of Dear Aaron, and here's why. The letters and the IM's were a good, cute idea and I liked they way the author used those to give the readers information on the characters, to grow Ruby and Aaron's friendship, but it was too much, too long, and after awhile it felt tedious and never ending. I got to a point where I was just desperate to SEE these characters, not just read what was going on in their notes. I felt as if it was void of any and all emotion. And I, personally, felt nothing. Nothing at all. It took forever for me to feel a flutter of affection toward Aaron and Ruby. And because almost half of the book is the letters and the instant messages it was a struggle for me to continue.
THAT SAID (again, lol), once I hit the halfway point, this novel CAME ALIVE for me. I was so lost in the words. So lost in the characters. So utterly lost in the story. I felt like I lived and breathed these two characters. I certainly never wanted it to end. And I was so so so so so happy that I didn't give up. That I pushed on. I cried for these two, they are the sweetest thing together. And I loved their friendship. I loved the way they reacted to each other. I loved the dialogue. I loved their chemistry. I loved the progression of them as friends to lovers. It was EVERYTHING. ALL THE THINGS in that second half.
So... I don't know. What do you rate it? Certainly 5 stars for the 2nd half and I give it like 2.5-3 for the first half. So..... LMAO! Can we just average it out to like FIVE STARS because..
THAT.
SECOND.
FUCKING.
HALF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ahhhhhhh! I can't get over it.
All I gotta say is this, I AM SO HAPPY I READ AND FINISHED. I would never have wanted to miss out on the sweetness that is Aaron and Ruby. My heart is so full this morning. SO FULL OF HAPPY. And I have a book hangover. So... idk, you guys. I most certainly recommend Dear Aaron. 100 percent. It's sweet and funny and heartwarming, and I LOVED that second half. I really did. So **shrugs** I just say READ THE BOOK.
Firstly, this was my first Mariana Zapata read and I. FREAKING. LOVED. THESE. CHARACTERS. I really want to give this book five stars because the second half of this novel ran away with my heart. I couldn't stop reading. I just could not stop reading this story and I ate up Mariana's writing. It was breathtaking. I felt everything these characters were feeling. My heart raced, my chest ached, my eyes bled tears, I was just in it. I loved the pacing of this book. Sure it was a slow burn but in that second half it just felt like an organic unfolding of the sweetest romance. And was wow.
That said, my biggest issue with this book is that I wanted to DNF in the first half. :::cries sadly::: I literally had to force myself NOT TO GIVE UP. I did not love the first half of Dear Aaron, and here's why. The letters and the IM's were a good, cute idea and I liked they way the author used those to give the readers information on the characters, to grow Ruby and Aaron's friendship, but it was too much, too long, and after awhile it felt tedious and never ending. I got to a point where I was just desperate to SEE these characters, not just read what was going on in their notes. I felt as if it was void of any and all emotion. And I, personally, felt nothing. Nothing at all. It took forever for me to feel a flutter of affection toward Aaron and Ruby. And because almost half of the book is the letters and the instant messages it was a struggle for me to continue.
THAT SAID (again, lol), once I hit the halfway point, this novel CAME ALIVE for me. I was so lost in the words. So lost in the characters. So utterly lost in the story. I felt like I lived and breathed these two characters. I certainly never wanted it to end. And I was so so so so so happy that I didn't give up. That I pushed on. I cried for these two, they are the sweetest thing together. And I loved their friendship. I loved the way they reacted to each other. I loved the dialogue. I loved their chemistry. I loved the progression of them as friends to lovers. It was EVERYTHING. ALL THE THINGS in that second half.
So... I don't know. What do you rate it? Certainly 5 stars for the 2nd half and I give it like 2.5-3 for the first half. So..... LMAO! Can we just average it out to like FIVE STARS because..
THAT.
SECOND.
FUCKING.
HALF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ahhhhhhh! I can't get over it.
All I gotta say is this, I AM SO HAPPY I READ AND FINISHED. I would never have wanted to miss out on the sweetness that is Aaron and Ruby. My heart is so full this morning. SO FULL OF HAPPY. And I have a book hangover. So... idk, you guys. I most certainly recommend Dear Aaron. 100 percent. It's sweet and funny and heartwarming, and I LOVED that second half. I really did. So **shrugs** I just say READ THE BOOK.
June 7, 2018
Beautiful!!!
Mariana Zapata books are freaking addictive, once I start one, I just want to binge read until I’m done, seriously! I still haven’t found a book by her that I don’t absolutely love. She’s the queen of the slow burn, and she’s a master at it. Everything about it always feels so right, the purpose, the anticipation, the non gratuitous sex. It’s just perfect!
So, I kinda made the mistake of reading/listening to From Lukov With Love before reading Dear Aaron. I didn’t know there was a connection between both. Now, I need to say that they’re complete standalones so you don’t have to read one to enjoy the other, but the heroines on both books are sisters and Lukov happens a few years after DA. So if you’re super OCD like I am, I totally recommend you read Dear Aaron first.
Needless to say, I loved every second of this book. The idea of these characters falling for each other by corresponding for months was so cool and refreshing! And the way is written, with the emails and chats and text was super clever. Everything about their relationship from strangers to friends to lovers was absolutely fantastic. And then everything about how they meet. Gahhh I’m smiling and swooning hard! I was a little left wanting more though, I want more Ruron!
Also, as with From Lukov, I simultaneously read the book and listened to the audiobook and let me tell you that is another fantastic performance by Callie Dalton and Teddy Hamilton! They are magic on the booth, although I wish Teddy would’ve done all the male parts throughout (and not just on the communications) like he did on Lukov. Either way, it was amazing. Not sure why I took me so long to read this one, but I absolutely recommend it!!!
Mariana Zapata books are freaking addictive, once I start one, I just want to binge read until I’m done, seriously! I still haven’t found a book by her that I don’t absolutely love. She’s the queen of the slow burn, and she’s a master at it. Everything about it always feels so right, the purpose, the anticipation, the non gratuitous sex. It’s just perfect!
So, I kinda made the mistake of reading/listening to From Lukov With Love before reading Dear Aaron. I didn’t know there was a connection between both. Now, I need to say that they’re complete standalones so you don’t have to read one to enjoy the other, but the heroines on both books are sisters and Lukov happens a few years after DA. So if you’re super OCD like I am, I totally recommend you read Dear Aaron first.
Needless to say, I loved every second of this book. The idea of these characters falling for each other by corresponding for months was so cool and refreshing! And the way is written, with the emails and chats and text was super clever. Everything about their relationship from strangers to friends to lovers was absolutely fantastic. And then everything about how they meet. Gahhh I’m smiling and swooning hard! I was a little left wanting more though, I want more Ruron!
Also, as with From Lukov, I simultaneously read the book and listened to the audiobook and let me tell you that is another fantastic performance by Callie Dalton and Teddy Hamilton! They are magic on the booth, although I wish Teddy would’ve done all the male parts throughout (and not just on the communications) like he did on Lukov. Either way, it was amazing. Not sure why I took me so long to read this one, but I absolutely recommend it!!!
August 16, 2018
My least favorite MZ book so far...
January 16, 2024
4/5 stars
reread:
05/02/18
04/01/19
16/01/2024
God damn, I am officially obsessed with Mariana Zapata, every book this woman puts out is world class, slow burn romance. I devour these books in a day and the second I finish them, I want to start all over again.
Ruby Santos is a twenty three year old seamstress, she has lived under the thumb of her family for years, being considered the ‘baby’ of the family and the fragile one. After her older brother comes back from the war, she signs up through the Help a Solider Foundation, wanting to support soldiers through their lonely time overseas.
Ruby gets paired with Staff Sargent Aaron Hall, and when she receives no response to her numerous letters, she eventually decides to try and get him reassigned. Only for Aaron to finally write back.
The two write, message and email for nine months before they meet, and I was totally in love with them after the first chapter.
I was hesitant to go into this book when I found out a good portion (44% of the book to be precise) was written in an email format. I am not the biggest fan of books written in script form but I shouldn’t have worried. I fell into the script and barely noticed the format, it was a clever way to introduce two characters without any physical bias, I went through the majority of the book not having a physical description and not giving a damn.
I grew to love their quirky personalities and the budding relationship that grew between the characters, the awkward stories and cheesy jokes were the highlight. Mariana Zapata’s female main characters are always normal, hardworking women (a seamstress in this case) and her men are devoted and gruff with everybody but their leading lady.
I mean, if you need anymore convincing, Aaron was a Buffy fan.
My only complaint was that every time I read the name Aaron I thought of this lmfao
I loved every moment of this book, I couldn’t get enough of their story and although it was not my favourite of MZ’s books, I won’t hesitate to reread it sometimes (soon).
reread:
05/02/18
04/01/19
16/01/2024
God damn, I am officially obsessed with Mariana Zapata, every book this woman puts out is world class, slow burn romance. I devour these books in a day and the second I finish them, I want to start all over again.
Ruby Santos is a twenty three year old seamstress, she has lived under the thumb of her family for years, being considered the ‘baby’ of the family and the fragile one. After her older brother comes back from the war, she signs up through the Help a Solider Foundation, wanting to support soldiers through their lonely time overseas.
Ruby gets paired with Staff Sargent Aaron Hall, and when she receives no response to her numerous letters, she eventually decides to try and get him reassigned. Only for Aaron to finally write back.
The two write, message and email for nine months before they meet, and I was totally in love with them after the first chapter.
I was hesitant to go into this book when I found out a good portion (44% of the book to be precise) was written in an email format. I am not the biggest fan of books written in script form but I shouldn’t have worried. I fell into the script and barely noticed the format, it was a clever way to introduce two characters without any physical bias, I went through the majority of the book not having a physical description and not giving a damn.
I grew to love their quirky personalities and the budding relationship that grew between the characters, the awkward stories and cheesy jokes were the highlight. Mariana Zapata’s female main characters are always normal, hardworking women (a seamstress in this case) and her men are devoted and gruff with everybody but their leading lady.
I mean, if you need anymore convincing, Aaron was a Buffy fan.
My only complaint was that every time I read the name Aaron I thought of this lmfao
I loved every moment of this book, I couldn’t get enough of their story and although it was not my favourite of MZ’s books, I won’t hesitate to reread it sometimes (soon).
June 21, 2017
Dear Ruby,
My name is Foxy, and I’m writing to you because I just finished reading your love story in Dear Aaron and wanted to let you know I, too, know what it’s like to have a relationship built on personalities. Twenty-three years ago I flew across the country to meet a guy I had known only via the internet. Today we are happily married with kids and fur babies to round out our family.
Aaron won me over when he first met you and said, “You could’ve told me your mom and sister are the ugly ones in the family.” You were so insecure about your looks compared to the rest of your family and yet to Aaron he saw you as the most beautiful one in your family. That melted my heart.
Many blessings to you and Aaron. And I hope someday we get Aaron’s side of the story.
~Foxy
✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦
Now a little bit about the actual book. Unfortunately, Ruby isn’t my favorite type of female to read about because her insecurities began to annoy me as time progressed. I wanted to love her because in some ways her story was parallel to mine (age wise, flying across the country to meet someone you’ve only exchanged messages with, etc) but her constant unsureness of herself made me start to lose the warm fuzzy feelings towards her.
The premise of this book is amazing; the first part of the book is told in emails, skype … basically the written word. I love books that incorporate emails, text, etc into the story. A lot of times peoples personality really shines through the written word.
As with Ms. Zapata’s book the slow burn romance is key to building a lasting relationship. The buildup to them both admitting to their feelings leaves a satisfying ending. Well sort of… I have no idea about the epilogue. I got a little lost in it. It left me questioning what was their current situation.
Dear Aaron is a standalone slow burn romance told largely through emails. A soldier overseas receives a pen pal from the States that becomes more than just someone to share a joke or two with while he’s deployed.
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My name is Foxy, and I’m writing to you because I just finished reading your love story in Dear Aaron and wanted to let you know I, too, know what it’s like to have a relationship built on personalities. Twenty-three years ago I flew across the country to meet a guy I had known only via the internet. Today we are happily married with kids and fur babies to round out our family.
Aaron won me over when he first met you and said, “You could’ve told me your mom and sister are the ugly ones in the family.” You were so insecure about your looks compared to the rest of your family and yet to Aaron he saw you as the most beautiful one in your family. That melted my heart.
Many blessings to you and Aaron. And I hope someday we get Aaron’s side of the story.
~Foxy
✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦
Now a little bit about the actual book. Unfortunately, Ruby isn’t my favorite type of female to read about because her insecurities began to annoy me as time progressed. I wanted to love her because in some ways her story was parallel to mine (age wise, flying across the country to meet someone you’ve only exchanged messages with, etc) but her constant unsureness of herself made me start to lose the warm fuzzy feelings towards her.
The premise of this book is amazing; the first part of the book is told in emails, skype … basically the written word. I love books that incorporate emails, text, etc into the story. A lot of times peoples personality really shines through the written word.
As with Ms. Zapata’s book the slow burn romance is key to building a lasting relationship. The buildup to them both admitting to their feelings leaves a satisfying ending. Well sort of… I have no idea about the epilogue. I got a little lost in it. It left me questioning what was their current situation.
Dear Aaron is a standalone slow burn romance told largely through emails. A soldier overseas receives a pen pal from the States that becomes more than just someone to share a joke or two with while he’s deployed.
Follow Foxy Blogs at: Blog ♥ Twitter ♥ Instagram ♥ Facebook
June 27, 2017
➦Mariana Zapata certainly knows how to write a slow burn friends to lovers romance and while I enjoyed this one, it's not going to be on my 'Zapata favorites' shelf.
➦I think the premise is pretty interesting - a girl writing to a soldier overseas. They get to know each other through the e-mails and later on chatting online. Marina Zapata builds up the characters through their letters to each other. The problem for me (and to some other people, I imagine) was the format of this repetitive delivery. While I do love character interactions through text/emails/online chats, there's only so much I can handle until I start thinking thoughts like...
➦About half way into the book the letters finally stop but the characters switch to online chatting. At that point I was just ready for some in-person interaction. But all things aside, I think I didn't love this novel as much as I was hoping because of the hero. He was very secretive and even by the end of the book he barely shared anything with the heroine. And somehow I was left slightly unsatisfied after finishing the book. *shrug again*
➦If you're a fan of the slow burn definitely give this one a look. Mariana Zapata is one of my favorite authors and I'm always curious about all her books. Some books work better than others for me, but I enjoy them all nonetheless!
June 13, 2017
➳MY HEART! OH MY GOODNESS! MY HEART HAS SHATTERED!
This story was slow at first, but once it picked up with the details that needed to provide a better understanding towards the main characters, it really did break my heart through every single word and action that was taken upon. I bless Marianna Zapata for writing such a beautiful love story that has definitely brought tears to my eyes in a way that I never thought it could possibly happen.
I will definitely say that I have been inspired to take upon this "Adopt a Soldier" program and write to many soldiers who are in need of compassion and understanding. So thank you Mariana, this was beyond adorable and sweet!
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This story was slow at first, but once it picked up with the details that needed to provide a better understanding towards the main characters, it really did break my heart through every single word and action that was taken upon. I bless Marianna Zapata for writing such a beautiful love story that has definitely brought tears to my eyes in a way that I never thought it could possibly happen.
I will definitely say that I have been inspired to take upon this "Adopt a Soldier" program and write to many soldiers who are in need of compassion and understanding. So thank you Mariana, this was beyond adorable and sweet!
➳Follow Me On:
Blog ♕ Instagram ♕ Facebook ♕ Twitter
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