Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Luna and the Lie

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

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amanda_reads13's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Luna has been working in a body shop for the past 9 years. 3 years of which she has spent harbouring a secret crush on her broody and grumpy new boss.

Zapata is definitely the queen of slow burns. But this was the slowest of slow burn and was veryyyyy long.

Luna is an enigma. How she came out of her family situation the way she is is completely shocking. He family was scum, completely horrible. Her father and her step mother were abusive, neglectful addicts. Yet somehow she became this caring and thoughtful woman. Yes, we see a ton of self-doubt and low confidence, but Luna has suffered 18 years of trauma that has never been dealt with and has definitely left her with PTSD, abandonment, and trust issues.

Luna did whatever she could to protect her sisters. She sacrificed so much to ensure that they had a better life than her. Then her two middle sisters go and

forgive their father? Are you kidding me? If my father ever treated my sibling the way that he treated Luna, he would be dead to me.

I loved the found family angle. I loved how Luna was able to find and connect with her own group of people who loved her like their own family.

Rip was just meh for me. He didn't have much of a personality. I wish this had been a dual POV so that we could have got to know him more and his past. He lacks basic communication skills for majority of the book and sometimes he was just plain mean. He thinks that he is too old for Luna and not good enough for her due to his past. But he is always there to protect her and shows his affection in little ways.

I figured out his relationship to Mr. C pretty quickly. It wasn't hard to figure that he was his father.

One thing that really bugged me was the constant description of Rip's size. He is a big man. We get it. You don't have to tell us 1000x.

One thing I notice with Zapata's books is that there is so much time spent building up the tension between the characters (like 70%+ of the book), that the ending often feels rushed. That means there are always questions left unanswered. What happened between Luna and their sisters? How was the situation resolved? Did she ever meet her mother's family? What really happened in Rip' past?

Tropes: grumpy/sunshine, slow burn, boss/employee, age/gap, troubled past, roadtrip, found family

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carla20's review

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emotional funny reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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michmoo's review

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dark emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Relationship was cuteish, though I did take some issue with the male lead - the author does tend to write possessive partners and I wasn't expecting this to be an exception so I overlooked it for the most part. I really liked Luna and I was actually quite interested in her work as it is something I am fairly unfamiliar with. I do also love found families so that was a nice component of the book.

I would have really liked it if Luna had broken her cousin's hand quite honestly

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ariza's review against another edition

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3.75

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readwithelle's review

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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thefatpaperback's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced

3.5

Not my favorite Zapata read—but I still enjoyed it for sure. I had trouble putting it down like I do other Zapata reads, but it really didn’t feel like a lot happened in this 600+ page book. It burned a bit too slow for me this time.

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