If anyone knows me they know what a big fan I am of Mariana Zapata. Her slow burn novellas are to die for and her ability to enthralled any reader aboard her books showcases what a phenomenal writer she is. And despite my high praise, I was not a fan of this novel. Nor the last three ("Rhythm, Chord & Malykhin", "Lingus", and "Luna and the Lie") to be honest. At all. I'm not sure if it's a reading stump or what but the high expectations I have set for her work has diminished drastically and I'm puzzled by what had happened. Let's start with the storyline shall we? There wasn't anything unique about it and was a typical generic concept I have seen time and time again in other romance novels. It didn't wow me. Secondary to that, the characters. Was there anything to rave about? No. Lenny was a tough as nails MMA gym manager who was doing everything in her power to raise her daughter Mo (cute I know) when suddenly the sperm donor Jonah pops up from the woodwork, unknowingly shocked to discover he's a d-a-d-d-y and not even the kinky kind. The mediocre romance plot that was duller than dull didn't hit me in the feels (I expected to shell at least one tear damnit) and the fact that there was nothing drawing me in made this a boring read. Seriously there was nothing which I know is an unpopular opinion but who cares and moreso it's sad to say I'm disappointed by the end result. This had great potential to be something but it was failed to be met. So in this rambling mess of a review the overall conclusion is: this is not a winner, not for me at least. Not even a little bit and I don't care about all the overhyped this got (and let me tell you it was waaay overhyped) but this wasn't Mariana Zapata best work so I'm going to bury my face in "The Wall of Winnipeg and Me" to make me feel better because I never thought I would live to see the day I would give a two star rating to a Mariana Zapata novel.

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Very forgettable ( )

I loved this book. I didn't put two and two together when reading the synopsis that this was a spinoff of Luna and the Lie. Luna fell kind of flat for me but Lenny's book more than made up for everything I didn't like about Luna's. I love Grandpa Gus and was happy we get Lenny's book because it meant more Gus. I had to read the epilogue through tears which is always a sign of a good book. Loved loved loved it. ( )

This is such an amazing book, so well written.
I would recommend being careful about reading reviews as part of the beauty of the book is in the revealing of things.
The story is Lenny and Jonah. We met Lenny in Luna and the lie, she is Luna'sfriend and is a very strong heroine.
The book is written from the heroines POV.
Lenny is a strong heroine, she manages a gym and is involved with MMA. She is very close with her grandfather, who brought her up and Peter who is like a second father to her.
The story reveals at first how she is bitter towards a man named Jonah, their relationship is not explained at first but there was some sort of ghosting from him, abandoning her in Paris where she was competing.
Each chapter starts with a text or email send from Lenny to Jonah expressing her hurt over his actions.
This was really, really clever because at first there are texts and as the story is revealed and you understand the extent of hurt she is experiencing the more the texts make sense.
There are a few surprises along the way and it is a very emotional read at time, esp as Lenny is such a strong character. But it is also hilarious at times too.
Jonah is amazing. He is a true gentle soul unless he's on the rugby field. He he.
There are no intimate details of anyone other than the Hero and heroine.
No cheating or even flirting.
During the separation neither are with anyone else.
The true beauty of the book is despite Jonah's physique, career and obvious opportunity he must have had he is not a manwhore type. He is in fact the exact opposite. He is very dedicated to his career and focused on it.

It's slow burn, the couple take time to reconnect in that they have to overcome issues for them to be together.
This works as she is do mad at him at the start, it takes time for her to trust again.

I may add to my review later but at the moment I don't want to spoil the journey of discovering why he left and why she is so hurt.
It's the crux of the book.
At one point she does say that she doesn't want to know why he ghosted her and put the past behind them and I got to be honest I thought at that point, this was going to drag on until 75% and then be a big issue between them but it isn't the case.
At around 40% he says he needs to explain so he's going to and that issue is revealed. I thought this was an excellent way to handle things as she can then decide if she can accept his reasons or not and if her feelongs can change as she hates him so much at the start.
There was a lot of profanity in the book, esp from the heroine. I felt it was to prove how tough she was but I did find it a bit too much.
There is the best epilogue I think I've read which takes place some years later.
Luna and Rip appear briefly though Rip only in mentioning he's around.
You don't need to read their book first, there are no spoilers though small mention of a couple of things that someone who has already read it would recognise.
There is small other man drama, but no interest from the heroine or flirting.

HEA.
Epilogue. ( )

Mariana Zapata has become one of my favorite romance writers ever since I read The Wall of Winnipeg and Me in 2016. That book got me back into reading romance. Since then I have read every one of her books. I think one of my favorite things about her books is how we get to know the characters as they get to know each other. We watch their relationships grow, sometimes with some struggles, but they become stronger through them. This was what was missing for me in The Best Thing. This book is a second chance romance which means that these characters already know each other, have already had a close relationship and were separated. I felt like I wanted to know more about their initial romance. We get a few explanations of past events, but they are short and not all that detailed. I wish maybe the story could have started with their initial romance and dealt more in detail with Jonah and Lenny's struggles while they were apart. I saw so many places where there was potential for more.

As I said before, I didn't dislike the book. I truly loved the character of Jonah. I can really appreciate a strong, shy, soft-hearted man. I also liked the relationship Lenny had with her grandfather. The setting was interesting, and I wanted to learn more about the sports each participated in.

The author stepped out of her box a little on this one, and for that she should be given a high-five. I will continue to read her books, but this one will unfortunately not be on my favorites list. ( )