Tag: contemporary novels

Adult · Contemporary · Music · New Adult · Romance

Rhythm, Chord & Malykhin

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By Mariana Zapata

  • Publisher: Mariana Zapata
  • Year Released: 2015
  • Date Read: December 12th, 2018
  • Genre: Music, Romance, Contemporary, New Adult, Adult
  • My Rating: B/ 4 Stars


“I wouldn’t trade you for a million dollars, Mase.”
His reply was to beam at me.
“But for ten million, I’d work out some kind of visitation schedule” 
― Mariana Zapata

Devastated, and feeling pathetic, Gaby is stuck back home with nothing going for her. Then she gets a call from her twin brother who is known for trouble. He needs someone to sell his merch while he is on tour and since Gaby has nothing to do, he wants her to go with him. Gaby agrees to travel with him and their two best friends, but then finds out it’s not just them she’ll be on tour with. They have another band traveling along with them. She’ll be stuck with eleven boys for three months and all the trouble they bring with them.

I liked Rhythm, Chord & Malykhin, but it wasn’t my favorite Mariana Zapata book, it’s probably my least favorite so far. It’s not bad, just compared to her other work it feels somewhat lacking.  For one, the romance in the book was trumped by Gaby’s relationship with her brother and their two best friends. Once again, this isn’t bad to me since I like seeing bonds that aren’t in a romantic setting, but people who came for the amazing romance wouldn’t probably be that happy that you’re getting sidetracked by people who get along better. Sacha and Gaby were nice to read together. They were together literally all the time and at first I thought it was going to be an insta love story, glad that Zapata hasn’t failed me with one of those yet.

Pros

  • Gaby, her brother Eli, Mason, and Gordo. The four of thems relationship was the best part of the book. It is what makes this book likable to the extent that I do. If they weren’t in this book I’m not sure I would of finished it. The four of them have known each other since they were children and it’s very clear. They all tease each other and get along well well. We see moments of Gaby laying on Mason comfortably even though he jokes about her about marrying her. We see the more quiet Gordo joking around with her like by putting a sign on her back, and then we see her with Eli who treats her as his best friend. Their relationship is very close and I loved it. They were twins who grew up together without leaving each others side for too long, and it really showed in the writing. It’s clear they need the other in each others lives. I also loved the fact that none of them cared that Gaby was a girl. They don’t treat her like a girl at all, expect when Mason jokes about marrying her or to defend her. They treat her literally as if she was one of them. I also like how Zapata didn’t just say the group of boys were trouble and make them not trouble at all. She backs it up by mentioning things like how they got detention in kindergarten, and also when they ask Gaby to play a game with them she instantly starts saying no because she knows what it will lead to. The four of them were my favorite part of the book. I knew their relationship was going to trump the romance once you saw Eli and Gaby together once again. Everyone around was looking at Eli like he was a star because he was in a rock band and all Gaby could see was her brother who she called Eliza and would find in her bed in the middle of the night randomly because they were also close with each other.
  • The book was funny, obviously because of the three boys. They act like idiots so there was a lot of moments that had me laughing.
  • Zapata always has a more serious topic in her novels, and this one is pretty much body dysmorphia. The character had a part of themselves they didn’t like and hid from others. In the book we start way after her surgery to change that part of herself that she wanted, which sets up new problems for her that she thought would be fixed with changing her body. Now she has to learn to accept that’s the new her and that the people around her or people she invites into her life, will have to aware of it too and be ok with it. We also get to see that it’s all still a sensitive subject for her, showing that just because you get the change you want, while you will most likely be happy in the long run, it won’t always be immediate. These are usually my favorite parts of Zapata novels. I like seeing that the characters aren’t bland and go through real problems that aren’t mentioned and then thrown away. These problems stay with them just as real problems in real life tend to do.

Cons:

  • I know I had cons for this while I was reading it, but for some reason my dumb ass didn’t mark them as I read them so I can’t fully remember them. The one I can remember is this is not the best Zapata romance novel. Out of all her romantic relationships I liked this one the least. They kinda seemed like teenagers half the time and while it’s still a slow burn romance, they bonded and got real friendly within a few chapters. Like stuck with glue kinda friendship. I guess I’m just used to Zapata’s enemy to lovers novels that when I read the one that isn’t, it’s more off putting to me. I don’t know if it’s just me, I just personally cared for the friendships in this and didn’t care as much for the romance. The romance wasn’t bad. It’s just that the couple kinda reminded me of the teenage couples I used to see in school who were literally always touching as if their bodies were magnets. I mean even when eating they were hugging each other(talking about real life, not the book.). It’s kinda too much, especially when it’s supposed to be a slow burn.

I’m saying I don’t like this book that much, but only because I have high expectations for Zapata novels because I’ve read her newer and better work. For a normal romance novel, this is still a four star book. I don’t really like straight up romance novels but I liked this book and continued it because it was still good, it just isn’t as good as Zapata’s other works. It probably also doesn’t help that I have been reading Zapata novels back to back to where I know the set up and structures of her books. But also at the same time, this is the book she wrote after Kulti, but right before the Wall of Winnipeg, which are two loved books made by her, so I can’t just say that it might because it’s one of her first books. It isn’t. Kulti was good and the Wall of Winnipeg was amazing, and this lacks compared to both of them.

If you enjoy books with good bonds, read this. You will love Gaby and the boys. If you want romance and don’t care that it’s clingy in a way, you will also probably like this. If you’ve read many Zapata novels right before deciding to read this, probably don’t do that. Wait a month or so and come back. Maybe it will be better that way.

“My brother had pulled one of our mom’s largest crucifixes off the wall and held it in the air at me while he hissed, “I banish thee!” 
― Mariana Zapata

Adult · Contemporary · New Adult · Romance

Under Locke

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Under Locke
Mariana Zapata

  • Publisher:  Mariana Zapata
  • Year Released: 2014
  • Date Read: December 5, 2018 – December 6, 2018
  • Genres: Romance, New Adult, Adult, Contemporary
  • Grade: B-/ 3.8 Stars

“Unfortunately, you don’t get to choose family, Sonny had told me this once. But you do get to choose everyone else.”

-Mariana Zapata

After losing her job, Iris had one choice, move in with one of her siblings. Her sibling of choice, her half brother that is part of the same motorcycle club as their shitty dad, which leads her to getting close to the people her mother didn’t want her to know. After running out of the money she had left from her previous job, her brother gets her a job with one of his friends and members of the club who runs a tattoo shop. Iris was happy to have a job again, except she quickly learns that her new boss, Dex, is a jerk. She can either quit and leach off her brother, or she can try to learn to deal with Dex, but she learns quickly that patience is a virtue, and she is starting to lack it.

After reading reading The Wall of Winnipeg and Me I came to this book, and it became clear as I was reading it that this was one of her first books. This is not an insult to her in anyway, it isn’t bad for a book in the beginning of an author’s career. It just lacked some of the things The Wall of Winnipeg and Me had. It wasn’t as smooth. I can’t point out why, but there was definitely a difference in reading Winnipeg and this one. I’m even reading one of her newest ones at the moment and she has clearly grown in her writing since Under Locke. I will say also it became clear Zapata’s books have a similarity to them, again, not an insult. The books were not the same, just that some minor things where, such as the slow burn romance, the relationships with family, the relationship between boss and employer, and the enemy to romance. Also the length of Zapata’s novels deserve an applause. Most romance or contemporary books are around three hundred pages,  Zapata’s are way above that. They are long and give you time to really get to know the characters. Thank you for this Zapata.

Pros

  • Never once was I bored or wanted to put the book down. In most books, there are scenes, that while necessary, are not entertaining to read. Never once did I want to stop reading this book. I actually stayed up till eight in the morning and had to force myself to stop reading and got to bed. Usually by that time I can feel myself getting tired, but I felt wide awake and wanting to finish the book. I needed to finish the book. I save reading till later at night, but during that day I wanted nothing more then to just not do anything all day and finish that book.
  • I liked the biker club and tattoo shop part of it. I’m someone who has always been interested in books or movies about clubs because of the whole bonding and friendship part of it. Also a lot of people assume that biker gangs are full of awful people when that’s not the case anymore. Most bikers actually give to charities and such so it was nice to see that their gang wasn’t full of drug users, drunks, and assholes. Did they fight and talk shit to each other, yes, but they didn’t act like thugs. Also I loved that Iris worked in the tattoo shop and a lot of the book was centered about her time in the shop. I’ve always loved tattoos for the artwork and love hearing and imagining the tattoos the characters have. Like Dex’s Uriel tattoo.
  • Iris and her brother Sonny. Even though they were half siblings who share a dad they don’t care for, and didn’t see each other a lot as kids, they loved and cared for each other. Sonny protected Iris whether it was from other people’s choices or someone’s words. They had a really nice relationship to read.
  • Dex and Iris. I liked their relationship when it turned into the friendship part. There was many funny or sweet moments between them. They for the most part did well together. Dex was an asshole and Iris kept challenging him. It worked.

Cons

  • Dex’s possessive attitude. I know this is a turn on for some people. Having they guy say that every part of the girl is there’s, EVERY part, but for me it was a little over the top. I get it when characters or people in real life say that their girlfriend is there’s, because yeah, unless you are in an open relationship they are there’s. They don’t usually mean it as you can’t leave me or I own you, just that they are with them and theirs unless they say else wise. Dex was a little too possessive, which I guess matched his character, but it was still a turn off to me. Dex says in one part, “…and i’m gonna take everythin’ you want to give to me and everythin you don’t.”… that doesn’t sound sweet to me, that sounds over the top and kinda creepy. I liked Dex a lot. I really liked his character, but when he started to get possessive it started to make me not like him as much.
  • Sometimes it got repetitive with it’s wording. For example every kiss scene was this, ”We kissed and kissed and kissed.” That sentence was worded like that practically every time.
  • Just little things. Like the character not knowing what a fake ID is even though she’s in her twenties. The characters saying pop for soda even though they live in Texas. I don’t understand what “My inner nosey hooker…” means. It was just little things that made me just sit there and stare at the book wandering what they were saying and why.

“You couldn’t control or anticipate a person who didn’t ca
“There it was. That fierce loyalty. He didn’t have a clue how that was the most attractive thing about him. It trumped his face, his ink, his body, everything. Dex Locke was true. He was grounded.” 
― Mariana Zapata,

After reading these two books and reading right now one of her newest books, I can say that Zapata is probably my favorite romance author. I don’t really read adult romance novels. They aren’t my cup of tea. I’m not into how they usually turn into erotica or are cheesy. Zapata doesn’t really do that, or at least I haven’t read any books of hers yet that she has done it. Under Locke did have a lot more sex scenes then Winnipeg’s like one sex scene, but it wasn’t to the point where it was half sex half story. It wasn’t even until closer to the end so I will allow it for not turning into an eroitc novel. I mainly read fantasy novels with contemporary novels as a break, but right now I only want to read Mariana Zapata’s novels. They are well done and I love every second of reading them. It is very rare I find contemporary novels or romance novels that I fall in love with. Under Locke wasn’t as smooth or good as The Wall of Winnipeg and Me but I still loved it. It was great with a good storyline and characters. Her characters seem real and well crafted. Zapata has earned herself a new fan who will be waiting for any new novel she puts out.