Hands Down

I liked the story well enough. The characters were nice, but there wasn't a great deal of conflict keeping the characters apart. The whole issue between Zac and Bianca hinged on information the two of them could have straightened out with one 5 minute conversation. Okay, I get that the nefarious deeds of an ex of Zac's is what split them up, but considering how many friends and family members they shared, it seems a little weird that they were completely separated for 10 years, and the deeds of this one individual was enough to keep them apart. It just seems like if that strong of a connection truly existed, it would have taken more to keep them out of each other's lives for so long. Still, there were some fun (enough) scenes. The nicknames were cute, but got a little tiresome after a bit (I know I'll sound overly critical, but "kiddo" as an endearment is kind of squicky - it's right upon there with Baby Girl for me). There was a LOT of introspection ("Oh my God, he is SO gorgeous", "He stared at her as if he never wanted to stop looking at her".) After a while, the reader is reading a lot of what people are thinking - there's not a great deal of doing. Zac was charming-ish, but kind of bland (I just expected more pizazz to his character after his actions in The Wall of Winnipeg and Me). The cameos were nice, but a little bland and random. Oh, look, everyone! Jasmine and Ivan show up at a party! Hey, it's Vanessa, Aidan, and the kids at the front door! Then there were the characters that were part of Bianca's life, but not really, because they would get mentioned and then simply disappear. It just seems (to me) that the characters in past books had more substance to them. The reader experienced the full relationships of Sal, Diana, and Vanessa with their friends and family. Their friends and family were fully developed and seemed like real people. Here, it's as though Bianca is existing on an island alone and then starts interacting with people when Zac is reintroduced in her life. It was nice to see Trevor again, but even he didn't quite resemble his rather intense Ari Gold-like character from the Wall of Winnipeg. Like I said. It's a cute story. I was just a little surprised that Zac, who was a three dimensional, fully fleshed out, established character in Wall of Winnipeg, was kind of bland in the book where he is the main character. Bianca was okay too, but despite all their mutual pining, I didn't really feel the connection between the two. Oh, and when they finally get together at the end of the book, it felt pretty rushed and kind of out of the blue. I understand it was a "slow burn", but it was kind of, "We have talked about our problems ad nauseam - now we will have the sex." Just my two cents.

*Spoiler ahead*Dear Ms. Zapata,I got the newsletter update of a new book and could not wait after reading the beginning. So when I got the update in another email that the book was out, I immediately bought it! Not kindle unlimited, I clicked 'buy now.' This is the second book I regretted doing that for and I will NOT be buying anymore books. The last book was also a bit of a let down but was not anywhere near how bad this one was to me. So.....What is going on? I am truly confused. This book did nothing for me at all. It took me from 7am to 2am to read 127 pages, and I didn't put my kindle down. I was actively trying to read the book. I kept waiting for the book to get better, for me to like Bianca, for it to make sense! My sister had the privilege of watching me flounder and complain about every page, all the things I thought was wrong and I was determined to write this review. I even got on my computer so I didn't give up trying on my kindle.1. It was boring! Im sorry. I am all for her usual slow burns. I don't mind at all for some interesting introspection. But this book was so repetitive and had 0 substance. I kept waiting for some sassiness or self confidence from Bianca. She was so whiny to me and such a push over! I stopped just now and read other 3 and below stars and couldn't agree with the others anymore. I can not describe the feeling I have in my belly of just sitting and wasting my time and my perfectly good Sunday.2. I felt 0 connection. It made no sense for me that she was willing to forget that someone who was an active person in her life just disappeared from her life for 10 years, even though she's best friends (her cousin-brother) with his friend who he sees semi-regularly. The cousin-brother regularly sends her pictures of them at various locations. She follows all his moves on social media. I'm thinking the cousin-brother MUST have posted her on his site at some point. Yet still, the main guy Zac never not once has reached out to her. She used to text him or call him and he just never responded. Thats the type of hero we are supposed to route for? Why not have them stay in contact even if he's not all the way invested in her life so it makes sense why she just jumps when he calls or throws her any tiny interest. Her excuse is that her grandmother that passed would have wanted her to be nice to him? Really? My abandonment issues wouldn't let me forgive him.3. That brings me to this point. It was not relatable. Normally I can see myself in her characters in some way, mostly the females and then of course Im routing for them. I could not see myself in Bianca. She met him again after her cousin asked her to let him know his grandfather was in the hospital. He doesn't recognize her AT ALL. She has to mention her cousin-brothers name before he finally recognizes her. We're supposed to believe this happens to her all the time. Like that makes it ok. Why should we want this poor girl to be with him. He comes of as so selfish to me.Those are the reasons I can think of right now because like I said I don't know if I can finish this book. I will be returning it and reading on kindle unlimited. It's very hard to read a book that takes this much effort to read and that would take this much time, but I want very much for it to get better!! I want that so bad. I have loved 90% of the others, I think only 2 books were a no for me and one of them was the last one.Sincerely,A confused Fan

I honestly don’t know what all the five star reviews are for. Definitely my least liked the Zapata book. She’s one of my favorite authors and I was so disappointed with this book. There’s absolutely zero conflict or character development or plot in this book. I can’t understand the premise for the backstory. It makes no sense. They would’ve resolved their ten year misunderstanding in one or two conversations. Zac went from calling her kiddo the entire book until all the sudden realizing he loved her? There was zero sexual tension or chemistry between them at all. I ended up flipping through it and not even reading when they start having conversations because they just repeated what they said to each other 90 more times. Sorry but as much as I Absolutely love Kulti, the wall of Winnipeg and me and from Lukov with love... this one fell way short.

I'll start off by saying Kulti and the Wall of Winnipeg and Me are two of my favourites. Both of them had that slow-burn romance typical of Zapata's books which I loved.However, Hands Down was so frustrating/disappointing. I really wanted to like it and you know it was a sweet story with a sweet hero, but that's about it. We read from the heroine, Bianca's POV. She is pretty much the exact same character as Luna is, from Luna and the Lie. She tiptoes around people's feelings, over analyzing her emotions/behaviour in response to his emotions/behaviour that are in response to her emotions/behaviour and everything is very CAREFUL. I know all of the female leads in Zapata's books have a bit of this, but either it was just too much in this book or I just didn't have the patience for it. Bianca tries to appease everyone, being so overly solicitous at times that it was uncomfortable. There was little to no character journey for her and the one time she finally stands up for herself it is undermined by having another character there as 'backup'. Another thing that irritated me to no end, was Zac's constant infantilization of her using words such as 'kiddo' throughout the book, even on the last page.

1.5 starsI can't describe my disappointment at this read. Everything MZ writes is highly anticipated for me. She's written some of my favs. This was clearly not one, however.Hands Down was tedious, repetitive and didn't go anywhere most of the story. The characters didn't ignite my interest at all. On top of that, the nicknames were infuriating. Bianca was 'Peewee', Zac was 'Snack Pack' and their cousin 'Boogie'. They were constantly in use and I found them so annoying.So overall, a bomb of the worst degree in my opinion.

4 StarsWhere do I even start?I've been wanting a book about Zac ever since I've read and re-read The wall of Winnipeg too many times to count. Overall I'm happy to have read this story but to be completely honest I wanted something more and for lack of a better word.. better.As per usual, I liked the writing style, the slow burn, the very real feel to the characters, their inner musings and rationalisations BUT that being said, just like in her last book before this one The best thing, there was a lot of repetitiveness.The number of times Bianca was talking about letting go, forgiveness, forgetting her bitterness and resentment as well as her reasons for it.. my God, I kept getting dizzy spells. She was also very insecure in her friendship with him and with people in general. Whenever he asked her to spend time together, her first response would always be you don't really have to if you want to do something else or if you're too busy I understand - GIRL, he is the one that keeps asking you!!! She also does this with others who offer to do things with her or for her. She kept saying to herself how she is so much more confident and loves herself and her life but her actions speak to a deeper insecurity that even she isn't aware of.Another thing to mention is that I felt there could have been more to the story. I didn't feel as though there really was any kind of conflict there and while I'm fine with the small slice of life moments, conversations and actions, I did need just a little something more. A spike in heart rate, an emotional reaction that touches deeper than just surface level, I don't know.. I'm left feeling unsatisfied in that regard.Now onto Zac, he was a sweetheart. A genuinely good guy, and if he did something unpleasant at any point it was very clear that it was never his intention or that he clearly recognises his actions and apologises accordingly. I liked his personality and easygoing attitude even when we can clearly deduce that he is unfulfilled in a way and even he doesn't understand why or what he can change. I got the feeling that his mantra in life is going with the flow, doing your best, be a nice, honest person and see where it all takes you. We didn't get his point of view and unfortunately, I have to admit that throughout the whole book I was eagerly wanting more of Zac. To get into his head more, to understand him better. I don't know why, which is absurd because he was the main character so of course he was heavily featured. But this was more Bianca's book than anything else and there's nothing wrong with that, but I didn't love her as much as him, not even close.Some other things I liked were the side characters. As per usual, we got some great interactions and were introduced to other people who might be featured in future books, who knows?!Trevor was redeemed in a way and I loved his parts in this book. He was the same surly, no-nonsense, type of guy but here we got to see that he does have feelings.. shocker?!For a while, I thought Gunner was gonna be a potential Aiden type, for a future book. And I still think he might not have been that bad because we didn't get his side of things and thought process. Some people can appear outwardly mean and act unpleasantly but that doesn't make them bad people. His refusal to leave the hospital when he drove Bianca there, tells me he's got his own set of morals.CJ and Amari, were again featured quite a bit and I liked their parts not so much to say I'm as intrigued as with Gunner, but I would like to read more of them.Now Bianca's family was hilarious and I loved their interactions. The book wouldn't have been the same without them.We also got a small appearance from the Graves team so that was a plus.Overall, there were a lot of good things to love and enjoy in this one. And also, a lot of laugh out loud or at least giggle to yourself type of scenes and dialogue. I honestly loved reading it, although it will not feature among my favourites from Zapata.To conclude, I would say you'd enjoy this more if you were are a fan of The Wall of Winnipeg and loved Zac in that book, otherwise, this might not live up to whatever expectations we usually have from Zapata. (this is a standalone so there's no need to have read the book I mentioned, I'm only saying that because if I hadn't, I probably wouldn't have given this one a 4 star rating

As always another fab slow burn book by Mariana Zapata!As soon as we met Zac in The Wall Of Winnipeg And Me I was desperate to find out his story and to see where his journey was going to take him... I loved how he was with Vanessa and how he handled situations so when I found out that Hands Down was coming I couldn't be anymore excited if I tried.Zac is still loving life as a football star but is struggling to find his place to call home so when life brings childhood friend Bianca back to him these pair have many previous difficulties to get through before a friendship can be rekindled.I always love the banter that Mariana gives us between couples and I never fail to smile while reading.Loved other MZ characters throughout the story and loved seeing a different side to Trevor in this story too!Absolutely gutted its over again.

I loved Zac in TWOWAI, but Hands Down, he is now my favourite MZ hero of all!Bianca is a kick butt heroine, funny, loyal, sweet and strong. She’s the ‘little Texas’ to Zac’s ‘Big Texas’, his childhood friend, the little sister he never had. Bianca knows loving Zac is only going to get her heart broken, but you just can’t help but fall for him anyway.Zac is absolute perfection in written form, he’s loving, affectionate, kind, sweet, funny and the best friend you could ask for.I couldn’t put this book down, I adored Zac before opening the cover, but by chapter 3, I was already in love with him, big time.This story was everything I love from Mariana’s stories, but so much more. It was great to catch up with some of our favourite MZ couples and even better to see a whole new side to Trevor!I highly recommend Hands Down, if you loved the big guy and his muffin, you’ll absolutely go crazy for Big and Little Texas.