Book Review: When Gracie Met the Grump

I knew I would like When Gracie Met the Grump because I always love Mariana Zapata books, but I wasn’t sure how much I would love it since it’s not her typical romance novel, but a paranormal/superhero romance. I ended up loving it so much more than I expected! Just goes to show that I will literally eat up anything MZ writes.

The novel follows Gracie Castro, a young woman who has been on the run for almost the whole of her 30 years of life. Due to something that happened in the past with her parents, Gracie was raised by her grandparents and every few months they would move so they could not be found by people who meant them harm. Now that her grandparents have both passed away in recent years, Gracie is on her own. She works remotely, lives in remote areas, and keeps moving. Just when she finally comes to terms with the fact that it’s time to uproot her life once again, The Defender, one of the superheroes in the group known as the Trinity, crash lands in her front yard.

The Defender, aka Alex, is badly injured and Gracie takes him in to give him a safe place to recover. He’s grumpy and Gracie doesn’t know if it’s because he’s in pain, if it’s because of the stress of having the weight of saving the world on his shoulders, or if that’s just his normal personality. As Alex continues to recover slower than normal, Gracie’s family’s past catches up with her and for someone who has grown up depending on no one and making very few friends for safety, she now must rely on Alex on his superhero family.

I loved both Gracie and Alex. They were such good characters and a great grumpy sunshine! I also loved Alex’s family. They were such a fun group of characters, especially his niece Asami. While this is a paranormal romance, it still has Mariana Zapata’s signature slow burn and it’s so worth it. It’s not my favorite MZ book that I’ve read, but I still loved it!

Read this if you want a paranormal/superhero romance with the grumpy sunshine, slow burn, and forced proximity tropes.