Dear Aaron

There was a point where I wondered if the entire book was going to be epistolary but we got to roughly the Chapter 15 mark before they started existing outside of just their letters. I enjoyed this but girl, please stop with the bathroom humor. I know you're trying to make your female characters quirky and relatable but I cringe so hard every time.

Aaron was lovely and it was nice to see who he actually was because I met him in From Lukov With Love. However, the epilogue didn't really feel like it fit with this book.

Wow, what a brave story to write. It is amazing. The perfect setting for a slow burn story.
Ruby is writing to a soldier, Aaron as part of support program, sending emails/letters and possibly care packages. This setting allows the H/h to get to know each other before ever meeting, it is funny, sometimes quite heartbreaking and very well written.

I love almost everything Mariana Zapata writes, and this was no exception. I was reluctant to listen to this audiobook because I'm not a fan of the narrators reading the email captions each time (stuff I tend to skip over when reading), but it wasn't bad and it transitioned later in the book to normal first person narration. 4 stars for now, but may bump it up to 5 if I reread it.

I listened to this for a book club discussion. I'm not really into romance, but this sounded interesting.

It 'was' interesting. Very well written, very convincing, and somehow, I fell in love with both protagonists. I really had no idea how this would end, and for a while I was scared: after all, Aaron is deployed in a war zone.
I won't tell you if any of what I was afraid of came true. Suffice it to say that I loved how the story and the main characters developed, and how the story unfolded. I was drawn in right from the start and found myself listening every free minute I had.

The narrators did an awesome job. Having a female and a male narrator reading the emails of the respective protagonists worked out brilliantly. It made the whole show more story even more believable -- if that is possible. I can't comment on the accents because English is not my first language, but I had no problems to understand either of the narrators.

I can recommend this to anyone who loves a good story. show less

Weird. But good. Good in a weird way. It was weird that most of this story unfolded as a series of emails, then instant messages. But it kinda worked. It really helped that I listened to most of it as an audiobook. You really fall in love with the characters when you can hear them. Aaron was AMAZING. I loved his voice.

This story is basically about a girl named Ruby and a guy named Aaron who become pen pals. And that leads to love amazingly enough. The story was very annoying at first with the back and forth emails and IMs. But eventually you find yourself really getting immersed in their friendship. The closer they get, the more you feel like a fly on the wall, listening in to their conversation. Like I said, the audiobook is key for show more this story. It’s almost like watching a play.

Despite being annoyed by the email/IM format at the start, I actually enjoyed the story of how these two kids fall in love. Out of all the books I’ve read by this author, this is probably the slowest of slow burns. I mean, really, really slow burn. But in the end, it’s worth it. If you have patience, you’ll be rewarded. show less

Just as Ruby Santos is about to give up on her pairing with Aaron Hall, the man assigned to her by the Help a Soldier Foundation, he finally writes back to her. They continue communicating and getting to know one another for months before Aaron comes home on leave. Aaron invites her to spend time with him and his friends in Florida, but she is not sure about meeting a man who is essentially a stranger in a strange place but decides that she needs to take the chance.

The first half of Dear Aaron is structured as emails, letters, and messages between the protagonists. The last half is when they meet face to face. As well as these two characters work as friends, they just don't have any romantic chemistry. The conflicts are minimal and the show more plot is low angst. Aaron's perspective in never included in the book, so we really don't know what he is thinking or feeling unless he says something to someone else. Not much really ever happens in the story, making it move very slowly. Since this is by Mariana Zapata, I expected it to be slow burn, but actually, it is no burn. Overall, Dear Aaron is a cute story that feels like it goes nowhere. show less

3.5 stars
I know I normally sing the praises of Mariana Zapata and my love of her brand of slow burn romances, but this one is definitely on the lower end for me. I knew going in I liked Ruby and Aaron from appearances in other books, and I also knew going in this would be more of an interesting format. Having said that, the letters/IMs/emails portion of the book is about 40-50% of the book, and while enjoyable, there's a lot of explaining of things generally most people would know (like the pop culture references). The emails and IMs were adorable, and when it switched to a more in person POV, I enjoyed it much more, but then the ending felt rushed.
I still liked how Mariana Zapata weaves in family, character growth, and of course, the show more slow burn romance we know and love. I just hold a few of her other books in higher ranking at the end of the day. Good read if you're a Zapata fan. show less