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Welcome to the very first Author Slot Gacor Maxwin Spotlight on Sincerely, Whitney! This is a new reoccurring segment on the blog where I will shine some light, and love, on a romance author. The first author to receive this honor is Mariana Zapata.

Author Spotlight: Mariana Zapata

Mariana Zapata began writing love stories soon after she learned how to spell. She probably shouldn’t admit that she started sneaking romance novels from her aunt’s bookshelves way before she was old enough to even understand what it meant when a man flipped up a woman’s skirt. (Don’t tell her mom.)

Mariana is a native Texan living in a small town in Colorado with her husband and two beloved (and emotionally manipulative) Great Danes, Dorian and Kaiser. When she’s not pretending to write, she’s reading. You can usually find her burning somewhat edible experiments in the kitchen or cracking jokes at the expense of her family members.

Author Bio Via amazon

Why Readers Love Her Books

Mariana’s books have been well-received in the romance community for years now. She typically writes low-angst, contemporary romances with her signature slow burn. A slow burn romance is where the couple fails to act on their attraction to one another until later in the novel. With Mariana’s books ranging anywhere from 300 to 500 pages, the readers are waiting a ridiculously long time for her characters to acknowledge their feelings. The craziest part? Zapata is able to deliver a beautiful love story every single time. Because of this, her fans have deemed her the “queen of slow burn.”

Her books are more than just slow burn, however. They are filled to the brim with sarcastic banter, embarrassing families, adorable pets, and unique careers. For me, there is nothing more refreshing than a character with an uncommon day job. It is one of my favorites aspects to Mariana’s novels because the careers play such a huge role. She is able to prolong the couple’s interactions by shifting attention to their work – and it is perfectly executed every time! She has professional athletes, rock stars, mechanics, and even porn stars!

Mariana’s Books

Remember how I said Mariana’s books have been well-received by the romance community? Well according to her author page on Goodreads, her books have an average rating of 4.20 out of 5, 516,145 ratings, and have been shelved 1,102,272 times! Whoa.

As of January 1, 2022, Mariana only has 12 books on the market. She typically releases one book a year – which is low for a romance author. But you can’t forget that her books are monstrous in size! Can you imagine how long they could be before edits!? I would love to know.

Book Breakdown

“Who was that?” she asked me when we were a couple of booths down. “Some guy who caught me pulling my underwear out of my crack.”

Lingus, Mariana Zapata

Lingus is Mariana’s debut novel. It is a romantic comedy that follows a school teacher and a porn star. The unlikely pair strike up a friendship after a laugh-out-loud meet cute at a porn convention. Hilarity ensues.

“Babe, I’ve handpicked everythin’ and everyone in here. I know what I want and I get what I want,” he breathed. “And I keep what’s mine.”

Under Locke, Mariana Zapata

Want an opposites attract romance? Under Locke is for you! Buttoned-up Iris Taylor finds herself falling for her ex-felon boss, Dex Locke. Oh, and there is also a motorcycle gang stirring up some trouble.

“You are my equal, my partner, my teammate, my best friend.”

Kulti, Mariana Zapata

Kulti is my personal favorite! Sal Casillas is thrown for a loop when they announce that her childhood idol and crush, Reiner Kulti, is her new soccer coach. That loop comes crashing down when he turns out to be nothing like she envisioned. This one is definitely for lovers of age gap and enemies-to-lovers!

“Not liking you is like fighting gravity.”

Rhythm, Chord, & Malykhin

Go on tour with some hot rock stars in Rhythm, Chord, & Malykhin. Gaby is at a crossroads in her life, so what does she do? She agrees to go on tour with her twin brother’s band and sell their merch. Duh. Too bad her brother didn’t tell her she would be the only girl on the tour bus and that the singer of the headlining band is beautiful. Poor, poor Gaby.

“I’m starting to understand that you can always make time for the things that matter.”

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me, Mariana Zapata

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me has a cult following – and for good reason. Vanessa just quit her job as a personal assistant to the Canadian-native footballer, Aiden Graves. Aiden, however, realizes that he let the one person who he needs the most walk away. When he approaches Vanessa with an odd proposition, he knows he has her right where he needs her. But Vanessa isn’t sure Team Graves is going to work. Marriage of convenience, anyone?

“You couldn’t feel more like mine if you tried.”

Wait for It, Mariana Zapata

Wait for It is the best unconventional single parent romance I have ever read. Diana is determined to provide the best for her two nephews. Starting over in a new town, in their own home, sounds like heaven to her. However, her grumpy neighbor and his criminal brother keep interfering. Things only get worse when the neighbor ends up being her nephew’s baseball coach. . .

“Mostly though, Rubes, I want to go back in time and beat every single person’s ass who’s ever made you doubt yourself, because the girl who makes me smile ‘til my face hurts even on a shit day needs to see that in herself. I feel like I owe it to you.”

Dear Aaron, Mariana Zapata

Love a good epistolary romance? Dear Aaron has you covered. When Ruby signs up to write a soldier overseas, she didn’t expect to fall for the guy. The real question is: Will their chemistry be just as good face-to-face?

“Love to me was honesty. Being real. Knowing someone’s best and worst. Love was a push that said someone believed in you when you didn’t.”

From Lukov with Love, Mariana Zapata

This is one of the most unique romances I have ever read! From Lukov with Love is another sports romance – with a triple lutz. Fans of the Cutting Edge movie with love this because FIGURE SKATING! It also has a very nice rivals-to-enemies-to-lovers vibe.

“You gave me these pieces of you I know you haven’t given to anybody else, and they’re mine. You can’t take ’em back. I need them more than you do, you hear me?”

Luna and the Lie, Mariana Zapata

Luna and the Lie should come up under the definition of grumpy/sunshine. Luna is the light of the autobody shop while her boss, Rip, is the complete opposite. Things get messy when Lina cashes in a favor Rip promised her. Just do me a favor and read it.

“You do whatever you have to do for the people you love.”

The Best Thing, Mariana Zapata

You want a second chance romance? The Best Thing is going to be the best thing for you. Mariana has some tricks up her sleeves in this one. Dive in blind!

“You make everything fun. Everything good. You’ve always been my favorite girl, kiddo. Hands down.”

Hands Down, Mariana Zapata

Hands Down is perfect for you childhood-crush-to-lovers fans out there. Bianca crosses paths with her childhood crush, Zac, after years apart. They slowly become friends and overcome the barriers that kept them separated. But will Zac’s uncertainty in his career, professional footballer, come between them again?

“People cried over endings, but sometimes you had to cry over new beginnings. I wouldn’t forget what I’d left. But I was going to be excited – at least as much as I could be – about this start and how it would end.

All Rhodes Lead Here, Mariana Zapata

Mariana’s latest release, All Rhodes Lead Here, had me all up in my feels. Aurora is looking for a fresh start and ends up renting a garage apartment back in a town that feels like home. The apartment’s owner, Tobias, is surprised by Aurora and her outlook on life. This is another grumpy-sunshine with emotion. Bring the tissues!

Social Media

Trust me, you will want to stalk follow Mariana for bookish updates. Unfortunately, Mariana doesn’t seem to be super active on social media like some authors. It is actually pretty impressive that she does very little marketing for her upcoming releases. Because, as you now know, they climb the Amazon charts super quick. She doesn’t even have an ARC team. If that doesn’t attest to a talented writer, I don’t know what does.

I’m getting off topic.

The best places to interact with Mariana is on Instagram and Facebook. She will typically share tagged posts and stories on her Instagram. The real goldmine is her Facebook group – The Slow Burners. I actually got so excited at the extra and bonus material on there that I reached out to an admin to see if I could share. Yeah I had a brain-fart but at least I asked! Only group members are allowed access to all the goodies – as it should be. GO JOIN NOW! However, I wanted to share that because I cannot believe some of that content is FREE. Most authors are charging readers for that type of content on Patreon.

Also, don’t sleep on her website. It has her bookish merch and extras too!

You can check out her Goodreads and Twitter too!

I sincerely hope that I have influenced you to pick up your first Mariana Zapata novel. And if you have read Mariana before, tell me your favorite book of hers below. Also, tell me that you RAN to Facebook to join her group if you haven’t already.

Love you besties. xo