Serious slow burn

I could not get into it at all, way too many tragedies for the heroine's backstory. Hero had no personality and I could not have cared less about him. Also please stop calling him big guy. He's a grown man you weirdo. And enough with the giant thighs and asses that need custom pants

This was my first Mariana Zapata book, and I enjoyed it!
It was QUITE the slow burn, but it definitely didn't disappoint on the 'getting to know you' phase of the relationship! One of my personal biggest pet peeves is when a character thinks they're in love after maybe one conversation, and that is not at all the case for this book!

I liked Vanessa as the main character, I liked that she was determined and stood up for herself--she was a strong person that I grew to really like. Aiden grew on me somewhat, but he never quite warmed up enough in my opinion. At the start I found him too direct/rude, too distant--almost unfeeling. I even felt halfway through that there was better chemistry between Vanessa and Zack.
I really appreciated the slow burn and gradual development of feelings between Vanessa and Aiden, though being entirely from her POV, it was hard to see Aiden's feelings grow.... That being said, I think this book would have been a 5 star read from me had there been even a *little* more sexy times. The 'build-up' of "wow, I can't believe he hugged me!" wasn't enough for smutty me, I guess.

Summary:
Characters
Vanessa was great (if you like rambling internal monologues and mild cluelessness, which about sums me up); Aiden was a calm, cool, collected, mountain of muscles that I would have liked to have warmed up more/seen more emotion from; Zack was great! so funny and truly caring toward Vanessa; Diana was fun and a good bff, but her plotline felt just a hair underdone to me (wanted one more 'concerning incident' before the big reveal...)

Plot
Light on plot in that there's not a ton of drama--this is a book full of normal everyday living, and how two people get to know each other and slowly seep into each other's lives and hearts. So there's not much action, but I wasn't bored, somehow.

Writing
I do think this could have been edited down. There were a few word choices that were jarring to me, where I had to pause and wonder if that was even the correct usage.
It was repetitive, and I wish we could have gotten more from Aiden. But 2 POVs are my jam.

2022 reread:
-Vanessa finally quits her job as assistant to professional football player Aiden, but then he wants her to come back. She refuses, but he counters with a proposal of marriage: he wants a green card to stay in the US. They agree to an arranged marriage, and over the course of the book they fall in love. [Aiden tries to be more open and friendly, and Vanessa falls for him. Eventually he admits he’s basically been into her the whole time. HEA]
-This is definitely a slow burn, and I feel like my original review stands. I wanted more romance/connection from Aiden, and Vanessa got on my nerves. The marathon subplot was forgettable, Zach’s subplot felt incomplete, and bff Diana’s subplot needed more development and resolution. Overall I still wanted more tension and buildup of a relationship. One review says the traumatic backstories weren’t very well written/2D, but I liked that we weren’t stewing in PTSD and anger issues. One review points out issues: Vanessa laughing when Aiden’s butt gets pinched nonconsensually, Vanessa being mad that Diana is hiding that she’s being abused, Vanessa blaming her sister’s abusive natures on FASD = ableist