Review: Lingus by Mariana Zapata

Ever dream of falling in love with a porn star? I have to say, it isn’t something that I have ever fantasised about, although after reading Lingus maybe I’ll change my mind. Of course, if the porn star is as gorgeous (and well endowed) as Tristan King aka Robby Lingus than I am already head over heels. Kat Berger knows she can’t fall for Tristan, having a boyfriend that’s a porn star isn’t something she could handle, however, she can be a friend…right?

We all know Mariana Zapata is fantastic at the slow burn, friends-to-lovers romance troupe, however, I never thought I would see it being applied to a porn star hero. But, she did. And I liked it. This was a great romantic comedy, with outrageous and hilarious friends, adorable pets and some great banter between the hero and heroine. However, although I enjoyed it, it isn’t my favourite of her books.

Why you ask? After all what’s better than a sexy porn star hero? Well, it wasn’t so much the hero that didn’t wow me, but the book in general. I believe Lingus is one of the first books published by Zapata and it definitely feels quite immature compared to her other books. This impression was helped along by the fairly crude (although no doubt funny) humour and the exaggerated personalities of the secondary characters. Everyone seemed to be a caricature of a series of overblown personality characteristics rather than an actual person. Which, was fun to read but meant that I didn’t really connect to any of them.

The romance itself between Tristan and Kat was cute and followed a typical friends-to-lovers scenario, with them finally going beyond friendship towards the end of the book. Tristan and Kat connected as friends almost instantly, which quickly transformed into a relationship, which was basically a romantic one…just minus the sex. I found it a little hard to believe, much as I do an insta-love relationship, however, it was cute and I did enjoy the sexual tension that ratcheted up as the book went on.

This book was a lot of fun, although it isn’t a favourite from this author. If you want a light hearted romantic comedy definitely pick it up. However, I wouldn’t entirely judge this author on this book alone, Zapata’s other books have a slightly different tone.