To me, this is the perfect kind of romance. Even if the relationship is between a girl and a football star who was her childhood crush, everything works realistically. The growth of the relationship–from indifference to hatred to friendship to love–is given attention and detail that at the end, nothing feels unrealistic. It’s the kind that takes about 80% of the book to develop. And I am telling you, this author’s slow burn is like no other. Especially her two Sports Romances, The Wall of Winnipeg and Me and of course, Kulti. I admit that not all her books are perfect to me, but every single one keeps me coming back for more. Because really, her books give me the worst book hangovers just second to Harry Potter.

I don’t think I can ever emphasize enough how amazing Mariana Zapata is. I just finished rereading Kulti and I’m currently brimming with emotions and love for this book so I decided to finally review it. This was going to be the longest season of her life. “Sal, please don’t make me visit you in jail. Or the murderous urges he brought out in her. Nothing could have prepared her for the man she got to know. So she isn’t prepared for this version of Reiner Kulti who shows up to her team’s season: a quiet, reclusive, shadow of the explosive, passionate man he’d once been. Sal had long ago gotten over the worst non-break-up in the history of imaginary relationships with a man that hadn’t known she’d existed. It didn’t take a week for twenty-seven-year-old Sal Casillas to wonder what she’d seen in the international soccer icon-why she’d ever had his posters on her wall, or ever envisioned marrying him and having super-playing soccer babies. When the man you worshipped as a kid becomes your coach, it’s supposed to be the greatest thing in the world. “Trust me, I’ve wanted to punch you in the face a time or five.” Genres: Contemporary Romance, Sports Romance

Kulti goodreads