Lingus by Mariana Zapata

This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

Title: Lingus
Author: Mariana Zapata
Published by: Indie
Release Date: February 8, 2012
Format: Kindle Book
Pages: 500
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Romantic Comedy
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2018 #LetsReadIndie Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 New Adult Challenge, Lenoreo's COYER Big Summer Birthday Bash 2018
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ IndieBound
My rating:

Blurb:

Most people would describe Katherine Berger as a responsible girl with a big heart, a loyal friend who takes care of those close to her, and the possessor of a wicked sense of humor. There was something about her that most people didn't know. "My name is Kat Berger, and I love porn."

When twenty-five-year-old Kat is dragged to a porn convention by her best friend, she's both embarrassed and nervous. The last thing she ever expected was to meet someone who makes her laugh like no other. This is a story about acceptance and friendship, and a love born out of the most unexpected of places.

My Review:

3.5 stars — I’m having a hard time deciding on the final rating for this book, b/c it was simultaneously a lot of different ratings.  I’m settling it at 3.5, but I kind of want to set it at 3 stars just because the ending dragged out a LOT and left me bored and wanting to skim, and so it left a bad taste in my mouth, you know?  But I’m trying to keep the parts that gave me tummy butterflies in mind to balance it off.  Needless to say, this is going to be a very mixed review.

Now, I realize that this is likely Ms. Zapata’s first published work, so I knew going in it was likely to be a bit rougher…and it was in parts.  I felt like the characters were a bit more caricature-ish than normal, and so I had a hard time connecting with them at times.  I both appreciated the dorkiness of Kat and Tristan, while at the same time cringing at them occasionally.  It was the same with Kat’s relationship with her BFFs…I enjoyed that she had such strong relationships with them, but I also felt like they were seriously over the top at times.  And here’s one of my doesn’t-fit-my-personal-taste things: I know that women calling each other sluts and whores and the like is a thing, and perhaps even a “take it back and own it” kind of thing…but I’m not *personally* a fan.  I try not to judge people who do, but it does make me uncomfortable…and so it made it hard to connect with Kat, Nikki, Zoey and Josh sometimes.  I also found that on occasion they felt like the kinds of people who would enjoy being on reality TV, and I’m not a fan of that either.  *shrugs*

I did appreciate that this book felt very sex positive in most ways.  I kind of get tired of the judginess that goes with the porn industry, and while I totally understand that there are a lot of bad things that can arise from it, I don’t believe it’s all black and white.  So I appreciated that this showcased an interesting take on people in the industry themselves.  And for the most part I think it succeeds.  I appreciated that it tackled the hard question of how does a porn star have a serious relationship, because that is fraught with complications.  On occasion I felt like Kat had a hard time letting some things go, and I was bummed by that…but all in all that part was a strange success.

I’m used to Ms. Zapata’s books being on the extreme end of slow burn, and I appreciated that this one was more of a normal slow burn.  And I can 100% say that the chemistry between Tristan and Kat totally gave me butterflies and tummy tingles and I was super duper invested.  Strangely, it was after the LA convention that I started to get bored with the story.  Why strange?  Because I had complained in another book by this author how I wanted more of an HEA.  But with this one I felt like it kept going and going without much conflict and development.  The pacing changed, and I kept waiting for something to happen, and then…not much did.  Apparently I can’t be satisfied.

So yeah.  I think if the book had been trimmed down, I would have enjoyed it much more.  Even with some of the other things that bugged me, it was counterbalanced nicely with the things I enjoyed…but then the ending dragged out and that’s what sunk it for me.  Ah well!  I think I’m going to take a break from this author and try again later…when I’m not so rushed to get books read before Book Bonanza.