I just want him to be mostly nice, funny, likes to do things with me, and be honest. “You asked what kind of guy I’d be interested in dating. They become their truest, most honest versions of themselves in their letters, confiding in each other, and providing comfort and advice whenever needed. But as their correspondence takes off, they begin a steady, year-long flow of exchanges through which they slowly get to know each other in ways they never could have imagined when they first started writing to one another, a bond of friendship gently blossoming between them. When twenty-four-year-old Ruby Santos sends her first letter to Aaron Hall, a deployed US soldier she’s been randomly paired with through the Help a Soldier program, all she hopes for is to brighten his day and to distract him a little from whatever bleak reality he is facing on a daily basis. Most guys want someone who has a big rack or a big butt, or at least think or act like they do, or they like funny, outgoing girls.

Her books are sheer beauty beginning to end, and this one was simply dazzling. I’ve never encountered an author who can convey so much emotion with so little fanfare, and whose unwavering focus on her characters is downright hypnotic, but Mariana’s stories always leave my heart a happy mess.

A friends-to-lovers romance like no other I’ve ever read before-so utterly unique and enchanting, and paced in Mariana Zapata’s signature slow burning style-this book took my breath away. Just thinking about this story puts a gushy smile on my face.

Dear aaron mariana zapata