Dear Aaron by Mariana Zapata

🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:

Ruby Santos knew exactly what she was getting herself into when she signed up to write a soldier overseas. 

The guidelines were simple: one letter or email a week for the length of his or her deployment. Care packages were optional. 

Been there, done that. She thought she knew what to expect. 

What she didn’t count on was falling in love with the guy.

Dear Aaron is the definition of slow burn. The beginning of the book was interesting. I enjoyed how it began with Ruby writing her first few letters to Aaron through a military pen pal program. I thought that the letter and email format would stop after a while but the majority of the book is written like this with no back and forth dialogue but rather back and forth emails. This wouldn't have bugged me as much if something happened to improve the pacing of the story. There is literally nothing that happens until about 60-70% into the book. I was bored regardless of the jokes and getting to learn more about Ruby and Aaron through their letters to each other. 
I also had a hard time believing that they were in their twenties. Ruby's letters made her come across as a young teenager rather than an adult woman. When the book progressed to the point where they each talk about their ages I was shocked. I actually had to read and reread that page because I didn't believe it. Ruby's maturity level just wasn't right in order for me to believe that she was in her twenties. 
Aaron and Ruby's relationship was sweet and I loved their friendship but I wanted more from the story. They each had issues but the author stuck to the surface of them rather than driving into them. I think that it would have helped with the pacing of the book  as well as the overall story if the author would have spoken about the characters issues more in depth. I was curious about Aaron's life but he is skipped over in favor of Ruby's disastrous dating life.