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blackveilbeccy's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was an enemies to lovers, grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract, fake dating romance between two engineers. Lina is vivacious and a little flighty, Aaron is serious. He offers to play fake boyfriend to Lina and accompany her to her sister’s wedding, but it turns real along the way. Lina’s family are big and loud, and they add colour to the story. I wasn’t convinced about either the FMC or the MMC as Lina annoyed me a bit and Aaron was two dimensional. He was also super possessive and it came out of nowhere? The book was just okay.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Misogyny
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Death of parent, Death, Cancer, Eating disorder, and Grief
Minor: Medical content, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Racism, and Pregnancy
kathis_wonderland's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas is the first book in the Spanish Love Deception series. Lina is desperate to find a fake-boyfriend to her sister's wedding in a few weeks. When the co-worker, who she despises, volunteers to go to the wedding with her, she does everything to turn his mind around. But Aaron is the only option there is and, maybe, he is not as bad has Lina thought.
This book was exactly my cup of tea. Oh, how I loved it! Fake-dating, enemies-to-lovers, THERE IS ONLY ONE BED! This was just awesome. I inhaled this book. I couldn’t put it down, and when I was not reading (because of commitments), I was thinking about this book. The relationship between Lina and Aaron formed rather slow, but I rooted for them since the moment Aaron started to help Lina at work. There had been a lot of misunderstanding and miscommunication between them, but in the end, the worked it out. Oh, how I rooted for Aaron and Lina. Their relationship and trust grew so much in just a few days. Their chemistry was so steamy and the spicy scenes towards the end of the book were even steamier.
I loved all the Spanish bits and pieces that were mixed into this story. It is exciting to not only read books from US or British writers. It brings a new perspective. I don't understand Spanish at all, but I loved it and found it authentic to not fully translate some Spanish thoughts and sentences.
This book was like a warm (steamy) summer read. It warmed my heart and made me feel so many feelings! I squealed with happiness, cringed with second-hand embarrassment and was just overall giddy reading about this couple. I can't wait to read the next book in the series!
This book was exactly my cup of tea. Oh, how I loved it! Fake-dating, enemies-to-lovers, THERE IS ONLY ONE BED! This was just awesome. I inhaled this book. I couldn’t put it down, and when I was not reading (because of commitments), I was thinking about this book. The relationship between Lina and Aaron formed rather slow, but I rooted for them since the moment Aaron started to help Lina at work. There had been a lot of misunderstanding and miscommunication between them, but in the end, the worked it out. Oh, how I rooted for Aaron and Lina. Their relationship and trust grew so much in just a few days. Their chemistry was so steamy and the spicy scenes towards the end of the book were even steamier.
I loved all the Spanish bits and pieces that were mixed into this story. It is exciting to not only read books from US or British writers. It brings a new perspective. I don't understand Spanish at all, but I loved it and found it authentic to not fully translate some Spanish thoughts and sentences.
This book was like a warm (steamy) summer read. It warmed my heart and made me feel so many feelings! I squealed with happiness, cringed with second-hand embarrassment and was just overall giddy reading about this couple. I can't wait to read the next book in the series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual content, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Eating disorder and Cursing
Minor: Death, Death of parent, and Cancer
mattiedancer's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Writing: 4.25⭐️/5
The Spanish Love Deception is written very well, with some sections shining quite nicely. At certain tiny moments, the dialogue felt a bit forced or unnatural but these were fleeting sections and didn’t impact the overall read.
Characters: 4.25⭐️/5
Again, apart from a couple of moments where the characters felt like cookie-cutter tropes, but it was quickly overcome by deeper character development. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters by the end and honestly fell in love with a few.
Plot: 4⭐️/5
While the overarching plot (and the great use of the fake dating trope) was thoroughly enjoyable, I didn’t love the semi-focus on some of the side plots. The somewhat flippant plot point in which Lina decides to not eat felt unfinished, especially as it never comes up again. Similarly, while I understand the desire to keep certain backstories secret until necessary, the way both Lina and Aaron’s backstories are consistently hinted at without being revealed until they confess to each other left other sections of the novel feeling unfinished. Definitely a fun (and good) read, but I wonder what it could have been had these been more thoroughly thought out.
Who Should Read This Book?
- Fans of fun romance novels
- Those who love the fake dating trope
Content Warnings?
- Disordered Eating, Toxic Relationships, Sexual Content, Swearing, Stalking, Sexual Harassment, Misogyny, Sexism
Post-Reading Rating: 4.5⭐️/5
Very fun.
Final Rating: 4.25⭐️/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexism
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Cancer, and Death of parent
__romancereader__'s review
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I loved this book it was a very interesting book i love how protective Aaron was of Catalina and how much he loved her and couldn’t even hide it I definitely rate this book a five star⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️😍😍😍😍💖💖💖💖
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Mental illness, Bullying, Cancer, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Death, and Death of parent
Not all the content warnings are about the main characters some are and some are about the characters that come along in the book😁🥰thebookpaiges's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, Sexism, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Cancer, Misogyny, and Death
camillarossi's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Cancer, Death, and Death of parent
lacrimaeignis's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I absolutely adored this rom com! It was a fun trip and the perfect story to start off the new year! I loved how the characters played off of each other. Lina and Aaron's banter and chemistry was fantastic and seeing the build up of their relationship was nice. Even though I was a little disappointed at first, I am ultimately glad that we didn't get to their trip to Spain until later in the book - about halfway through. It allowed the relationship to build up more and allowed the characters to understand each other a bit better before getting others involved in their relationship. . It was also very pleasant to read about a loving family and not just the strained relationship families that appear more often than not in this genre. I only wish that we had been given a chance to see and experience more of Spain in the story. I also would have preferred to see more of Aaron's flaws - especially during the trip. And while it was fun to get references to pop culture, they were used a bit too much especially the Twilight references. One or two Twilight references would have been fine but they started throwing me out of the story; it got to a point where Lina was basically pretending she was Bella and Aaron was her Edward. But all in all it was an enjoyable story with believable and relatable characters. And most of all it made me want to visit Spain once again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Misogyny
Moderate: Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Body shaming, Bullying, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Grief, Alcohol, Death of parent, Cancer, Chronic illness, and Death
ellaticonstellation's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Cancer, Grief, Misogyny, Cursing, Death of parent, Eating disorder, and Death
culzean's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Grief, Alcohol, Cancer, Cursing, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Medical content, Misogyny, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Pregnancy
roadesntoades's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This is one of the cutest romances I have read in a long time and does not deserve any of the hate it’s given. This is a book that doesn’t shy away from being a bit cliche. I mean it literally lays out the tropes on the back. It’s fake-dating, enemies to lovers, one bed. It doesn’t shy away from that it embraces it. Yeah there are some moments that are bit rinse and repeat but they are enjoyable. Plus I love that it’s made clear that Aaron has always been attracted to Catalina, or at least liked her. It wasn’t some sudden romance, or spontaneous declaration. We know how it will end and we know that Aaron wasn’t hiding it, just respecting Catalina’s boundaries. It’s honestly such a cute read, and really enjoyable
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Bullying, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent, Body shaming, Cancer, Abandonment, Chronic illness, and Death
Minor: Eating disorder