Scan barcode
georginainvisablestring22's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
tense
slow-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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Sexism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Eating disorder, Cancer, and Death of parent
basicnikki's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting and Sexism
faitherslibrary's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
fast-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Eating disorder, Bullying, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, and Gaslighting
capybooks's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I enjoyed The Spanish Love Deception, and I see why it is a favourite among some readers, but it wasn’t the greatest romance novel I’ve read. I love the enemies to lovers trope, although I do think it was way overdone - during the first 10 chapters I thought “we get it, you hate Aaron.” Overall, I did really enjoy it but I do have my grievances.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Cancer, Sexual content, Death of parent, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
lifeasliza's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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? N/A
4.75
Wow, I really loved this book. I’m not gonna lie to you, the first couple chapters of this book had me questioning it, but Elena Armas really brought it home in the end and she absolutely did not pull any emotional punches. The banter and tension between Aaron and Catalina was top notch romcom banter, and I enjoyed it immensely. Catalina herself was a deeply relatable character to me and reading her grow into herself and her confidence made me heart squeeze!! Of course there were things that were a little too cheesy, or a little too questionable like “would this really happen?” But I feel like that comes with the genre.
Elena Armas also did an excellent job of showcasing sexual harassment/sexism in the workplace, along with the double standards that come with being a woman.
Elena Armas also did an excellent job of showcasing sexual harassment/sexism in the workplace, along with the double standards that come with being a woman.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Gaslighting
moonieness12's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Gaslighting and Cursing
Minor: Cancer, Death, Bullying, Grief, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Medical trauma, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
rensreading's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
i went into this with no expectations and got a lot more than i bargained for.
i liked catalina up until the last 2 chapters. she felt like a real life person i could come across on the street. most romance mc’s aren’t very dimensional so armas did very well with hers. she was strong, stubborn, but also prone to panicking because of the rough stuff she had gone through in life.
as for aaron, i didn’t like him when he said nothing to defend lina from gerard in that meeting where she gets assigned to organize an event she has no idea how to put together, but he grew on me. it became very clear that he had liked her a long time before she ever considered him even being nice and i liked that about him, but then he started getting weird about how much she ate and about her health. it reminded me of christian gray and that is not someone you want to be compared to, fellas. he very quickly dropped that “how much have you eaten today” thing though so i was relieved about that. but then he started to try and seduce lina at weird, inopportune moments and that gave me mad second-hand embarrassment. he ended up being pretty okay in the end.
what did give me the ick was a spanish woman using the word “savages” in a playful manner when spain is just as much of a colonizer country as england and the fact that after beinggroomed and manipulated by her first boyfriend/old professor , LINA is the one left to pick up the pieces. her family give her so much shit for how she drifted along in life after being traumatized by him and all the people that jumped on the bandwagon to harass her but are cordially polite with said ex-boyfriend of hers. what the fuck?
i did like that she caught onto the fact that he groomed her when she sees him in spain again though. he says something like “we’re both adults now” and she goes ballistic “compared to when? to when we were dating and you said you loved me and made me feel so special?” GOOD FOR HER! i hope daniel gets fucked by a cactus or something. it’s the least of what he deserves.
and then we hit the last chapter and im hit with so much cringe.in my opinion, that very last act “breakup” was also unnecessary as fuck. there went the rational woman lina had finally worked herself into being. she had done a lot of work on herself and i get her trust issues aren’t going to be in tip-top shape, but we didn’t need a novela worthy drama arc to rush her into going where she was already headed, yknow? that was unneeded and it ruined a bit of her character development as well.
also armas, you robbed us of the martin family meeting aaron’s dad in the epilogue. ABSOLUTE CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR! JAIL!
in terms of spice, i’d give this a solid 2/5 🌶 there were 2 explicit smut scenes and 2 heavy petting, semi-public makeout sessions.the dirty talk wasn’t all that surprising, but the mild spanking was. it was okay though. they weren’t really detrimental to the plot but they did add a nice enough kick to keep things very interesting. not bad
i think i’d give this book 3.75 stars if i wanted to get very specific with my ratings. it wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t bad either. a good and enjoyable experience for the most part 😊
(why were there so many twilight references btw??)
i liked catalina up until the last 2 chapters. she felt like a real life person i could come across on the street. most romance mc’s aren’t very dimensional so armas did very well with hers. she was strong, stubborn, but also prone to panicking because of the rough stuff she had gone through in life.
as for aaron, i didn’t like him when he said nothing to defend lina from gerard in that meeting where she gets assigned to organize an event she has no idea how to put together, but he grew on me. it became very clear that he had liked her a long time before she ever considered him even being nice and i liked that about him, but then he started getting weird about how much she ate and about her health. it reminded me of christian gray and that is not someone you want to be compared to, fellas. he very quickly dropped that “how much have you eaten today” thing though so i was relieved about that. but then he started to try and seduce lina at weird, inopportune moments and that gave me mad second-hand embarrassment. he ended up being pretty okay in the end.
what did give me the ick was a spanish woman using the word “savages” in a playful manner when spain is just as much of a colonizer country as england and the fact that after being
and then we hit the last chapter and im hit with so much cringe.
also armas, you robbed us of the martin family meeting aaron’s dad in the epilogue. ABSOLUTE CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR! JAIL!
in terms of spice, i’d give this a solid 2/5 🌶 there were 2 explicit smut scenes and 2 heavy petting, semi-public makeout sessions.
i think i’d give this book 3.75 stars if i wanted to get very specific with my ratings. it wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t bad either. a good and enjoyable experience for the most part 😊
(why were there so many twilight references btw??)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexism, Grief, Misogyny, and Cursing
Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, and Cancer
Minor: Bullying, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
it’s never made clear how old lina was when she met daniel, but she was definitelyvictorianbsilva's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Medical content, and Sexual content
now_booking's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
4-4.5 Stars!
I admittedly am not the biggest fan of enemies-to-lovers romances. They stress me out and I personally don’t understand the point of investing so much banter and negative energy in someone you purportedly despise but here we are. I decided to read this and I actually really enjoyed it. Perhaps it’s because I listened to it in audio and Scarlette Hayes did such a good job on it, or perhaps it’s because from the beginning, it is beyond obvious that the hero is gone over the heroine and is being the trope of “somewhat emotionally-stunted character struggles to show their feelings.” Nonetheless, there’s something in this that really worked for me and I loved it.
The premise is that Catalina needs a fake date to attend her sister’s wedding in Spain after lying to her family about being in a relationship so they wouldn’t worry about her still being broken after a devastating break up back home. Her only option seems to be the incongruous offer from her work nemesis, Aaron, who agrees to play the part of her boyfriend in front of her family. But being thrown together makes them dig deep into the animosity between them.
I think my favourite part of this is the exploration of sexism in academia and in the work place. There are scenes where Catalina’s experience reflects the inherent bias and misogyny that exists in professional spheres where women are expected to fulfill certain roles or tropes just because of their gender, or they’re subject to gossip and innuendo if they are succeeding in their careers. I also really enjoyed the discussion around “staying neutral” versus how best to support those that are being harassed in the workplace. I did not necessarily agree with Aaron’s conclusion but I thought it was a good conversation and it made me think. I think this theme was a really important part of this novel and that the author did a good job discussing this within the plot and making the trauma Lina had experienced around this really tangible.
I found the writing especially in Lina’s stream-of-consciousness mind to be cute and laugh out loud funny. There is a lot of internal monologuing in this and Lina’s mental voice is strong, and so if this is not something that you typically like, consider if this might be the book for you. I would almost say that most of this book is Lina’s internal monologue. In audio, it was fine, the narrator did a fantastic job interpreting the character, but if you’re reading it on the page, I suppose it would be a matter of taste. I typically don’t like the deception-fake relationship trope but it worked here for me. Consent was also dealt with in a stellar way, as well as workplace relationships. As a multicultural romance, I thought this did a fair job reflecting the cultural dichotomies that existed between Lina and Aaron. I think it did matter that she was from Spain and it was integral to her character.
For me, I wish we had gotten a bit more Aaron. This was mostly Lina’s book which was fine, but sometimes I was missing Aaron getting a word in edgewise. I mean admittedly Aaron is quiet and what he did have to say was impactful but I think this could have done with much more of him either having a voice or feeling more like this was his book as well. Again the author may have made the decision to focus on Lina’s story but taste-wise, I wanted more Aaron. I also think that some of the big resolution points were a little rushed and disempowering for Lina in my opinion.
Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this. It made me laugh and I thought it was cute and funny and enjoyable. I do recommend it!
I admittedly am not the biggest fan of enemies-to-lovers romances. They stress me out and I personally don’t understand the point of investing so much banter and negative energy in someone you purportedly despise but here we are. I decided to read this and I actually really enjoyed it. Perhaps it’s because I listened to it in audio and Scarlette Hayes did such a good job on it, or perhaps it’s because from the beginning, it is beyond obvious that the hero is gone over the heroine and is being the trope of “somewhat emotionally-stunted character struggles to show their feelings.” Nonetheless, there’s something in this that really worked for me and I loved it.
The premise is that Catalina needs a fake date to attend her sister’s wedding in Spain after lying to her family about being in a relationship so they wouldn’t worry about her still being broken after a devastating break up back home. Her only option seems to be the incongruous offer from her work nemesis, Aaron, who agrees to play the part of her boyfriend in front of her family. But being thrown together makes them dig deep into the animosity between them.
I think my favourite part of this is the exploration of sexism in academia and in the work place. There are scenes where Catalina’s experience reflects the inherent bias and misogyny that exists in professional spheres where women are expected to fulfill certain roles or tropes just because of their gender, or they’re subject to gossip and innuendo if they are succeeding in their careers. I also really enjoyed the discussion around “staying neutral” versus how best to support those that are being harassed in the workplace. I did not necessarily agree with Aaron’s conclusion but I thought it was a good conversation and it made me think. I think this theme was a really important part of this novel and that the author did a good job discussing this within the plot and making the trauma Lina had experienced around this really tangible.
I found the writing especially in Lina’s stream-of-consciousness mind to be cute and laugh out loud funny. There is a lot of internal monologuing in this and Lina’s mental voice is strong, and so if this is not something that you typically like, consider if this might be the book for you. I would almost say that most of this book is Lina’s internal monologue. In audio, it was fine, the narrator did a fantastic job interpreting the character, but if you’re reading it on the page, I suppose it would be a matter of taste. I typically don’t like the deception-fake relationship trope but it worked here for me. Consent was also dealt with in a stellar way, as well as workplace relationships. As a multicultural romance, I thought this did a fair job reflecting the cultural dichotomies that existed between Lina and Aaron. I think it did matter that she was from Spain and it was integral to her character.
For me, I wish we had gotten a bit more Aaron. This was mostly Lina’s book which was fine, but sometimes I was missing Aaron getting a word in edgewise. I mean admittedly Aaron is quiet and what he did have to say was impactful but I think this could have done with much more of him either having a voice or feeling more like this was his book as well. Again the author may have made the decision to focus on Lina’s story but taste-wise, I wanted more Aaron. I also think that some of the big resolution points were a little rushed and disempowering for Lina in my opinion.
Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this. It made me laugh and I thought it was cute and funny and enjoyable. I do recommend it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Death of parent, Misogyny, Sexism, and Grief
Moderate: Gaslighting
Minor: Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, and Eating disorder
jfield351's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.75
I hated this book :(. All my friends love it and theres a major hype around this book but i vehemently despise it. The writing style was good, and thats the only praise I have for it. The characters were dreadful. So unrealistic and horrible people. Everything they said and did was completely stupid. Aaron was an insane, controlling, horrible alpha male which did not get better at the end, it was very uncomfortable to read. Catalina told him no SO many times and he kept pushing which i find disgusting, not romantic. But then, Catalina magically falls in love with him? And all they do is have sex nothing else happens. Catalina is also quite dumb and shoves off her 'best friend' Rosie a few times. She also starves herself and does all this stupid stuff that is so unrealistic. For example, apparently she hated him for 2 years but then he gets a promotion and she's all like "I'm genuinely happy for Aaron!'. What? Definitely does not pass the Bechdel test. Catalina and also the plot are very inconsistent. . the main thing i got from the title was deception. this was not love.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Gaslighting, and Sexual content
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness
Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, and Death