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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
thatswhatshanread's review
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
UM. I have many thoughts.
First and foremost, I really wanted to love this. Virtually everyone I know that has read it has gushed over it. And it had those romcom elements that usually make your heart swell and your mind go all melty with love.
Instead, this book just made me cringe. I hate to say that—but the cringe didn’t go away as the story went on. Normally, I love the enemies-to-lovers trope. The work romance trope. The back and forth. The slow burn. The one-bed trope. The TENSION. Unfortunately, all of those predictable nuances felt disconnected and forced to me. The storyline was very similar to The Hating Game—which I LOVED—and maybe that might have also been the reason this story made me so mad.
Because it had POTENTIAL!!! So much potential. But the writing in general was just so so repetitive, especially when it came to certain descriptive words and actions or thoughts made by the MC. It made the veryyyy slow burn even slower. The buildup just didn’t feel organic. And once the buildup rewarded the reader with that moment you’d been waiting for… I just could not. The love interest, which up until that point I actually grew to like, completely changed. This seems to be a common theme in certain romance novels: that the hot-and-heavy moments have to transform the characters into intense maniacs that, frankly, disturb me. Maybe that’s on me. Probably. But seriouslyyyy it felt like whiplash!! It just didn’t feel true to the characters, IMO. It felt a little like a cop-out just for the ~seductive shock factor~ idk.
I must have liked this book in some way to be this frustrated by it. The “ocean blue” eyes were mentioned no less than a thousand times. “My fake boyfriend”, or referring to any character by their relation to the MC instead of by name, drove me crazy. It wasn’t just once. It was multiple times, over and over even when you knew who they were. Also, the excessive use of names when talking to each other. No one talks like that irl!!
Elena Armas, girl, I know this was your debut book and I really do commend you for self-publishing it but— “I hate to say it, I hope I don’t sound ridiculous, I don’t know who this man is. I mean, he could be walking down the street, I wouldn’t know a thing. Sorry to this man.”
Please don’t hate me I just gotta be honest ty!!!!
First and foremost, I really wanted to love this. Virtually everyone I know that has read it has gushed over it. And it had those romcom elements that usually make your heart swell and your mind go all melty with love.
Instead, this book just made me cringe. I hate to say that—but the cringe didn’t go away as the story went on. Normally, I love the enemies-to-lovers trope. The work romance trope. The back and forth. The slow burn. The one-bed trope. The TENSION. Unfortunately, all of those predictable nuances felt disconnected and forced to me. The storyline was very similar to The Hating Game—which I LOVED—and maybe that might have also been the reason this story made me so mad.
Because it had POTENTIAL!!! So much potential. But the writing in general was just so so repetitive, especially when it came to certain descriptive words and actions or thoughts made by the MC. It made the veryyyy slow burn even slower. The buildup just didn’t feel organic. And once the buildup rewarded the reader with that moment you’d been waiting for… I just could not. The love interest, which up until that point I actually grew to like, completely changed. This seems to be a common theme in certain romance novels: that the hot-and-heavy moments have to transform the characters into intense maniacs that, frankly, disturb me. Maybe that’s on me. Probably. But seriouslyyyy it felt like whiplash!! It just didn’t feel true to the characters, IMO. It felt a little like a cop-out just for the ~seductive shock factor~ idk.
I must have liked this book in some way to be this frustrated by it. The “ocean blue” eyes were mentioned no less than a thousand times. “My fake boyfriend”, or referring to any character by their relation to the MC instead of by name, drove me crazy. It wasn’t just once. It was multiple times, over and over even when you knew who they were. Also, the excessive use of names when talking to each other. No one talks like that irl!!
Elena Armas, girl, I know this was your debut book and I really do commend you for self-publishing it but— “I hate to say it, I hope I don’t sound ridiculous, I don’t know who this man is. I mean, he could be walking down the street, I wouldn’t know a thing. Sorry to this man.”
Please don’t hate me I just gotta be honest ty!!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Cancer, and Cursing
Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, Terminal illness, and Abandonment
Minor: Stalking
zidaaan's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Eating disorder and Misogyny
Minor: Gaslighting
agnes_reads's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Misogyny, and Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Minor: Eating disorder and Dysphoria
bendersreads's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The writing prose was not great. Elena Armas could've benefitted from another proof read. She also could've shaved off about 200 pages in the beginning and used those, instead, for the wedding she barely wrote about. Never mind how the wedding was the whole point of the plot...
I also had a hard time believing Catalina didn't have any sort of PTO after working at her company for so many years AND having an executive position. It takes about a 7-8 hour plane one-way to get to Spain from New York, and she only stayed there for less than two days? Unbelievable.
I also had a hard time believing Catalina
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Gaslighting and Misogyny
freja12390's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting
abald0204's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
slow-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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexism, and Misogyny
Moderate: Gaslighting and Toxic relationship
Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, and Terminal illness
michellemaas's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I liked the book for what it was.
A little context: I am usually a fantasy reader but when everyone started recommending The Spanish Love Deception and I heard it included a lot of my favorite tropes I wanted to give it a try. 488 Pages later I can confidently say that it was a good book but by no means revolutionary. Aaron Blackford is your cookie-cutter perfect, contemporary romance man (aka practically twice her height, massive hands, blue eyes, and a grump at their workplace) while Catalina is your typical contemporary romance woman (aka super short with a quirky, sunshiny personality, and just barely repressing her hate for the "enemy" because he was rude to her the first day they met). This makes for a very typical, cookie-cutter-perfect, contemporary romance relationship. Nothing inherently wrong with that, but something to note nonetheless.
My main thing is that I can't specifically tell you what I liked about the book, I just know that it was an overall entertaining read. It was fast-paced and cute, which is what most people want and expect from these types of books, I just find that I long for more. I can appreciate it for being a part of the cute romance genre, but that doesn't make it a good book, even if it is a good book within the genre. Did that make any sense? Anyway, I probably won't re-read this because "real-life" books are boring to me (I am 100% in it for the escapism) but if you enjoy these types of books I think you'll LOVE it. It is all about knowing what you enjoy/want from your books.
PS. There is a fair amount of Spanish in this book, so if you don't speak the language and find translating a bunch of things to understand what is happing tedious I would suggest moving on to the next read.
A little context: I am usually a fantasy reader but when everyone started recommending The Spanish Love Deception and I heard it included a lot of my favorite tropes I wanted to give it a try. 488 Pages later I can confidently say that it was a good book but by no means revolutionary. Aaron Blackford is your cookie-cutter perfect, contemporary romance man (aka practically twice her height, massive hands, blue eyes, and a grump at their workplace) while Catalina is your typical contemporary romance woman (aka super short with a quirky, sunshiny personality, and just barely repressing her hate for the "enemy" because he was rude to her the first day they met). This makes for a very typical, cookie-cutter-perfect, contemporary romance relationship. Nothing inherently wrong with that, but something to note nonetheless.
My main thing is that I can't specifically tell you what I liked about the book, I just know that it was an overall entertaining read. It was fast-paced and cute, which is what most people want and expect from these types of books, I just find that I long for more. I can appreciate it for being a part of the cute romance genre, but that doesn't make it a good book, even if it is a good book within the genre. Did that make any sense? Anyway, I probably won't re-read this because "real-life" books are boring to me (I am 100% in it for the escapism) but if you enjoy these types of books I think you'll LOVE it. It is all about knowing what you enjoy/want from your books.
PS. There is a fair amount of Spanish in this book, so if you don't speak the language and find translating a bunch of things to understand what is happing tedious I would suggest moving on to the next read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing and Gaslighting
Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Terminal illness
politewriter'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? Yes
4.0
Absolutely adorable romance. Just the right amount of characters, and an interesting plot. Lots of sexy scenes. I really wish the Male Lead had been granted more time to explore his backstory. I thought that was far more compelling than the Female Lead's story, even if those scenes were rushed. The two main character have wonderful chemistry. It was extremely enjoyable to see them interact.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexism, Gaslighting, and Misogyny
Minor: Toxic relationship
nav26's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Everyone RAVED about this on TikTok so I had to read it, but honestly it wasn't my favourite. Some of the writing, especially the dialogue, felt choppy. And there was a lot of repetition that I felt didn't really work for the book. But some of this is probably bc the author self published so it may not have gone through the same editing process it might have. I did however really enjoy the story, and I would do anything for Aaron Blackford.
They spend like 1% of the book actually in Spain which was very annoying...the pacing was just not great.
Ok ALSO it was SO similar to The Hating Game, like basically the same plot. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but I couldn't stop comparing!
They spend like 1% of the book actually in Spain which was very annoying...the pacing was just not great.
Ok ALSO it was SO similar to The Hating Game, like basically the same plot. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but I couldn't stop comparing!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Gaslighting