Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

65 reviews

ellelockley's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.0

Catalina Martín needs a date to her sisters wedding in Spain, especially since her little white lie about her American boyfriend has spiralled out of control. With her ex-boyfriend and his fiancée also attending the wedding, the aggravating and insufferable Aaron Blackford steps in and Catalina has no choice but to choose him. This is one of the fastest books I've ever read, less than a day! It's got everything a romance book needs. It's a enemies to lovers, office romance, grumpy x sunshine. The fact that Catalina was from the North of Spain around the same area I'm from made me enjoy this book even more. Her family was the dictionary definition of a Spanish family and I loved them all. My standards have skyrocketed since coming to know Aaron Blackford, how he treats Lina and her family warms my heart, and how he stands up for her against that god awful excuse of a man Gerald. Lina and Aaron are both so well-written and such interesting characters. I loved this book although I'm not the biggest fan of smut. I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves a slow-burn romance.
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hannibanani29's review

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funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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kfmcf's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted 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? Yes

3.0

This book is ...tough. I want to like it more than I do. If I break it into 3 acts - Act 1 is unbearably slow, Act 2 is fantastic, and Act 3 feels tacked on and tropey. 
Act 1 introduces us to the chatacers and boy is the first chapter CONFUSING. I had to reread the first few pages multiple times to even begin to understand what was going on. The characters are fine - Lina, the FL, is a huge annoyance for a lot of the book and took me out of the story a bit. The ML seems a little too good to be true in a lot of ways, but I still like him. Then it takes forever for them to get to the crux of the story - the trip. So much of Act 1 could have been cut. 
Act 2 is a fun read. Seeing the actual "fake dating" in practice and whatnot. No real complaints there.
Act 3 is unnecessary imo. I think there could have been more interesting ways to have them return to their normal lives and there was too much happening and too many tropes and it just felt messy.
All in all, I will most likely read what Armas writes next. I have high hopes for her.
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nicksalex's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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aargot1's review against another edition

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medium-paced

4.5

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onefineelephant's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

9/10. This book had me yearning, crying, and laughing so it was a big success. The only thing I'm taking points off for was the disordered eating to lose weight for the wedding in the first third of the book. It was unnecessary and felt icky to me.
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folded_between_pages_of_books's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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magnolia13's review

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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

4.0

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readwithria's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

The tagline for The Spanish Love Deception is “pretending to be in love never felt better,” and boy, was it true!

I adore this book! Lina and Aaron have the most adorable relationship, I love how it develops, and this book has solidified my love for the fake dating trope. I have nothing but compliments for Elena Armas and her writing! ¡Bien hecho!
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emilysines's review

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funny lighthearted relaxing medium-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

4.0

SO cute SO broody! i’d give it 5 stars if it ended about 100 pages earlier though!
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