Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - The Spanish Love Deception

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

240 reviews

just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

3.0

This romance got a lot of hype when it came out a couple years ago, so I added it to my "when you are wanting a romance" list. And, having lived for a few months in Spain, I am always excited to revisit the country in literature. Even though I was in southern Spain, and this (the parts set in Spain) is in the northern part of the country, there is some similar slang and food and vibes that are just different than Latin and South American Spanish-speaking settings and it's familiar and comfortable and fun to be back in sometimes. Anyways, it was time for a basic contemporary romance and this was the winner.

Catalina (Lina) Martín's white lie to her family about the American boyfriend she's bringing as a date to her sister's wedding in Spain has backed her into a bit of a corner. She needs to find someone to play that role, and time is running out. And desperation leads her to say yes to the offer to help from her coworker Aaron Blackford. Sure, he's handsome, but he was super condescending to her when they first met and, since then, they've kind of developed into office enemies. Beggars can't be choosers though. And so Lina finds herself on a flight across the Atlantic with Aaron...who turns out to be a fantastic fake boyfriend. Like, they're totally succeeding in fooling her nosy and close-knit family. And Lina realizes that perhaps it's time to work though/past some of her past relationship trauma, because her feelings towards this fake relationship are developing into something real. And it seems that Aaron is right there with her.

Well, this was a solid romance. I, of course, really enjoyed all the parts in Spain. And NYC is honestly always a fun setting, too. The opening vibes were *very* The Hating Game. I was actually questioning, for a second there, if this was a lowkey fanfic situation. The workplace enmity (and how it played out in dialogue/action), along with the "guy has clearly fallen but can't figure out how to say something about it so the girl has no idea," was so similar. Thankfully, the parallels chilled out after the story left the office environment. At which point, I was pleased with the way it developed. The hole Aaron had to dig out of, because he'd spent so long settling into it and not really doing anything to get out before this offer to be a fake "date," was pretty big. So, I honestly don't hate how long it took (effort and time wise), because you can't rush that and maintain a sense of authentic emotional development. That genuine growth/change was worth if from the perspective that it made the story more believable. However, the internet told me this was spicy. And...having to wait until three quarters of the way in to the novel to get a first kiss, hot as it was, just doesn't leave enough time for smut for me to consider this spicy. Personally. I mean, it was definitely steamy - the build up and tension and "closeness-but-not-quite" vibes - were spot on. And I am in full support of this romanticization of tenderness, the small touches and looks and acts, because that’s such real connection-type stuff, meaningful and beautiful in it's own, lovely, way. Truly. But the consummation of all that was late, and there were only a couple fully detailed, open-door, sexy scenes. And I just had been hoping for more based on reviews I'd read (which is an expectation issue. not a delivery-by-the-author issue, to be clear).

Random other things... The individual side characters were all pretty basic. I enjoyed the Martín family as a whole, as a vibe (I always love a rowdy family situation), but mostly everyone that wasn't Lina and Aaron blended into the background for me. There was entirely too much repeated inner monologue from Lina, about the past boyfriend trauma and the boss thing and the boundaries and heart barriers stuff. I mean, I get it; it's understandable and realistic that she'd be constantly dwelling on it, bur it was just a bit too tiresome, as a reader. Speaking of repetition, there were just a couple too many mentions of how sculpted/strong Aaron’s body is, tbh. We get it and it kind of started to feel a bit icky/objectifying. And finally, my biggest issue is the miscommunication trope (in this case, disguised as the "I'm too unsure/insecure to just talk about wanting to fix how we got off on the wrong foot an/or what's stopping me from taking this emotional jump") that is so highly featured in this novel. It's just not a favorite of mine and it was all over this story, so that was tough. But again, personal.

At the end of the day though, even with all the little things I wasn't a fan of, or wanted more/less of, or the tropes I didn't love (shoutout here to the "one bed" trope - which I do like - because how it happened was kind of hilarious), this novel grew on me. In part, it was just well written and the emotional pacing/development was so realistic. I always appreciate that type of believability. But also, if I'm being honest, mostly because of the softie romantic interest. I do love a “he falls harder” situation and this one delivers that all out.

“Because his words were, without a doubt in my mind, the most beautiful thing I would ever hear said about me. To me. And for me.”

“It was in that precise moment that I felt like something had finally clicked into place, unhinging everything I had been keeping on a short leash. I couldn’t know how or why. Didn’t even have the slightest idea. And wasn’t that part of the mystery of life? Part of what made it breathtakingly exciting? Unexpectedly beautiful? We couldn’t control and tame emotions to our convenience.”

Ignited. That was exactly how I felt. It was what Aaron had done to me. He had lit me up.”

“I’ll give you the world,” he said against my mouth. “The moon. The fucking stars. Anything you ask, it’s yours. I’m yours.”

“Your family loves you, and that’s a kind of bond you can’t force. It’s a kind of love one doesn’t find anywhere else. It can be overwhelming, but that’s only because it’s always honest.”

“Life changed constantly, wickedly fast and terribly slow, when one least expected it to or after a long time of chasing that change. Life could be turned around, inside out, backward and forward, or it could even transform into something else entirely. And it happened regardless of age, but most importantly, it didn’t care for time. Life-altering moments spanned from a few seconds to decades. It was part of the magic of life. Of living.”

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almaprincess66's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

Very cute romance. I see the criticsm that could be put onto the book, such as so little portion of the book taking place in Spain and at the wedding, which is the whole premise, but it doesen't really bother me.

Will I remember anything that happened in it in like a month? Probably not. But it was a good thing to turn my brain out to and just listen. It would probably been a lower rating if I had to read it, because why is this book so long?!

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sirenricobooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted relaxing 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

3.5

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harasnicole's review against another edition

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I can't with Lina. She is the most annoyingly insufferable character that I have ever had the displeasure of reading. Also, her disordered eating lasting for, like, three days and being "cured" by the love interest being angry at her and essentially telling her that she's "perfect as she is?" That is so misinformed, like bffr.

Also, also: the number of times it's said that Aaron's eyes are all kinds of blue. Thanks, could've sworn they were purple.

Also, also, also: 6'4" Is tall, but it's not gargantuan. But with a FMC who's an itty-bitty tiny little thing, I guess he would look like he's 9'4", according to the author.

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colorcrystals's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

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carefulfearanddeaddevotion's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

Unsure how this is the same lady who wrote The Long Game. I really enjoyed that book, but the writing in this one was just fuuuucking terrible omg???? Like literally wasn't even 5 pages in and already was dreading having to read the rest of it. Literally was brought to tears (and I'm not being dramatic -- ok well, maybe the fact that I was brought to tears is dramatic, but I am not lying about it happening) by how bad it was. Which is actually really sad and frustrating because I thought the romance was so cute/fun and I liked the characters! It was so obvious from like the very first interaction that that man was like hopelessly in love with her meanwhile she was like "ugh he hates me and I hate him" girl.....Rosie had some sense but miss Lina refused to listen.

Absolutely hated that they said each others' names every sentence. Soo annoying. Which is really my only complaint about the romance itself. I love a (not so) enemies to lovers / fake dating romance. I believed that they fell in love over a weekend,

given that he was in love with her for 2 years, and the only reason she didn't realize her feelings is cause she was holding a grudge (so true of her, tbh)

Small thing to get stuck on, but I hate that she described an (American) football as "melonlike." Has this lady ever seen a football? or a melon???? they're two completely different shapes!!! wtf! google if you're not sure!

This book was a study in gaslighting fr. On one page, Aaron curses. The next page, "Aaron never curses." On one page, Aaron smiles. The next page, "Aaron never smiles." HELLO????? Why are you trying to convince me I'm insane??? This, more than the unnecessary metaphors and run-on sentences (and I love a run on sentence - my reviews are evidence), was my least favorite part of the book.

If the writing wasn't so shit, this book could have easily been a 4. What a sad sad case of wasted potential.

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blackveilbeccy's review against another edition

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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.

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pau_line's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

ein sehr süßes, leichtes büchleiiiin :))
jat mir auf jrden fall echt gute Laune gemacht, zu lesen und ich bin sehr schnell vorangekommen.
Super gut auch für zwischendurch!

Ich mochte die Charaktere sehr gerneee. Das Knistern war auf alle fälle da, die chemiee hat gestimmt und der ennemies-to-lovers-trope hat mich gut unterhalten.
Beide Charaktere michte ich sehr sehr gerne, Catalina hat mich nur ab und zu bisschen genervt, aber jetzt nicht soo immens.

Kleine Kritikpunktee hab ich allerdings schoon:
- zunächst mal: DER ANFANG war irgendwie übelst lost, wenn man von diesem ennmies trope ausgeht...WARUM SOLLTE aaron so unbedingt mit nach spanien wollen?! Alsooo er akzeptiert einfach dieses nein so gar nicht und will lina so dringend davon überzeugen, dass sie sonst niemanden findet...das fand ich schon etwas cringe
-- sobald sie aber nach spanien fliegeeen mochte ichs voll gerne und fand die beiden so so süüüß udn auch die family situation sehr unterhaltsam
- gleiches problem, das sophia schon angemerkt hat in ihrer review: diese random plotline, dass lina für die hochzeit hungert und dann sofort aufhört, als aaron ihr sagt, sie soll nicht(?!) ...hätte man einfach weglassen sollen, meines erachtens
- es war irgendwann etwas anstrengend, dass lina zum 100. Mal erwähnt hat, dass sie und Aaron nicht zusammen sein sollten, weil er ihr Boss sein wird....so entweder du lässt es oder du kommst damit klar!?!?
- beim Ende hat mir auch eine Sache so nen üblen Beigeschmack gegeben, was man hätte, in meinen Augen, anders lösen können....und zwar :

die Auflösung des Dramas/Streits oder was auch immer, baut darauf auf, dass Lina erfährt, dass Aarons Dad im Sterben liegt...i dont get, warum die Krebserkrankung dazu genutzt wird, dass die beiden wieder zueinander finden...irgendwie hat mich das schon echt gestört

Find aber so als Sommer-/Strandlektüre ist es sehr gut geeignet. Wenn man auf der Suche nach eienr leichten, cutsie Lektüre zum Kichern und für gute Unterhaltung, dann ist dieser ennemies to lovers Roman supidupi geeignet!!

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ingrid13's review against another edition

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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

so you're telling me that this man walks around with homemade granola bars in his pockets, breaks beds by solely trying to fit in them, is sculpted like a greek god, AND his name is aaron?? how is that fair for other men out there?? because i simply don't think it is.

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fromjuliereads's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-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

2.75

While I had quite a few issues with this book, it was ultimately fine and I did enjoy reading it to an extent. I'm confused by all of the hype praising this book though.
The writing was... not great. Clunky sentences, things were worded strange for characters, and there were whole paragraphs and pages of "filler" that felt repetitive - all of the things going on in Lina's head that seemed to just loop. I admit to skimming a lot of those sections. Also the part in Spain was a shockingly small part of the book?
I did like Aaron's character. Sure he could be stand offish and cold, definitely didn't deal with things in the right way and said "baby" way too much - but I felt like his character had more depth in some ways than Lina.

Anyways. The banter was fun, I liked the fake dating aspect. This is NOT enemies to lovers though. It was a fine read.

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