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A review by michellemaas
The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
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