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A review by litwithleigh
The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
2.0
Writing: repetitive LOL | Plot: had potential | Ending: sure
SYNOPSIS
Catalina has been lying out her ass about having a bf, so when she has to go back to Spain for her sister's wedding, she needs to bring a fake date. She just didn't expect her work nemesis, Aaron Blackford, to volunteer.
MY OPINION
Respectfully, what happened here? The formula is eerily similar to her most recent book, [b:The Long Game|101144869|The Long Game (Long Game, #1)|Elena Armas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1687105546l/101144869._SY75_.jpg|100198322], but... worse. I thought [b:All the Little Raindrops|76839114|All the Little Raindrops|Mia Sheridan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1681845436l/76839114._SY75_.jpg|102062902] and [b:Holly|65916344|Holly|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1674418461l/65916344._SY75_.jpg|106237905] were repetitive, but Elena Armas said CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. Here's the math:
- Chest is mentioned 199 times. YES. ONE. HUNDRED. NINETY. NINE. TIMES. CHEST.
- Heart is mentioned 147 times. I have two arts degrees but by my calculations, the chances of you reading 'heart' and 'chest' on the same page are heinously high.
- Blue is mentioned 102 times. Did you know Aaron Blackford has blue eyes? Don't worry, you can't possible forget because she describes them every 4.2 pages.
Not only does Armas have a penchant to overuse the same words, she loves to write like she's 2 pages short of the page minimum on an assignment but she ran out of shit to say a page ago. For example: The organ that resided there (I guess her editor begged her not to use the word heart) and perhaps the most painful of them all: ...His eyelids sheltered the blue in his eyes for just a heartbeat (he blinked........)
And my last gripe is ANOTHER DRY HUMPING SCENE!!!!! IN JEANS!!!!!! FEDERAL PRISON!!!!!!!!!!! She had one in The Long Game and I was praying that it was just a one-off but I think this is her thing? I need to read [b:The American Roommate Experiment|60114057|The American Roommate Experiment (Spanish Love Deception, #2)|Elena Armas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1660147951l/60114057._SY75_.jpg|90062172] because you know what they say: threes a pattern. I don't support book banning but I will happily sign a petition to ban dry humping in adult romances.
Anyways. Catalina gave me Lydia from Love Is Blind S5 vibes sooooo that's not great. And let's keep it a stack: if Aaron Blackford wasn't hot and rich af, he'd be in jail. Homeboy STAYED eavesdropping on her ass. I can see why this is popular though. She uses that CoHo writing style: every interaction leads to BIG FEELINGS (usually in the chest or heart FYI) and Aaron's charm is sexy caveman. He legit says shit like: "you infuriating woman". I was shocked he didn't pound his .... chest .... while spitting out these neanderthal thoughts.
I was going to give it three stars because #livelaughlove but after writing this review..................
PROS AND CONS
Pros: fun premise (I LOVE fake dating)
Cons: relentlessly repetitive word choice, waaaaayyy too long, didn't care for either of the leads, dry humping **projectile vomit**
___
Check out my YouTube and my TikTok
SYNOPSIS
Catalina has been lying out her ass about having a bf, so when she has to go back to Spain for her sister's wedding, she needs to bring a fake date. She just didn't expect her work nemesis, Aaron Blackford, to volunteer.
MY OPINION
Respectfully, what happened here? The formula is eerily similar to her most recent book, [b:The Long Game|101144869|The Long Game (Long Game, #1)|Elena Armas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1687105546l/101144869._SY75_.jpg|100198322], but... worse. I thought [b:All the Little Raindrops|76839114|All the Little Raindrops|Mia Sheridan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1681845436l/76839114._SY75_.jpg|102062902] and [b:Holly|65916344|Holly|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1674418461l/65916344._SY75_.jpg|106237905] were repetitive, but Elena Armas said CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. Here's the math:
- Chest is mentioned 199 times. YES. ONE. HUNDRED. NINETY. NINE. TIMES. CHEST.
- Heart is mentioned 147 times. I have two arts degrees but by my calculations, the chances of you reading 'heart' and 'chest' on the same page are heinously high.
- Blue is mentioned 102 times. Did you know Aaron Blackford has blue eyes? Don't worry, you can't possible forget because she describes them every 4.2 pages.
Not only does Armas have a penchant to overuse the same words, she loves to write like she's 2 pages short of the page minimum on an assignment but she ran out of shit to say a page ago. For example: The organ that resided there (I guess her editor begged her not to use the word heart) and perhaps the most painful of them all: ...His eyelids sheltered the blue in his eyes for just a heartbeat (he blinked........)
And my last gripe is ANOTHER DRY HUMPING SCENE!!!!! IN JEANS!!!!!! FEDERAL PRISON!!!!!!!!!!! She had one in The Long Game and I was praying that it was just a one-off but I think this is her thing? I need to read [b:The American Roommate Experiment|60114057|The American Roommate Experiment (Spanish Love Deception, #2)|Elena Armas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1660147951l/60114057._SY75_.jpg|90062172] because you know what they say: threes a pattern. I don't support book banning but I will happily sign a petition to ban dry humping in adult romances.
Anyways. Catalina gave me Lydia from Love Is Blind S5 vibes sooooo that's not great. And let's keep it a stack: if Aaron Blackford wasn't hot and rich af, he'd be in jail. Homeboy STAYED eavesdropping on her ass. I can see why this is popular though. She uses that CoHo writing style: every interaction leads to BIG FEELINGS (usually in the chest or heart FYI) and Aaron's charm is sexy caveman. He legit says shit like: "you infuriating woman". I was shocked he didn't pound his .... chest .... while spitting out these neanderthal thoughts.
I was going to give it three stars because #livelaughlove but after writing this review..................
PROS AND CONS
Pros: fun premise (I LOVE fake dating)
Cons: relentlessly repetitive word choice, waaaaayyy too long, didn't care for either of the leads, dry humping **projectile vomit**
___
Check out my YouTube and my TikTok