Super fun and seriously hot. Always love a fake dating situation turned into real love. I see why so many but this on the best of 2021 lists.

I adored everything about this book! It was a mix of The Hating Game, The Love Hypothesis, and it’s own magical flair! Definitely recommend!

I am a sucker for the enemy to lovers trope in romances. This book is no exception!! Lina is dreading attending her sisters wedding in Spain. Her sister is marrying the brother of her ex!! Their breakup was pretty devastating and left her reeling. Since the breakup she moved to NY and has a job that she loves but works with the grumpy, annoying Aaron Blackford. Lina cannot bear to go to the wedding without a date and face her family and ex. As a last resort Aaron steps in to pretend to be her boyfriend and agrees to travel to Spain for the wedding.

The banter between the two is great and the sexual tension is intense. This was a highly entertaining read that I devoured in just a couple of days.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a tough one because I know that there is a lot of hype surrounding this book, and I'm super super excited that the author is a bookstagrammer who started out with indie publishing and then got picked up by a huge publishing house buuuut...I just didn't like this novel. At all.
People say this is like The Hating Game and I agree in some parts but I felt like there was way more toxic masculinity and belittling of the protagonist in here that was never justified or at least addressed. Sure, there were some great bantery scenes and there is chemistry between Catalina and Aaron but most of their "enemy" interactions felt forced to me and I just could never get rid of the feeling that Aaron was being dismissive of Catalina.
I'd be open to read more from Elena Armas though because like I said, I'm so proud of her for getting this novel written and published!

I think the hype this book received made me like it less. I saw so many reviews of this book about how it changed peoples lives or how it was the best book they’d ever read, and I just didn’t fee the same.

I’m giving it 3/5 because if I had come into this with no expectations, I think this would have been my unbiased ranking.

The “feud” between Lina and Aaron didn’t feel real to me, so I thought it was unbelievable that they were enemies turned lovers. It was extremely clear from the beginning that they would end up in some fiery twisted affair, with some kind of drama splitting them up. But unlike a normal rom com where the will they/won’t they pull keeps you hooked, I felt like all of the drama was forced for no reason other than to create tension.

Even during the intimate scenes, which based on the hype promised 50 shades level tension, the book just wasn’t there for me.

I also think you could have read 2-4 sentences on each page and still had the same reading experience as you would have reading the full almost 500 pages. It felt right knowing this was a debut novel, but I’m hopeful the author will come out with more and refine her craft. I’d absolutely give her another chance.

Overall, I’m glad I read it because it’s so trendy, but I don’t think it’s a must read by any means. I’m with all of the people who just couldn’t get into the book.

A book has not grabbed me in quite this way ever since I first read The Hating Game for the first time. I loved this one so much. This is a quintessential enemies to lovers coupled with a secret unrequited love. Aaron is amazing. He is the perfect balance of Alpha hero wrapped up with someone who is super caring and thoughtful and would do anything for Catalina. I really liked Catalina's story. It was great reading a book with a character who is not American living and working in the States. Her perspective is refreshing and her story intriguing. The slow build and chemistry between these two is everything I love. There is tension, chemistry, longing looks and banter. Oh yeah...and only one bed. When they do eventually get together it is every bit as amazing as you would hope. Catalina's family in Spain is a ton of fun. I wish we had a bit more to Aaron, like a best friend or something else but I know that it does tie in with his workaholic personality. The way he is undone for Catalina really got to me as was the way she becomes undone for him in the end. All in all, this book was just delightful and I did. not want it to end. It will definitely be a re-read for me in the future and has Armas finding a spot on my must-read authors list. A solid five stars!!

Well, this one is definitely a slow-burn. An agonizingly slow dynamic to start, the relationship between enemy-coworkers Catalina and Aaron only heats up right before they are headed to Spain to prove to Lina’s family that she is not a broken single woman. From Spain on, this debut absolutely hit me in the feels. I went from rolling my eyes to being as thirsty for Aaron Blackford as Lina became. He really is the perfect man *sighs*.

I did not get to finish this book. Too much piled up on me at once, but what I did get to read of it was absolutely lovely. A strong romance and such lovely characters. Hopefully I'll get to it sooner rather than later!

¡Ay, Dios!

“When I finally kiss you, there won’t be any doubt in your mind that it is”

I loved the Spanish Love deception! This story is so well written and cute. Elena Armas does an amazing job of including many plots. Catalina is a firecracker Latinx. As a Latinx myself I loved the inclusion of Spanish speakers and dialogue. Catalina is kicking butt and taking names. She works at Intech a male-dominated engineering company. Some of my favorite parts are when Lina stands up to those who call her “honey” or sweetie” at her workplace. Catalina like all great heroines has a dilemma. Catalina needs a date for her sister's wedding. In comes Aaron, this handsome coworker. He offers to be Lina’s date for the wedding. I was completely engulfed in Catalina and Aaron’s growth as individuals and partners. This was the perfect February read! I will definitely be picking up Elena Armand’s next book. This book is great for those who love the troupes ever after, enemies to lovers, and fake dating!
Check out this cute little bonus created by Elena Armas!

https://www.authorelenaarmas.com/valentinesletter

I really enjoyed this! Characters are likable, the story is intriguing, and the smut is great! However, It felt like a lot of characteristics were repeated and it became redundant after awhile. I liked the epilogue but hated the actual ending of the story.

super cute! read in one sitting, also all my fav tropes!
-fake dating
-coworkers
-enemies to lovers
-one bed!!!!!!
-one person falls first

I cannot believe this one slipped under my radar for so long! The chemistry between the leads, the way their love unfolded, the family bonds… There is not one single bit of this novel that I did not LOVE. Run to grab it if you love contemporary romance, enemies to lovers, fake dating, one bed, or all of the above, because it’s brilliant. I can’t wait for the companion novel this summer.

In the Spanish Love Deception Lina must find a date to her sister's wedding, but the only person available is Aaron, her work rival. Although she argues most passionately that she can't stand him, she might not be telling herself the truth.
There were moments of this novel that I really liked. The exploration of Lina's past relationship with her professor and the unfair double standards that men and women face in relationships was emotionally loaded and engaging. Lina's interactions with her family were fun and full of love. However, at times the romance between LIna and Aaron felt rushed.

This book is utter perfection - I was worried it wouldn’t live up to the hype, but it surpassed my expectations and more. I love how fiery Catalina is, and how firmly confident Aaron is with her. Some of the absolute sweetest moments I’ve ever read in a romance book, made even sweeter by the lack of overly-angsty and drawn-out misunderstandings. I adored Aaron and Lina’s story from the first page to the last, and highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone who loves sightly one-sided rivals-to-lovers romances with clever banter, swoon worthy characters, and scenes that will leave you squealing in a puddle on the floor .

Catalina (Lina) needs someone to go with her to her hometown in Spain for her sister's wedding - and it certainly wouldn't make any sense for her uber-handsome, strong silent type co-worker to accompany her, would it? (Spoiler - it just might)

The contrivances of Aaron's fundraiser and Lina's sister's wedding felt a bit forced at the beginning, but once the plotline traveled to Spain, things really fell into place.

The plotline with Daniel felt all too real with the current Ivy-League issues coming to light (see academic Twitter for more) and it was good to see Lina push back on him and not be restrained by her former self.

There wer some steamy scenes (more please) and the relationship truly felt organic, specially as more of Aaron's background was revealed.

I would certainly suggest this book to any contemporary romance fans, and anyone who's ever loved the "there's only one bed" fanfic trope. I look forward to reading Elena Armas' next book!

If you loved the book The Hating Game, then I recommend picking up a copy of The Spanish Love Deception. It’s friends to enemies and fake dating all rolled in to one story.

This is a story of Lina and Aaron that are co-workers with a competitive hatred for each other. Lina is returning to her family home in Spain for her sister’s wedding where the best man is her former lover that burned her pretty bad. So bad that she left the country to start a new life and get past the mess of her relationship with Daniel. She told her family she has a new boyfriend and will be bringing him to the wedding. In steps Aaron.

I love a good slow burn, but there is a point where things are too slow. I think that is what made a difference between a 4 and 5 star read for me. The book was steamy when it finally gets there. The book is emotional when it finally gets there. But at almost 500 pages…just took too long. The other part was how inconsequential the angst of her being home really turned out to be. There was no melt down scene. Nothing to make you wonder if they would really end up together.

The writing was good, the plot was good. I think it is a good debut novel. Just needs some buttoning up and trimming down.

4 stars

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book follows Lina and Aaron, two engineers who work at the same firm. This is something that I would definitely recommend to fans of The Hating Game and The Unhoneymooners. The Hating Game because it is more workplace rivals to lovers rather than enemies to lovers as they are both marketed, and The Unhoneymooners because of, again, "enemies" to lovers who need to fake date on a vacation together. This book is quite tedious to get through. It is slow and not a lot happens. Aaron and Lina were cute and he is everything to swoon for but he wasn't a love interest that stood out to me. Lina was an okay character. I appreciated that this book featured women in STEM and the struggles that came with trying to succeed in a male-dominated field but like Aaron, she was not much of a memorable character. It was cute, fun, and something I would recommend as a summer read but not as a pinnacle of romance.

This has the whole recipe for me to love it with my whole heart. However, I did not enjoy this at all.
This spent so long for them to actually get to the wedding. Lina felt extremely two dimensional and Aaron just made no sense to be there.
I just felt no connection and it was so long.
I wanted to love this is really did, but no.


1 star

This was such a fun book to get into.
The audiobook was even better to pair while reading this newly published version.

I couldn't spot any chances that were noticible between the self-pub version and this one. Granted, I had a wonderful time reading this and will pick up whatever Elena publishes next... especially "The American Roommate Experiment" that comes out in August 2022.

Thank you Netgalley for this opportunity!

Okay - Let me just start by saying that I am in love with this book and I can’t recommend it enough. I love a good enemies to lovers/fake dating trope with passion, witty banter, and an intense emotional connection that just jumps right off the page. This story revolves around Catalina, who needs a date to her sister’s wedding, and Aaron, her coworker and also the guy she is always getting into heated arguments with. They eventually develop a strong connection, but both characters have a hard time letting their walls down. It was so relatable - we all know how hard it is to open up to someone new once we have our hearts broken. I really appreciated this story - it was told at the right pace & (spoiler) when they finally get together?? AHHH can’t talk about it enough! I would definitely recommend this story and these characters!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!