4.5/5

Absolutely loved this debut novel from Elena Armas. The main character Lina is a fiesta heroine that needs a date to her sisters wedding in Spain. The only option she has is her nemesis coworker, Aaron, who has suspiciously offered to be her date. As she begrudgingly agrees to let him come, they find out maybe the two of them don’t hate each other after all.

I loved the slow burn romance between Lina and Aaron. I was hooked from the very first chapters and didn’t want the book to end. Aaron is one of the best well written male love interests, in regards to, being so thoughtful in all his actions and remembering the smallest details that Lina had no idea he was even paying attention to.

The story has some hilarious scenes and checked off all the good romance tropes: only one bed, enemies to lovers, grumpy/sunshine. I would highly recommend this to anyone wanting to read a very entertaining and cute romance!

I would like to give a special THANK YOU to #NetGalley for the chance to read "The Spanish Love Deception" in exchange for an honest review. I was very excited to read this one based on the publicity it has received on social media and the ratings that I noticed online. However, I really disliked the characters in this book from the very beginning. The author wastes too much time and energy forcing us to believe that Catalina (the mc) is definitely not wanting to take her co-worker to be her "fake" boyfriend. It became repetitive and annoying to try to get through it. I feel like this story was incorrectly categorized as an "enemies to lovers" trope, but is almost forced itself there just for the sake of being trendy. The point of an "enemies to lovers" is for the readers to initially believe that they are truly enemies. I just didn't see that here. There was not tension whatsoever. If you are looking for a great enemies to lovers trope, I would opt out of this one and go for Elle Kennedy's Off-Campus Series.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Armas brings readers a delightful enemies-to-lovers romance in The Spanish Love Deception. But the novel is already available as an ebook and audiobook—Armas self-published her debut in February 2021, it went viral on TikTok, and the author scored a two-book deal with Atria by September. The power of BookTok, baby!

I included this title in my round-up of winter and spring 2022 books for Book & Film Globe: https://bookandfilmglobe.com/fiction/seven-novels-to-read-in-2022/

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

When I saw this won Goodreads Debut Novel and the high star reviews, I pulled up my NetGalley e-arc and plodded through to the end.

I found the dialogue to be awkward, the romance meh and forced, and Catalina was a total shrew that I couldn't generate any good love-hate, just hate.

Anyone who loved The Hating Game and looking for the next best version, this is not it. Just re-read The Hating Game.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book!

I really enjoyed “The Spanish Love Deception”—it had very “Hating Game” vibes. Who doesn’t love a good enemies to lovers, fake dating, romance? There is only one bed! Delightful!

I liked the little interactions between Aaron and the side characters in the book, especially Lina’s family. I also liked that the main barrier to Catalina and Aaron (the promotion) is established earlier in the story, rather than it being the final shoe drop in the narrative confrontation climax so they knew what they were getting into, rather than being blindsided by it.
It’s a little unbelievable that Elena was going to go to Spain for a long weekend—most people would take more vacation time—so I would have liked the reasoning for the shortened trip to be explained a bit more.
My only real complaint is that it is a little too long. It took too long to set up the main plot—I don’t know that the story needed the charity auction as it didn’t really add anything to the overall story aside from establishing that Aaron had some kind of history with Football. It added to an already long book (over 350 pages). It took me a while to get into the book.

Overall—great read!

Armas is a Spanish writer and this romance novel was originally self published and is already a TikTok hit. This is an enemies to lovers, fake date romantic comedy that features Catalina needing a fake boyfriend for her sister's wedding in a small Spanish town. Of course the only one who volunteers is Aaron, a co-worker who makes her crazy. While this book is not great literature, it is a fun, sexy read, perfect for fans of the genre.

This book was incredibly well written and had me laughing out loud and loving these characters! I couldn’t put it down and had to finish it in 2 days. Love the enemies to lovers trope and this is a great book with that in it. Was recommended this book by a friend after reading the love hypothesis, my favorite trope is fake dating and this doesn’t disappoint.
This had me glued to my chair!!

I've been saving this book for a rainy day because I just knew it would end up a favorite, and I was not wrong! The romance tropes in this are endless, there is something for almost everybody! Aaron is our grumpy hero, while Elena is our ray of sunshine. Elena came to New York from Spain after a bad break up with repercussions that made her leave everything she knew behind. Elena isn't sure why Aaron has always hated her, and is shocked when he offers to be her fake boyfriend for a wedding she needs to attend back in Spain. (there are boss/employee trope and one bed trope as well rounding out our romance!)

This is definitely a slow burn romance, but every encounter between our characters is sizzling with chemistry. I couldn't put this one down. Elena Armas has woven together such a gorgeous romance, with so many different opportunities for our characters to learn about each other and to heal each other while coming to trust in love.

I read over 400 pages, and was just longing for it to never end! I think Elena Armas has earned a spot on my immediate purchase author list with this one!

Thanks so much to Atria Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Wow the author just sort of drops you right into this one, huh? I wasn’t sure if I liked the lack of back story for the main character or hated it, but it’s definitely an interesting writing style. I thought I was going to like this one, but it devolved so quickly that I almost didn’t finish it. It was that bad by the end.

This whole book felt like a cheap knockoff of the hating game with none of the humor, charm, or character development. While I appreciated the very accurate description of what women in the workplace, particularly in technology, face on a daily basis, this was probably the best aspect of the entire story.

I understand that the main character was Spanish, but the frequency of the non-translated Spanish expression became pretty frustrating pretty fast.

Also, a character that lives in NYC driving his car to work in NYC? This is so freaking rare that it took me out of the story completely. This might be super nitpicky, but I hated that the MMC’s name was Aaron. There’s nothing sexy about that name.

The final plot twist was so unbelievably convenient and cheesy that I audibly groaned. I felt like I was reading a teenager’s fan fiction of The Hating Game and not an actual author publishing her own novel. I can’t rate this one past a 1.5.

Did not enjoy this book at all. The characters were not likable for me. Their misunderstandings annoyed me.

The Spanish Love Deception is your typical romance book. Did that stop me from reading it, no of course not. We love a good romance book! This book was filled with humour and wonderful banter between the love interests. You instantly becoming enraptured with Aaron and Cantalina's story! Aaron was a great love interest! His growth from the beginning till the end was great! I loved seeing his character open up to Catalina and prove that he is worth trusting. And for Catalina to go through what she went through and finally grow and trust aaron was just beautiful. I really loved this book and cannot wait for the next!

I wish I can give The Spanish Love Deception more than 5 stars because this book was everything. This book was my first read by Elena Armas and now I will definitely read anything she publishes in the future. Aaron Blackford was an amazing character and I immediately fell in love with him just like everyone else. This book delivered everything that I love to read in romance books. I have already purchased a physical copy and I am very happy. Thank you NetGalley I screamed when I got approved.

If you're looking for a feel-good, adorable, yet steamy romance, look no further! "The Spanish Love Deception" centers around workaholic Catalina Martín who is desperate to find a date for her sister's upcoming wedding. Having fled home after a humiliating heartbreak, this is Catalina's first time back, and to make matters worse, her ex will be at the wedding. When she has run out of options for finding date on her own, her office rival and arch-nemesis, Aaron Blackford, offers to be her date. Out of desperation, Catalina accepts and sparks begin to fly!

I always love books where the man is outwardly grumpy but inwardly a softie. I also enjoyed the "sharing a bed" trope. This was such a delightful book, and I'm sure I will be reading it again! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

4.5 ⭐️. This book was absolutely cheesy and semi-predictable but I still loved every page of it. From the slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance to the settings of NYC and Spain to the likable main characters, there was very little not to enjoy about this book.

Thank you to the publisher via NetGalley for a copy of this book.

I don't know what I was expecting, but this book was not it. It's just not. It didn't really do anything for me, and I don't know if that's on me and my mood, or if it's on this book.

Thank you to #netgalley and #atriabooks for the access to this eARC. It will be coming out on February 8th. This incredible book was originally self-published last February and caused enough of a riot that Atria has snagged up @thebibliotheque to release this book to the masses. If, like me, you didn't get around to it the first time, you need to make room for it atop your TBR list.

I already had this book on my NetGalley shelf when I saw Chip (@booksovrbros) wearing a Blackford shirt and singing the praises of this incredible book. The last book he had directed me to, #TheCharmOffensive, had been absolutely wonderful so I decided to follow his lead, trust his opinion and jump on this one and man, am I ever glad I did.

#TheSpanishLoveDeception was the first book I gave a full 5 stars to this year. Now that I have the ability with #storygraph to give out quarter points, I wasn't sure what it would take to get a full 5 stars out of me but this book definitely deserves it.

It has so many tropes going on (enemies to lovers, fake relationship, one bed, workplace romance) but somehow it all still works. I mean, how often is real life able to fit into just one box? I think the mishmash of all of them led to it feeling more real. And *fans self* the slow burn.. I mean... wow! When they finally do make love, it is one of the most beautiful scenes I had seen in quite some time.

#BookBoyfriend is a term used throughout this #bookstagram world and I have used it many times myself but I've gotta say that for #AaronBlackford, it just isn't enough. He is #BookHusband goals. He is just perfection. I was struggling in my personal life this week and my partner was wonderful in supporting me but Aaron was really what got me through. I've even screen shot a few of his most powerful lines so I can read them back to myself later.

I am beyond grateful for the faith that Elena had to self-publish this wonderful book and let me fall in love with Aaron. I am also pumped as heck that there are going to be more people able to experience this amazing book due to Atria's incredibly smart choice! If you've been on the fence, just jump on in! It's beyond worth the read!

Thank you for the free copy of The Spanish Love Deception for my honest review. TikTok and Booktube hyped this book up so much and I was very intrigued by it and impressed that it earned such fame as an indie published book. The arc for me on this one was meh/too wordy in the beginning, fun and cozy in the middle, and never ending cheeze by the end. I wish this had landed differently for me, I really do. The premise of escaping to a family wedding in Spain with a fake date was such a selling point! And then there was hardly any setting building while in Spain, way too much inner monologue from Lina about her BLUE EYED hero, and gooey, cringey dialogue that had me eye rolling and talking back to the book. While I loved the Spanish phrases that Elena Armas included-it gave life and depth to Lina and her family-, there was nothing else that defined their Spanish culture. It was such a missed opportunity in my opinion. I really do hope that the editor helps pare this book down a bit because it is hefty and longwinded, which ultimately impacted my enjoyment of this cute story. Despite my issues with this book, I don't know if I will be able to turn away from the upcoming sequel. There might be just enough pull to have me checking it out.

ive seen this book everywhere and it came higjly recommended. i liked the story but there was a bit that seemed to be a little fatphobic but alas, thats in almost everything we consume. very excited to have finally read this one

Loved this cute and funny rom com! Hit just the right spot for my book craving. You know when you’re craving something and you pick up the perfect book, ahhhhh blissful. ( although I could really do with less “blue eyed” descriptions. Felt like there was a description of his blue eyes on every page and it became pretty tedious.


Would recommend to those looking for a fun, fast paced, work rivals, enemies to lovers, fake dating, romantic comedy!

The Spanish Love Deception is a slow-burn, "enemies-to-lovers" and fake relationship rom-com that is very reminiscent of The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. In fact, the similarities and parallels between the two books are quite uncanny: the plot is similar, the main characters are similar - right down to their characteristics (physical appearance, mannerisms, inner monologues, etc.), as well as, their workplace rivalry (oh, AND their creepy, sexist boss!). It's obvious that Armas drew inspiration from The Hating Game but the plot was just different enough for me to enjoy the book.

Catalina Martín is single and lives and works in NYC. She's dreading going back to Spain for her sister's wedding in the upcoming weeks. When she finds out that her recently engaged ex will be there, she tells her family a little white lie: that she will bring her American boyfriend to the wedding. After all, she wants people to believe that she has moved on and is happy - but how will she find someone to play her boyfriend in just four weeks?

Cue in Catalina's broody, 6'4" coworker, Aaron Blackford. They've worked together for two years and she's despised him ever since she caught him talking badly about her right after she started working there. Aaron overhears Catalina's plan for her sister's wedding and offers to go with her. He's quite adamant about playing the fake boyfriend in her charade (hmm, I wonder why?).

Aaron infuriates Catalina and she can't think of anything worse than Aaron going with her. But when she can't find a suitable date (which I find implausible living in NYC and all!), she takes him up on his offer. Will they both be able to keep up with this lie the three days they're in Spain? Or should Catalina come clean and face the consequences of her deception?

It's so obvious from the beginning that Aaron likes Catalina (he's even told her that he's interested in her several times), but for her to not see it and question his intentions for most of the book got old really quick. That being said, I found her inner monologue to be quite tedious and eye roll-inducing at times. I felt like it really drew out the story and the book was probably 50-100 pages longer than it needed to be. As I mentioned before, the plot was just different enough for me to enjoy the book, but it was such a slow burn that nothing really happened until three-quarters of the way in. The book had a good amount of steam - nothing too crazy, but the tension between them is what made the steamy bits good.

If you are a die-hard The Hating Game fan (#TeamTHG!) then you may not like this book. But if you don't mind a similar premise with the promise of an HEA, then you'll enjoy the book. Overall, I'm glad I read the book and am definitely interested in Armas' newest release: The American Roommate Experiment (due to be out next year)!

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.