What a beautiful, heartwarming, hilarious story. I laughed so much I cried. Already missing “bollito” and “osito”.

This book always feels like coming back to a warm hug. Grumpy sunshine workplace romance where he buys her tacos? He’s been secretly pining for her? I’m all in. There are tons of cute little tropes throughout the whole book, which leaves it as such a comfort read. All of the characters are lovable, and the plot line was not rushed.

Cute and fun! The premise is fairly common, girl needs a fake boyfriend/date to a wedding, but the author did a nice job of keeping this oft used trope, fresh and fun. Loved this read. Makes for a perfect summer time book fling

This novel uses the common trope of enemies to lovers but these stories are always fun to. I enjoyed the dynamic of Catalina and Aaron and the Spanish family and travel added fun as well. There are R-rated love scenes for those who appreciate that but not many (if you want to skip those). Overall this was a fun read but I felt it lost some of its charm and the writing was weaker toward the end.

The Spanish Love Deception is the perfect summer romance read! After a recent trip to Spain, I loved revisiting locations from my vacation in these pages. With a protagonist who has to bring a fake date to her sister's wedding, beautiful scenery, and a heartwarming love story, this novel is everything you could want in a summer read!

I really enjoyed this book. SO many people from my book club also LOVED it! If you love a little spice, its for you! But it is a smidge long!

Oh my goodness, let me tell you about "The Spanish Love Deception"! This book had me laughing, swooning, and wishing for my own Clark Kent lookalike to sweep me off my feet. From the very first line, I knew Aaron was totally smitten with Catalina. I mean, who wouldn't want a coworker like him, offering to be her fake boyfriend at her sister's wedding in Spain? Talk about a dream come true!

Catalina, bless her heart, is completely clueless about Aaron's feelings. She's so wrapped up in her one-sided grudge and the misery of her ex getting engaged that she can't see the obvious. Okay, I have to admit, this did annoy me a bit. But let me tell you, the story itself is so entertaining that it more than makes up for Catalina's obliviousness.

I couldn't help but fall in love with Aaron. He's not only incredibly good-looking (seriously, a Clark Kent doppelganger), but he's also the definition of a ride-or-die partner. I mean, who buys someone an extra fish taco just because they asked for it? And let's not forget the doughnut smuggling – that's true love right there! Plus, his favorite movie is "Up," and that just melted my heart.

"The Spanish Love Deception" takes you on a wild ride through Catalina's journey of healing and finding love again. The author's writing style is so engaging that I was instantly transported to the beautiful Spanish setting. I could practically taste the paella and feel the warm Mediterranean breeze.

I have to admit, there were moments when I wanted to shake Catalina and make her realize what was right in front of her. But hey, that's part of the charm, right? It kept me flipping through the pages, eagerly waiting for that magical moment when everything would finally click into place.

Overall, "The Spanish Love Deception" is a hilarious and heartwarming rom-com that had me hooked from start to finish. The witty banter, the laugh-out-loud moments, and the undeniable chemistry between Catalina and Aaron made it impossible to put the book down. Sure, Catalina's obliviousness tested my patience a bit, but the overall story and the delightful characters more than made up for it.

If you're in the mood for a feel-good read that will leave you with a big smile on your face, I highly recommend picking up "The Spanish Love Deception." It's the perfect escape into a world of laughter, love, and delicious fish tacos. Trust me, you won't regret it!

Catalina Martìn has four weeks to find a fake boyfriend to serve as her date for her sister's upcoming wedding in Spain. She never expected her work nemesis, Aaron Blackford, to volunteer. Without any other options, she accepts and the pair fly to Spain to try and pull off the ultimate deception. Soon, their fake relationship stops feeling like acting.
"The Spanish Love Deception" is a beautiful slow-burn romance. It's 500 pages of pure comfort read thanks to a dreamy enemies-to-lovers/fake dating trope. It's cheesy and addicting and perfect. Author Elena Armas is now an automatic buy for me.
A special thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this way more than I thought I would.


Perfect enemies to lovers and fake dating tropes. And it has my new favorite line, “ I’m needy and not just cuddling, I’m spider monkey needy.

Also it was a great slow burn, and man when the spice finally happened I was all in.

The tension/ problem felt realistic and wasn’t just a miscommunication.

The feel of the Spanish section was fun and made me want to go on a vacation. I loved the extended cast of characters especially Charro!

If you are in the mood for travel and romance, this one is for you. I loved how this one combined fake dating, enemies to lovers, and slow burn!

I liked this one. I must admit I was waiting impatiently for me to get my hands on this one and honestly, it was good, but not exceptional. The story is a 4 star as it held my attention as I read it in a day, and I loved the witty banter between the two main characters. I especially loved the time they were in Spain where I laughed so loud that I woke up my husband from a dead sleep (oops!). I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

I liked this book. It was a predictable romcom and as many friends pointed out, it’s similar to the Hating Game but as someone who reads a lot of romcoms, they all kind of are. This was a nice summer time read. Honestly there was nothing that really stood out but again sometimes that’s right up your alley. One thing I do remember clearly is the auction scene. It was nice seeing both characters let their guard down and have some fun. I liked this book and can’t wait to read what comes next for this author.

I loved this, the banter, the set up, fake relationship, work stuff -- steamy as well! I really liked the dialogue and felt like the leads were well developed and drawn.

I love an enemies to lovers trope. I got through this one pretty quickly. I would have loved to read more of the wedding. I feel like that part was skipped over. Overall I liked it and will continue to read the rest of this series!

I really wanted to enjoy THE SPANISH LOVE DECEPTION more than I did, but whew 😮‍💨, the length really got me. Overly detailed writing and slow burns are two of my least favorite things so those both factored in to my less than enthusiastic feelings for this book. This is a highly beloved book all over Bookstagram though so I suggest you give it a shot and see for yourself!

I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the atmosphere in Spain and the banter between the two characters. The thing that bothered me was the length of the book. It was really long for a romance novel.

This was supposed to be an enemies to lover's romance, but it was more like "guy keeps doing nice things and girl keeps acting like an asshole." Then we get to hear lots of her inner dialogue about how this jerk could never really be acting so nice to her. What's going on? 🙄

There was no action in the first half of the book. It was about 200 pages too long. I abandoned it a couple of times. After reading a few reviews that said it got better once the couple traveled to Spain, I decided to try again. It did get better for a while, but not for long. I could maybe go up to 1.5 stars if we factor in the brief pre-wedding interactions in Spain. The romance didn't really work for me--especially the dialogue. And then they were on their way home and things immediately got weird again.

Whaaat was that completely unnecessary bit of drama at the end?!

Anyway...a lot of people liked this book. It just wasn't for me.

Although it came highly recommended, both by friends and BookTok, The Spanish Love Deception just did not work for me. The love interest was possessive in a way that I found off-putting, the spicy scenes were cringe worthy, and overall it just fell very, very flat. A huge disappointment.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I adored this book. I instantly fell in love with the characters and found them very relatable. I thought the plot was interesting and fun. It was a trope that’s done often but still so enjoyable to read and this one was done well

Short synopsis: A little white lie makes Lina desperate for a pretend boyfriend for her sisters wedding in Spain. Aaron Blackford Lina’s handsome but grumpy co-worker volunteers to be her “fake” boyfriend.

My thoughts: This one was filled with some great banter, and a nice slow burn romance. I enjoyed how Aaron encouraged Lina to be her true self throughout, and tried so hard to be involved with her family. Book boyfriend material for sure!

I felt like this was a little bit too long, some things could have definitely been shortened or even made into two separate books. Her trip to Spain, and his charity dinner.

There is a little bit of everything in here for everyone, so I could see this being a top read for a lot of different people based on trope preferences.

All in all a great debut and more I am even more excited to read her sophomore novel The American Roommate Experiment.

Read if you love:
* Enemies to lovers
* Grumpy/sunshine
* Fake dating
* Workplace romance
* Slow burn

Thank you to Atria Books for a copy of this book!