Armas's book has flooded my twitter and Instagram feed, so I was intrigued. I'm familiar with her bookstagram and I really wanted to love this book, but it really wasn't for me.
The pros:
Kudos for writing a book in English when it's not your first language.
Going for telling your own story when you're a faithful promoter of the genre, also very courageous!
Armas's characters are wounded and she spent a lot of time fleshing them out
Slow burn with a very detailed, very spicy payoff (with some light dom/sub moments)
The plot was okay. Tortured backstory for both characters, Both are categorically 'hard to get close to'
A satisfying HEA/Epilogue
The cons:
the text just didn't flow for me and I could accept it from the idea that Lina is conveying the story in English but generally thinks in Spanish
The enemies to lovers aspect was just so harsh in the beginning and one dimensional. There is great care taken to show the transition from enemies to lovers/fake to real, but I wish the build up would have been more dimensional instead of repetitive.
I appreciate the ARC and I'm guessing the hype is for all of the physical descriptions of Lina and Aaron's relationship.
Thanks!

I am more than a little disappointed in this book. Tik Tok has set my expectations MILES high. I am all for a slow burn, but when the characters don't even KISS or show ANY romantic tension until over 80% of the book? In my opinion, the pacing was very off and it led to many parts feeling very draggy and other parts feeling very rushed. I did not feel any connection to the MCs. There were some parts where I genuinely did enjoy the writing, I feel as though if the author's editor had cut many chunks and made it a shorter book, it would have had better pacing and a more enjoyable read overall.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing the copy of this book. :)

Enemies-to-lovers, forced sleeping arrangements, fake-dating, drunken states... everything you would want in a romantic book.

It did seem a little bit long for a contemporary book, when it seemed like almost immediately there was an attraction between the two of the characters. I would have wanted to see in the beginning a true hatred between them that turned into hot attraction. I do believe that fake-dating is best in its peak when it's friends-to-lovers, but I thought Armas did a good job incorporating that into enemies-to-lovers. I thought she was great in her descriptives and I felt the doubt, certainty, etc. of Catalina. Although, in 75% of the book, I just wanted the two of them to have an authentic conversation about where this "fake-dating" was leading to, but I guess that's the frustration of a romance book >.<

Overall, the premise was really cute, and I enjoyed my time reading this book. <3

DNF-

I like enemies to lovers as much as the next person, but I found the MCs to be grating, and a lot of the text/dialogue to be unnecessary.

This enemies to lovers/fake romance was enjoyable. However, it was too long and included a lot of repetitive and unneccessary storylines. It also felt as if the author tried to include every rom com trope in one book, which left me less invested in the main characters and their relationship by the time it concluded.

(2.5 stars, rounded up)

Catalina "Lina" Martín is a Spaniard living and working in New York City. She lied to her parents about having an American boyfriend to prevent their meddling in her love life from afar. When Lina is lacking a plus one to her sister's wedding in Spain, she is forced to take Aaron Blackford -- that guy from work she can't stand.

Aaron outwardly has the personality of a rock, but Lina gains some insight into his personality through their fake dates. Even though she's irritated and repulsed by him at work, outside of work she magically realizes she's attracted to him.

Aaron and Lina's relationship is off-putting. Aaron gives off a stalker vibe as he's pined over Lina from afar and his goal is convincing her she's into him too. Overuse of the word "baby" also feels juvenile and shallow. The sex scenes were cringy with language more reminiscent of a porno than a romance novel.

This book is currently available in e-formats only and was a sensation on TikTok. The novel is also a Goodreads Choice Award 2021 winner in the debut novel category. I honestly don't understand the hype behind this romance where the characters seem to fall for each other because they have to for the book to work.

Scarlette Hayes' deadpan delivery of Aaron's lines is accurate since he's an impassive mountain of a man. The rest of her narration is good -- on par with other audiobooks but not exceptional.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy.

Romance is not my usual genre. But I really enjoyed this book. The enjoyed the writing.

The Spanish Love Deception is the definition of a comfort read. Coworkers Catalina and Aaron must pretend to be in a relationship so she doesn’t have to attend her sister’s wedding alone and single. Just one small problem, they hate each other. Very comparable to The Hating Game and The Unhoneymooners, the love interest Aaron Blackford is definitely worth the hype. I enjoyed the slow burn romance, and I enjoyed how atmospheric the scenes in Spain were. I’m also so glad to see an indie book take booktok by storm!

The Spanish Love Deception is an adorable rom-com of a book. I thought the external angst was mostly well done, but the book was strongest when it let us see heart-on-his sleeve Aaron just all-on loving our heroine. Who frankly was so obtuse it was a little unbelievable. But then I got to thinking about all my relationships in my twenties and I decided maybe she wasn't quite too stupid to live... just the right amount of wounded and needing to heal. Bonus points for a great title. Three and a half adorable stars, rounding up to four stars of sure, you should read it. Especially if you like workplace romance that... actually goes ok in the end.

What can I say, it had me craving a trip back to Spain and wishing for that Spanish sun while also dreaming of Aaron Blackford. Is it possible to have eyes for a book character? I have heard from many people on bookstagram that Aaron Blackford is a heart throb. They were not wrong! I loved this story. I can see myself struggling to find a date for a wedding (before I was married myself of course) and then arguing with a nemesis. Life in the city is tough and I know we all try to hide parts of our life from our family. This was just the perfect rom-com.

Fake relationship based on a desperate attempt to fool your family?? Yes please! I loved this one. It was a good slow burn and the characters were just wonderful! Highly recommended romance!!!

So in a weird way, this reminds me a lot of "Fifty Shades of Grey" with the super hot rich guy pining for the oblivious love interest. It's the blatant wish fulfillment. "The Spanish Love Deception" is actually written by a competent author and doesn't glorify domestic abuse, so that's where the similarities end. Lina and Aaron are adorable. Better yet, they behave like actual human beings instead of walking tropes. And the burn is sllloooowwww which makes it sooooo delightfullllll when it finally comes to head. This is ridiculously feel-good. Go read it.

I absolutely LOVED this book. An anxiety riddled main character, a handsome and gruff love interest, this book had all my favourite things.

I’ll be honest, I usually don’t love a fake relationship in my romance books but this one was done so well and I absolutely loved Aaron and Lina’s whole dynamic.

I loved that the big conflict wasn’t a miscommunication disaster like most romance novels and I loved the inclusion of Lina’s huge family as part of the book.

The spicy parts were *chefs kiss* and I really liked the slow burn of the book, it made me appreciate the romance a lot more when I got to it. If Aaron Blackford were a real man I’d propose to him next week.

This was a cute slow burn romance that was very reminiscent of the Hating Game. Much like the Hating Game it is a work place enemies to lovers and I am learning that I kind of enjoy this trope. Also throw in a little fake dating and I was hooked.

Much like the Hating Game a small misunderstanding took place sometime when these characters 1st met (off page) and it has caused them to "hate" each other. Or at least this is what is perceived by our female lead who is the focus of the story. Throught the story we learn that they wasted so much time and energy in this farce when they were actually perfect for each other all along.

I enjoyed learning Lina and Aaron's individual backstories. We got to learn why it is so hard for Lina to trust and why Aaron works so hard to get her attention. Also, let me just say, everyone needs a friend like Rosie.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable read and it definitely has me intrigued in checking out the author's future work.

This book was AMAZING! I couldn’t stop reading it and it was so good. We all need an Aaron in our lives. Yes, perfection. Highly recommend!

Enemies to lovers, he loves her first, fake dating, ONE BED. Come on. There's nothing not to love here! Plus, I really appreciate a Spanish female lead that doesn't feel like a caricature (the way we're often depicted).

Will add a more thorough review closer to pub date, but couldn't resist jumping on now to say do not hesitate to read this one.

Okay. Here's what I liked; the dialogue, Aaron, the premise.
The rest? Not so much - the writing felt lackluster and the last thirty pages had me struggling. The moment they got together the excitement of reading lost me and the whole final conflict thing...it felt thrown in there for the sake of having conflict. Also, can we please remove the term 'milking' from spicy scenes, i'll start the petition myself.
I still love Aaron don't get me wrong. Anyway, that's all I'm saying about that.


Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. It had several of the common romance tropes ie. there's only one bed, fake date, and more but I still loved it. It was so well written and I really enjoyed the Spanish setting and her family. My only dislike about this is that I wish they were in Spain longer.

We’ve all seen the bookstagrams, the booktoks, the blogs… The Spanish love deception has been everybody’s online favorite for the past year and I’m really happy to have gotten a chance to read it. It totally lives up to the hype. This is a well written, deeply personal love story. I will admit that at first it was hard to root for Aaron but as the story went on and we got to see more of his personality it was easier to see the appeal. The only thing I wish had been done differently is that Aaron had gotten his own POV. I would love to have seen the story from his perspective. But overall this was a lovely, modern romance that is definitely worth all the love it has received online.

Thank you to #NetGalley For the ARC in exchange for an honest review

This was a delightfully fun read. I had seen it listed on some best of 2021 lists, and I can see why. I really appreciated the patience of Aaron. Catalina did get to be a little annoying sometimes, but she was also quite delightful, so it worked. The fake boyfriend trope is one of my fave in the romance genre. I give this one two thumbs up.