I did not expect to love this book as much as I did. Well written, funny, great characters. I don't typically read a lot of romance style books these day, but the premise was too cute to pass up. And with an extended cast of characters to boot! I cannot recommend this book enough and I cannot wait to read more by Elena Armas!

I enjoyed this one! I will have to say though, Lina was so stubborn at times that I got actually frustrated while reading and because she held grudges, her remarks to Aaron often times came off mean. I wish the author would have toned it down just a little with those two qualities. Other than that, I loved their story and found it to be a fun, swoon-worthy read. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good enemies-to-lovers.

I had heard so much good press about this that I had high hopes, but this book was frankly terrible. Not only did I know nothing about the characters (by the halfway point, I knew that Lina was....friendly at work? and Aaron was...tall?), Lina is presented as having struggles with disordered eating under the guise of "wanting to lose weight for the wedding" that is then played off as a hurt/comfort moment--as soon as she faints, the hero gives her a stern talking-to, and suddenly she's not worried about losing weight anymore? It was a frankly irresponsible treatment of unhealthy food habits. Furthermore, while there is a whole bit about how Lina struggles against "complimentary" sexist attitudes (ie she is assigned to organize an event because she's "friendly" and "women are good at that sort of thing")--which is honestly presented in a cartoonish manner, but fine--but notes that when someone calls her Sofia Vergara, she's actually flattered? And then later the hero makes a comment about her having "dancing in her blood" because she's Spanish. It's treated as though it's supposed to be funny. So apparently sexist stereotypes=bad but ethnic stereotypes are fine???? And on top of all this, it was boring (probably because I didn't know enough about the characters to care about them.)

great fake dating. my only complaint is that parts of aaron and how he acted/things he said felt over-the-top or slightly unbelievable. i never thought i’d say this, but maybe he was too sappy? anyways, a very slow burn, but with a hot-as-hell payoff.

#netgalley

Funny. Sexy. Enemies to Lovers. Happy Endings.

Let me just say, if you start struggling with this book in the beginning, just give it a few chapters. It took a little bit of commitment because it got a little winded. The main character talks in A LOT of circles, making the story a little drawn out, so be prepared for that. Lots of repetition and I often found myself skimming over what I felt like was unnecessary filler to get to the point.

Personalities were well developed and the side characters were easy to emulate in my mind. Lina is fun and strong-willed. A little goofy and certainly stubborn giving off strong Rom-Com vibes. A little aloof (she learns her lesson). I love that she is career oriented and successful and knows what she wants (well, mostly). I would have liked a little more description of what Lina actually looks like aside from her vague description of herself. I loved Rosie's character but I felt like even though she was Lina's BFF, it seemed one-sided, with Rosie providing the sustenance of the friendship without it being reciprocated, so it felt disingenuous at times. Aaron is hot and Mr. Perfect with the man of steel abrasiveness and attitude at face value but has a soft, gooey AND sexy center. Obviously the office eye candy ( meow ). Lina's family was so much fun and really helped shape the story. I loved the added culture and descriptions of her home life in Spain that made me want to take a trip there myself!

The story was mostly predictable and fast paced but that is why I gobbled it up! The slow burn was worth the wait as their relationship blossomed. Definitely got sexy with the perfect amount of steam. No off page assumptions. I love these types of romances! Headstrong, independent (often quirky) women who just need a little love in their life to balance everything out. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this arc for review!

The Spanish Love Deception was an emotional journey from start to finish - certain parts had my laughing, others getting ready-eyed, and even others swooning a little. Lina and Aaron were amazing together and complemented each other so well, and their slow-build chemistry was perfection. It was enemies to lovers “lite”, which I actually prefer because actual hate to love is always tougher for me to believe. If you love a great slow-build romance, definitely pick this one up!
•
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Atria Books, for the advanced copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I LOVE a long-winded romance because it can give you the slowest burn and the deepest feels. I have never been weak-in-the-knees about coffee shop banter before but OK. I have been ENTRAPPED. This romance serves up fake dating, workplace enemies-to-lovers, only one bed, sunshine & grump, and a cinnamon roll that's pretending he's not. There's even a charity bachelor auction to get your heart racing.

I'll admit for the first hundred pages I wasn't convinced. The back-and-forth about Catalina needing a date for her sister's wedding didn't draw me in right away. I retroactively understood the urgency once we reached Spain and saw the situation, learned her history. BUT all it took to completely rattle me and make me a believer was one fake date. The tension was sublime, and it unfurled through the rest of the story to great effect. Aka I was freaking out and very invested.

So there was some rough-around-the-edges pacing, but it didn't ultimately detract from my enjoyment. I will be delighted to pick up more books from this author and see what else she has to throw at me.

The first 80% of this book is a super slow burn romance. It was cute, funny and addicting. The last 20% was super spicy. I skipped pages and it was still going. But! With that said I still enjoyed it. It’s just not a book for the faint of heart, and not for young teens.

I think this book is overhyped per TikTok. It’s not the worst, just not nearly as spicy, well written, or unique of a plot or characters as it is being promoted, If you liked How to Fail at Flirting and wanted something with less drama and spice, this might be an ok rec

This book was so sweet! An excellent new edition to the enemies to lovers canon. The characters are well-drawn and very fun to fall in love with! The pacing was perfect, the plot was a delight, and I wish I could go back and read it for the first time again.

Not gonna lie, I definitely wasn't sure about the hype at first but I am SOLD. Perfect tension throughout, a man so obviously in love it hurts, and a relationship arc that makes me want to die in all the best ways. PHENOMENAL!

2 stars

I wanted to like this but the writing style was overly descriptive for my taste. The book could be about a third shorter - maybe even half as long. The blue of Aaron's eyes was literally mentioned at least 100 times (yes, I searched the file) Some of the phrases made zero sense. For example, a smile was described as "wide and furtive". The Merriam Webster online dictionary defines furtive as "done in a quiet and secretive way to avoid being noticed ". How on earth can a wide smile be furtive? The two terms contradict each other and make no sense. This was just one of the many confusing and conflicting phrases I highlighted.

I did like how the author addressed sexism in the workplace and the double standard that is imposed on women in the workplace, especially in STEM fields.

I always appreciate the opportunity to read an advance copy, even if the book isn't my "cup of tea". Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the chance to read this digital ARC in return for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book! Definitely had Hating Game/workplace enemies-to-lovers vibes. There were definite points that lagged during some of the dialogue (especially in the beginning) but overall- characters had a lot of chemistry, definitely a spicy romance novel many are sure to enjoy.

The Spanish Love Deception was a cute, fun debut.. I struggled to engage in the beginning .Things we’re a little slow going and the chapters were longer than I would normally prefer.. However once things picked up, I found the story funny and entertaining. I enjoyed the tension and chemistry between Lina and Aaron and loved the setting. While this wasn’t my favorite read, I enjoyed the writing and look forward to reading more work by Armas.

3,5-4/5 ⭐️
What I enjoyed;
🇪🇸 Enemies-to-lovers
🇪🇸 Fake dating
🇪🇸 Slow-burn romance
🇪🇸 🔥🔥

Thank you NetGalley, and the author for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I can't say enough great things about this book. I typically don't read books in the romance genre, but this novel was impossible to put down. It's witty, fun, and engaging. The story does start off really slowly and doesn't really pick up until Lina's first (unofficial) date with Aaron. However, the tension between the two main characters is off the charts! One of the most PERFECT slow-burn romances I've ever had the pleasure to read about. So cinematic and I instantly loved the concept of Lina and Aaron ending up together. Even though they are so different, somehow they work. While most of the plot points are hardly realistic, this book is a much-needed escape from the real world. I couldn't help but root for Lina and understand some of her hesitations when it came to dating. If BookTok recommends this book to you - do yourself a favor and read it now!

Whoa! Why do I think my favorite genre is mystery/thrillers instead of cozy romances? This book will be one of my favorites of the year — and it was so deserving of the 2021 Goodreads Choice Debut Novel of the Year and a very worthy close runner-up in the romance category. After a bunch of downer thrillers, I realized I needed lighter fare and a different genre. My book club is usually good for expanding my genre choices, but even though the majority of the members have 6 or more children (I’m in Utah) they shy away from romance novels (we’re back to uplifting refugee stories…).

You can’t help but root for Catalina and Aaron. Lina desperately needs a date for a family wedding back in Spain and co-worker Aaron offers to be that person — but after two years of a tense working relationship, Lina cannot fathom why he even made the offer. And their fragile work situation is changing further: he’s been promoted to be her boss soon. The story is from Lina’s stubborn POV, but there are always hints that there’s a depth to a different Aaron — and it was a wonderful, swooning journey to find out. As soon as this book is released in paperback in February, I’ll be buying copies for girlfriends (and, oooooh, maybe making it my book club choice when it’s my turn to host).

5 stars! Looking forward to Elena Armas’ next book! Thanks to Atria Books for my now beloved copy.

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES Best friend Rosie has the wide green eyes that get wider as Lina spills the beans about Aaron to her.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO I was expecting some landscape lushness in Spain (I know the wedding in a greener part of Spain), but nothing was out of place.

This book was such a blast. I loved every character (except Gerald 🙄) & thought the plot moved at a nice pace. My only critique would be to have a more gradual shift in Aaron with how he acts towards Lina. It seemed like from the minute they landed in Spain he was 100% ready to be honest with her and I would have liked to see more of a journey from “playing by the rules of the deal” to small moments to “Lina how could you be so blind!!”

One of my favorite books of 2021.
This debut novel by Elena Armas was the perfect romantic comedy.
Catalina, desperately needs a date for her sisters wedding in Spain. With no one to ask or take, her work nemesis offers to go as her date. Who would have though that who Catalina thought was the most robotic and heartless human, would turn out to show the most pure and devoted love for her at the end?!
Sweet, loving and definitely steamy, the Spanish love deception delivers a great story that will make you swoon and laugh out loud at the same time.

I'll start off my review by saying that I know that this is a really discussed book, especially in the BookTok and Bookstagram communities, and enemies-to-lovers/workplace romance/fake dating seem to be tropes that are really popular in the contemporary romance genre at the moment. For me, I just really didn't enjoy reading this book. I found Lina incredibly naive and irritating (on nearly every page where Aaron was involved, she described his physical appearance! Every time. The words "tall" or "big" or "blue eyes" were repeated SO OFTEN it gave me a headache from rolling my eyes) and Aaron a little creepy. The premise of Lina needing to take a fake date/boyfriend to her sister's wedding, and Aaron being incredibly pushy about being the only guy who she could take? WHAT? Of course, he's head over heels for her, so that *totally* makes it okay. NO! This is not a healthy relationship! I think it's really difficult to get enemies-to-lovers to feel natural. You'd likely run away or try to not interact with someone you hate. I don't think you'd ever get to the point of fake dating them.

Thank you to Atria Books for providing me a digital ARC via NetGalley. I was super excited with all the hype around this book, and even though it ultimately wasn't for me, I know there are readers who will (and do!) love this story.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

The Spanish Love Deception was a total bookstagram made me do it & I have so many thoughts.

Workplace enemies to lovers, grumpy & the sunshine, fake dating, there’s only one bed, this big romance is a trope feast.

Leads Lina Martín & Aaron Blackford do not get along, not since Aaron rebuffed Lina’s initial friendly overture & denounced her to their boss.

But thanks to a series of events—chief among them Lina’s desire to prove to family & friends & her old community that she has moved on from her last (& sole) devastating relationship—Lina agrees to Aaron’s offer to assist her in her fake dating ruse. Thus, they board a plane to Spain together to attend her sister’s wedding.

Filled with vibrant characters, featuring two well-meaning leads who simmer & simmer, & with narration that’s comfortable & warm (like a hug 🤗), The Spanish Love Deception reminds me in some ways of Mariana Zapata’s books.

The tension between leads is built up nicely, though the reasons behind Aaron’s behavior—basically his overall arc throughout the book—aren’t 100% believable to me. But still, I enjoy him & his grunting, his starchy ways, & his romantic speeches very much. Maybe my fave thing about him is just how he reveals the things he’s picked up about Lina while they’ve been supposedly hating each other.

If you want a juicy, bright travel romance you might like this one. It feels a little too long for me—& I wanted to force the characters to admit they wanted to be together/would be together sooner 😆—but I can see why it’s been a booksta fave.

4 ⭐️. Out now.


CWs: Lina was vilified & slut shamed for a relationship she had with a former professor; she faces workplace misogyny & harassment; she diets so much that she collapses at work.


[ID: an ebook is on top of some pastel yellow, blue, purple, & pink pieces of crepe paper, all resting on open hardbacks.]