I have been hearing about this book for months, with the main feedback being how everyone loves Aaron Blackford, and honestly same. The hype for this book is so real and it's so worth it. I honestly was not at all composed reading this book. One of the quotes I saw the most before reading this was the "do you want me to beg" line and for it to take place in a coffee shop, I was FLOORED. I really really enjoyed Catalina and Aaron's story even though the slow burn was torture at times. I can't wait to read more from Elena Armas in the future!!
Thank you soo much to the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

The writing in the book is...fine (grading on a curve for being originally self-published, that means great). But the marketing is a masterpiece so I'm giving it another star. This book went viral on BookTok, apparently because it has almost every romance trope packed into one book (? But who knows? BookTok's ways are mysterious). And now it's a major release. Credit the author for managing that trajectory, even if the characters seem one-note, at least half the book is spent speculating on what touching each other feels like and - in the least unsurprising plot note of all - the big obstacle between the couple is bad communication.

The Spanish Love Deception was an adorable, laugh out loud, slow-burn, love story. I absolutely loved Aaron and Catalina, they were perfect together.

One of my absolute favorite tropes in romance novels is enemies-to-lovers and Ms. Armas did an excellent job of making us believe these two enemies were meant to be lovers. I loved that in The Spanish Love Deception it's Aaron who falls first and he's determined to prove his feelings to Lina by helping her convince her family that she's happy and thriving in New York.

I loved the entire book, but Aaron and Lina in Spain was especially fun to read. I loved how protective and possessive Aaron was with Lina and the fact that he learned Spanish just showed how very invested he was in starting a real relationship with Lina.

The Spanish Love Deception was a fantastic debut novel by Elena Armas and I cannot wait to read Rosie's story and hopefully catching up with Aaron and Lina.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I read this book when it was indie and was so excited to see it being traditionally pubbed and available to a wider audience. I didn't see any noticeable difference between this and the indie book (that I noticed, it has been a bit and quite a few books in between).

This book was just as wonderful the second time around and I can't wait for the second book in the series.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced reading copy! I honestly read this book because of the hype from the internet about Aaron as a great book boyfriend. This is the debut romance from Elena Armas, and it’s a swoon worthy read that I thoroughly enjoyed, especially the second half. Catalina (Lina) needs a date to her sister's wedding in Spain since her ex will be there with a new fiancee and her co-worker Aaron, who she hates, volunteers to go as her fake boyfriend. The chemistry between Aaron and Lina is great, and I loved the use of many popular romance tropes: forced proximity, fake dating, one bed, and enemies-to-lovers. Aaron is great as the perfect guy: beautiful, kind, and constantly bringing Lina food. I recommend this book for anyone who likes contemporary open door romance, enemies-to-lovers, and fake dating.

This was very slow for about the first half; I think if it was a shorter book it would’ve been easier to get through. Aaron was a bit irritating at times, but overall I enjoyed the characters. It was a fun story, my biggest drawback was just that I felt it was too long.

So, a lot of people I know have already read and reviewed this book, and their opinions are decidedly mixed. Is The Spanish Love Deception similar to The Hating Game? Yes, in some ways, but there are only so many romance trope permutations that one can have before some things start reminding you of what came before. Did this book need to be nearly 500 pages long? No, it absolutely did not. There are a lot of places where cuts could have been made without much of an impact on the story.

But having said all that, I still mostly enjoyed this book. It has the enemies-to-lovers thing going on, but if you've ever picked up a romance novel in your life, you know this enemies thing is completely one-sided, and that the other side has been completely smitten since day one. It also has the fake dating trope, which is a favorite of mine, and this one is done fairly well. It also partly takes place in Spain, and I love pretty much any book set in Western Europe, so YES PLEASE GIVE ME ALL THE SPAIN. One thing to note, however, is that there is (of course) a lot of Spanish being spoken in this book, and not all of it is translated for the reader. Having minored in Spanish in college this was not much of an issue for me, but someone unfamiliar with the language might have some trouble. Also, this is a very slow burn book, and when it does start to burn it burns a little too quickly to be realistic. In addition, I kinda didn't like our heroine all that much. Lina is kind of a clueless ninny for most of the book, and I much prefer my FMCs to be strong, intelligent women. On the other hand, Aaron was delightful.

So yes, I am a bit conflicted on this book. I surface-level enjoyed it, but I'm sure a re-read would further emphasize the less enjoyable qualities of it, so I will stick with a single reading and give it a middle-of-the-road three stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book!! So much so that I ignored all responsibilities for a day so I could it in one sitting. My only negative to this book is it felt very similar to the hating game in the beginning and a little repetitive.

This book was cute. I enjoyed the banter between main characters and love a good enemies to lovers… I just felt like there were some really draggy portions. Some of the dialogue felt unnecessary and contrived. I think some pages (if not chapters) could have been cut with minimal changes to storyline.

The main characters were slightly unbearable but I enjoyed the way they played off of each other.

This is a books that I simply had to get my hands on because of the hype- and somehow it met my expectations.

I’m a bit disappointed in this one. I usually don’t read books because of the internet hype - but I’ve been in a “romance” mood so I requested this one and was happy when I got approved.
I really didn’t like either main character.. I felt the story dragged at times or rushed too quickly at others that I couldn’t develop a liking towards either of their stories.

how can i give this book 1 million stars??? this book deserves EVERYTHING. obsessed does not even begin to cover my feelings towards aaron and lina! the way i LITERALLY had butterflies throughout the entire book... for real. that man would literally smile and i'd absolutely lose my mind. this book was he perect mix of banter, romance, and spice! 10/10 would recommend to everyone!

many thanks to netgalley for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review!

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!