3.5/5 🌟
From the beginning of the novel, Catalina is someone you are drawn to and are instantly rooting for. With each additional chapter, we are shown her complexity and work ethic, and we want her to succeed in all areas of her life - internship, school, and even romance. However, Gabe felt a little too all over the place for me. I loved that he was given the space to grow as a character and become more likeable, but I do think his intense feelings felt slightly mismatched at times. He had some really great and SWEET moments, but I felt a little confused by how the relationship developed. (Especially with the wild beginning of the relationship and also some of the suggestions he makes towards the end of the novel?) I did enjoy that the plot was focused on more than just the romance. The complex family dynamics were introduced and discussed well. I LOVED the female friendships. I thought these were solid and well-developed. I enjoyed the plot twist! Overall, I had a good time reading this book. (There were just a few things with the pacing of the book and the insertion of plot points that felt a little disconnecting for me.)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was going back and forth on whether I should give this 3 or 4 stars because I did truly enjoy reading it and couldn't put it down -- once I got into it. It did take a bit for me to get hooked and I think a bit of that might be due to the writing style. I know this is an ARC copy and editing can still take place but it felt a bit too unpolished sometimes. Nevertheless, I loved the story and the characters and my heart just ached for Cata and all her struggles. I'm a first-generation kid, and reading this book made me feel more connected to my dad and grandparents and everything they went through to move to America. The pain and struggles don't often get spoken about within the family but I know it wasn't easy. I'm grateful this book exists and that I was given the opportunity to read it and I actually wish there was more to it. The end was pretty abrupt and I wanted to dive deeper into their actual relationship and not just the lead-up to having one.

Note: The only spice is one makeout session.

Thank you to NetGalley, Wattpad WENTOON Book Hroup, and Marianna Leal for a copy of As Long As You Love Me in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book, it touched on some heavier topics (the political unrest in Venezuela and immigration issues) while also keeping it lighter with the friendships and romance as well. I loved the three main friends, the FMC having two really great friends to lean on.

Gabe was a great romantic interest - academic rivals who do the fake dating thing which obviously becomes real. Their pairing was also a really great golden retriever - black cat vibe as well. You assume he’s a f boy at the beginning but slowly fall for him alongside Cata. He plays such a great supporting role while standing beside her and not giving up on her and not trying to dull her shine, loving her for being as driven as she is.

I wish we had gotten a little more with her family and sister at the end - I think there could have been a deeper dive here. It felt like there was a little too much inferred rather than shown which I think would have strengthened the story.

Note that if you don’t speak Spanish you’ll be looking some things up! I think it added a nice touch but there were moments where I wanted to make sure the context clues (and my Italian language fluency) were guiding me correctly. I think it would be great to have maybe endnotes or footnotes just with the translation?

Overall, thoroughly enjoyed the book. I couldn’t put it down once I really got started.

3.75 ⭐

«Sometimes you just know that if you don’t make a bold leap, you can miss out on the best things in life. And I don’t want to miss out on a single second with you.»

This book is perfect for the lovers of the fake dating/fake marriage trope. Cata, the FMC, is an immigrant: she left her country because of political conflicts and is now a student of mechanical engineering. She is trying to obtain a full-time employee position in order to remain in the US after her graduation. The problem is that there's another person who's trying to achieve the same thing: Gabe has been Cata's academic rival for years and now is also her rival for the job.

Eventually, the two of them find a solution for their problems. Gabe and Cata strike a deal: Cata will be the fake girlfriend that he need for his brother's wedding, and Gabe will leave her the job.

I enjoyed this book, the writing was good, it was really fluid. This is a funny and cute romance (Gabe was soooo sweet 🥺), but in reality, the plot addressed to a lot of important themes, especially the terrible conditions of life in Venezuela, political crises, immigration, the presence of an authoritarian regime and the conseguent concept of “American dream”.

Thank you to Netgalley, Wattpad Webtoon Book Group and the author for granting me an eArc in exchange of an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group for the ARC of As Long As You Love Me by Marianna Leal.

I was a big Wattpad fan in middle school and high school so to see an approval of an ARC from them just felt like a full circle moment for me.

Now onto the review; Catalina was such a fierce character! from the first chapter I just knew I was going to love her as a strong FMC, standing up for what she believes in, pursuing a better life in a different country, a woman in STEM (my favourite scene with Cata was when she showed the boys how badass she was when welding - iykyk). Cata is such a force to be reckoned with and I felt like a proud friend on the sidelines watching her achieve her dreams while being a strong and somewhat stubborn daughter, sister and friend.

Gabe immediately gave me playboy vibes but the more I got to know his character, he captured my heart. Gabe is the sweetest boy, the way he showed up for his siblings, Cata and her friends made me smile on multiple occasions while reading this book. Gabe was a fun character, from the banter between him and Cata, to making up his own nicknames, and coming up with crazy ideas to ruin his brothers wedding, it was fun getting to know him. I very much enjoyed that Gabe challenged his moms racist ideas of marrying "your own" and that he stood up for his siblings and their chosen partners.

This book touched on the Venezuelan government and the issues that Venezuela currently has with their government regime - prior to this book I had NO IDEA about the corruption in the Venezuelan government or the poverty that the country faced, so thank you to Marianna for touching on this, this book really opened eyes and I'm thankful for that. I also loved how diverse the characters were in this book.

I will say the reason its not a 5 star read for me is because I had to google Spanish to English translations just so I wouldn't miss part of the conversation between Cata and Gabe or Cata and her family members BUT, I did learn some new Spanish words and the conversations in Spanish did add that extra little oomph to the book if you decide to stop and translate.

If you like an enemies to lovers, fake dating, STEM, closed door romance then this book is for you and you should check it out when it comes out in September!

This book touches on sensitive topics such as SA, death, grief, and troubled family relationships, so just note those as trigger warnings if you choose to read the book.

As a POC, I am always amped to read a multicultural romance (especially someone of Spanish origin) so it was obvious my expectations were high for Marianna Leal’s “As Long As You Love Me” but unfortunately it failed to achieve well… anything.

The plot—wait what plot? This ‘romance’ was filled with pages of Catalina discussing her struggles and traumas (which oftentimes than not, were brushed off way too easily). The plot was just about nonexistent and whatever little was featured, was half-ass and brushed aside by the lead heroine's immaturity, overly dramatic and whiny behavior. As you can tell, I was not a fan of hers. Besides being a POC character, I failed to find anything likable about the lead. And her relationship with Gabe was laughable at best.

There was no chemistry between them. At all. I wouldn’t even categorize this as enemies turned lovers. The relationship with Gabe didn't seem believable nor would have it last as a long term relationship. He honestly was too good for her. There, I said it.

And besides the unconvincing romance that blossomed between Campus Babe and Kitty Kat (gag), this was an overall boring read filled with mediocre characters, dull plot, bad pacing.

So save yourself the trouble and skip this one fellow readers.

I really liked this book. My one complaint, and it's a small one, was that there were several lines in Spanish that as someone who knows zero Spanish I had no idea what was being said. Usually when then this approach is used in books, the Spanish is so basic that even I know it. I never felt lost, but I do wish I could have known what the characters were saying. Still, this was a great, fun read and worthy of 5 stars.

I wish I could give this book a better rating, because the writing was good and it addressed many important and too often under-explored themes that need to be more common in today’s literature. Unfortunately, I felt like the plot of the book was lost in the issues and traumas of the main character, her family and her country. Catalina is a first generation immigrant and university graduate, she fled her country because of political conflicts, she’s struggling to fit in and prove herself to be “worthy” of the American dream, and much more throughout the book.

I think that this novel should’ve been a coming of age novel, a book about a strong and independent latinx individual finding herself and her place in the world, not a romance story. I did not believe in Cata and Gabe’s story, and to be quite frank, this didn’t read like an enemies to lovers. They’re academic rivals for a bit, but not enemies. The romance felt forced, I did not feel the chemistry and I didn’t believe Gabe when he confessed his love for Catalina (I mean, he was dating a horde of women for years, but he swears he’s loved her since they met? I don’t trust him). At the end of the book, I was surprised to read a HEA. In the real world, these two would be at the top of a list called: Couples That Broke Up When The Story Ended.

Also, every trauma and obstacles that came Cata’s way were brushed off way too easily, it was quite unrealistic. The book deals with several sensitive issues (trigger warnings include: death, grief, SA, kidnapping, estranged relationship with family members) yet we never go in depth into the trauma caused by said issues, nor concretely how Catalina deals with them and it all feels just superficial and easy in my opinion.

Overall, it was still an enjoyable read, I simply would’ve preferred for the romance to be a subplot or absent altogether so we could focus more on the psychological aspects of the novel.

Thank you to NetGalley, Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group and Marianna Leal for granting me an eArc in exchange of an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC copy of this book to read and review. All of these thoughts and comments are my own.

This book had the enemies to lovers and fake dating tropes, which I love. I absolutely adored Gabe. He was so sweet and romantic. I also love how independent Cata was but she did need to learned to ask for help and not handle everything on her own. I liked the concept of the plot and the characters were so fun and relatable.

This was such a fun and fast pace read. I honestly couldn’t put it down and read it in one setting. It was funny, romantic, cute, and in some parts sad. I think if you love funny/sweet romances then you should definitely read this book.

4 stars!

This fake dating, enemies to lovers is on fire!! I read this in one sitting because I could not get enough of Cata and Gabe! This was absolutely perfect!!
I just reviewed As Long As You Love Me by Marianna Leal. #AsLongAsYouLoveMe #NetGalley
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Book boyfriend - check, cute funny moments - check, love story you wish would happen to you - check. Romantic comedy perfection - check check!

I really enjoyed this one! The storyline was super engaging and had a great mix of funny and serious moments.

Thankyou NetGalley and publisher for the advance reader copy.

I loved the themes covered in this book that are often not fully explored - political crises, immigration, etc. Sure, these aren't the sexiest topics for a romance, but I felt they were dealt with quite well in this book.

Funny enough, it is the romance in this romance novel where it fell apart for me. Gabe, my man, what was happening with you?When did this guy even fall in love with Catalina? Did I miss it? You're in love with her whilst dating other girls, but why? Then you're so into her and so willing to do anything, it was a bit much even for me.

Catalina's family aspect was interesting, but then it became super heavy and then just a bit depressing and I'm like yeah, this is an HEA but do I feel H? Gabe's family was a train wreck and should have been tossed out of this book.

I think I'd read it again and I do feel like it was well written stylistically. I also really liked the side characters and want a story from their POVs.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC. You guys are doing the Lord's work. All views are my own!

4.5 Stars

This book is written with two tropes that I absolutely love, "enemies to lovers" and "fake dating." I went into this book knowing that that Catalina and Gabe were enemies and she needed to stay in the U.S. despite her visa renewal being rejected. I was prepared to fall head over heels in love with their story and I did. I was not prepared for some of the heartbreak that came from this story. Some of the events occurring in Venezuela broke my heart.

Catalina was in a constant war with herself. Carrying the weight of her brother's death on her shoulders, constantly worried about her family's safety. Facing repercussions of her identical twin sister's actions. Fighting tooth and nail to stay in the country even though her job told her they can only accept one applicant as a full time employee. It was almost as though everywhere Catalina turned, she was faced with a difficult challenge and instead of leaning on her support system, she did everything in her power to fix the matters herself.

This story evolved beautifully. What started as a fake dating ploy for Catalina to land her job and for Gabe to "ruin" his siblings wedding, turned into a beautiful love story. Catalina learned that it was okay to lean on others. Gabe learned that the reason relationships were never successful in the past was because it was always someone else who occupied his mind.

Please read this book if you like:
-Enemies to lovers
-Fake Dating
-STEMinists
-Bilingual

Spice Level:
1/5

Overall, I liked this book a lot. I also enjoyed the about the author section showed that Catalina was very much inspired by the Author.

Thank you NetGalley, W by Watt Pad and the author Marianna Leal for the amazing opportunity to read this book. I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy.

wow I loved this way more than I thought I would. it is super cut and I love our main male character. Hes such a great book boyfriend.

A unique take on the 'fake dating for a Visa' but whilst being a fun and cute love story 'As Long As You Love Me' actually shines a light on the reality of immigration and political problems/heartbreak that occur in people's day-to-day life. I loved the mix between some more serious aspects and light-hearted enemies to lovers romance, the characters were also so adorable and I couldn't wait for them to come together. Overall this was super adorable, I definitely recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Marianna Leal for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review

This was an enjoyable storyline! I liked how there were funny and serious moments. I also enjoyed the side stories with Catalina and Gabe’s family.

Definitely recommend reading this

Love this book!! I absolute adored Catalina’s story and opened my eyes to the struggles of immigration, visas, and being alone in a whole new culture. Gabe and Catalina’s relationship was a really well done and I just ate it up. I wish we got to see more of Catalina being a woman in STEM, but other than that it was a great, quick read.
I’m hoping to see if we get another book in this series following Cora’s story.

Beautiful book cover 😍
What a delightful love story! Catalina is desperately seeking employment to maintain her legal status in the United States, while Gabe is in search of a date for his brother's upcoming wedding. The two hatch a plan and make a pact to assist one another.
Reading As Long As You Love Me, I realized it was far beyond what I expected. I initially thought it would be just another story about enemies turned lovers, but it was much more than that! This book was exceptional!

An interesting take on the Visa trope. I think this sheds a lot of good light on some of the difficulties surrounding immigration. It has a good love story at the core and will keep readers guessing how it ends..