Book Review: The Spanish Love Deception

You’ve probably seen a lot of hype around The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas if you follow any bookstagram accounts especially now that it’s being made into a movie. I have had it on my tbr for a while now. I had heard some mixed reviews with either people just not liking it at all or on the total opposite end of the spectrum loving it to the point of obsession. So I read it over the weekend and finished earlier in the week. Keep reading for my thoughts!

Romper: Target (here) | Sandals: Target (here)

The Spanish Love Deception follows Catalina “Lina” Martin, a Spanish young woman living in New York City and working for an engineering firm. She left Spain 6 years ago for a fresh start after a dramatic breakup. But while she’s been happy professionally and with her best friend, Rosie, she hasn’t found love or even really dated. Now her sister’s wedding is coming up and she will have to go back to their small town in Spain for the wedding. Not only is she dreading the looks on her relatives’ faces and the whispers that will likely ensue when she shows up sans boyfriend, but the best man is her ex-boyfriend who happens to be the older brother of the groom. It’s not that she needs a boyfriend, but she doesn’t want people pitying her and whispering that she must be so lonely and hasn’t gotten over her ex.

Overhearing her talk to Rosie about her predicament, her office nemesis, Aaron Blackford, interrupts and offers to be her date. Lina and Aaron do not get along. Their interactions mostly consist of them being snarky with each other. But, Aaron is persistent in his offer. After weeks of flat-out refusing to debating it to considering it to finally taking him up on his offer to be her fake boyfriend they travel to Spain together for the wedding.

During their time together and even before the wedding, Lina realizes there’s a lot more to Aaron than the serious grump she had labeled him after her initial bad impression of him. And when he actually smiles, it’s like the smiles are only for her.

I loved this book! I will say that Lina being so stubborn for a good 1/4-1/2 of the book about letting Aaron help her started to get annoying, but the 2nd half of the book more than made up for it. I loved how well Aaron knew her and how Lina starts to see all of their previous interactions in a different light when she starts to loosen her grudge.

This is a slow burn with lots of glorious tension, but let me tell you when the steam and spice comes in later it is well worth it!

This book is great for lovers of: slow burn, enemies to lovers, fake dating, and grumpy sunshine.

And of course I had to take my book photo with a yellow roper with oranges on it. Who doesn’t love to match with their books? lol

A quote I love from the book: “Because it was all you were willing to give me. And I’d rather have you hating me than not have you at all.”

A spinoff book about Rosie and Lina’s cousin, Lucas, called The American Roommate Experiment comes out in September and I’ve already pre-ordered it because if you pre-order it you get some bonus Aaron pov chapters sent to you in September and I cannot wait to read his point of view!

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