Catalina Martn is looking for a date for her sister’s wedding. And now that her harmless fib about her American partner has gotten out of hand, it is very problematic.
Since word has spread, her whole social circle, including her exes and their respective significant others, will be swarming his introduction.
Only four weeks remain before her deadline for finding an accomplice willing to go across the Atlantic to help her with her lie. The travel from New York to Spain is long, and her rowdy family isn’t going to be easy to mislead.
Her tall, gorgeous, pompous coworker Aaron Blackford unexpectedly offers to help out. There has never been a more irritating, blood-poising, and intolerable man, therefore she will politely decline.
Catalina, though, is running out of options as the wedding day approaches, and Aaron appears to be her best bet. She also starts to see that he may not be quite as awful as he seems at the office.
Review
2 stars
The Spanish Love Deception was my second effort at reading a highly-touted or Swoonie-nominated novel, and it failed miserably. However, I had a sneaking suspicion that this was the case. Given all the hype, I was hoping I’d enjoy it at least a little.
There’s no denying that Elena Armas has a very accessible writing style. Despite the lacklustre quality of the rest of the experience, I found myself captivated by her for the most part.
Despite avoiding them up until now, upon completion I looked at reviews and found that some of the comparisons hit the nail on the head as to why I am not a fan, despite the fact that I had heard some of the excitement on Twitter (and had a hazy, secondhand knowledge of Tiktok).
The awful execution of enemies-to-lovers that turned me off The Hating Game is also present here (though I couldn’t even finish that one, so this is at least a little step up), as is the excessive verbosity of Mariana Zapata without any actual substance.
Without meaning to offend anyone who like those authors/books and/or this one, I finally understood why this book bombed so badly with me.
Some aspects of the characters were enjoyable, especially Lina’s response to sexual harassment. And I could see why Lina would lie, because I, too, would have lied under similar circumstances.
Nonetheless, I didn’t find her to be really intriguing. Not even Aaron stood out? He’s the stereotypical broody hero-obsessed male lead. For me, their I love yous rang hollow because I never felt any sparks fly between them, even after so many pages of silence.
To be honest, I just didn’t click with the book, and now I feel silly for giving in to the hoopla without doing further research. Even if it’s not my cup of tea, I recognise the book’s merits and can appreciate why others do as well. This could be a better option for fans of the “sloooow burn,” “enemies to lovers,” and “fake relationship” tropes.
A Brief Biography of the Author
Elena is a Spanish author who admits to being a hopeless romantic and who, much to Mr. B’s chagrin, takes great pride in her collection of books. She has been an avid reader and Instagrammer under the handle @thebibliotheque for many years, and has just recently begun writing stories of her own.
She is the Monica of her circle of friends and has a degree in chemical engineering, but she would never call herself an adventurer. This project, however, is the most exhilarating and terrifying thing she has ever attempted.
As you read this, she is probably nervously biting her nails. She’s probably completely panicking at this point. It’s just some (hopefully little) stage fright, so please don’t worry about her.
Conclusion
She can’t wait to tell you about her dream. To share in each other’s enthusiasm for happily-ever-afters and maybe even grow closer to the concept of love itself. Because that’s the whole goal, right?
