Name: emily vickers's review of The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
Item: The Spanish Love Deception
Rating: 5
Author: emily vickers

Elena Armas

A wedding in Spain. The most infuriating man. Three days to convince your family you’re actually in love… Catalina Martín desperately needs a date to her sister’s wedding. Especially now her little white lie about her American boyfriend has spiralled out of control. Now everyone she knows – including her ex-boyfriend and his fiancé – will be there. She only has four weeks to find someone willing to cross the Atlantic for her and aid in her deception. NYC to Spain is no short flight and her family won’t be easy to fool… But even then, when Aaron Blackford – the 6'4, blue-eyed pain in the arse – offers to step in, she’s not tempted even for a second. Never has there been a more aggravating, blood-boiling and insufferable man. But Catalina is desperate and as the wedding gets closer the more desirable an option Aaron Blackford becomes… The Spanish Love Deception is an enemies-to-lovers, fake-dating romance. Perfect for those looking for a steamy slow-burn with the promise of a sweet happy-ever-after.

The Spanish Love Deception

A TikTok sensation, this rom-com about a young woman who agrees to fake date a colleague and bring him to her sister’s wedding has “everything you could want in a romance” (Helen Hoang, New York Times bestselling author). Catalina Martín desperately needs a date to her sister’s wedding. Especially since her little white lie about her American boyfriend has spiralled out of control. Now everyone she knows—including her ex and his fiancée—will be there and eager to meet him. She only has four weeks to find someone willing to cross the Atlantic and aid in her deception. New York to Spain is no short flight and her raucous family won’t be easy to fool. Enter Aaron Blackford—her tall, handsome, condescending colleague—who surprisingly offers to step in. She’d rather refuse; never has there been a more aggravating, blood-boiling, and insufferable man. But Catalina is desperate, and as the wedding draws nearer, Aaron looks like her best option. And she begins to realize he might not be as terrible in the real world as he is at the office.

A Novel

Silke vandorpe

“Why?” The question left my lips in a whisper, for him but also for myself. 

“Because it was all you were willing to give me. And I'd rather have you hating me than not have you at all!”

“You. I want anything you’re willing to give me. It’s you I want.”

“I’ll give you the world. The moon. The fucking stars. Anything you ask, it’s yours. 

“That boyfriend of yours is sitting at that table, looking like an abandoned puppy. He ordered you dessert, you know? And he keeps staring at where you left, like he’s holding himself from coming to get you.”

He didn’t even ask for two spoons, so he knows that getting you to share is fruitless.”

“You feel complete in my arms. You feel like my home.”

 His voice reached my skin like a caress. Pushing my heart to bang against my chest walls, wanting out as much as I didn't want to hear whatever was to come. 

“She doesn't know it yet, but she is stuck with me.”

“Catalina.” There it is again. Not Lina. 

Something halted in my chest. Why?' The word was nothing more than a shaky whisper. 

“Because when I finally take those lips in mine, it will be the furthest thing from pretending. I will not be showing you what it would be like if you were mine. I'll show you what it is. And I sure as hell won't be showing how good I could make you feel if you called me yours. You'll already know that I am.” 

“When I finally kiss you, there won't be any doubt in your mind that it is real."

“I was never unhappy - at least, not until I realized that perhaps I wasn't completely happy either.”

“And now? Are you completely happy now, Aaron?" 

Those soft brushes of his fingers against mine came to a stop, and he didn't hesitate when he answered, “Completely? Not yet. But I'm working my fucking hardest on getting there.”

When he is buying het coffee against her will, so she orders half of the coffeeshop to spite him

Tali ♥️

"Do you want me to step away?" His thumb grazed my jaw slowly.

My lips parted, and all I managed was a weak shake of my head. An approving hmm left Aaron. That sound alone did crazy, dangerous things to my belly.

THE WAY MY EYES WIDENEDDDD. I was like “Ooooo this about to get good, hehe.”

“Is that what this is? You like bringing me to my knees?”

A wedding. A trip to Spain. The most infuriating man. And three days of pretending. Or in other words, a plan that will never work.Catalina Martín, finally, not single. Her family is happy to announce that she will bring her American boyfriend to her sister's wedding. Everyone is invited to come and witness the most magical event of the year.That would certainly be tomorrow's headline in the local newspaper of the small Spanish town I came from. Or the epitaph on my tombstone, seeing the turn my life had taken in the span of a phone call.Four weeks wasn't a lot of time to find someone willing to cross the Atlantic-from NYC and all the way to Spain-for a wedding. Let alone, someone eager to play along my charade. But that didn't mean I was desperate enough to bring the 6'4 blue eyed pain in my ass standing before me.Aaron Blackford. The man whose main occupation was making my blood boil had just offered himself to be my date. Right after inserting his nose in my business, calling me delusional, and calling himself my best option. See? Outrageous. Aggravating. Blood boiling. And much to my total despair, also right. Which left me with a surly and extra large dilemma in my hands. Was it worth the suffering to bring my colleague and bane of my existence as my fake boyfriend to my sister's wedding? Or was I better off coming clean and facing the consequences of my panic induced lie?Like my abuela would say, que dios nos pille confesados.The Spanish Love Deception is an enemies-to-lovers, fake-dating, SLOW-BURN romance. Perfect for those looking for a steamy slow-burn with the sweetest Happily Ever After.

The Spanish Love Deception (Spanish Love Deception #1)

Anita

"I'll give you the world," he said against my mouth. "The moon. The fucking stars. Anything you ask, it's yours. 

Saskia Klemm 

But you are. You are worth all that trouble. You are worth walking through a fucking fire for. Don't you see that?' He exhaled roughly through his nose, his hand coming to my cheek, making me lean on his touch out of pure instinct. Whatever shit Daniel put in your head about you not being worth fighting for is wrong. Love is worth fighting for. And I am not him, Lina. This is not the

I’ll give you the world, he said against my mouth. The moon. The fucking stars. Anything you ask, it's yours. I'm yours.

nanafark

“Everything will always be okay, no matter what. You know why?”

“Because it’s you and me.” He smiled down at me then, meeting my gaze with the conviction his words held. Just as he held my heart in his hands. My love. My whole world. Confidently and completely.

“And no matter what comes our way, we have each other.” That Aaron smile, which was just for me and never failed to make my heart skip a beat, widened. “We are in this together, for the long run.”

“We are not programmed to lose those we love; there’s no right or wrong way to grieve.” 

“We just try our best, even when, often, our best is not good enough. Blaming yourself now is not going to change the past; it’s only going to take away energy that you should be spending in the present.”

“With how every single time you laugh, I want to throw you over my shoulder and run somewhere I can covet that sound just for myself.” A kiss was brushed on my jaw, his lips then sweeping along until reaching my ear. “And with every other unfathomable way you have made me completely yours.”

“You blow my goddamn mind, my rules, my world,” he breathed, those ocean-blue eyes capturing my gaze like they never had before. “When I least expect it, I find you ready to dynamite your way right into my heart. As if you hadn’t done that already.” The grip of his fingers on my wrist tightened, pulling me to him, and I could feel the soft air leaving his mouth, falling on my lips. “As if you hadn’t already dismantled me for anybody else. As if I wasn’t at your mercy.”

Life-altering moments spanned from a few seconds to decades. It was part of the magic of life. Of living.

“I want your heart, Catalina.” Both of his hands rose to my shoulders, trailing up my neck and cupping my face. “I want it for myself, just how I have given you mine.”

“How is it possible that it feels like you are breaking my heart, and I haven’t even had you yet?”

“I can’t make you trust me like I need you to. With your whole fucking heart.” He searched my face, those blue eyes missing their usual light. Reflecting only hurt. “I can’t make you run into my arms instead of in the opposite direction. I just … can’t make you love me enough to give us a chance.”

“When there’s a rock on the way and you fall, I tumble down with you. We fight our way up together.”

Aaron’s face lit up with them. Breaking into the most beautiful smile to date. Burning down the last of my defenses. And as I stared into the blue of his eyes, I watched those walls of mine collapse as if I hadn’t spent all this time building them up.

He brushed a kiss on my forehead. Another one on my lips. Then another one on my nose.

“You feel and taste like you are mine.”

I looked up, right into his eyes. “I am.”

emily vickers

slow burn, but i really loved the pace of this esp near the middle to end

past traumas can really interfere with your ability to love and trust the world. with the right person by your side, it feels like you can accomplish anything. that’s exactly what love felt like reading this book!

kendy mariano

Maja

Amina

the main character does not shut up! she needs an internal monologue after every piece of dialogue anyone says and she just talks in circles about who knows what! it's being in the head of literally the most annoying person in the world. i'm writing this months after I tried reading this book, which I dnf because I was ready to end it all, and I happened across it now and need to say what ive been holding in, in hopes that i can maybe get some closure and that her STUPID f*cking voice will stop echoing in my head even now. im seriously HAUNTED by this book--and not in a tortured artist read the bell jar for the first time type way--but an oh my god I need a hypnotist to erase this from my memory type way

** spoiler alert **
           i liked the whole plot but at times (especially the ending) feels kinda rushed & abrupt? With Aaron’s dad being critical but him still choosing to go to Spain was too.… idk… but either way, i love Aaron.

"Catalina Martin desperately needs a date to her sister's wedding. Especially since her little white lie about her American boyfriend has spiralled out of control. Now everyone she knows--including her ex and his fiancâee--will be there and eager to meet him. She only has four weeks to find someone willing to cross the Atlantic and aid in her deception. New York to Spain is no short flight and her raucous family won't be easy to fool. Enter Aaron Blackford--her tall, handsome, condescending colleague--who surprisingly offers to step in. She'd rather refuse; never has there been a more aggravating, blood-boiling, and insufferable man. But Catalina is desperate, and as the wedding draws nearer, Aaron looks like her best opion. And she begins to realize he might not be as terrible in the real world as he is at the office"--

Untitled EA

Bria

Minahil Fatima 

never again. dnfed at 40%. you couldn't pay me to read this

Elisavet Rozaki 

It's a cute read but I caught myself jumping paragraphs. Maybe it could've been shorter.

Lauren R

I want a man who will learn Spanish for me.

arwen

there were some cringe worthy moments but overwall it was cute

Ellie M.

I am embarassed, if you saw my old rating for this, you didn’t. My standards were extremely low and I have certainly seen better days and read abt bigger dicks thank u

Hanna Rybchynska

I was really excited for this book... however it disappointed me somewhere at 70%... 
I enjoyed the slow burn and building up the relashionship. However, I started to notice that the main characters have zero chemistery. 
I liked Aaron at the biginnig, but I really started to dislike him when they first kiss! He was so inappropriate! And Catalina... well... she was okay, I guess. Just a little annoying for my taste.

Jay Becerra

Gosh the title of this book is the biggest false advertisement I’ve ever witnessed in my life. How is the whole plot meant to be fake dating at a wedding in Spain yet I get halfway through the book and they’re not even in Spain yet?!

Don’t even get me started on this not being an enemies to lovers trope.

Okay, I get it Aaron is very much in love with Lina it’s obvious from the very beginning of the story. And he’s hot and sexy and he cares about her but that’s literally it. That’s his whole personality! He knows all these tiny details about Lina and Lina probably doesn’t even know what toppings he likes on his pizza. 

*Sigh* I could go on and on about the things in this book that just didn’t live up to the Booktok hype but… well, if you read it, I’d hate to subject you to another read that just drags on. And no it does NOT drag on in a slow burn way despite what others may say.

One star was purely for the smut scenes cause I’m a simple woman really. Overall, Lina’s inner monologue was repetitive and caused the book to drag on a bit but maybe if it had been summarized properly (so I wasn’t expecting chapters full of fake dating in Spain as the title suggests) I would’ve possibly liked it. Maybe. A big maybe.

marie

one of the best slow burns ive read, it was all worth it.

clare

aleksandra

2/5

Aaron doing the bare minimum, BookTok

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

Started with an infuriating stubborn main character, went on to have a good middle portion and ended with cliché kitsch. 

Helena-Elisabeth 

Started with an infuriating stubborn main character, went on to have a good middle portion and ended with cliché kitsch. 

But still was a good read 

maderinn⟢

The premise of the book was really promising but it’s not really an enemies-to-lovers trope because I feel that the attraction is so glaringly obvious from the get-go. The FL was just so… blind. But I did swoon for the most part and enjoyed the book overall.

Nabila Azahra

I honesty find Catalina a bit annoying at times (especially like first 1/3 of the book) & is it supposed to be enemies to lovers? because it doesn’t feel like it

Aparna

The story that goes from enemies to lovers with zero dimension yet static and flat with no natural behaviour of the characters with the scene turning topsy-turvy of going from chapter 5 .The novel leaves us tensed at certain instances fake-dating romantic comedy.Yeah! It's steamy and slow-burn with the sweetest ending ever.

elle

Isabella 

I LOVE THIS BOOK. I had to take pauses in between to fully take in what just happened, in a good way. The chemistry and tension between Lina and Aaron was amazing. The pacing is perfect. I haven't read that much of enemies to lovers books that really lived up to my expectations, but this book exceeded my expectations. It has the right amount of sweetness (never felt that it was cringy), and the right amount of spice. Despite being written in the female pov, Aaron was written so well that I did not even need his pov. The emotional connection was done so well. And of course, Aaron Blackford. He is absolutely perfect. He changed my views for fictional men, so now I'm wondering who can ever top him? I loved this book so much, and I was just smiling the whole time. (view spoiler)[However, the ending was kind of rushed. It felt like it was just put out there for the angst, there really was no depth to it. This is definitely one of my comfort books from now on, and my favorite romcom book. (hide spoiler)]

this book had me feeling EVERY emotion. I MEAN COME ON AARON BLACKFORD. 

emily vickers &
The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

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