Book: The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
Read From: 9th March - 14th March 2022
Rating: 4/5 stars
Summary: In this fake-dating romance, Aaron volunteers to fly to Spain with Lina for her sister’s wedding after she tells everyone she is in a relationship and will be attending the wedding with her new boyfriend.
I think at over 450 pages, this is the longest romance book I’ve ever read. It’s had so much hype, and romance books don’t usually have a solid plot either so it’s safe to say that I was pretty apprehensive. I was worried I wouldn’t like the characters and that I’d easily become bored. Safe to say that neither of these things happened. I absolutely ate this book up. I loved it.
After reading The Love Hypothesis back in January, and now this, I’m beginning to understand why everyone loves the fake dating trope so much. It was done SO well in this book and you could tell that although everything was meant to be ‘fake’ Aaron was absolutely smitten with Lina and I couldn’t cope, it was the sweetest thing ever. If Armas released this exact same book from his POV I would be all over it. I need it! Aaron is the ‘man written by a woman’ blueprint, the world would be a better place if all men were a little more Aaron Blackford. I can definitely see why he is so many people’s book boyfriend. Lina was also an amazing character, she was so funny and her love for food was definitely something I resonated with😅
I loved the slow-burn and the smut was excellent. I mentioned in my review for The Love Hypothesis that I loved the discussions of consent in that book because it’s often something that’s overlooked or glossed over in romance books, and I’m so pleased that The Spanish Love Deception also approached this. It seems weird to praise something that is essentially the bare minimum but it’s just so refreshing to see in fiction when it’s not something you’ve really seen before.
This is an obvious recommend for me especially if you’re a romance lover. Saying that though, I wouldn’t say I LOVE romance but I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I’m excited for Armas’ second book to come out later this year. I’ll definitely be getting my hands on a copy!