The Spanish Love Deception
Star rating: ⭐⭐
Genre: Romance
Author: Elena Armas
Summary: The Spanish Love Deception follows the plotline of a classic workplace, enemies to lovers, fake dating trope. She was nice to him, he was cold, they became enemies, and they fall in love. Unable to find an accurate copy of the man she created for her parents' sanity, Elena becomes desperate. Her sister's wedding in Spain is fast approaching. The giant family she left behind to pursue her dreams in New York is dying at the opportunity to meet said boyfriend. That's where Aaron Blackford comes in. Whilst overhearing a private dramatic conversation between Elena and her best friend, Aaron surprisingly offers his support. She declines given their current relationship boundaries as colleagues. Also taking into consideration the fact that they are mortal adversaries. That is until she grasps the gravity of the situation and what will become of her if she does not bring a man home in four weeks. In the midst of a personal crisis, she accepts his proposal, eventually left to discover he may not be the Aaron Blackford she thought.
My thoughts: This novel is yet another result of my much regretted trust in booktok. Keeping in mind that The Spanish Love Deception is Elena’s debut novel and she has since evolved, my opinions on this book remain gruesome. From the beginning of this book to the end, I can not remember just how many months were put into self-convincing myself to pick it back up. I remained in a cycle of reading one or two chapters, putting it down for weeks or months, coming back to it, and repeating the cycle until I finished. The writing style was not particularly thoughtful nor gush-worthy, yet it was simply enough to translate core ideas. It was the lack of action and character building that led me to give this book 2 stars. I did not in any way hate Elena or Aaron as characters. In fact, I quite liked them together. In the same way, I felt as though there was nothing substantial I knew about either. It became very hard for me to get involved in the story's conflict when I felt zero attachment to the main couple. If anything dramatic had happened, I didn’t find myself actually caring. After dredging half way through the book, it did start to feel more exciting and easier to read. Nonetheless, it remained in my mind as something I would not recommend to others nor think about in a good light. If you happen to enjoy romances that take less brainpower and have likable characters, maybe this book is for you. I also don’t mind admitting that these novels just don’t seem to be my forte. However, If you like low-effort books, I would recommend reading her later novels such as The American Roommate Experiment which I gave a much higher rating.
