Name: Molly
Grade: 11th
Title: The Spanish Love Deception
Author: Elena Armas
Published in: 2021
Pages: 473
Rating: 5 stars
“The Spanish Love Deception” by Elena Armas follows Catalina Martín and Aaron Blackford on their fake dating escapades that tarted all with one single phrase. “I’ll be your date to the wedding” is what Aaron Blackford uttered one day after overhearing Catalina’s desperation in finding a date. This one line changed everything between them and challenged their feelings for each other. Catalina’s sister was getting married and she told them her boyfriend would be coming because she couldn’t fathom facing her family (and her ex) alone and single. She couldn’t stand the pitying looks she would get when she would come home single and she didn’t want people to see how her breakup six years ago was still affecting her, so she lied and told them her boyfriend would be there. This was dilemma one. Dilemma two was Aaron Blackford being her best and only option. Aaron Blackford, the man she blacklisted, her enemy, someone she couldn’t hold a civil conversation with, a workaholic grump. There’s no way she’s taking him to the wedding… right? As the story progresses, she quickly learns that Aaron Blackford is a different man than she previously believed and that he may not be as bad as she thought.
I really liked this book because it had some of my favorite tropes as well as others I like. It was a fake dating, grumpy-sunshine, and enemies-to-lovers book and it was written really well in my opinion. The enemies bit didn’t come through that well because their hatred was formed on a basis of practically nothing, so if you’re reading it for enemies to lovers, maybe choose a different one, but if that isn’t important, definitely give this book a try. I loved seeing the progression in the relationship between Aaron and Catalina and the fact that it started as fake dating made it a five-star book. I loved how the grumpy-sunshine trope was written and how other tropes like one bed, enemies-to-lovers, workplace romance, and more were incorporated without making it overbearing. I really liked the characters and the storyline was very fun and different. My favorite character was Aaron Blackford because I always love seeing the grumpy counterpart showing their feelings for the sunshine.
I would definitely recommend this book because it was a really good read. I read it in one day and there were barely any moments that were slow or boring. If you like fake dating or grumpy sunshine, try this book because I think these tropes came through well. If you like “The Love Hypothesis” you will probably like this one because they have similar tropes.
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