Owl Abridged
Book Review,  Contemporary,  Romance

The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

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.

The Spanish Love Deception has all of my favorite tropes. There’s enemies-to-lovers and fake dating as well as a grumpy/sunshine office romance. Aaron is a serious, stoic lead who probably couldn’t be any more perfect while Lina is bubbly, independent, and maybeeee a bit stubborn.

This book is a long one. It’s a super slow burn romance and I wasn’t expecting it to be so drawn out, but it worked for me. A lot of the conflict stems from misunderstanding, which isn’t my favorite trope, but I loved both Catalina and Aaron and the book turned out to be such a comfort read. Overall I really enjoyed this one and am already finishing up The American Roommate Experiment today!