rickireadss's review against another edition
4.5
i might have liked this one better than TSLD?!?!?! and i LOVED that book and reread it like immediately after i finished it back in 2021. i absolutely ate this one up. i truly loved both rosie and lucas' characters. like they were so genuine, so likeable, and a little too relatable... i really enjoyed the plot of them faking dates/parts of a relationship to help her with her book - as a sucker for the fake relationship trope, i devoured that part. i think they were both very HOT as well - the shower scene?!!?!? ELENA, I AM IN LOVE.
i wish we had just a *little* more burn as part of the slow burn, but alas i survived on what we got. also, i wish we had gotten more insight on lucas' past, like a hint more, but overall a fantastic read and i cannot wait to read the long game!!!
⚠️: injury/injury detail, dementia, medical trauma, grief, panic attacks/disorders, PTSD, violence, death of parent
i wish we had just a *little* more burn as part of the slow burn, but alas i survived on what we got. also, i wish we had gotten more insight on lucas' past, like a hint more, but overall a fantastic read and i cannot wait to read the long game!!!
⚠️: injury/injury detail, dementia, medical trauma, grief, panic attacks/disorders, PTSD, violence, death of parent
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, Medical trauma, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Violence and Grief
Minor: Death of parent
annahamburger's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Cursing, Grief, and Sexual content
Moderate: Dementia, Violence, Abandonment, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
Minor: Ableism, Bullying, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Blood, and Trafficking
hannah_lilli's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Dementia, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Violence
mythxcally's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I wasn't really sure what to expect from this book. I really liked the Spanish Love Deception so I thought I'd give this one a go and much as it was sweet it just felt... I don't know. Different.
For one, I kept wanting more content of Lina and Aaron's happy ending rather than focusing on Rosie and Lucas, frankly their story wasn't that interesting tbf and the general plot line was mainly their relationship. BUT; it is a romance book so that's understandable. If you want a cute, sweet romance to read on a beach (just like I did) its perfect, in my opinion The Spanish Love Deception had a lot more content and plot and generally felt like a better book.
Despite this I did enjoy reading the scenes and it did make me smile and laugh at times. Not my first choice of book, but not the worse either.
For one, I kept wanting more content of Lina and Aaron's happy ending rather than focusing on Rosie and Lucas, frankly their story wasn't that interesting tbf and the general plot line was mainly their relationship. BUT; it is a romance book so that's understandable. If you want a cute, sweet romance to read on a beach (just like I did) its perfect, in my opinion The Spanish Love Deception had a lot more content and plot and generally felt like a better book.
Despite this I did enjoy reading the scenes and it did make me smile and laugh at times. Not my first choice of book, but not the worse either.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Violence
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Rosie Graham is struggling with writer’s block when her apartment ceiling literally comes crashing down, forcing her to flee to her best friend’s apartment—which has already been promised to her friend’s extremely attractive cousin, Lucas.
This was super cute! I loved The Spanish Love Deception more but I really liked the characters and this had some absolutely ADORABLE moments (who doesn’t love a grand gesture?!) + an adorable dog.
I did feel like some of the side plots here were unnecessary, and the book felt a bit long as a result—plus if you’ve encountered pretty much any of my reviews before you know how I feel about third act breakups, and this one was my least favorite kind of third act breakup.
All of that said, I still REALLY enjoyed this overall, and Elena Armas is definitely a new favorite author of mine (as predicted!) I love the way she writes leading men, and both Aaron and now Lucas are top tier book boyfriends in my heart. I can’t wait to read The Long Game soon!
Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: forced proximity; fake dating (sort of); books about authors
CW: Brief violence; discussion of physical injury
Rosie Graham is struggling with writer’s block when her apartment ceiling literally comes crashing down, forcing her to flee to her best friend’s apartment—which has already been promised to her friend’s extremely attractive cousin, Lucas.
This was super cute! I loved The Spanish Love Deception more but I really liked the characters and this had some absolutely ADORABLE moments (who doesn’t love a grand gesture?!) + an adorable dog.
I did feel like some of the side plots here were unnecessary, and the book felt a bit long as a result—plus if you’ve encountered pretty much any of my reviews before you know how I feel about third act breakups, and this one was my least favorite kind of third act breakup.
All of that said, I still REALLY enjoyed this overall, and Elena Armas is definitely a new favorite author of mine (as predicted!) I love the way she writes leading men, and both Aaron and now Lucas are top tier book boyfriends in my heart. I can’t wait to read The Long Game soon!
Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: forced proximity; fake dating (sort of); books about authors
CW: Brief violence; discussion of physical injury
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Violence
taelorslibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Dementia and Violence
samone2's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Dementia and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Violence
janka05's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Violence
beesin03's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
enjoyed every second! it was so sweet and my standards have been raise! i wish we got more from the epilogue though. i really enjoyed the switching POVs and i thought it was interesting to hear what was going on in each character's head! will probably reread when i need a sweet pick me up full of soft affection.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Dementia
Minor: Violence, Alcohol, and Panic attacks/disorders
libertyreads789's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
I’m going to do this review a little differently and start with one of the smallest details that made me happy while reading this one. The main character convinces the love interest to start watching her favorite TV show with her. And while she never comes out and says it, it’s obvious that her favorite show is The Vampire Diaries, with all its trashy drama and teen angst. Which is such a dumb thing to like in a romance novel, but as someone who also loves the messiness of TVD, it made me happy. It also made me SO happy when I was reading about them going to a Halloween Masquerade Ball while being dressed like those characters. (She went as Katherine and one of the Salvatore brothers from flashbacks in the show. Wrong choice, but whatever.) Is it dumb to like those parts of the book because of silly fandom things? Yes. But did I find those to be my favorite parts despite being so silly? Yes.
Continuing with the Halloween party, that was probably the hottest Not Actually A Sex Scene Sex Scene I’ve ever read. I’m asexual, I don’t love sex scenes in general, and it actually takes a lot for me to be invested enough in a sex scene to be disappointed when they’re interrupted. But there was so much Angst and Longing that it was somehow the exact type of sex scene to make me invested. Now, don’t get me started on the other sex scenes because those gave me The Ick so bad. It seemed like any time we had a scene where they’re longing or tiptoeing right up to the line but never crossing it that I was invested and enjoying their steaminess. But the second it crossed into being an actual sex scene there would be something they would say or do that just hit me wrong. He has a kink where he likes choking her (lightly, as emphasized a thousand times), they have a scene where they’re watching each other master bait which I found...weird, and there’s always this subtle undertone of Dom/Sub in their interactions (she thinks ‘Sir’ in her head at one point, he tells her what to do and she does it...stuff like that). But that’s probably way too much about the sex scenes given that there are only a handful throughout the almost 400 page novel. As far as the romance itself goes, I felt like everything happened so quickly. She was just always into him. Immediately. And he was also always into her. It never felt like something building and it didn’t feel authentic. So that kept me out of the story for the first 75 pages or so. By then it felt like they had spent enough time around each other to actually know they like each other. The pacing itself was kind of weird. It would go really quickly and then everything would slow down and then speed up really fast and then slow down again. It was just a weird reading experience when it comes to the pace.
Overall, I think if you like angst riddled romance, steamy romance, and don’t have my hang up on sex scenes then this is probably a book for you. Despite the things I didn’t like about the novel, this was still such a fast and easy read for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Violence