Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

69 reviews

mattiedancer's review against another edition

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.25

Writing: 4.25⭐️/5 

The Spanish Love Deception is written very well, with some sections shining quite nicely. At certain tiny moments, the dialogue felt a bit forced or unnatural but these were fleeting sections and didn’t impact the overall read.  

Characters: 4.25⭐️/5

Again, apart from a couple of moments where the characters felt like cookie-cutter tropes, but it was quickly overcome by deeper character development. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters by the end and honestly fell in love with a few. 

Plot: 4⭐️/5 

While the overarching plot (and the great use of the fake dating trope) was thoroughly enjoyable, I didn’t love the semi-focus on some of the side plots. The somewhat flippant plot point in which Lina decides to not eat felt unfinished, especially as it never comes up again. Similarly, while I understand the desire to keep certain backstories secret until necessary, the way both Lina and Aaron’s backstories are consistently hinted at without being revealed until they confess to each other left other sections of the novel feeling unfinished. Definitely a fun (and good) read, but I wonder what it could have been had these been more thoroughly thought out.

Who Should Read This Book? 

• Fans of fun romance novels
• Those who love the fake dating trope

Content Warnings? 

• Disordered Eating, Toxic Relationships, Sexual Content, Swearing, Stalking, Sexual Harassment, Misogyny, Sexism

Post-Reading Rating:  4.5⭐️/5

Very fun. 

Final Rating: 4.25⭐️/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

annahamburger's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexism, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Medical content, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

lizzye33's review against another edition

emotional relaxing tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Grief, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Alcohol

__romancereader__'s review against another edition

challenging emotional funny mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I loved this book it was a very interesting book i love how protective Aaron was of Catalina and how much he loved her and couldn't even hide it there love story is so cute this book has happy ending with no cliffhangers they do appear in Elena Armas second book the American roommate experiment also from what i can remember there's no cheating and no love triangle this book is such a cute slow burn every scene with Aaron and Catalina is so cute the tropes in this book are enemies to lovers,workplace romance,forced proximity,fake dating and one bed trope with a cute little epilogue i could totally see myself rereading this book again overall i rate this book a 5 stars⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️😍😍😍😍💖💖💖💖

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Not all content warnings are about the main characters some are and some are about the other characters you meet/hear about in the book🫶🏻🙃

thebookpaiges's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexism, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Misogyny, Grief, and Death of parent

bridgetkay's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This book would be perfect for if you’re on a long summer holiday with lots of poolside reading time. It’s a slow-burn romance, and I have no issues with the predictable storyline or the smut. I enjoyed the characters for the most part, but it was longer than I needed it to be. However, if I had read this while on holiday I reckon I would have enjoyed it a lot more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Death of parent, and Alcohol

lacrimaeignis's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I absolutely adored this rom com! It was a fun trip and the perfect story to start off the new year!  I loved how the characters played off of each other. Lina and Aaron's banter and chemistry was fantastic and seeing the build up of their relationship was nice.

Even though I was a little disappointed at first, I am ultimately glad that we didn't get to their trip to Spain until later in the book - about halfway through. It allowed the relationship to build up more and allowed the characters to understand each other a bit better before getting others involved in their relationship.

. It was also very pleasant to read about a loving family and not just the strained relationship families that appear more often than not in this genre. I only wish that we had been given a chance to see and experience more of Spain in the story.  I also would have preferred to see more of Aaron's flaws - especially during the trip. 

And while it was fun to get references to pop culture, they were used a bit too much especially the Twilight references.  One or two Twilight references would have been fine but they started throwing me out of the story; it got to a point where Lina was basically pretending she was Bella and Aaron was her Edward.

But all in all it was an enjoyable story with believable and relatable characters.  And most of all it  made me want to visit Spain once again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexual assault

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

laheath'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 Although the enemies to lovers trope always seems a little far-fetched to me, the author made it work by combining it with a fake dating storyline that was a lot of fun. The 2 main characters are co-workers, so apparently there's already tension at the office, but the slow burn begins to heat up once they travel to Spain to attend her sister's wedding as a couple.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Cursing, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Cancer and Death of parent

Although the enemies to lovers trope always seems a little far-fetched to me, the author made it work by combining it with a fake dating storyline that was a lot of fun. The 2 main characters are co-workers, so apparently there's already tension at the office, but the slow burn begins to heat up once they travel to Spain to attend her sister's wedding as a couple.

ellaticonstellation's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

Catalina Martin and Aaron Blackford🔥 I accidentally read the second book and panicked! Haha! I immediately searched for this book on my Kindle because I knew I had bought it months ago. I borrowed the audiobook from Libby and had fun with it. I liked that they hated each other at the beginning of the story. The Spain travel was fun, and damn, I love it. The deception, the tease, the tension of the two, wow! Thank goodness Lina shut down Daniel because he deserved it. Rosie, you're so cute and supportive; I look forward to reading your story. Aaron got described as ripped and sexy, and I believe it, lol! That was a struggle to resist, especially when he played soccer on the field. Damn🔥 Now, I'm thirsty🤣 I liked Lina's strong alpha female vibe and the fact that her mind was funny; she excitingly narrated the story. Thank you, Elena, for this fun story❤

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

mirandap442's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Eating disorder, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Medical content, Death of parent, and Pregnancy