You had me at "Smug Clark Kent look-alike."! No, really - if a man looks like Henry Cavill, that's all it takes for me to love a book (and if he doesn't look like him I'll just make it work haha).

Catalina Martin must attend her sister's wedding in Spain and has lied to her family about having an American boyfriend. It is expected that she'll bring him along, all she has to do is actually find someone to play the part. That happens to be tall, dark, handsome but brooding Aaron Blackford, her coworker and arch-nemesis. The rest can be predicted.

The film "The Wedding Date" meets the book "The Hating Game" in this fun romantic novel (one very ideal for reading on holiday). Aaron is a goof, a grouch, a sex God and a sweetheart all at once, I love him. I am a huge fan of enemies-to-lovers and fake-dating tropes so this was a perfect read. The pacing was great, I could not put it down (I recall it only took me a few days at the most).

And Lina was so real when she said to Rosie about how the Game of Thrones ending broke her heart! We don't talk about Season 8. ( )

About the Book:
Catalina (Lina) Martin needs to find a fake boyfriend to take to her sister's wedding and to meet her whole family in Spain, and quickly. After lying to her family about her perfect boyfriend she needed to find someone. Aaron Blackford, her partner at work and quite frankly her least favorite person on earth strikes her a deal. Catalina realizes this is her only option and agrees to fake dating Aaron for the trip to Spain. Does Catalina realize there were other motives for him coming? Will her family realize she was lying the whole time?

Review:
I am not going to lie, this book took me FOREVER to finish. I don’t think I love slow burn books. It was really hard to get into in the beginning but I wanted to finish reading it and I’m glad I did. The ending really was beautiful. My favorite parts were definitely in Spain and the ball. ( )

A nice story about a woman going to wedding in Spain and has a problem, she has told her family she has a boyfriend, when she has none. The story is entertaining, there are some issues. If the author told us once she kept repeatedly told us about the blue eyes and sea of blue eyes her date had. Some item seemed repetitive, but I liked the story. ( )

There was so much about this book I didn't like, from start to finish, but I kept reading it. I assumed the sex scenes would be good and I was kind of right? Certainly generous in length of time and vivid description, but filled with -- for me -- total turnoffs that ruined it totally. The excessive amount of calling her baby, for example. Always a weird one to me. And things that are a mix of insulting and concerning to me like "I finally have you were I want you. At my mercy." For me that's not sexy, just an uncomfortable power issue. Anyway. Meh. ( )

The Spanish Love Deception
The Spanish Love Deception, Book 1

I Picked Up This Book Because: Long time on TBR

Media Type: Audiobook
Source: Everand
Dates Read: 1/9/24 - 1/14/23
Stars: 4 Stars
Narrator(s): Scarlette Hayes

The Characters:

Catalina “Lena” Martin
Aaron Blackford
Rosey (Catalina’s BFF) The whole Martin Family

The Story:

How the heck Lena could not see this man was head over heels for her is mind boggling. But I guess sometimes things are easier seen from the outside. Love this couple and their chemistry. Lena gave me Becky Bloomwood vibes (IYKYK) in the beginning of the book which I think gave the story a rough start but she quickly evolved into her own character. Aaron is borderline obsessed with Lena and I’m okay with it. The Martin Clan is hilarious and full of love. I had a good time. ( )