Book Review: The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 487 pages
Author: Elena Armas
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: February 23rd, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A wedding. A trip to Spain. The most infuriating man. And three days of pretending. Or in other words, a plan that will never work.

Catalina Martín, finally, not single. Her family is happy to announce that she will bring her American boyfriend to her sister’s wedding. Everyone is invited to come and witness the most magical event of the year.

That would certainly be tomorrow’s headline in the local newspaper of the small Spanish town I came from. Or the epitaph on my tombstone, seeing the turn my life had taken in the span of a phone call.

Four weeks wasn’t a lot of time to find someone willing to cross the Atlantic–from NYC and all the way to Spain–for a wedding. Let alone, someone eager to play along my charade. But that didn’t mean I was desperate enough to bring the 6’4 blue eyed pain in my ass standing before me.

Aaron Blackford. The man whose main occupation was making my blood boil had just offered himself to be my date. Right after inserting his nose in my business, calling me delusional, and calling himself my best option. See? Outrageous. Aggravating. Blood boiling. And much to my total despair, also right. Which left me with a surly and extra large dilemma in my hands. Was it worth the suffering to bring my colleague and bane of my existence as my fake boyfriend to my sister’s wedding? Or was I better off coming clean and facing the consequences of my panic induced lie?

Like my abuela would say, que dios nos pille confesados.

The Spanish Love Deception is an enemies-to-lovers, fake-dating romantic comedy. Perfect for those looking for a steamy slow-burn romance with the sweetest Happily Ever After.

AN ABSOLUTE NEW FAVORITE.

This is one of those reviews I want to WRITE IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE I LOVED IT SO MUCH.

I didn’t even notice it was 500 pages (which is usually on the longer side for a contemporary romance) because it didn’t matter. This book was amazing. I am completely smitten with AARON BLACKFORD. Oh gosh. Swoon-worthy, romantic, stoic, loyal, an absolute cinnamon roll.

“Because when I finally take those lips in mine, it will be the furthest thing from pretending. I will not be showing you what it would be like if you were mine. I’ll show you what it is.”

Add together some of my FAVORITE tropes: enemies to lovers, workplace, only one bed, fake dating. Oh my gosh, how can you go wrong?!

Answer: YOU CAN’T.

I knew from 50 pages in I was going to love it. That’s how well this hooked me. Sunk its teeth into my soul and took me a long for some a perfect ride. Going to Spain, meeting the family, little confessions of love, ahhhh. I’m writing this review right after finishing so I am sporadic because I HAVE NO CHILL.

Watching walls crash down, and the most beautiful slowwww burn occur over this trip left me breathless. They discuss important topics with care and handled them so wel. My heart would flip every time Lina and Aaron got close. I couldn’t get enough.

“You feel complete in my arms. You feel like my home.”

Another great thing I loved was that the conflict was placed in the exact spot it needed to be. AAAAND it wasn’t overdone. No drag out, unnecessary issues. Pure, raw, revealing truths that made both characters shine brighter. Hot dang, I love Aaron and Lina so much.

A fantastic book. Had everything I want when I read a romance.

TL;DR: READ THIS BOOK.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: strong
  • Romance: kisses to a few open door scenes
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a parent, sexism in the workplace, grief, unsafe dieting (restriction of food)

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Book Review: A Trick for a Treat (Wayfair Witches #3) by A.A. Albright

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Paranormal Cozy Mystery
Length: 238 pages
Author: A.A. Albright
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: October 22nd, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

It’s Wanda’s first Halloween at home for years, but that doesn’t mean she gets to enjoy the holiday. A famous werewolf has disappeared, and his girlfriends are getting knocked off one by one. Murder and mayhem might be all in a day’s work for the Wayfair coven, but this time the stakes are higher than ever. This time, Wanda’s own friends are under suspicion.

Wanda needs to discover the real culprit, and she needs to do it fast – otherwise the people she cares about could spend their lives behind bars. Oh, and while she’s at it, she also needs to pass another few of the Minister’s tests. But who ever said that being a witch was easy?

SMITTEN BY THIS SERIES.

I am now three books in and still wanting to read more. There is clearly something enigmatic and easy to love about these books and my favorite witch, Wanda.

These mysteries have been uniquely different and I honestly don’t easily catch who the culprit is. It only makes me want to read more so I can figure out what paranormal fiend has become the villain now.

Not to mention, the subtle romance that I know will keep building. I am caught up in a small love triangle and…I don’t hate it? I KNOW. I’m just as surprised as you are.

It’s hard to write a long review because these are shorter books. I just like the feeling these books give me. They’re on the lighter-hearted side. The comedy makes me smile and feel like I’m right there with this coven. For someone who isn’t a general paranormal fan, these have captured my reading heart. Can’t wait for the next one and see what Wanda is up to next!

Overall audience notes:

  • Paranormal cozy mystery
  • Language: none
  • Romance: an almost kiss
  • Violence: murder (nothing bloody/gory)

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ARC Book Review: The Knockout Rule (Showmen #4) by Kelly Siskind

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 340 pages
Author: Kelly Siskind
Publisher: CD Books
Release Date: February 24th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Siskind’s latest slow-burn romance is stay-up-all-night addictive and proves love hits when you least expect it…

Growing up with an adoring father for a boxing legend isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. It looks more like hospital visits, bloody noses, and cracked ribs.

Isla Slade now works as a physiotherapist, helping athletes heal their bodies. Except for boxers. She has no interest in reliving the stress of her teen years. Dating someone in the boxing world? She’d rather snort wasabi powder.

Until she meets Preston Church.

Preston manages heavyweight boxing darling Brick Kramarov. A brute who’s built tougher than his name, with a cocky attitude to boot. She wants nothing to do with either man, but her father begs her to help them prepare for a huge Vegas fight.

She doesn’t expect Preston to recite romantic poems and slowly break her resolve. His fascinating mind gets under her skin, even if his star athlete reminds her how much she hates boxing.

Too bad it’s Brick coaching Preston how to woo Isla, falling for her from the sidelines. Once she finds out, she’ll have to decide if she can risk loving another man who puts it all on the line for the knockout.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own!

BEAUTIFUL STORY.

Oh I adored this! A sports romance gem.

What I loved most was the truly real feeling of the characters. There are some raw and tender moments as over and over our main characters come to terms with the situations around them. I loved the dialogue and conversations that occurred because of this. It exponentially brought another level to the novel by creating beautifully flawed humans who saw some true growth.

Isla and Eric were such a match!! I loved their chemistry and banter. The absolutely precious moments between them. It was spicy and romantic. Even better, I did like how the conflict and resolution came out between them. It worked perfectly for the story and allowed for an adorable ending. I did think [for me] the romance was a bit heavy-handed and I did have to skip over a few scenes, but if you like higher steam, this is definitely a read for you!

I love that this was a sports romance. I found it really insightful actually to boxing. I don’t like boxing at all, but was impressed with seeing another side to it than just fighting. Even when the big match came up I wasn’t quite sure who would win. The way Siskind wrote out this narrative was on point and I’m happy it went the way it did!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary romance
  • Language: some strong throughout
  • Romance: kisses to a few very open door scenes
  • Violence: boxing matches
  • Content/Trigger Warnings: depictions of anxiety and panic attacks, coping with learning a loved one has a degenerative illness

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Book Review: Bottling It (Wayfair Witches #1) by A.A. Albright

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Paranormal Cozy Mystery
Length: 215 pages
Author: A.A. Albright
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: October 9th, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Wanda Wayfair is a bit of a late starter.

At almost twenty-one she still hasn’t received her magical powers, and she’s running out of time. But that doesn’t bother Wanda. Much. Not when she can spend all of her time in the human world and pretend that her coven doesn’t exist. But when Wanda takes a job at Berrys’ Bottlers, working with the handsome Will Berry and his unpleasant Aunt Alice, she soon realises that she’s a lot closer to the magical world than she thought.

All over Dublin, humans are murdering witches. When asked why, all they’ll say is, ‘I dunno why I done it.’ But Wanda thinks she does know why they’ve done it – and hopefully she’ll receive her power in time to help her coven discover the truth.

DIVING INTO COZY MYSTERIES.

I’m not sure if anything I’ve ever read has qualified as a cozy mystery. This I believe does! And I found it to be something I’d love to read more of.

This was funny, short, and so very quirky. I liked Wanda as the main character and found her likable and someone I wanted to be friends with. I snickered and found myself smiling multiple times over the ridiculousness of the story, but also realizing how much I was enjoying it.

A very fast read (200ish) pages and plenty was packed in! There’s quite a few books so I’m definitely interested in seeing how these continue. I spied the beginnings of a budding romance, and many more mysteries to solve. I love how quick this opener was and how easy it made me want to know more about the Wayfair Witches.

Overall audience notes:

  • Paranormal cozy mystery
  • Language: very little, light
  • Romance: hugs
  • Violence: murder; nothing overly bloody/gory; kidnapping

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