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Love Deception #2
危蠀纬魏维蟿慰喂魏慰喂 渭蔚 畏渭蔚蟻慰渭畏谓委伪 位萎尉畏蟼
欧宝娱乐 Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Romance (2022)螚 巍蠈味喂 螕魏蟻维蠂伪渭 苇蠂蔚喂 苇谓伪 蟺蟻蠈尾位畏渭伪. 螕喂伪 谓伪 位苇渭蔚 蟿畏谓 伪位萎胃蔚喂伪, 蠈蠂喂 渭蠈谓慰 苇谓伪. 螤伪蟻伪喂蟿萎胃畏魏蔚 伪蟺蠈 蟿畏谓 魏伪位维 伪渭蔚喂尾蠈渭蔚谓畏 未慰蠀位蔚喂维 蟿畏蟼 纬喂伪 谓伪 伪蠁慰蟽喂蠅胃蔚委 魏蟻蠀蠁维 蟽蟿畏 蟽蠀纬纬蟻伪蠁萎 蟻慰渭伪谓蟿喂魏蠋谓 尾喂尾位委蠅谓.
螠蠈谓慰 蟺慰蠀 畏 苇渭蟺谓蔚蠀蟽畏 伪蟺慰蠀蟽喂维味蔚喂 魏伪喂 蟿慰 未喂伪渭苇蟻喂蟽渭维 蟿畏蟼 魏伪蟿伪蟻蟻苇蔚喂. 危蟿畏谓 魏蠀蟻喂慰位蔚尉委伪. 螠蔚 蟽蠀谓慰蟺蟿喂魏苇蟼 未喂伪未喂魏伪蟽委蔚蟼 渭蔚蟿伪魏慰渭委味蔚喂 蟺蟻慰蟽蠅蟻喂谓维 蟽蟿慰 蟽蟺委蟿喂 蟿畏蟼 魏慰位位畏蟿萎蟼 蟿畏蟼, 蟿畏蟼 螞委谓伪, 蠈蟽慰 蔚魏蔚委谓畏 尾蟻委蟽魏蔚蟿伪喂 蟽蟿慰 蔚尉蠅蟿蔚蟻喂魏蠈. 螒纬谓慰蔚委 蠈渭蠅蟼 蟿慰 蔚尉萎蟼: 螚 螞委谓伪 苇蠂蔚喂 蟺伪蟻伪蠂蠅蟻萎蟽蔚喂 蟺蟻慰蟽蠅蟻喂谓维 蟿慰 未喂伪渭苇蟻喂蟽渭维 蟿畏蟼 蟽蟿慰谓 尉维未蔚蟻蠁蠈 蟿畏蟼 螞慰蠉魏伪蟼, 蟿慰 未喂伪未喂魏蟿蠀伪魏蠈 蟿畏蟼 crush, 苇谓伪谓 蔚位魏蠀蟽蟿喂魏蠈 螜蟽蟺伪谓蠈 蟽苇蟻蠁蔚蟻 渭蔚 纬慰畏蟿蔚蠀蟿喂魏蠈 蠂伪渭蠈纬蔚位慰 魏伪喂 蟽蟺慰蠀未伪委蔚蟼 渭伪纬蔚喂蟻喂魏苇蟼 喂魏伪谓蠈蟿畏蟿蔚蟼.
螣 螞慰蠉魏伪蟼 未苇蠂蔚蟿伪喂 谓伪 渭蔚委谓蔚喂 畏 巍蠈味喂 渭伪味委 蟿慰蠀, 蟿慰蠀位维蠂喂蟽蟿慰谓 蟺蟻慰蟽蠅蟻喂谓维. 螝伪喂 苇蠂蔚喂 渭喂伪 蔚尉蠅蠁蟻蔚谓喂魏萎 喂未苇伪 纬喂伪 谓伪 蟿畏 尾慰畏胃萎蟽蔚喂: 谓伪 尾纬慰蠀谓 渭伪味委 渭蔚蟻喂魏维 蟺蔚喂蟻伪渭伪蟿喂魏维 蟻伪谓蟿蔚尾慰蠉 渭蔚 蟽魏慰蟺蠈 谓伪 蔚蟺伪谓苇位胃慰蠀谓 畏 苇渭蟺谓蔚蠀蟽萎 蟿畏蟼 纬喂伪 蟿畏 蟽蠀纬纬蟻伪蠁萎 魏伪喂 畏 蟻慰渭伪谓蟿喂魏萎 蟿畏蟼 未喂维胃蔚蟽畏.
螚 巍蠈味喂 未蔚谓 苇蠂蔚喂 蟿委蟺慰蟿伪 谓伪 蠂维蟽蔚喂. 韦慰 蔚蟺喂蟺蠈位伪喂慰 crush 蟿畏蟼 蔚委谓伪喂 蠀蟺蠈 苇位蔚纬蠂慰, 伪位位维 慰 蠂蟻蠈谓慰蟼 蟿慰蠀 螞慰蠉魏伪蟼 蟽蟿畏 螡苇伪 违蠈蟻魏畏 苇蠂蔚喂 畏渭蔚蟻慰渭畏谓委伪 位萎尉畏蟼 魏伪喂 苇尉喂 蔚尾未慰渭维未蔚蟼 渭蟺慰蟻蔚委 谓伪 渭畏谓 蔚委谓伪喂 伪蟻魏蔚蟿苇蟼 慰蠉蟿蔚 纬喂伪 蔚魏蔚委谓畏 慰蠉蟿蔚 纬喂伪 蟿畏谓 蟺蟻慰胃蔚蟽渭委伪 蟿畏蟼.
螠蠈谓慰 蟺慰蠀 畏 苇渭蟺谓蔚蠀蟽畏 伪蟺慰蠀蟽喂维味蔚喂 魏伪喂 蟿慰 未喂伪渭苇蟻喂蟽渭维 蟿畏蟼 魏伪蟿伪蟻蟻苇蔚喂. 危蟿畏谓 魏蠀蟻喂慰位蔚尉委伪. 螠蔚 蟽蠀谓慰蟺蟿喂魏苇蟼 未喂伪未喂魏伪蟽委蔚蟼 渭蔚蟿伪魏慰渭委味蔚喂 蟺蟻慰蟽蠅蟻喂谓维 蟽蟿慰 蟽蟺委蟿喂 蟿畏蟼 魏慰位位畏蟿萎蟼 蟿畏蟼, 蟿畏蟼 螞委谓伪, 蠈蟽慰 蔚魏蔚委谓畏 尾蟻委蟽魏蔚蟿伪喂 蟽蟿慰 蔚尉蠅蟿蔚蟻喂魏蠈. 螒纬谓慰蔚委 蠈渭蠅蟼 蟿慰 蔚尉萎蟼: 螚 螞委谓伪 苇蠂蔚喂 蟺伪蟻伪蠂蠅蟻萎蟽蔚喂 蟺蟻慰蟽蠅蟻喂谓维 蟿慰 未喂伪渭苇蟻喂蟽渭维 蟿畏蟼 蟽蟿慰谓 尉维未蔚蟻蠁蠈 蟿畏蟼 螞慰蠉魏伪蟼, 蟿慰 未喂伪未喂魏蟿蠀伪魏蠈 蟿畏蟼 crush, 苇谓伪谓 蔚位魏蠀蟽蟿喂魏蠈 螜蟽蟺伪谓蠈 蟽苇蟻蠁蔚蟻 渭蔚 纬慰畏蟿蔚蠀蟿喂魏蠈 蠂伪渭蠈纬蔚位慰 魏伪喂 蟽蟺慰蠀未伪委蔚蟼 渭伪纬蔚喂蟻喂魏苇蟼 喂魏伪谓蠈蟿畏蟿蔚蟼.
螣 螞慰蠉魏伪蟼 未苇蠂蔚蟿伪喂 谓伪 渭蔚委谓蔚喂 畏 巍蠈味喂 渭伪味委 蟿慰蠀, 蟿慰蠀位维蠂喂蟽蟿慰谓 蟺蟻慰蟽蠅蟻喂谓维. 螝伪喂 苇蠂蔚喂 渭喂伪 蔚尉蠅蠁蟻蔚谓喂魏萎 喂未苇伪 纬喂伪 谓伪 蟿畏 尾慰畏胃萎蟽蔚喂: 谓伪 尾纬慰蠀谓 渭伪味委 渭蔚蟻喂魏维 蟺蔚喂蟻伪渭伪蟿喂魏维 蟻伪谓蟿蔚尾慰蠉 渭蔚 蟽魏慰蟺蠈 谓伪 蔚蟺伪谓苇位胃慰蠀谓 畏 苇渭蟺谓蔚蠀蟽萎 蟿畏蟼 纬喂伪 蟿畏 蟽蠀纬纬蟻伪蠁萎 魏伪喂 畏 蟻慰渭伪谓蟿喂魏萎 蟿畏蟼 未喂维胃蔚蟽畏.
螚 巍蠈味喂 未蔚谓 苇蠂蔚喂 蟿委蟺慰蟿伪 谓伪 蠂维蟽蔚喂. 韦慰 蔚蟺喂蟺蠈位伪喂慰 crush 蟿畏蟼 蔚委谓伪喂 蠀蟺蠈 苇位蔚纬蠂慰, 伪位位维 慰 蠂蟻蠈谓慰蟼 蟿慰蠀 螞慰蠉魏伪蟼 蟽蟿畏 螡苇伪 违蠈蟻魏畏 苇蠂蔚喂 畏渭蔚蟻慰渭畏谓委伪 位萎尉畏蟼 魏伪喂 苇尉喂 蔚尾未慰渭维未蔚蟼 渭蟺慰蟻蔚委 谓伪 渭畏谓 蔚委谓伪喂 伪蟻魏蔚蟿苇蟼 慰蠉蟿蔚 纬喂伪 蔚魏蔚委谓畏 慰蠉蟿蔚 纬喂伪 蟿畏谓 蟺蟻慰胃蔚蟽渭委伪 蟿畏蟼.
552 pages, Paperback
First published September 6, 2022
12.2k people are currently reading
313k people want to read
About the author
Elena Armas
9听books29.5k听followersElena is a Spanish writer, a self confessed hopeless romantic and a proud book hoarder. Now, she's also the author of International bestseller and soon to be adapted to film The Spanish Love Deception; and instant New York Times bestsellers The American Roommate Experiment and The Long Game. Her books are being translated to over 30 languages鈥搘hich is bananas, if you ask her.
She hopes her stories make your heart skip a beat or two, your palms a little sweaty, and your cheeks flush in that rosy pink that makes other people want to peek at the page you are reading.
She hopes her stories make your heart skip a beat or two, your palms a little sweaty, and your cheeks flush in that rosy pink that makes other people want to peek at the page you are reading.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 28,210 reviews
July 18, 2023
edit: honestly, this book does not deserve my 'god teir books' shelf i think i got caught up in the moment - havent thought about this book since but it was a fun read!
.
.
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This book was so good, so so good, with delicious romance and my amazing cinnamon roll Lucas Martian
AKA my new book boyfriend
(Maybe just as good as Aaron Blackford but lets not talk about that)
this review has minor spoilers about gestures made by Lucas, and a lot more you have been warned
But just know this quick breakdown if you haven鈥檛 read it yet and wanna know if you should: both povs, sunshine H that is so, so romantic and has set the bar even higher, phrases that are in spanish that are really the most romantic shot ever. And heart wrenching romance. Give it a go. Ps skip to the bottom of the review for a quote in bold. Thank me later.
Anyways back to the review, you know what, let's talk about it. Because Lucas is just too good not to talk about. As once said by Taylor Swift, 鈥淚 like shiny things but I鈥檇 marry you with paper rings.鈥�
The amount of effort Lucas put into those 鈥榚xperimental鈥� dates. You know he鈥檚 a keeper when you tell him that you wish you met him at your best friend's wedding and he bakes the freaking cake that was at the wedding dances with you on a rooftop and sets the entire thing up for his 鈥榖est friend鈥� it鈥檚 giving Marinette and Adrien vibes.
I鈥檓 the biggest sucker for extroverted boys with floppy brown hair, huge egos and will flirt tirelessly with you because you are the one and only and that was Lucas to a T. He was a big ball of sunshine and the smile didn鈥檛 disappear from my face the entire time I was reading this book.
And his presence in the flat/studio apartment whatever you wanna call it was like a warm spring day. His amazing cooking, that he cooked everyday for Rosie btw, the flirty comments thrown in Rosie鈥檚 direction, the constant smiling and the phrases in spanish (that were totally the most romantic toe curling shot ever).
Deslumbrabte. Como el mismo sol
Translation: dazzling. Like the sun itself
Don鈥檛 even get me started on the other three dates that he prepared for her. The bar is now high people. I expect this and no less.
First he took her to a record store so they could find there soundtrack/song I love that 馃槶馃槶. And then they danced to it with a record player he found. The thought that had gone onto this 馃ス馃ス
Secondly, the pizza date where both him and her made pizza together. Me and Rosie were very distracted with Lucas kneading the dough. It was so cute tho 鉁嬸煡桂煒� I can鈥檛 with Lucas being his usual extroverted self flirting all the time and Rosie trying not to burst at the seams because she鈥檚 trying not to turn as red as a tomato. I love them
And third the masquerade ball. THAT AARON WAS INVITED TO, WE GOT TO SEE THEM AGAIN AARON AND LINA I LOVE THEM. HE AND LUCAS鈥橲 BRO CODE WAS EVERYTHING. Anyways, the masquerade ball was the best. Them dressing up as characters from 鈥榯heir鈥� show. They have a show. I love them so much. And the fact I鈥檓 98% sure it鈥檚 The Vampire Diaries makes me love that even more. It was the start of everything and god it was delicious.
And you know what made it even better, we got both POV we were in Lucas鈥檚 head as he become slowly more and more obsessed with Rose and OH it was satisfying. It鈥檚 just so good when the girl falls first but the guy falls harder.
But then we got to hear all his thoughts about how he thought he didn鈥檛 think he deserved Rosie because he was 鈥榖roken鈥�. When I tell you my heart broke for him. I was heartbroken. How could he think that? He was perfect. Doing all this for Rosie, all while keeping a smile on your face? I love him. If you didn鈥檛 already know bahaha.
I loved when Rosie was so obviously checking Lucas out and he would say something like 鈥渓ike what you see?鈥� Like yes sir I do, I鈥檒l inflate your ego for you.
AND THEN WHEN THEY FINALLY FUCKED THEY KEPT GETTING INTERUPTED LIKE STOP 鉁� I WANTED TO READ THAT.
When he left for Spain ngl I ugly cried it hurt me so much to see that. And how they were both so sad about it 馃槶馃槶 they loved each other so much it hurt me. Their banter, their jokes, I loved it all <33
I know i said before that he may be as good as Aaron Blackford but who am I kidding, no one can top Aaron. He is the standard. And the standard is sky high.
But I will say Lucas is still amazing and I love him <333
Also, you鈥檝e probably noticed that I haven鈥檛 talked much about Rosie and that鈥檚 because in that first chapter what she did gave me very much second hand embarrassment. It was really awkward. She wasn鈥檛 like an amazing character that I was rooting for the entire time but she was okay.
I didn't really connect to her, thats probably why, i'm not an aspiring writer and we are not similar. Maybe if we were then I might have liked her more.
(there were some bad parts to this book I will admit but im not letting anything disappoint me, ive been waiting for this book for months, if i reread ill go into more detail for you, but for now this book will be positive in my mind)
So no one sees that spoiler that skips down to the bottom:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I鈥檒l leave you with this quote:
I felt his hum fall in my skin. 鈥淣ot god鈥� he said before retracing my opening with his tongue. 鈥淟ucas鈥�
And a huge thanks to my best friend Ty. For helping me write this because I had no idea how to write a good enough review for this amazing book.
She also gave me: I'm having very unfictional feelings about very fictional characters
Which is genius
And a bunch more I'm sure you will read in future reviews. One honourable mention right now for one I love
I still love to read fairytales, it's just a bit dirtier now.
She is a literary genius
Love you babes <3
{previous review }
*whispers* Please let me see Aaron again, please let me see Aaron again , please let me see Aaron again, please let me see Aaron again, please let me see Aaron again, please let me see Aaron again, please let me see Aaron again, please let me see Aaron again, please let me see Aaron again, please let me see Aaron again, please let me see Aaron again, please let me see Aaron again.
Oh and I almost forgot! I'm excited to see Rosies strory!
Update: holy fuck Elena said AARON WILL MAKE AN APPEARANCE MY LIFE IS NOW COMPLETE IM SO EXCITED
.
.
.
This book was so good, so so good, with delicious romance and my amazing cinnamon roll Lucas Martian
AKA my new book boyfriend
(Maybe just as good as Aaron Blackford but lets not talk about that)
this review has minor spoilers about gestures made by Lucas, and a lot more you have been warned
But just know this quick breakdown if you haven鈥檛 read it yet and wanna know if you should: both povs, sunshine H that is so, so romantic and has set the bar even higher, phrases that are in spanish that are really the most romantic shot ever. And heart wrenching romance. Give it a go. Ps skip to the bottom of the review for a quote in bold. Thank me later.
Anyways back to the review, you know what, let's talk about it. Because Lucas is just too good not to talk about. As once said by Taylor Swift, 鈥淚 like shiny things but I鈥檇 marry you with paper rings.鈥�
The amount of effort Lucas put into those 鈥榚xperimental鈥� dates. You know he鈥檚 a keeper when you tell him that you wish you met him at your best friend's wedding and he bakes the freaking cake that was at the wedding dances with you on a rooftop and sets the entire thing up for his 鈥榖est friend鈥� it鈥檚 giving Marinette and Adrien vibes.
I鈥檓 the biggest sucker for extroverted boys with floppy brown hair, huge egos and will flirt tirelessly with you because you are the one and only and that was Lucas to a T. He was a big ball of sunshine and the smile didn鈥檛 disappear from my face the entire time I was reading this book.
And his presence in the flat/studio apartment whatever you wanna call it was like a warm spring day. His amazing cooking, that he cooked everyday for Rosie btw, the flirty comments thrown in Rosie鈥檚 direction, the constant smiling and the phrases in spanish (that were totally the most romantic toe curling shot ever).
Deslumbrabte. Como el mismo sol
Translation: dazzling. Like the sun itself
Don鈥檛 even get me started on the other three dates that he prepared for her. The bar is now high people. I expect this and no less.
First he took her to a record store so they could find there soundtrack/song I love that 馃槶馃槶. And then they danced to it with a record player he found. The thought that had gone onto this 馃ス馃ス
Secondly, the pizza date where both him and her made pizza together. Me and Rosie were very distracted with Lucas kneading the dough. It was so cute tho 鉁嬸煡桂煒� I can鈥檛 with Lucas being his usual extroverted self flirting all the time and Rosie trying not to burst at the seams because she鈥檚 trying not to turn as red as a tomato. I love them
And third the masquerade ball. THAT AARON WAS INVITED TO, WE GOT TO SEE THEM AGAIN AARON AND LINA I LOVE THEM. HE AND LUCAS鈥橲 BRO CODE WAS EVERYTHING. Anyways, the masquerade ball was the best. Them dressing up as characters from 鈥榯heir鈥� show. They have a show. I love them so much. And the fact I鈥檓 98% sure it鈥檚 The Vampire Diaries makes me love that even more. It was the start of everything and god it was delicious.
And you know what made it even better, we got both POV we were in Lucas鈥檚 head as he become slowly more and more obsessed with Rose and OH it was satisfying. It鈥檚 just so good when the girl falls first but the guy falls harder.
But then we got to hear all his thoughts about how he thought he didn鈥檛 think he deserved Rosie because he was 鈥榖roken鈥�. When I tell you my heart broke for him. I was heartbroken. How could he think that? He was perfect. Doing all this for Rosie, all while keeping a smile on your face? I love him. If you didn鈥檛 already know bahaha.
I loved when Rosie was so obviously checking Lucas out and he would say something like 鈥渓ike what you see?鈥� Like yes sir I do, I鈥檒l inflate your ego for you.
AND THEN WHEN THEY FINALLY FUCKED THEY KEPT GETTING INTERUPTED LIKE STOP 鉁� I WANTED TO READ THAT.
When he left for Spain ngl I ugly cried it hurt me so much to see that. And how they were both so sad about it 馃槶馃槶 they loved each other so much it hurt me. Their banter, their jokes, I loved it all <33
I know i said before that he may be as good as Aaron Blackford but who am I kidding, no one can top Aaron. He is the standard. And the standard is sky high.
But I will say Lucas is still amazing and I love him <333
Also, you鈥檝e probably noticed that I haven鈥檛 talked much about Rosie and that鈥檚 because in that first chapter what she did gave me very much second hand embarrassment. It was really awkward. She wasn鈥檛 like an amazing character that I was rooting for the entire time but she was okay.
I didn't really connect to her, thats probably why, i'm not an aspiring writer and we are not similar. Maybe if we were then I might have liked her more.
(there were some bad parts to this book I will admit but im not letting anything disappoint me, ive been waiting for this book for months, if i reread ill go into more detail for you, but for now this book will be positive in my mind)
So no one sees that spoiler that skips down to the bottom:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I鈥檒l leave you with this quote:
I felt his hum fall in my skin. 鈥淣ot god鈥� he said before retracing my opening with his tongue. 鈥淟ucas鈥�
And a huge thanks to my best friend Ty. For helping me write this because I had no idea how to write a good enough review for this amazing book.
She also gave me: I'm having very unfictional feelings about very fictional characters
Which is genius
And a bunch more I'm sure you will read in future reviews. One honourable mention right now for one I love
I still love to read fairytales, it's just a bit dirtier now.
She is a literary genius
Love you babes <3
{previous review }
*whispers* Please let me see Aaron again, please let me see Aaron again , please let me see Aaron again, please let me see Aaron again, please let me see Aaron again, please let me see Aaron again, please let me see Aaron again, please let me see Aaron again, please let me see Aaron again, please let me see Aaron again, please let me see Aaron again, please let me see Aaron again.
Oh and I almost forgot! I'm excited to see Rosies strory!
Update: holy fuck Elena said AARON WILL MAKE AN APPEARANCE MY LIFE IS NOW COMPLETE IM SO EXCITED
April 9, 2022
edited to add: i can't believe i forgot to report my fave quote:
鈥淟ina me va a cortar las pelotas.鈥�
okay so hi. i have much to say.
let's start with: AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
and then let us continue with: ijshfgiahiadfhgiarehgoerijroigheagnaeirgnjaerbgajrbgrsjhtbrhk
and now let us be profesh: OUR EXPECTATIONS WERE HIGH, BUT HOLY SHIT DR. ARMAS.
I kinda don't know where to start. Okay so: this is Lucas' story of course, and we know him from 1) cute pics of him and Taco, his doggo (who, we find out in this book during one of the sex scenes, once had diarrhea) (i promise it doesn't detract ELENA MAKES IT WORK) 2) the fact that Lina is his cousin and 3) the fact that when Rosie saw him on IG, she thought he was cute.
Now. It's been a while since TSLD and Rosie, my girl whom I love, has been quietly thirsting after Lucas' instagram even since (as one does) (one = me. no matter what people say, Hyun Bin's instagram and I are a FAMILY.) So, Rosie is an engineer like Lina, but recently quit her job to write romance novels full time. (As an aside, her first book is like, a reverse Outlander type of deal, and I want to read it.) (Also her pen name is Rosalyn Sage which I love, I want to republish all my books under that name). Anyway, Rosie is in the midst of some big life changes, and that's when the roof of her apartment falls on her (literally.) She ends up having to stay in Lina's apt while Lina is gone (I'M NOT GONNA TELL YOU WHERE LINA IS BUT I WILL LET YOU WILDLY SPECULATE ,MUAHHAHAHHAHAHA) and oooops, Lucas is also staying there (MUAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH X2) and there is only one bed (MUAHAHHAHAHAHA X 10000).
So, Lucas is a professional surfer who's taking a few weeks off and currently traveling around the US because he needs a change of scenery following Things (TM) that Happened (TM). Now, something I looooved about TARE is that both Lucas and Rosie are in a really fragile moment in their lives because of various reasons that have to do with career, family, writer's block, the expectations of the people around them, etc. And what they need is a friend. Someone loving and supportive. And when they're both feeling super low...
THEY FIND EACH OTHER. AND IT'S GLORIOUS. I mean, they have one of the best meet ugly in history, but after Lucas crash lands into Rosie's life they almost immediately have a connection and HE. IS. SUCH. A. SWEETHEART. He鈥檚 so charming and just genuinely nice and flirty. HE COOKS DELICIOUS FOOD!!! Also he is sooo supportive of Rosie鈥檚 life choices. Just. Just. LUCAS. *SWOONS* (I mean there is a scene guys where she needs a hug but she won鈥檛 admit it so he pretends to need one bc he misses Taco and i'm like... this man. i love this man.)
Anyway, they sort of strike up a deal where he's going to help her get back into writing romance by showing her that dates can be good and fun (which leads to some deliciously meta moments since this is a romance novel) and of course... they start falling for each other, but they are both acutely aware that:
1) he lives in Spain and he's only in NY temporarily
2) if they hook up, Lina will shank Lucas
3) he is recovering from something tough and feels like he has nothing to offer
SO THEY TRY TO RESIST AND THERE IS DELICIOUS SLOW BURN TENSION AND GUYS. GUYS. GUYSSSS.
(Oh yes the book is dual POV which is 900/10, A++++).
But also, bc I know the people want to know: do we see Aaron?
Yes.
Do we see Lina?
Yes.
Do we see Aaron and Lina together?
YUP.
Is it perfect?
*nods and wipes tears*
CRONUT YOU FOR THIS BOOK, ELENA
Disclosure: Elena and I share the same literary agency (SDLA); I received an ARC from the publisher (I think? Maybe from our agency? It's a mystery. We shall never know.)
鈥淟ina me va a cortar las pelotas.鈥�
okay so hi. i have much to say.
let's start with: AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
and then let us continue with: ijshfgiahiadfhgiarehgoerijroigheagnaeirgnjaerbgajrbgrsjhtbrhk
and now let us be profesh: OUR EXPECTATIONS WERE HIGH, BUT HOLY SHIT DR. ARMAS.
I kinda don't know where to start. Okay so: this is Lucas' story of course, and we know him from 1) cute pics of him and Taco, his doggo (who, we find out in this book during one of the sex scenes, once had diarrhea) (i promise it doesn't detract ELENA MAKES IT WORK) 2) the fact that Lina is his cousin and 3) the fact that when Rosie saw him on IG, she thought he was cute.
Now. It's been a while since TSLD and Rosie, my girl whom I love, has been quietly thirsting after Lucas' instagram even since (as one does) (one = me. no matter what people say, Hyun Bin's instagram and I are a FAMILY.) So, Rosie is an engineer like Lina, but recently quit her job to write romance novels full time. (As an aside, her first book is like, a reverse Outlander type of deal, and I want to read it.) (Also her pen name is Rosalyn Sage which I love, I want to republish all my books under that name). Anyway, Rosie is in the midst of some big life changes, and that's when the roof of her apartment falls on her (literally.) She ends up having to stay in Lina's apt while Lina is gone (I'M NOT GONNA TELL YOU WHERE LINA IS BUT I WILL LET YOU WILDLY SPECULATE ,MUAHHAHAHHAHAHA) and oooops, Lucas is also staying there (MUAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH X2) and there is only one bed (MUAHAHHAHAHAHA X 10000).
So, Lucas is a professional surfer who's taking a few weeks off and currently traveling around the US because he needs a change of scenery following Things (TM) that Happened (TM). Now, something I looooved about TARE is that both Lucas and Rosie are in a really fragile moment in their lives because of various reasons that have to do with career, family, writer's block, the expectations of the people around them, etc. And what they need is a friend. Someone loving and supportive. And when they're both feeling super low...
THEY FIND EACH OTHER. AND IT'S GLORIOUS. I mean, they have one of the best meet ugly in history, but after Lucas crash lands into Rosie's life they almost immediately have a connection and HE. IS. SUCH. A. SWEETHEART. He鈥檚 so charming and just genuinely nice and flirty. HE COOKS DELICIOUS FOOD!!! Also he is sooo supportive of Rosie鈥檚 life choices. Just. Just. LUCAS. *SWOONS* (I mean there is a scene guys where she needs a hug but she won鈥檛 admit it so he pretends to need one bc he misses Taco and i'm like... this man. i love this man.)
Anyway, they sort of strike up a deal where he's going to help her get back into writing romance by showing her that dates can be good and fun (which leads to some deliciously meta moments since this is a romance novel) and of course... they start falling for each other, but they are both acutely aware that:
1) he lives in Spain and he's only in NY temporarily
2) if they hook up, Lina will shank Lucas
3) he is recovering from something tough and feels like he has nothing to offer
SO THEY TRY TO RESIST AND THERE IS DELICIOUS SLOW BURN TENSION AND GUYS. GUYS. GUYSSSS.
(Oh yes the book is dual POV which is 900/10, A++++).
But also, bc I know the people want to know: do we see Aaron?
Yes.
Do we see Lina?
Yes.
Do we see Aaron and Lina together?
YUP.
Is it perfect?
*nods and wipes tears*
CRONUT YOU FOR THIS BOOK, ELENA
Disclosure: Elena and I share the same literary agency (SDLA); I received an ARC from the publisher (I think? Maybe from our agency? It's a mystery. We shall never know.)
August 8, 2022
Girl idk even where to begin but i can say that i鈥檝e never felt an ache this fucking strong in my heart like i did when reading this book. The slow burn quite literally stabbed me in the heart, slit my throat, and carved its name onto my chest. it was so excruciatingly painful but in all the right ways.
these characters are lovable from the start. this spin on acquaintances to friends to lovers was done so passionately that it made my heart cry tears of joy. the longing, the aching, the undeniable chemistry Rosie and Lucas have for one another had me clutching my chest the entire way through.
Introverted Rosie was very relatable. idk there was just something so refreshing reading about her and the way she lusted for Lucas even before officially meeting him. her undeniable crush. her confidence and radiant energy growing and developing throughout the novel was just perfection. the entire way through i was like 鈥測eah she鈥檚 just like me fr.鈥� God this book had me in a headlock 馃
Lucas omg wow. he is just so easily lovable and funny and cute and hot af may i add. he was the perfect extroverted contrast to Rosie. and omgg he鈥檇 do that thing where he鈥檇 speak Spanish and Rosie would be like 鈥渉ey what does that mean?鈥� and he鈥檇 lie and say something silly like 鈥渋t means i鈥檓 hungry鈥� when in reality he just spitted out the most poetic romantic shit ever. like the sluttiest thing a man could do is flirt with you with his mother tongue 馃珷 this man had me so distraught 馃槱 and dare i say he鈥檚 better than aaron blackford? i love them the same, i cant choose ughhh
i was acting very questionably while reading this book. i was up all night finishing it and screaming into my pillow at times. Lucas has just a way with words that had me thinking very unhinged things鈥nd the way he鈥檚 just so down and deep for Rosie鈥onestly it pissed me tf off because i know men like him just simply don鈥檛 exist in real life.
anyways, this book is worth the read and it is better than TSLD when comparing the two. from the writing, to the plot, characters, romance, and the conclusion. i was literally crying reading the ending because it felt like a 鈥渇inally about fucking time鈥� moment.
thank you atria publishing for the ARC
these characters are lovable from the start. this spin on acquaintances to friends to lovers was done so passionately that it made my heart cry tears of joy. the longing, the aching, the undeniable chemistry Rosie and Lucas have for one another had me clutching my chest the entire way through.
Introverted Rosie was very relatable. idk there was just something so refreshing reading about her and the way she lusted for Lucas even before officially meeting him. her undeniable crush. her confidence and radiant energy growing and developing throughout the novel was just perfection. the entire way through i was like 鈥測eah she鈥檚 just like me fr.鈥� God this book had me in a headlock 馃
Lucas omg wow. he is just so easily lovable and funny and cute and hot af may i add. he was the perfect extroverted contrast to Rosie. and omgg he鈥檇 do that thing where he鈥檇 speak Spanish and Rosie would be like 鈥渉ey what does that mean?鈥� and he鈥檇 lie and say something silly like 鈥渋t means i鈥檓 hungry鈥� when in reality he just spitted out the most poetic romantic shit ever. like the sluttiest thing a man could do is flirt with you with his mother tongue 馃珷 this man had me so distraught 馃槱 and dare i say he鈥檚 better than aaron blackford? i love them the same, i cant choose ughhh
i was acting very questionably while reading this book. i was up all night finishing it and screaming into my pillow at times. Lucas has just a way with words that had me thinking very unhinged things鈥nd the way he鈥檚 just so down and deep for Rosie鈥onestly it pissed me tf off because i know men like him just simply don鈥檛 exist in real life.
anyways, this book is worth the read and it is better than TSLD when comparing the two. from the writing, to the plot, characters, romance, and the conclusion. i was literally crying reading the ending because it felt like a 鈥渇inally about fucking time鈥� moment.
thank you atria publishing for the ARC
September 16, 2022
Content warnings
The American Roommate Experiment is a standalone novel that takes place some time after the epilogue of The Spanish Love Deception and follows Rosie (Lina鈥檚 best friend) and Lucas (Lina鈥檚 older cousin). There鈥檚 forced proximity (lots), an unrequited secret crush, THE EXPERIMENT or in other words yes, A DATING EXPERIMENT, late night cooking, megawatt smiles, prancing in towels, hawt hawt steamy showers and a sunshine hero with some alpha sprinkled on top. OH, AND A MASQUERADE BALL. And remember, this is a SLOW BURN romance.
Order your copy :)
For international folks: amazon or
Yes, to me, Lucas Mart铆n has all the stars.
AND YES, you will get to see AARON and LINA.
The American Roommate Experiment is a standalone novel that takes place some time after the epilogue of The Spanish Love Deception and follows Rosie (Lina鈥檚 best friend) and Lucas (Lina鈥檚 older cousin). There鈥檚 forced proximity (lots), an unrequited secret crush, THE EXPERIMENT or in other words yes, A DATING EXPERIMENT, late night cooking, megawatt smiles, prancing in towels, hawt hawt steamy showers and a sunshine hero with some alpha sprinkled on top. OH, AND A MASQUERADE BALL. And remember, this is a SLOW BURN romance.
Order your copy :)
For international folks: amazon or
Yes, to me, Lucas Mart铆n has all the stars.
AND YES, you will get to see AARON and LINA.
September 8, 2022
go girl give us nothing! 馃ぉ
November 2, 2022
i鈥檓 finally free thank god!!!
鈺扳嫙 Elena Armas writes heroines that are not for me, cause i found both of her heroines so far annoying af. Rosie (h) gave me second hand embarrassment from the first chapter when she thought that someone broke into Lina鈥檚 apartment.. that 911 call jeez first red flag i ignored. 馃拃
鈺扳嫙 Lucas (H) was less annoying, but not any better either, cuz boy really gave me nothing. all i remember is him comparing Rosie to a beautiful Rose and how Rosie was ready to fling herself at him. he did the bare minimum. 馃ぁ
鈺扳嫙 Rosie and Lucas had NO CHEMISTRY.. their scenes together work best as sleeping pills substitute nothing more nothing less.
鈺扳嫙 this book was soooo unbelievably sloooow!! just throwing in a bunch of popular tropes is not enough to make a boring book more interesting. TARE had a heaps of different tropes that booktok is going to eat up, but is lacking some substance.
鈺扳嫙 you know a book is ready to be disposed into the next bin when even the cameos of Aaron did not change my facial expression one bit. how did Lina manage to be even more annoying in Rosie's book than her own book? color me impressed. that's a rare talent.
鈺扳嫙 this book had not one memorable scene or character, except that it reminded me why i hated the friends-to-lovers trope so much. i can鈥檛 wait to forget everything about this book the moment this review is published, cause this was a waste of time.
鈹嶁攣鈹佲攣鈹佲攣鈹佲攣鈹伮烩€⒙� 芦鈥⒙攣鈹�
SPANISH LOVE DECEPTION SERIES
#1 The Spanish Love Deception 鈥� 3.5 stars
#2 The American Roommate Experiment 鈥� 1.5 stars
鈹曗攣禄鈥⒙� 芦鈥⒙攣鈹佲攣鈹佲攣鈹佲攣鈹佲敊
鈺扳嫙 Elena Armas writes heroines that are not for me, cause i found both of her heroines so far annoying af. Rosie (h) gave me second hand embarrassment from the first chapter when she thought that someone broke into Lina鈥檚 apartment.. that 911 call jeez first red flag i ignored. 馃拃
鈺扳嫙 Lucas (H) was less annoying, but not any better either, cuz boy really gave me nothing. all i remember is him comparing Rosie to a beautiful Rose and how Rosie was ready to fling herself at him. he did the bare minimum. 馃ぁ
鈺扳嫙 Rosie and Lucas had NO CHEMISTRY.. their scenes together work best as sleeping pills substitute nothing more nothing less.
鈺扳嫙 this book was soooo unbelievably sloooow!! just throwing in a bunch of popular tropes is not enough to make a boring book more interesting. TARE had a heaps of different tropes that booktok is going to eat up, but is lacking some substance.
鈺扳嫙 you know a book is ready to be disposed into the next bin when even the cameos of Aaron did not change my facial expression one bit. how did Lina manage to be even more annoying in Rosie's book than her own book? color me impressed. that's a rare talent.
鈺扳嫙 this book had not one memorable scene or character, except that it reminded me why i hated the friends-to-lovers trope so much. i can鈥檛 wait to forget everything about this book the moment this review is published, cause this was a waste of time.
鈹嶁攣鈹佲攣鈹佲攣鈹佲攣鈹伮烩€⒙� 芦鈥⒙攣鈹�
SPANISH LOVE DECEPTION SERIES
#1 The Spanish Love Deception 鈥� 3.5 stars
#2 The American Roommate Experiment 鈥� 1.5 stars
鈹曗攣禄鈥⒙� 芦鈥⒙攣鈹佲攣鈹佲攣鈹佲攣鈹佲敊
Shelved as 'dnf'
May 3, 2023DNF at page 160.
Listen, I鈥檓 all for a bit of cheesiness, but this was of the worst kind. It was on every single bloody page. It was sickening.
And the cheese was beyond bland. There was no flavour to these characters or the story.
I don鈥檛 know whether this is a permanent DNF or a temporary one. I think if I ever do decide to pick it up, I鈥檒l be on my period. There鈥檚 no way I鈥檒l be able to hack the cheese otherwise.
鈥斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌�
I definitely preordered this. Just look at that cover! Does it not make you happy?!
Listen, I鈥檓 all for a bit of cheesiness, but this was of the worst kind. It was on every single bloody page. It was sickening.
And the cheese was beyond bland. There was no flavour to these characters or the story.
I don鈥檛 know whether this is a permanent DNF or a temporary one. I think if I ever do decide to pick it up, I鈥檒l be on my period. There鈥檚 no way I鈥檒l be able to hack the cheese otherwise.
鈥斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌�
I definitely preordered this. Just look at that cover! Does it not make you happy?!
September 9, 2022
Elena Armas鈥� publishing agent: 鈥渟o, how many tropes and cliches do you think you can wri鈥斺€�
Elena Armas: YES.
all i got from this was that there is not an original thought in Elena Armas鈥� brain.
this felt too... tropey. as though Elena Armas tried to think of as many popular tropes as possible and threw them into a melting pot to create this book.
and tropes aren鈥檛 bad whatsoever鈥� tropes can be the foundation of a story, the basic/generic ideas that initially get us (as readers) intrigued by the book, and we can then decide from the tropes whether we think the story is for us or not. but when you rely too heavily on the tropes and construct a story around them, i think it鈥檚 glaringly obvious and results in a story that lacks depth and uniqueness. and that鈥檚 what happened here for me.
i know there鈥檚 recently been wider conversations within the book community and the publishing industry regarding what鈥檚 been dubbed 鈥渢ropification鈥�. im not gonna get into all of that, but i think this book was undoubtedly influenced by the latest trend of how tropes are dominating the romance genre.
on top of this. the inner monologues of both characters were incredibly repetitive. Rosie and Lucas both thought the same things over and over again, to the point i was skimming chunks of pages because i had read the exact passage a few pages prior. while some of the 鈥渃ute鈥� lines Lucas fed Rosie were so unoriginal, i just didn鈥檛 feel anything at all. it just heightened the fact (to me, anyway) that the book was catering to the Instagram reel/TikTok trend of posting an out of context scene or piece of dialogue from a book that will have you on your knees, so you decide to go pick the book up... and find out the book isn鈥檛 even that good and the scene in question was actually pretty underwhelming.
it was just far too jumbled and mismatched, not knowing what it wanted to be because the cliches and tropes were continuously stacking up, almost competing with one another. and this made for a pretty inconsistent read. like Rosie鈥檚 鈥渦nrequited crush鈥�, for example, but it was pretty clear that Lucas liked her back almost immediately. (and because of this, you can鈥檛 tell me this was a slowburn romance鈥� it was just insta-love masquerading as a slowburn).
and i was totally down for the roommates/forced proximity aspect, but then the fake-dating was also thrown into the mix... and it just meant the book had too much going on, and while trying to juggle it all, lost any semblance of structure and direction. i think the story should have just been roommates to lovers OR fake-dating, not both.
i just... it all felt so basic. there鈥檚 just no subtly. Lucas drops a compliment or sexual innuendo about Rosie every few sentences. and Rosie, every damn time, is like 鈥淥H super weird! it sounds like he鈥檚 flirting!? like he likes me?! impossible鈥�. and originally, it was understandable with the type of person Rosie is, and i sympathised because ive always been really bad at knowing when someone flirts with me. but ffs, by the tenth compliment that was dropped in the span of a chapter, i couldn鈥檛 bare it any longer.
her oblivious and klutzy nature was cute and fun at first, too, but got exhausting real quick. especially when it鈥檚 heightened by the fact that Rosie has never had any dating luck and it鈥檚 ALWAYS been super embarrassing. nearly every one of them have used and discarded of her. this is just a personal pet peeve though when it comes to romcom style romances鈥� heroines who are constantly shit out of luck and never know a moment of peace make me wanna gauge my eyeballs out with a spork. let the ladies breathe, please.
and their first smutty scene 馃拃馃拃馃拃 yall should have seen my face i was APPALLED.
like why did you guys have to do it THERE?!?!!?? i skipped the whole thing. i know they eventually stopped but... y鈥檃ll shouldn鈥檛 have even started, pack it up!!
the scene that followed was good, though... i just couldn鈥檛 get over the first it was weird as fuck. i can鈥檛 even put it in a nice way it just ruined the vibes lmao.
but it wasnt all bad. there were a handful of cute moments that actually felt authentic between Rosie and Lucas rather than a stilted, manufactured trope鈥� him hugging her after she sees her brother was sweet, i liked it a lot, as well as the scene towards the end with Lucas鈥� dog, Taco.
the Masquerade Ball and their final 鈥渄ate鈥� were probably my favourites!! both fun, steamy and full of tension. the ball scene was the first time i really felt their chemistry and was convinced they had a real connection beyond the tropes forcing the connection. (although the phrase 鈥漟uck you silly鈥� actually made me curl my nose up, that almost ruined the whole vibe i can鈥檛 lie). then their final date was just so full of honesty and they were finally laying all of their cards on the table.
while i also enjoyed him saying sweet things to Rosie in Spanish that she didn鈥檛 understand and he told her it was something super ordinary when in fact it was cute af. the little gestures that Armas incorporated worked so well. it was the big, grand ones that were suffocating because they were just so obvious and unauthentic. and there were too many of them.
your readers aren鈥檛 dumb, you don鈥檛 need to shove so much down their throats. they can pick up on the small, minute cues you鈥檝e laid out. and that elevates an authentic romance. i think if she鈥檇 stuck to that rather than the big tropes, this would have excelled.
and Lina was annoying af as a side character (i legit skipped every interaction Rosie had with her because she was unbearable), so i have finally made the executive decision to not read TSLD. sorry, Aaron babe, but you鈥檙e not worth it if i have to slog through Lina鈥檚 POV for a whole damn book. goodbye.
just overall, it鈥檚 pretty unoriginal. it鈥檚 not a bad book, it鈥檚 just... nothing new or special. cliches and tropes aren鈥檛 the bad guys here, they can be utilised exceptionally when they鈥檙e not solely relied upon to shape the novel and the characters are fully fleshed out. but neither Rosie nor Lucas were. they were very generic to me. Lucas was a cookie-cutter boyfriend, an amalgamation of all the 鈥渟woony鈥� characteristics most readers like in a hero, and because of this was just rather bland. he could be anybody.
honestly, i think if the trauma of his past had been fleshed out properly beyond him briefly telling Rosie about it in a moment of vulnerability at the end, it would have elevated him so much more.
Rosie was fine. i didn鈥檛 mind her. like Lucas, i wouldn鈥檛 be able to identify her out of a line up, that鈥檚 for sure. just pure indifference. i just expected more from this since, when i was lucky enough to read the first chapter a bit early, i really liked what i read. the rest didn鈥檛 live up to it at all.
by the last 15% i was skimming like crazy. i truly didn鈥檛 care anymore and it feels like ive wasted a whole day reading a book i didn鈥檛 really like :/
****original review of the first chapter [26/08/22]****
just a disclaimer: when i requested this, i assumed the sampler was a lil bit longer than a single chapter, so trying to gauge how to rate this isn鈥檛 easy. originally i decided on three but ive changed it to four because i did really like this, but my rating is definitely subject to change when i read the whole book.
but, i can give my brief, vague thoughts instead.
(also, side-note: i have never read so my brief thoughts here are in no way influenced by the previous book).
it鈥檚 safe to say i definitely want to read this when the rest is released, despite having zero interest in TSLD. i may even pick it up if i end up enjoying this one!
thank you to NetGalley, and Simon and Schuster UK for the sneak peek!
Elena Armas: YES.
all i got from this was that there is not an original thought in Elena Armas鈥� brain.
this felt too... tropey. as though Elena Armas tried to think of as many popular tropes as possible and threw them into a melting pot to create this book.
and tropes aren鈥檛 bad whatsoever鈥� tropes can be the foundation of a story, the basic/generic ideas that initially get us (as readers) intrigued by the book, and we can then decide from the tropes whether we think the story is for us or not. but when you rely too heavily on the tropes and construct a story around them, i think it鈥檚 glaringly obvious and results in a story that lacks depth and uniqueness. and that鈥檚 what happened here for me.
i know there鈥檚 recently been wider conversations within the book community and the publishing industry regarding what鈥檚 been dubbed 鈥渢ropification鈥�. im not gonna get into all of that, but i think this book was undoubtedly influenced by the latest trend of how tropes are dominating the romance genre.
on top of this. the inner monologues of both characters were incredibly repetitive. Rosie and Lucas both thought the same things over and over again, to the point i was skimming chunks of pages because i had read the exact passage a few pages prior. while some of the 鈥渃ute鈥� lines Lucas fed Rosie were so unoriginal, i just didn鈥檛 feel anything at all. it just heightened the fact (to me, anyway) that the book was catering to the Instagram reel/TikTok trend of posting an out of context scene or piece of dialogue from a book that will have you on your knees, so you decide to go pick the book up... and find out the book isn鈥檛 even that good and the scene in question was actually pretty underwhelming.
it was just far too jumbled and mismatched, not knowing what it wanted to be because the cliches and tropes were continuously stacking up, almost competing with one another. and this made for a pretty inconsistent read. like Rosie鈥檚 鈥渦nrequited crush鈥�, for example, but it was pretty clear that Lucas liked her back almost immediately. (and because of this, you can鈥檛 tell me this was a slowburn romance鈥� it was just insta-love masquerading as a slowburn).
and i was totally down for the roommates/forced proximity aspect, but then the fake-dating was also thrown into the mix... and it just meant the book had too much going on, and while trying to juggle it all, lost any semblance of structure and direction. i think the story should have just been roommates to lovers OR fake-dating, not both.
i just... it all felt so basic. there鈥檚 just no subtly. Lucas drops a compliment or sexual innuendo about Rosie every few sentences. and Rosie, every damn time, is like 鈥淥H super weird! it sounds like he鈥檚 flirting!? like he likes me?! impossible鈥�. and originally, it was understandable with the type of person Rosie is, and i sympathised because ive always been really bad at knowing when someone flirts with me. but ffs, by the tenth compliment that was dropped in the span of a chapter, i couldn鈥檛 bare it any longer.
her oblivious and klutzy nature was cute and fun at first, too, but got exhausting real quick. especially when it鈥檚 heightened by the fact that Rosie has never had any dating luck and it鈥檚 ALWAYS been super embarrassing. nearly every one of them have used and discarded of her. this is just a personal pet peeve though when it comes to romcom style romances鈥� heroines who are constantly shit out of luck and never know a moment of peace make me wanna gauge my eyeballs out with a spork. let the ladies breathe, please.
and their first smutty scene 馃拃馃拃馃拃 yall should have seen my face i was APPALLED.
like why did you guys have to do it THERE?!?!!?? i skipped the whole thing. i know they eventually stopped but... y鈥檃ll shouldn鈥檛 have even started, pack it up!!
the scene that followed was good, though... i just couldn鈥檛 get over the first it was weird as fuck. i can鈥檛 even put it in a nice way it just ruined the vibes lmao.
but it wasnt all bad. there were a handful of cute moments that actually felt authentic between Rosie and Lucas rather than a stilted, manufactured trope鈥� him hugging her after she sees her brother was sweet, i liked it a lot, as well as the scene towards the end with Lucas鈥� dog, Taco.
the Masquerade Ball and their final 鈥渄ate鈥� were probably my favourites!! both fun, steamy and full of tension. the ball scene was the first time i really felt their chemistry and was convinced they had a real connection beyond the tropes forcing the connection. (although the phrase 鈥漟uck you silly鈥� actually made me curl my nose up, that almost ruined the whole vibe i can鈥檛 lie). then their final date was just so full of honesty and they were finally laying all of their cards on the table.
while i also enjoyed him saying sweet things to Rosie in Spanish that she didn鈥檛 understand and he told her it was something super ordinary when in fact it was cute af. the little gestures that Armas incorporated worked so well. it was the big, grand ones that were suffocating because they were just so obvious and unauthentic. and there were too many of them.
your readers aren鈥檛 dumb, you don鈥檛 need to shove so much down their throats. they can pick up on the small, minute cues you鈥檝e laid out. and that elevates an authentic romance. i think if she鈥檇 stuck to that rather than the big tropes, this would have excelled.
and Lina was annoying af as a side character (i legit skipped every interaction Rosie had with her because she was unbearable), so i have finally made the executive decision to not read TSLD. sorry, Aaron babe, but you鈥檙e not worth it if i have to slog through Lina鈥檚 POV for a whole damn book. goodbye.
just overall, it鈥檚 pretty unoriginal. it鈥檚 not a bad book, it鈥檚 just... nothing new or special. cliches and tropes aren鈥檛 the bad guys here, they can be utilised exceptionally when they鈥檙e not solely relied upon to shape the novel and the characters are fully fleshed out. but neither Rosie nor Lucas were. they were very generic to me. Lucas was a cookie-cutter boyfriend, an amalgamation of all the 鈥渟woony鈥� characteristics most readers like in a hero, and because of this was just rather bland. he could be anybody.
honestly, i think if the trauma of his past had been fleshed out properly beyond him briefly telling Rosie about it in a moment of vulnerability at the end, it would have elevated him so much more.
Rosie was fine. i didn鈥檛 mind her. like Lucas, i wouldn鈥檛 be able to identify her out of a line up, that鈥檚 for sure. just pure indifference. i just expected more from this since, when i was lucky enough to read the first chapter a bit early, i really liked what i read. the rest didn鈥檛 live up to it at all.
by the last 15% i was skimming like crazy. i truly didn鈥檛 care anymore and it feels like ive wasted a whole day reading a book i didn鈥檛 really like :/
****original review of the first chapter [26/08/22]****
And just when I thought I鈥檇 collected myself enough to say something else鈥� hopefully marginally smart鈥� his lips stretched. That puzzled look dissolved completely, giving way to a smile and whatever words had climbed to my mouth crumbed.
Because he was smiling. And it was big and bright and quite frankly, beautiful in this blatant way you don鈥檛 really know what to do with.
just a disclaimer: when i requested this, i assumed the sampler was a lil bit longer than a single chapter, so trying to gauge how to rate this isn鈥檛 easy. originally i decided on three but ive changed it to four because i did really like this, but my rating is definitely subject to change when i read the whole book.
but, i can give my brief, vague thoughts instead.
(also, side-note: i have never read so my brief thoughts here are in no way influenced by the previous book).
鉄� it was immediately engaging鈥� it was unique and fun, and i found myself laughing a few times.
鉄� Rosie was funny, charming and endearing. she was witty and maybe a bit quirky, but in a cute way. i instantly liked her!
鉄� Lucas seemed lovely with a humorous and playful energy about him.
鉄� the book jumps right into story straight away鈥� i love when authors do this, rather then a slow build up. i just want to be in on the important stuff straight away, otherwise im bored to tears waiting for something to actually happen.
鉄� Rosie and Lucas鈥� first interaction, again, was pretty funny. it wasn鈥檛 trying too hard to be quirky, but instead felt authentic in a way that showcased both MCs personalities.
it鈥檚 safe to say i definitely want to read this when the rest is released, despite having zero interest in TSLD. i may even pick it up if i end up enjoying this one!
thank you to NetGalley, and Simon and Schuster UK for the sneak peek!
June 25, 2023
Really loved this book. Such a fun concept of having to share an apartment with your crush. And I love that Rosie is a romance writer! Love love love books about people who love books. And Lucas WAS SO SWEET!! I loved how big his heart was and how much he would do for her.
Can鈥檛 wait to read Elena Armas next book when it comes out later this year
Can鈥檛 wait to read Elena Armas next book when it comes out later this year
Read
December 10, 2022official dnf <3
January 1, 2023
Didn鈥檛 feel any chemistry between the characters and some of the things that happened were unintentionally funny, i.e. the love interest saying he finds yellow paint attractive after he sees a picture of the main character dressed as a Minion, the love interest calling her an 鈥渁venging angel鈥� after he stops her from throwing her purse at an attacker, etc. The best parts about these types of books are the smut scenes but this couple was constantly getting interrupted and giving me blue balls too. How dare you!
September 8, 2022
If u didnt like the Spanish Love deception u wont like this either.
September 4, 2023
4.5/5猸愶笍鈥檚
"rosie affected me in ways no other woman ever had. i wanted to do things for her, everything and anything if she let me. i wanted to make sure that she was okay. more than okay. not good, but happy. that she accomplished whatever she dreamed of. that she was cared for, cherished.鈥�
鈥渁nd god, i wanted to fuck her. venerate her body. with my hands. my mouth. my cock if i鈥檇 ever be so lucky. i wanted to treat her like she deserved to be treated, like a gift.鈥�
lucas mart铆n鈥 am sat. um this man is quite literally perfect so before i get started with my unhinged thoughts about him, let me rant about the author really quick because she鈥檚 the reason i couldn鈥檛 give her book 5 stars鈥he鈥檚 her own worst enemy.
馃槇the rant:
elena armas. she literally created one of the most perfect fictional book bfs i鈥檝e ever been blessed to read about, BUT it was the way she wrote in stupid shit that tried to make me dislike him at one point鈥he stuff that happened at the end just didn鈥檛 make sense to me? i mean i felt like it would be something that elena would do, but it was so out of character for lucas imo. like damn, she created lucas鈥et i feel like i know him more than she does! don鈥檛 create the most perfect man and then make him do something that i know he鈥檇 never do. that just don鈥檛 make sense. it seriously wasn鈥檛 necessary at all. this book would鈥檝e literally been 5 stars if that shit did not happen!! when are authors gonna realize that there doesn鈥檛 need to be drama between the mmc and the fmc?! it鈥檚 okay to be different boo馃槶馃槶there was already outside drama with rosie鈥檚 family that i really wasn鈥檛 vibing with and got quite bored with at times, but luckily the majority of the book was about lucas and rosie hehe. okay i think my rant is over. this is the only thing that upset me鈥lena you did a lot of things right and that will show throughout the rest of my review.
tropes:
- friends to lovers
- fake dating
- she falls first, he falls harder
- slow burn
- forced proximity
- one bed
- nightmares
i highly, highly recommend this book. i do. i鈥檓 not going to give a summary about the plot, simply because it honestly sounds boring lol!!! i went into this book totally blind and loved it!! so that鈥檚 what i recommend doing if you wanna read it hehe. i really wasn鈥檛 expecting to like this book. i read the spanish love deception a longgggg time ago and apparently gave it 5 stars, but i don鈥檛 remember much about it and i definitely feel like i enjoyed this book wayyyyy more than that one馃き
鈾� rosie graham
or as lucas would call her: ro, graham, roomie, my girl, preciosa, 谩ngel馃ス馃スi love her omg. she really quit her job to become a romance writer. following her dreams like a queen!馃スnot only did elena create a perfect mmc, but she also created a perfect fmc. there was not a single thing i didn鈥檛 like about either of them. she鈥檚 a people pleaser for sure. always making sure everyone else is taken care of before she even thinks about herself. before i read this book鈥 read some people say that rosie was grumpy and i didn鈥檛 get that vibe at all. rosie was always so sweet to everyone omg. definitely a sunshine girl. i loved that before she met lucas鈥he鈥檇 always stalk his instagram account ever since her best friend lina talked about him. rosie was so captivated by him immediately. so when they met, she had known more about his life and more about him than lucas knew. super cute and definitely sounds like me in high school hahaha鈥talked this one guy鈥檚 socials everyday cuz we had mutual friends, finally met him, we became best friends, and now we鈥檙e almost 5 years strong into our relationship馃き
鈾� lucas mart铆n
omg this review is about to get crazy ok. this. man. is. perfection. no one can convince me otherwise鈥ot even you elena, even tho you tried. lucas is everything. every good word in the dictionary鈥hat鈥檚 him. let me just list some. he鈥檚 flirty, funny, compassionate, protective, selfless, gentle (until he鈥檚 got you in bed), respectful, hot, gorgeous, yummy, sexy鈥k i鈥檓 getting carried away. my heart broke for lucas, my poor baby :( throughout the majority of the book, the past stays with him and he suffers from anxiety/panic attacks. and because of his past鈥e also suffers from a really bad knee injury. it would hurt to stand for long periods of times, but let me tell you guys鈥hen it came to rosie, he did not care.
鈾� rosie and lucas
forever engraved in my mind? yes they are. the immediate friendship they had with each other鈥 can鈥檛. it was so beautiful. the immediate comfort they felt with each other. i loved that they were strangers but they already knew so much about each other. like i said earlier, rosie would stalk his socials and lucas got to hear alllll about rosie from her best friend lina, who is also his cousin hehehe. you guys may be thinking hmmm, instant friendship, instant connection, instant comfort. insta love??? no, absolutely not. if you guys don鈥檛 like slow burns, then this book is definitely not for you. i am a sucker for slow burns. the tension!?!? omg. the build up was so crazy and then the SPICE. elena armas served鈥 ate that up and left 0 crumbs. amazing. i did not expect a lot of the things that came out of lucas鈥� mouth馃サit was a pleasant surprise. i was not expecting lucas and rosie to consume me.
鈾� favorite moments w/ quotes:
(unhinged thoughts included)
"come on," he said. "have a seat before it gets cold."
"you're hungry, so it's settled. sit."
~once again, i am sat. this man cooked for her every single night since the first night they spent together in the apartment. wow.
she straightened on her stool. "and you take the bed. i'll sleep on the couch."
not a chance in hell, but it was adorable that she believed i'd ever accept.
~the dual pov was everything omg馃槶loved being inside his head馃き
"miss graham," he said in a tone that had me straightening, "don't be a-"
"don't," i cut him off, getting in his face so he had no choice but to look at me. "i suggest you don't finish that sentence."
the man held my gaze, but there was no mistaking how his throat bobbed.
"in fact," i pressed, noticing my voice dropped down,
"i suggest you stop talking altogether."
~YES. yes. i love a protective man.
"谩ngel, por favor. don't cry. don't do that to me."
"i'm not crying," i lied. "it's just the rain. i'm okay." his fingers cupped my jaw and he tilted my head upward until i met his gaze.
"you're lying. you're crying and it's breaking my heart," he said in a desperate voice. "rosie, preciosa. tell me what to do to stop this.
"want me."
~this moment had me SOBBING UNCONTROLLABLY. but what do i gotta do to have lucas talk to me in spanish and call me these beautiful names!?? please. i鈥檒l do anything. i鈥檒l crawl. the 鈥溍gel鈥� gets me every single time馃ス馃
the sound of our breathing overpowered the water falling on top of us, and i couldn't stop myself from coming closer, i couldn't stop my hand from rising to her neck, closing around her throat very gently.
"is this okay?" i asked her, watching her face very closely. "tell me if it isn't."
~YES BABY, IT鈥橲 OKAY. help i can鈥檛 breathe. THAT SHOULD BE ME馃槶rosie ily, but he鈥檚 mine. i am so down bad.
"i read you like you were my favorite book, rosie. like i've memorized you." he lifted my hips so we were both on our knees.
"is this deep enough? am i more than just good now?"
~hot. red hot. he said this while taking her from behind?馃珷馃珷馃珷馃珷help.
鈾� things i loved:
- him watching her favorite show with her and then later on telling her that it was his show hahah omg.
- him telling her that she was safe with him the day after they met because she was falling asleep on the couch next to him and he was worried that she wasn鈥檛 comfortable enough to fall asleep.
- him carrying her to the bed after she fell asleep on the couch馃ス
- she was on her period and was craving cronuts after having a bad day鈥ut it was nighttime so the place was closed. so the next day he remembers and buys her cronuts and brings them to her. the little things>>>>>>>
- the hugs he鈥檇 give her and how she described them :,)
- the fact that this man convinced the owner of her favorite pizzeria to give him the keys so he could surprise her with a date where they made pizzas there.
- the way he put her apron on for her, tied it around her back and then wrapped it around to finish tying it around her stomach because it was too big鈥osie was better than me cuz i would鈥檝e folded right there. like okay baby let鈥檚 skip the pizza and go straight for the dessert馃構
- him letting her sit on his lap because there was no room for everyone to sit to have dinner.
- the masquerade ball..omg馃馃
- the fact that he recreated the night she wished they met on鈥t won鈥檛 make sense unless you read it but pls if you read it鈥ou鈥檙e gonna love it.
- him dancing with her to their soundtrack. fuckkk.
- the fact that he read her first book and loved it. then her second book鈥mg i won鈥檛 say cuz of spoilers but omfg.
鈾� favorite quotes:
(VERY unhinged thoughts included)
"it's really hard not to stare, rosie. you make it hard."
~BLUSHING. SWOONING.
"you're a sight, rosie. a fucking sight. like a mirage. an illusion. what man in his right mind wouldn't want to see you?"
~just鈥ucking run me over with your car already.
"i want to do the noble thing, rosie. but i'm finding it really hard when all i want to do is sinful things to you."
~ON MY KNEES. i鈥檓 on my knees.
"of course. he doesn't bite," i said. and when she sidled up beside us, i added so only she could hear,
"me, on the other side? i could eat you up right now." rosie snorted, as if i'd been joking. i hadn't been.
~yeah i鈥檇 be his meal.
"this is not a one-way street, rosie. you look after me, i look after you. we take care of each other. we're a team."
~i- i am obsessing馃き
"that's my girl,鈥� he said, my heart losing it just like the first time he'd ever uttered those words. "i'm so proud of you, ro. so, so proud."
~馃槱馃槱i wanna be rosie.
"then there's this. this beautiful blush. what鈥檚 causing this, rosie?" he lowered his voice. 鈥渨hat's making you hot?"
~like you don鈥檛 know hahaha omg but he had me blushing too. red as a tomato. butterflies in the tummy. everything.
"you're the only one i want here with me, sharing food with me, and sitting so close i'm having a hard time keeping my hands to myself.鈥�
~ovaries are screaming.
lucas mart铆n deserves to be KNOWN. i love him endlessly. i loved the couple. they鈥檙e so cute, so amazing, so perfect馃きplease read if you鈥檝e been wondering if you should. if you read it and hate it, please forget my name. hahahah jk love you all<3 this review is crazy, but if y鈥檃ll saw my updates鈥hen you understand how crazy i am about this man and how crazy i was going about this book馃槀馃槶
old updates:
if you鈥檝e been genuinely wanting to read this book, well bestie guess what? this is your sign. a big fat sign.
a very unhinged review to come VERY soon and a slight little rant about the author (the reason why i couldn鈥檛 give this book five stars like i so badly wanted to鈥�) :D
i hope this is better than my last read鈥f not, let鈥檚 keep these rant reviews going!馃槀馃槀
a lot of people voted for this to be my next read tho on my poll hehe so fingers crossed!!馃馃
"rosie affected me in ways no other woman ever had. i wanted to do things for her, everything and anything if she let me. i wanted to make sure that she was okay. more than okay. not good, but happy. that she accomplished whatever she dreamed of. that she was cared for, cherished.鈥�
鈥渁nd god, i wanted to fuck her. venerate her body. with my hands. my mouth. my cock if i鈥檇 ever be so lucky. i wanted to treat her like she deserved to be treated, like a gift.鈥�
lucas mart铆n鈥 am sat. um this man is quite literally perfect so before i get started with my unhinged thoughts about him, let me rant about the author really quick because she鈥檚 the reason i couldn鈥檛 give her book 5 stars鈥he鈥檚 her own worst enemy.
馃槇the rant:
elena armas. she literally created one of the most perfect fictional book bfs i鈥檝e ever been blessed to read about, BUT it was the way she wrote in stupid shit that tried to make me dislike him at one point鈥he stuff that happened at the end just didn鈥檛 make sense to me? i mean i felt like it would be something that elena would do, but it was so out of character for lucas imo. like damn, she created lucas鈥et i feel like i know him more than she does! don鈥檛 create the most perfect man and then make him do something that i know he鈥檇 never do. that just don鈥檛 make sense. it seriously wasn鈥檛 necessary at all. this book would鈥檝e literally been 5 stars if that shit did not happen!! when are authors gonna realize that there doesn鈥檛 need to be drama between the mmc and the fmc?! it鈥檚 okay to be different boo馃槶馃槶there was already outside drama with rosie鈥檚 family that i really wasn鈥檛 vibing with and got quite bored with at times, but luckily the majority of the book was about lucas and rosie hehe. okay i think my rant is over. this is the only thing that upset me鈥lena you did a lot of things right and that will show throughout the rest of my review.
tropes:
- friends to lovers
- fake dating
- she falls first, he falls harder
- slow burn
- forced proximity
- one bed
- nightmares
i highly, highly recommend this book. i do. i鈥檓 not going to give a summary about the plot, simply because it honestly sounds boring lol!!! i went into this book totally blind and loved it!! so that鈥檚 what i recommend doing if you wanna read it hehe. i really wasn鈥檛 expecting to like this book. i read the spanish love deception a longgggg time ago and apparently gave it 5 stars, but i don鈥檛 remember much about it and i definitely feel like i enjoyed this book wayyyyy more than that one馃き
鈾� rosie graham
or as lucas would call her: ro, graham, roomie, my girl, preciosa, 谩ngel馃ス馃スi love her omg. she really quit her job to become a romance writer. following her dreams like a queen!馃スnot only did elena create a perfect mmc, but she also created a perfect fmc. there was not a single thing i didn鈥檛 like about either of them. she鈥檚 a people pleaser for sure. always making sure everyone else is taken care of before she even thinks about herself. before i read this book鈥 read some people say that rosie was grumpy and i didn鈥檛 get that vibe at all. rosie was always so sweet to everyone omg. definitely a sunshine girl. i loved that before she met lucas鈥he鈥檇 always stalk his instagram account ever since her best friend lina talked about him. rosie was so captivated by him immediately. so when they met, she had known more about his life and more about him than lucas knew. super cute and definitely sounds like me in high school hahaha鈥talked this one guy鈥檚 socials everyday cuz we had mutual friends, finally met him, we became best friends, and now we鈥檙e almost 5 years strong into our relationship馃き
鈾� lucas mart铆n
omg this review is about to get crazy ok. this. man. is. perfection. no one can convince me otherwise鈥ot even you elena, even tho you tried. lucas is everything. every good word in the dictionary鈥hat鈥檚 him. let me just list some. he鈥檚 flirty, funny, compassionate, protective, selfless, gentle (until he鈥檚 got you in bed), respectful, hot, gorgeous, yummy, sexy鈥k i鈥檓 getting carried away. my heart broke for lucas, my poor baby :( throughout the majority of the book, the past stays with him and he suffers from anxiety/panic attacks. and because of his past鈥e also suffers from a really bad knee injury. it would hurt to stand for long periods of times, but let me tell you guys鈥hen it came to rosie, he did not care.
鈾� rosie and lucas
forever engraved in my mind? yes they are. the immediate friendship they had with each other鈥 can鈥檛. it was so beautiful. the immediate comfort they felt with each other. i loved that they were strangers but they already knew so much about each other. like i said earlier, rosie would stalk his socials and lucas got to hear alllll about rosie from her best friend lina, who is also his cousin hehehe. you guys may be thinking hmmm, instant friendship, instant connection, instant comfort. insta love??? no, absolutely not. if you guys don鈥檛 like slow burns, then this book is definitely not for you. i am a sucker for slow burns. the tension!?!? omg. the build up was so crazy and then the SPICE. elena armas served鈥 ate that up and left 0 crumbs. amazing. i did not expect a lot of the things that came out of lucas鈥� mouth馃サit was a pleasant surprise. i was not expecting lucas and rosie to consume me.
鈾� favorite moments w/ quotes:
(unhinged thoughts included)
"come on," he said. "have a seat before it gets cold."
"you're hungry, so it's settled. sit."
~once again, i am sat. this man cooked for her every single night since the first night they spent together in the apartment. wow.
she straightened on her stool. "and you take the bed. i'll sleep on the couch."
not a chance in hell, but it was adorable that she believed i'd ever accept.
~the dual pov was everything omg馃槶loved being inside his head馃き
"miss graham," he said in a tone that had me straightening, "don't be a-"
"don't," i cut him off, getting in his face so he had no choice but to look at me. "i suggest you don't finish that sentence."
the man held my gaze, but there was no mistaking how his throat bobbed.
"in fact," i pressed, noticing my voice dropped down,
"i suggest you stop talking altogether."
~YES. yes. i love a protective man.
"谩ngel, por favor. don't cry. don't do that to me."
"i'm not crying," i lied. "it's just the rain. i'm okay." his fingers cupped my jaw and he tilted my head upward until i met his gaze.
"you're lying. you're crying and it's breaking my heart," he said in a desperate voice. "rosie, preciosa. tell me what to do to stop this.
"want me."
~this moment had me SOBBING UNCONTROLLABLY. but what do i gotta do to have lucas talk to me in spanish and call me these beautiful names!?? please. i鈥檒l do anything. i鈥檒l crawl. the 鈥溍gel鈥� gets me every single time馃ス馃
the sound of our breathing overpowered the water falling on top of us, and i couldn't stop myself from coming closer, i couldn't stop my hand from rising to her neck, closing around her throat very gently.
"is this okay?" i asked her, watching her face very closely. "tell me if it isn't."
~YES BABY, IT鈥橲 OKAY. help i can鈥檛 breathe. THAT SHOULD BE ME馃槶rosie ily, but he鈥檚 mine. i am so down bad.
"i read you like you were my favorite book, rosie. like i've memorized you." he lifted my hips so we were both on our knees.
"is this deep enough? am i more than just good now?"
~hot. red hot. he said this while taking her from behind?馃珷馃珷馃珷馃珷help.
鈾� things i loved:
- him watching her favorite show with her and then later on telling her that it was his show hahah omg.
- him telling her that she was safe with him the day after they met because she was falling asleep on the couch next to him and he was worried that she wasn鈥檛 comfortable enough to fall asleep.
- him carrying her to the bed after she fell asleep on the couch馃ス
- she was on her period and was craving cronuts after having a bad day鈥ut it was nighttime so the place was closed. so the next day he remembers and buys her cronuts and brings them to her. the little things>>>>>>>
- the hugs he鈥檇 give her and how she described them :,)
- the fact that this man convinced the owner of her favorite pizzeria to give him the keys so he could surprise her with a date where they made pizzas there.
- the way he put her apron on for her, tied it around her back and then wrapped it around to finish tying it around her stomach because it was too big鈥osie was better than me cuz i would鈥檝e folded right there. like okay baby let鈥檚 skip the pizza and go straight for the dessert馃構
- him letting her sit on his lap because there was no room for everyone to sit to have dinner.
- the masquerade ball..omg馃馃
- the fact that he recreated the night she wished they met on鈥t won鈥檛 make sense unless you read it but pls if you read it鈥ou鈥檙e gonna love it.
- him dancing with her to their soundtrack. fuckkk.
- the fact that he read her first book and loved it. then her second book鈥mg i won鈥檛 say cuz of spoilers but omfg.
鈾� favorite quotes:
(VERY unhinged thoughts included)
"it's really hard not to stare, rosie. you make it hard."
~BLUSHING. SWOONING.
"you're a sight, rosie. a fucking sight. like a mirage. an illusion. what man in his right mind wouldn't want to see you?"
~just鈥ucking run me over with your car already.
"i want to do the noble thing, rosie. but i'm finding it really hard when all i want to do is sinful things to you."
~ON MY KNEES. i鈥檓 on my knees.
"of course. he doesn't bite," i said. and when she sidled up beside us, i added so only she could hear,
"me, on the other side? i could eat you up right now." rosie snorted, as if i'd been joking. i hadn't been.
~yeah i鈥檇 be his meal.
"this is not a one-way street, rosie. you look after me, i look after you. we take care of each other. we're a team."
~i- i am obsessing馃き
"that's my girl,鈥� he said, my heart losing it just like the first time he'd ever uttered those words. "i'm so proud of you, ro. so, so proud."
~馃槱馃槱i wanna be rosie.
"then there's this. this beautiful blush. what鈥檚 causing this, rosie?" he lowered his voice. 鈥渨hat's making you hot?"
~like you don鈥檛 know hahaha omg but he had me blushing too. red as a tomato. butterflies in the tummy. everything.
"you're the only one i want here with me, sharing food with me, and sitting so close i'm having a hard time keeping my hands to myself.鈥�
~ovaries are screaming.
lucas mart铆n deserves to be KNOWN. i love him endlessly. i loved the couple. they鈥檙e so cute, so amazing, so perfect馃きplease read if you鈥檝e been wondering if you should. if you read it and hate it, please forget my name. hahahah jk love you all<3 this review is crazy, but if y鈥檃ll saw my updates鈥hen you understand how crazy i am about this man and how crazy i was going about this book馃槀馃槶
old updates:
if you鈥檝e been genuinely wanting to read this book, well bestie guess what? this is your sign. a big fat sign.
a very unhinged review to come VERY soon and a slight little rant about the author (the reason why i couldn鈥檛 give this book five stars like i so badly wanted to鈥�) :D
i hope this is better than my last read鈥f not, let鈥檚 keep these rant reviews going!馃槀馃槀
a lot of people voted for this to be my next read tho on my poll hehe so fingers crossed!!馃馃
November 3, 2022
this is the ultimate fluff. the perfect kind of perky, happy-go-lucky romance you want that comes with a happily ever after tied with a nice, pretty bow.
but its the kind of lighthearted tropetasticness that begins to feel like over-the-top cheesiness if you arent in the mood for it. and, unfortunately, i dont think i was.
which is just too bad because i really do think this is a cute book. but i just didnt feel whole-heartedly invested in the story until near the end when the tone starts to settle down a bit and the characters become a more grounded. so again, i just dont think i was in the mood for something so unserious.
not a bad book by any means, it just didnt personally capture my full interest at this particular moment.
鈫� 3 stars
but its the kind of lighthearted tropetasticness that begins to feel like over-the-top cheesiness if you arent in the mood for it. and, unfortunately, i dont think i was.
which is just too bad because i really do think this is a cute book. but i just didnt feel whole-heartedly invested in the story until near the end when the tone starts to settle down a bit and the characters become a more grounded. so again, i just dont think i was in the mood for something so unserious.
not a bad book by any means, it just didnt personally capture my full interest at this particular moment.
鈫� 3 stars
October 6, 2022
It could not create the same magic as The Spanish Love Deception.
Let's go over the tropes in this one-
鉁旓笍Dual POV
鉁旓笍Fake dating
鉁旓笍Roommates to friends to lovers
鉁旓笍Forced proximity
鉁旓笍Masquerade Ball
鉁旓笍Slow burn
鉁旓笍Yearning for each other
鉁旓笍Girl falls first
鉁旓笍Spice (1.5/5)
So despite such amazing tropes, what went wrong? Buckle up, cause this review borderlines a rant review. *sigh*
So we have the FMC- Rosie Lina's best friend who quit her job and wants to be an accomplished writer. She already has one major published book, but due to a writer's block- she is unable to write the second one.
I don't wanna be the one to call out the author on that. But it all felt a bit too personal. Like Elena Armas was talking about her own struggles. It did drag on and felt like a narrative of her personal complaints. Sorry not sorry, but this is constructive criticism.
Then we have the MMC- Lucas who is Lina's cousin, and that's all there is to his personality? He does have his own sweet moments but it's not enough. Sadly, the author could not write Lucas the way she wrote Aaron Blackford - with love.
The book does start really well. But the problem started when I was 200 pages in, and the characters had barely made a move on each other. It's still supposed to be a romance book right?! I get it, it's a slow burn, the characters are yearning for each other. But how is it that I'm halfway through the book and all I know is they like Pizza?! How do you manage to babble for so long?! It's at this point I start losing interest in romance and the book as a whole. Sadly, even Aaron and Lina's presence could not save it.
Look, Elena is a very talented writer. She knows how to make you laugh, cry and swoon. But if the author does not have a heart to write, why force yourself? Take a break, re-read your draft and then publish. The second half of the book went on and on to no avail.
We have one interesting character - Olly, Rosie's brother. I think he holds a lot of potential and maybe it's his story we get to read next? I personally was more invested in him than Rosie and Lucas.
Look, don't get me wrong, Lucas and Rosie are quite likable but while I wanted something that makes me feel things all I got was a boring story. The spice is good, I'll give it that. But I had stopped caring about the story by the time it happened 馃し鈥嶁檧锔� I ended up skimming through fair bit once I hit the 300 page mark.
It does have its sweet moments, I did like the ending. It was quite satisfying and absolutely adorable, which is why I rate it three stars instead of two.
If you want to read this, go ahead. Maybe you'll like it more than me. But I personally had high hopes. So yeah, am disappointed.
Let's go over the tropes in this one-
鉁旓笍Dual POV
鉁旓笍Fake dating
鉁旓笍Roommates to friends to lovers
鉁旓笍Forced proximity
鉁旓笍Masquerade Ball
鉁旓笍Slow burn
鉁旓笍Yearning for each other
鉁旓笍Girl falls first
鉁旓笍Spice (1.5/5)
So despite such amazing tropes, what went wrong? Buckle up, cause this review borderlines a rant review. *sigh*
So we have the FMC- Rosie Lina's best friend who quit her job and wants to be an accomplished writer. She already has one major published book, but due to a writer's block- she is unable to write the second one.
I don't wanna be the one to call out the author on that. But it all felt a bit too personal. Like Elena Armas was talking about her own struggles. It did drag on and felt like a narrative of her personal complaints. Sorry not sorry, but this is constructive criticism.
Then we have the MMC- Lucas who is Lina's cousin, and that's all there is to his personality? He does have his own sweet moments but it's not enough. Sadly, the author could not write Lucas the way she wrote Aaron Blackford - with love.
The book does start really well. But the problem started when I was 200 pages in, and the characters had barely made a move on each other. It's still supposed to be a romance book right?! I get it, it's a slow burn, the characters are yearning for each other. But how is it that I'm halfway through the book and all I know is they like Pizza?! How do you manage to babble for so long?! It's at this point I start losing interest in romance and the book as a whole. Sadly, even Aaron and Lina's presence could not save it.
Look, Elena is a very talented writer. She knows how to make you laugh, cry and swoon. But if the author does not have a heart to write, why force yourself? Take a break, re-read your draft and then publish. The second half of the book went on and on to no avail.
We have one interesting character - Olly, Rosie's brother. I think he holds a lot of potential and maybe it's his story we get to read next? I personally was more invested in him than Rosie and Lucas.
Look, don't get me wrong, Lucas and Rosie are quite likable but while I wanted something that makes me feel things all I got was a boring story. The spice is good, I'll give it that. But I had stopped caring about the story by the time it happened 馃し鈥嶁檧锔� I ended up skimming through fair bit once I hit the 300 page mark.
It does have its sweet moments, I did like the ending. It was quite satisfying and absolutely adorable, which is why I rate it three stars instead of two.
If you want to read this, go ahead. Maybe you'll like it more than me. But I personally had high hopes. So yeah, am disappointed.
September 6, 2022
Lovers from a afar, shared proximity, and a chemistry between two soulmate seeking lovers that will fill you with angst and tender, emotional romance of the best kind...
**SIGHS** This book... this story... this romance! What can I say other than the fact this was a true refreshing love story to read. One that I have not read in such a long time. That's mostly due to the fact that I have been on a cliche band of just reading smutty romances, insta-love romance, etc. But with that being said, my love for this story is pure. To me, this was such a comfort romance that made me take my time to thoroughly appreciate and enjoy. And both Rosie with Lucas together, know how to make that ideal romance couple that as a reader makes you just instantly swoon over them.
It's the beauty of Lucas, the way his personality is. That's what attracts you to keep on reading and wanting more of him. More of his sunshine personality, but still shows signs of vulnerability that makes him this beautiful kind man. More of his tender careful attention that he has towards Rosie, listening to her, caring for her, loving her. Even when he doesn't even know that he is doing it. He is just... Lucas Martin.
And then we have Rosie... my gosh dear Rosie. An independent woman, who seeks not only for validation in herself, but is also nervous of her family finding out the truth towards the path she has taken. Rosie is a strong character that demonstrates the inner battles of herself. But at the same time, just knows what she wants. That's why when she first "meets" Lucas, you just know that these two are meant to be. They are both two individuals seeking for that love and passion that nobody has been able to give them in the way they are looking for. Rosie instantly knows and does not question it;
As their experiment starts to evolve, Lucas starts to notice that his heart is eating him alive. Eating him from the inside out, his heart is taking control of him. But he struggles to let himself be the person that Rosie wants him to be. With the all beautiful flaws, Rosie wants him and only him. And Lucas, after time just knows that he wants her and only her. His happiness comes second, while hers comes first. Her battles and obstacles come first and he is not afraid to fight them for her. To conquer them with her. That's why this story is refreshing. It takes you to another world of tender yet careless love that makes you giggle, cry, and just utterly swoon.
This dual pov romance has everything and anything you may need in an emotional story. Do not be deceived by my review though, because once Lucas gets his hands on Rosie... his body controls him in the best of ways. And if you know what I am talking about... you just know. **wink wink** Elena has a keen talent for making me crave more of her writing. And I am looking forward to seeing what else she has in store for all of us romance readers.
PS. For those Aaron lovers, you do NOT want to miss out on this story. Because Lina and Aaron do show up, and they are just... AHHHHHH SO GOOD!
ARC BETA kindly provided by my bestie Elena, in exchange for an honest review...
Follow Me On:
鉂赌 鉂赌 鉂赌
**SIGHS** This book... this story... this romance! What can I say other than the fact this was a true refreshing love story to read. One that I have not read in such a long time. That's mostly due to the fact that I have been on a cliche band of just reading smutty romances, insta-love romance, etc. But with that being said, my love for this story is pure. To me, this was such a comfort romance that made me take my time to thoroughly appreciate and enjoy. And both Rosie with Lucas together, know how to make that ideal romance couple that as a reader makes you just instantly swoon over them.
It's the beauty of Lucas, the way his personality is. That's what attracts you to keep on reading and wanting more of him. More of his sunshine personality, but still shows signs of vulnerability that makes him this beautiful kind man. More of his tender careful attention that he has towards Rosie, listening to her, caring for her, loving her. Even when he doesn't even know that he is doing it. He is just... Lucas Martin.
And then we have Rosie... my gosh dear Rosie. An independent woman, who seeks not only for validation in herself, but is also nervous of her family finding out the truth towards the path she has taken. Rosie is a strong character that demonstrates the inner battles of herself. But at the same time, just knows what she wants. That's why when she first "meets" Lucas, you just know that these two are meant to be. They are both two individuals seeking for that love and passion that nobody has been able to give them in the way they are looking for. Rosie instantly knows and does not question it;
鈥淎nd I imagined this, his hug, his body, him, being my safe-heaven. My normal. My bad days, my good days. My every day..."
As their experiment starts to evolve, Lucas starts to notice that his heart is eating him alive. Eating him from the inside out, his heart is taking control of him. But he struggles to let himself be the person that Rosie wants him to be. With the all beautiful flaws, Rosie wants him and only him. And Lucas, after time just knows that he wants her and only her. His happiness comes second, while hers comes first. Her battles and obstacles come first and he is not afraid to fight them for her. To conquer them with her. That's why this story is refreshing. It takes you to another world of tender yet careless love that makes you giggle, cry, and just utterly swoon.
This dual pov romance has everything and anything you may need in an emotional story. Do not be deceived by my review though, because once Lucas gets his hands on Rosie... his body controls him in the best of ways. And if you know what I am talking about... you just know. **wink wink** Elena has a keen talent for making me crave more of her writing. And I am looking forward to seeing what else she has in store for all of us romance readers.
PS. For those Aaron lovers, you do NOT want to miss out on this story. Because Lina and Aaron do show up, and they are just... AHHHHHH SO GOOD!
ARC BETA kindly provided by my bestie Elena, in exchange for an honest review...
Follow Me On:
鉂赌 鉂赌 鉂赌
August 7, 2023
鈥淚 wanted to lay myself at her feet because no one had ever done something so thoughtful for me. Something this personal, something that had been designed to bring only me happiness.
I wanted to pull her into my arms and thank her, worship her, make sure she knew how grateful I was. Fuck. I wanted her. Now more than ever.鈥� 馃ス馃ス HOW IS HE SOO CUTE MY HEART
I AM IN LOVE WITH LUCAS WHY IS HE SOO CUTE SWEET AND LITERAL PERFECTION YESS I READ THIS ON MY PERIOD SO THAT MAY EXPLAIN MY EXCESSIVE FEELINGS FOR LUCAS THROUGH OUT THIS REVIEW LUCAS PLEASE MARRY ME BUT THE BOOK OVERALL HAD A SHIT PLOT THERE I SAID IT DONT HATE ME I LIKED THE SPANISH LOVE DECEPTION MORE LUCAS AND ROSIE I LOVED THE PLOT NOOO 5 STARS FOR LUCAS 0 STARS FOR THE PLOT HENCE THE 3 STARS I THINK MY MATHS IS MASTHSING 馃拃馃槶
So the story kicks off with Rosie an engineer who gave up her role to be a romance writer. She moved into her best friend Catalina鈥檚 apartment who you may all know from the Spanish love deception whilst she鈥檚 at her honeymoon with Aaron 馃槏 . Rosie unpacks whilst she鈥檚 ringing catalina to let her know that she鈥檒l be staying at her apartment until the hole in her roof is fixed then she hears someone trying to get into the apartment and stops in her tracks the intruder says that he can hear someone breathing inside so impulsively she tells the intruder to leave as she鈥檚 calling the police the intruder not being phased at all laughs and says he has a key but she calls the cops until he says that this is his cousin catalinas house hearing that she realises she鈥檚 fucked up she lets him in and apologises
鈥淩osie,鈥� he said in a low, warning voice that made my stomach flop for some reason. 鈥淭ake the bed.鈥� He smiled, but it wasn鈥檛 lighthearted and fun. 鈥淒on鈥檛 make me fight you over this. Because I will.鈥� fight me please 馃サ
The intruder is no one other Lucas Martin the older Spanish cousin who wasn鈥檛 able to attend catalinas wedding but Rosie knew who he was as she had maybe slightly stalked him after Catalina mentioned him a few times 馃槀馃槀 GIRL THERES NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED OF BEEN THERE DONE THAT馃拃 she quickly apologises and tells him she鈥檒l leave as Catalina had given her apartment to Lucas but the gem that Lucas is he says he will go as he doesn鈥檛 want to make her uncomfortable 馃ス馃槴. The next morning Lucas and Rosie end up going to her apartment to meet up with the tenant and contractor which ends in let鈥檚 say a total chaos as it鈥檚 going to take long. Rosie tells Lucas it鈥檚 fine and she鈥檒l stay at her apartment as she鈥檚 saying this and Lucas is just objecting, her neighbour from upstairs walks by and let鈥檚 just say he鈥檚 not wearing any boxers and you can see his di** not a pretty sight after that disturbing image Lucas tells Rosie that she can stay as long as she needs and he鈥檒l sleep on the couch whilst she takes the bed 馃槶
Since Rosie left her engineering job she needs to send her manuscript for her second book to the publishers but she鈥檚 having a strong case of a writers block. she manages to speak to Catalina but doesn鈥檛 tell her that she鈥檚 staying with Lucas at her apartment Catalina advises Rosie to start dating again for inspiration and treat it like an experiment Rosie thinks that鈥檚 quite unfair on any guy but as she complains she realises Lucas heard all of it her horrible dating life the experiment LITERALLY all of it and to her surprise Lucas VOLUNTEERS HIM SELF AS A TRIBUTE WILL THIS STAY AS AN EXPERIMENT OR WILL IT GROW INTO SOMETHING SPECIAL 馃槶
鈥渨hole thing about you being stuck is your fear talking. You鈥檙e terrified to fail, Rosie. I know you鈥�
Rosie was such a relatable and likeable character. Being the eldest daughter of the family and being an engineer hit right at home the pressure the stress of always having to be the best WAS FELT VERY DEEPLY FOR A SECOND I WAS LIKE IS THIS PLAY ABOUT US
鈥淥pen your eyes, Lucas.鈥�
My head gave a curt shake. 鈥淣o.鈥�
鈥淚f you think this is something I don鈥檛 want to see, then you have me figured out all wrong.鈥�
鈥淵ou鈥檙e a sight, Rosie. A fucking sight. Like a mirage. An illusion. What man in his right mind wouldn鈥檛 want to see you?鈥� this scene lives in my head rent free 馃槴馃槴 our respectful king
Lucas my heart was soo loveable it hurts ok. He always put other before him and was taken back when Rosie put him first cared about what he wanted I just wanted to wrap him up and keep him safe from the world. The way he thought he wasn鈥檛 good enough because of his injury was gut wrenching. The most important part he was RESPECTFUL the way he closed his eyes and didn鈥檛 open them because Rosie didn鈥檛 have clothes on because some guy spilt his drink on her and he was helping her clean up after she told him to look 馃ス馃ス馃ス馃ス
鈥淚 had told her once how much I hated how low she set her standards, and I鈥檇 meant every word. It infuriated me that someone who brought to life romance heroes, love stories people longed for, wouldn鈥檛 expect all those things from real life. Because she really seemed fine not expecting any man to live up to her heroes. She was fine with it.鈥� marry me please 馃挒馃グ鉁�
The way Lucas was soo surprised and pissed at Rosie because she had such low standards was another reason why I fell in love with him . He hated the fact that Rosie was thankful for things that was literally what we call the bare minimum. As girls it鈥檚 true we set the bar soo low WE ALL DESERVE A LUCAS.
鈥淵ou鈥檒l pick a record, but pick wisely, because whatever you choose will be our soundtrack.鈥�
The dates were the best come on their first date was to a record store SO SHE COULD PICK THEIR SONG that鈥檚 soo wholesome for them to go home and dance to it . The grand gesture blew my mind the fact that Rosie and Lucas wanted to meet at the wedding so he re created the wedding at a roof top with music and baked her cake to tell her how he would have danced with her was enough to set me over edge 馃槴馃槴.
Now the plot was shit there wasn鈥檛 really a plot it was just a bunch of experimental dates because rosie had a writers block . Let鈥檚 say for instance rosie did these experimental dates and lucas didn鈥檛 know they were experiments that would have still made this interesting but no he knew from the start. The only reason I gave this 3 stars was because of lucas and how caring he was the fact that he thought about everything was just amazing.the Spanish love deceptions plot was a really good slow burn as they were actually fake dating because of her family to make it look realistic this was just about some writers block there wasn鈥檛 anything forbidden about it.
鈥滻 Cronut you I鈥檓 gonna be sick 馃あ
Now for the cringe part I hated the whole I cronut you which was a way for Rosie and Lucas to say thank you that was just exclusive to them IT WAS GIVING I WOLF YOU FROM YOU 馃槶馃拃馃弮鈥嶁檪锔�
鈥淭he last man you dated in particular, Assface Number Five, was鈥� well, let鈥檚 just say he was lucky I didn鈥檛 borrow Aaron鈥檚 car and accidentally run him over.鈥� 馃槀馃槀
Rosie and Catalina were the best friends we all want and deserve. The fact they called all of roses exes Assface 1 , 2 , 3 you get the point has me in tears . The way Catalina wanted to run over Rosie鈥檚 exes was soo me like helloooo no one gets to hurt my bestie and get away with it 馃槀馃拃
鈥淚 glanced at Aaron, and I found him smiling, too. I did a double take, taking them in for a moment. 鈥淎re you two鈥� okay?鈥�
Their twin smiles widened, making me wonder if they were high. Because Aaron had never ever grinned like this, like a鈥� maniac, except for the day they got married鈥�
The bromance between aaron and Lucas was what I needed. We all know Aaron is moody and doesn鈥檛 smile but the way he was keeping everything a secret from Catalina and helped Lucas out with Rosie because he understood from one look that Lucas was in love was soo cute. AARON WAS SMILING YESS I REPEAT HE WAS SMILING at the New Year鈥檚 party for Lucas and Rosie which meant everything keeping in mind aaron only smiled for Catalina .
SPOILERS AHEAD 鈿狅笍鈿狅笍
鈥淓very single time I鈥檝e called you Graham, I鈥檝e done it to remind myself that I couldn鈥檛 want you the way I do. Every time I鈥檝e taken you on a date, I鈥檝e had to tell myself that it was part of an agreement. And every time I鈥檝e said I wanted to be your best friend, all I鈥檇 wanted was to take from you as much as you could possibly give me.鈥� Utterly ruined 馃槴馃グ
I understand everything about Lucas and his injury and how he thought it made him weak and not good enough. I just don鈥檛 get why he thought it would be a good idea to leave Rosie because she deserved better like dude she wants you so why can鈥檛 you become better for her.
鈥淪he loves me? She said that? Rosie said that she鈥檚 in love with me?鈥�
Seconds stretched into an eternity. 鈥淟ucas, are you joking right now?鈥� same lina same tf 馃拃
The fact that Lucas was confused and didn鈥檛 know Rosie loved him until Catalina rang him and told him was stupid. That guy knew Rosie better than her self the fact that she ran to airport to tell him she would go where ever he went clearly showed she loved him someone who planned every inch of her life was ready to drop all of it for you it clearly indicates one thing LIKE MY DELULU ASS THINKS A MAN IS IN LOVE WITH ME IF HE HOLDS THE DOOR OPEN AND SHE WAS READY TO MOVE COUNTRIES 馃
鈥淩osalyn Graham,
Will you be my best friend?
My roommate.
My Dancing Queen.
My experiment life partner.
My heart.
Will you be mine, just like I鈥檓 completely, hopelessly yours?鈥�
The new year scene was soo cute the fact that he came to her on new years kissed her on the jaw and not on the lips just incase she wouldn鈥檛 forgive him is why we love Lucas. The message on the screen at the end confessing his love with their song playing at the back ground just summed up how wholesome their relationship was and Rosie deserved all of it.
Spoilers end here 鈿狅笍鈿狅笍
鈥淩osie groaned from inside. 鈥淥h God. Oh no.鈥� A pause. 鈥淚鈥檓 so鈥� wet.鈥�
Wet. She was wet.
A pained sound left me at her declaration.
鈥淐an you pass me a few paper towels?鈥� she asked after a beat. 鈥淯nder the door?鈥�
鈥淥f course. Roomie.鈥� Roomie, from roommates, remember, Lucas? I reminded myself as I grabbed a handful of towels and followed her instructions. 鈥淗ere you go.鈥� Lucas babe breathe 馃槀馃槀馃槀
My favourite part had to be when Lucas was hanging on for dear life because Lucy was wet literally because some guy dropped drink on her and he couldn鈥檛 get his head out of the gutter 馃槶馃拃
If your going to read this book then do it for Lucas not the plot and yess this can be read as a stand-alone but if you read the Spanish love deception first it鈥檚 just cuter because you get to see Catalina and Aaron again. 馃槏馃ス
Heads up to my smut girlies this is a slow burn they don鈥檛 really do anything until like 85% of the book so just pointing that out for you 馃槝
I wanted to pull her into my arms and thank her, worship her, make sure she knew how grateful I was. Fuck. I wanted her. Now more than ever.鈥� 馃ス馃ス HOW IS HE SOO CUTE MY HEART
I AM IN LOVE WITH LUCAS WHY IS HE SOO CUTE SWEET AND LITERAL PERFECTION YESS I READ THIS ON MY PERIOD SO THAT MAY EXPLAIN MY EXCESSIVE FEELINGS FOR LUCAS THROUGH OUT THIS REVIEW LUCAS PLEASE MARRY ME BUT THE BOOK OVERALL HAD A SHIT PLOT THERE I SAID IT DONT HATE ME I LIKED THE SPANISH LOVE DECEPTION MORE LUCAS AND ROSIE I LOVED THE PLOT NOOO 5 STARS FOR LUCAS 0 STARS FOR THE PLOT HENCE THE 3 STARS I THINK MY MATHS IS MASTHSING 馃拃馃槶
So the story kicks off with Rosie an engineer who gave up her role to be a romance writer. She moved into her best friend Catalina鈥檚 apartment who you may all know from the Spanish love deception whilst she鈥檚 at her honeymoon with Aaron 馃槏 . Rosie unpacks whilst she鈥檚 ringing catalina to let her know that she鈥檒l be staying at her apartment until the hole in her roof is fixed then she hears someone trying to get into the apartment and stops in her tracks the intruder says that he can hear someone breathing inside so impulsively she tells the intruder to leave as she鈥檚 calling the police the intruder not being phased at all laughs and says he has a key but she calls the cops until he says that this is his cousin catalinas house hearing that she realises she鈥檚 fucked up she lets him in and apologises
鈥淩osie,鈥� he said in a low, warning voice that made my stomach flop for some reason. 鈥淭ake the bed.鈥� He smiled, but it wasn鈥檛 lighthearted and fun. 鈥淒on鈥檛 make me fight you over this. Because I will.鈥� fight me please 馃サ
The intruder is no one other Lucas Martin the older Spanish cousin who wasn鈥檛 able to attend catalinas wedding but Rosie knew who he was as she had maybe slightly stalked him after Catalina mentioned him a few times 馃槀馃槀 GIRL THERES NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED OF BEEN THERE DONE THAT馃拃 she quickly apologises and tells him she鈥檒l leave as Catalina had given her apartment to Lucas but the gem that Lucas is he says he will go as he doesn鈥檛 want to make her uncomfortable 馃ス馃槴. The next morning Lucas and Rosie end up going to her apartment to meet up with the tenant and contractor which ends in let鈥檚 say a total chaos as it鈥檚 going to take long. Rosie tells Lucas it鈥檚 fine and she鈥檒l stay at her apartment as she鈥檚 saying this and Lucas is just objecting, her neighbour from upstairs walks by and let鈥檚 just say he鈥檚 not wearing any boxers and you can see his di** not a pretty sight after that disturbing image Lucas tells Rosie that she can stay as long as she needs and he鈥檒l sleep on the couch whilst she takes the bed 馃槶
Since Rosie left her engineering job she needs to send her manuscript for her second book to the publishers but she鈥檚 having a strong case of a writers block. she manages to speak to Catalina but doesn鈥檛 tell her that she鈥檚 staying with Lucas at her apartment Catalina advises Rosie to start dating again for inspiration and treat it like an experiment Rosie thinks that鈥檚 quite unfair on any guy but as she complains she realises Lucas heard all of it her horrible dating life the experiment LITERALLY all of it and to her surprise Lucas VOLUNTEERS HIM SELF AS A TRIBUTE WILL THIS STAY AS AN EXPERIMENT OR WILL IT GROW INTO SOMETHING SPECIAL 馃槶
鈥渨hole thing about you being stuck is your fear talking. You鈥檙e terrified to fail, Rosie. I know you鈥�
Rosie was such a relatable and likeable character. Being the eldest daughter of the family and being an engineer hit right at home the pressure the stress of always having to be the best WAS FELT VERY DEEPLY FOR A SECOND I WAS LIKE IS THIS PLAY ABOUT US
鈥淥pen your eyes, Lucas.鈥�
My head gave a curt shake. 鈥淣o.鈥�
鈥淚f you think this is something I don鈥檛 want to see, then you have me figured out all wrong.鈥�
鈥淵ou鈥檙e a sight, Rosie. A fucking sight. Like a mirage. An illusion. What man in his right mind wouldn鈥檛 want to see you?鈥� this scene lives in my head rent free 馃槴馃槴 our respectful king
Lucas my heart was soo loveable it hurts ok. He always put other before him and was taken back when Rosie put him first cared about what he wanted I just wanted to wrap him up and keep him safe from the world. The way he thought he wasn鈥檛 good enough because of his injury was gut wrenching. The most important part he was RESPECTFUL the way he closed his eyes and didn鈥檛 open them because Rosie didn鈥檛 have clothes on because some guy spilt his drink on her and he was helping her clean up after she told him to look 馃ス馃ス馃ス馃ス
鈥淚 had told her once how much I hated how low she set her standards, and I鈥檇 meant every word. It infuriated me that someone who brought to life romance heroes, love stories people longed for, wouldn鈥檛 expect all those things from real life. Because she really seemed fine not expecting any man to live up to her heroes. She was fine with it.鈥� marry me please 馃挒馃グ鉁�
The way Lucas was soo surprised and pissed at Rosie because she had such low standards was another reason why I fell in love with him . He hated the fact that Rosie was thankful for things that was literally what we call the bare minimum. As girls it鈥檚 true we set the bar soo low WE ALL DESERVE A LUCAS.
鈥淵ou鈥檒l pick a record, but pick wisely, because whatever you choose will be our soundtrack.鈥�
The dates were the best come on their first date was to a record store SO SHE COULD PICK THEIR SONG that鈥檚 soo wholesome for them to go home and dance to it . The grand gesture blew my mind the fact that Rosie and Lucas wanted to meet at the wedding so he re created the wedding at a roof top with music and baked her cake to tell her how he would have danced with her was enough to set me over edge 馃槴馃槴.
Now the plot was shit there wasn鈥檛 really a plot it was just a bunch of experimental dates because rosie had a writers block . Let鈥檚 say for instance rosie did these experimental dates and lucas didn鈥檛 know they were experiments that would have still made this interesting but no he knew from the start. The only reason I gave this 3 stars was because of lucas and how caring he was the fact that he thought about everything was just amazing.the Spanish love deceptions plot was a really good slow burn as they were actually fake dating because of her family to make it look realistic this was just about some writers block there wasn鈥檛 anything forbidden about it.
鈥滻 Cronut you I鈥檓 gonna be sick 馃あ
Now for the cringe part I hated the whole I cronut you which was a way for Rosie and Lucas to say thank you that was just exclusive to them IT WAS GIVING I WOLF YOU FROM YOU 馃槶馃拃馃弮鈥嶁檪锔�
鈥淭he last man you dated in particular, Assface Number Five, was鈥� well, let鈥檚 just say he was lucky I didn鈥檛 borrow Aaron鈥檚 car and accidentally run him over.鈥� 馃槀馃槀
Rosie and Catalina were the best friends we all want and deserve. The fact they called all of roses exes Assface 1 , 2 , 3 you get the point has me in tears . The way Catalina wanted to run over Rosie鈥檚 exes was soo me like helloooo no one gets to hurt my bestie and get away with it 馃槀馃拃
鈥淚 glanced at Aaron, and I found him smiling, too. I did a double take, taking them in for a moment. 鈥淎re you two鈥� okay?鈥�
Their twin smiles widened, making me wonder if they were high. Because Aaron had never ever grinned like this, like a鈥� maniac, except for the day they got married鈥�
The bromance between aaron and Lucas was what I needed. We all know Aaron is moody and doesn鈥檛 smile but the way he was keeping everything a secret from Catalina and helped Lucas out with Rosie because he understood from one look that Lucas was in love was soo cute. AARON WAS SMILING YESS I REPEAT HE WAS SMILING at the New Year鈥檚 party for Lucas and Rosie which meant everything keeping in mind aaron only smiled for Catalina .
SPOILERS AHEAD 鈿狅笍鈿狅笍
鈥淓very single time I鈥檝e called you Graham, I鈥檝e done it to remind myself that I couldn鈥檛 want you the way I do. Every time I鈥檝e taken you on a date, I鈥檝e had to tell myself that it was part of an agreement. And every time I鈥檝e said I wanted to be your best friend, all I鈥檇 wanted was to take from you as much as you could possibly give me.鈥� Utterly ruined 馃槴馃グ
I understand everything about Lucas and his injury and how he thought it made him weak and not good enough. I just don鈥檛 get why he thought it would be a good idea to leave Rosie because she deserved better like dude she wants you so why can鈥檛 you become better for her.
鈥淪he loves me? She said that? Rosie said that she鈥檚 in love with me?鈥�
Seconds stretched into an eternity. 鈥淟ucas, are you joking right now?鈥� same lina same tf 馃拃
The fact that Lucas was confused and didn鈥檛 know Rosie loved him until Catalina rang him and told him was stupid. That guy knew Rosie better than her self the fact that she ran to airport to tell him she would go where ever he went clearly showed she loved him someone who planned every inch of her life was ready to drop all of it for you it clearly indicates one thing LIKE MY DELULU ASS THINKS A MAN IS IN LOVE WITH ME IF HE HOLDS THE DOOR OPEN AND SHE WAS READY TO MOVE COUNTRIES 馃
鈥淩osalyn Graham,
Will you be my best friend?
My roommate.
My Dancing Queen.
My experiment life partner.
My heart.
Will you be mine, just like I鈥檓 completely, hopelessly yours?鈥�
The new year scene was soo cute the fact that he came to her on new years kissed her on the jaw and not on the lips just incase she wouldn鈥檛 forgive him is why we love Lucas. The message on the screen at the end confessing his love with their song playing at the back ground just summed up how wholesome their relationship was and Rosie deserved all of it.
Spoilers end here 鈿狅笍鈿狅笍
鈥淩osie groaned from inside. 鈥淥h God. Oh no.鈥� A pause. 鈥淚鈥檓 so鈥� wet.鈥�
Wet. She was wet.
A pained sound left me at her declaration.
鈥淐an you pass me a few paper towels?鈥� she asked after a beat. 鈥淯nder the door?鈥�
鈥淥f course. Roomie.鈥� Roomie, from roommates, remember, Lucas? I reminded myself as I grabbed a handful of towels and followed her instructions. 鈥淗ere you go.鈥� Lucas babe breathe 馃槀馃槀馃槀
My favourite part had to be when Lucas was hanging on for dear life because Lucy was wet literally because some guy dropped drink on her and he couldn鈥檛 get his head out of the gutter 馃槶馃拃
If your going to read this book then do it for Lucas not the plot and yess this can be read as a stand-alone but if you read the Spanish love deception first it鈥檚 just cuter because you get to see Catalina and Aaron again. 馃槏馃ス
Heads up to my smut girlies this is a slow burn they don鈥檛 really do anything until like 85% of the book so just pointing that out for you 馃槝
May 23, 2023
Every single page was basically her saying something stupid then saying 鈥渙mg I鈥檓 so stupid why would I say that鈥� like girl idk maybe just stay quiet then?
September 26, 2022
Holly smoke! This book is freaking hot! You keep hyperventilating! You just keep hearing fire alarm! That freaking, sizzling, sex oozing chemistry between Lucas and Rosie put the entire chapters into fire!
I loved this second book of the series so much more! It鈥檚 genuine, it鈥檚 entertaining, it鈥檚 soooo ROMANTIC! Especially the experimental dating ideas Lucas comes up with are brilliant!
Lucas was selfless, caring, sweet, playful, sex god who is also hell of chief! And Rosie is sweet, kind hearted, fixer, also selfless, perfect heroine!
The characterization is perfect! The highest rate of chemistry pouring out from the chapters captivates you.
The plot is also intriguing with forced proximity room-ance and friends to lovers tropes!
Can you imagine to stuck in a tiny studio with hottest Spanish god: a surfer/ a cook/ the guy you鈥檝e been drooling over and stalking on social media for a year as you suffer from writer鈥檚 block!
Poor Rosie Graham moves to her best friend Lina鈥檚 apartment after ceiling off her own apartment nearly collapses on her! And she has no idea that Lina鈥檚 hot cousin Lucas she鈥檚 daydreaming decides to use his spare key to crash at the same place at the last minute.
Both of them finally come to an understanding they should share the apartment, becoming close friends. Lucas also offers Rosie to go out four experimental dates to help breaking her writer鈥檚 block!
But now Rosie has second thoughts about this experimental dating decision. Because five weeks later, Lucas will pack his bags and leave the continent for good! But what if their dating is something more than experimental, what if everything is real?
Lucas still deals with the injury of his leg and his emotional distress. He thinks he鈥檚 not good enough to make a woman happy but what if he embraces his fears, taking a chance for his own HEA!
No more words! I wish I can give this book 10 stars! This is one of the best romance books I鈥檝e devoured this year! I HIGHLY ABSOLUTELY EXTREMELY RECOMMEND IT!
I loved this second book of the series so much more! It鈥檚 genuine, it鈥檚 entertaining, it鈥檚 soooo ROMANTIC! Especially the experimental dating ideas Lucas comes up with are brilliant!
Lucas was selfless, caring, sweet, playful, sex god who is also hell of chief! And Rosie is sweet, kind hearted, fixer, also selfless, perfect heroine!
The characterization is perfect! The highest rate of chemistry pouring out from the chapters captivates you.
The plot is also intriguing with forced proximity room-ance and friends to lovers tropes!
Can you imagine to stuck in a tiny studio with hottest Spanish god: a surfer/ a cook/ the guy you鈥檝e been drooling over and stalking on social media for a year as you suffer from writer鈥檚 block!
Poor Rosie Graham moves to her best friend Lina鈥檚 apartment after ceiling off her own apartment nearly collapses on her! And she has no idea that Lina鈥檚 hot cousin Lucas she鈥檚 daydreaming decides to use his spare key to crash at the same place at the last minute.
Both of them finally come to an understanding they should share the apartment, becoming close friends. Lucas also offers Rosie to go out four experimental dates to help breaking her writer鈥檚 block!
But now Rosie has second thoughts about this experimental dating decision. Because five weeks later, Lucas will pack his bags and leave the continent for good! But what if their dating is something more than experimental, what if everything is real?
Lucas still deals with the injury of his leg and his emotional distress. He thinks he鈥檚 not good enough to make a woman happy but what if he embraces his fears, taking a chance for his own HEA!
No more words! I wish I can give this book 10 stars! This is one of the best romance books I鈥檝e devoured this year! I HIGHLY ABSOLUTELY EXTREMELY RECOMMEND IT!
June 29, 2023
Lucas Mart铆n's Application to be your next fave book boyfriend
1. he cooks
(a) in nothing but boxers
(b) and a pink apron
(c) while he dances
2. pick u up cronuts when ur craving them (it's giving five taco energy)
3. speaks to udirty talk in Spanish
4. will read ur writing
5. checks in on her elderly neighbour every day
6. he has separation anxiety from his dog
(a) who is a therapy dog
(b) who we learn once had diarrhea (during a sex scene)
7. there's only one bed
8. literally written by a woman and then within the story is... written by a woman
9. best hugger
10. once said this: 鈥淣ot god鈥� he said before retracing my opening with his tongue. 鈥淟ucas鈥�
1. he cooks
(a) in nothing but boxers
(b) and a pink apron
(c) while he dances
2. pick u up cronuts when ur craving them (it's giving five taco energy)
3. speaks to u
4. will read ur writing
5. checks in on her elderly neighbour every day
6. he has separation anxiety from his dog
(a) who is a therapy dog
(b) who we learn once had diarrhea (during a sex scene)
7. there's only one bed
8. literally written by a woman and then within the story is... written by a woman
9. best hugger
10. once said this: 鈥淣ot god鈥� he said before retracing my opening with his tongue. 鈥淟ucas鈥�
Read
September 8, 2022I was like: there is no way this is gonna be worse than The Spanish Love Deception.
Spoilers: it was
Spoilers: it was
DNF @ 20%
Read
January 19, 2022*AGGRESSIVELY BEGS FOR AN ADVANCED COPY*
September 7, 2022
no one will ever top aaron blackford
September 8, 2022
2 stars 馃崙
if elena armas鈥� goal was to put me to sleep then she鈥檚 certainly succeeded! my grade in OB will be thanking her immensely because i studied all afternoon yesterday to avoid touching this sleepfest
reading this review may ruin the reading experience, so鈥poilers!
i think we need to set the record straight about friends to lovers鈥�
childhood friends >>>>>> new friends
new friends is incredibly hard to pull off because it鈥檚 hard to develop that connection between 2 strangers without having some sort of indifference between them. like...they were practically lusting after each other from the get go. this book did new friends particularly bad. lara wonderfully laid it out on her review, but lucas (H) and rosie (h) had way too much trust, way too soon.
for example, how was rosie spilling her biggest secret to lucas on their second meeting ever鈥 secret only 2 people in the entire world knew (i.e. lina and aaron)
plus, it felt like there was zero development???
the fake dating did nothing to progress their relationship, to me anyway. idk why but lucas鈥� flirty behavior during their experimental dates felt actually fake to me. isn鈥檛 the point of a fake dating trope supposed to be when we realize it鈥檚 not fake, but the heroine doesn鈥檛??
the conflict at the end + the separation was stupid. it was just lucas being an idiot boy. there was no reason for any of it.
the author really threw every trope imaginable at our faces and expected us to love it馃馃徎鈥嶁檧锔� waiting for the day that romance authors move away from putting together random tropes that last 2 pages just so they can say they had them...*cough* one bed, gray sweatpants, fake dating *cough*
let me list every single trope in this book:
鈫� fake dating
鈫� formed proximity
鈫� friends to lovers
鈫� girl obsessed + crush
鈫� cinnamon roll hero
鈫� slowburn + 鈥渟pice鈥�
鈫� roommates
鈫� quirky heroine
鈫� scarred hero
鈫� best-friend鈥檚 cousin
don鈥檛 even get me started on the amount of secondhand embarrassment i got from lucas & rosie鈥檚 first meeting 馃槚
also, LINA WAS SO FUCKING ANNOYING!!!!!! her whole scolding towards lucas and rosie鈥檚 鈥渞elationship鈥� was so dumb. i love how her excuse for not supporting any sort of relationship between was that lucas has never brought a girl home to meet his family 馃馃
i have to admit that there were a couple cute moments, which is why this book is getting an extra star. the shower scene???? that was actually hot af 馃馃徏 i love when the h walks in on the H while he鈥檚 jacking off.
what wasn鈥檛 cute was them getting steamy in a public. bathroom. absolutely NOT馃あ馃あ
also, i liked the parallel between their first meeting and them reuniting at the end 馃グ
the only thing that could have saved this book is if lucas and rosie got struck by lightning when they were standing on a roof during a storm, having their first kiss. now THAT would have been interesting 馃槷鈥嶐煉�
if elena armas鈥� goal was to put me to sleep then she鈥檚 certainly succeeded! my grade in OB will be thanking her immensely because i studied all afternoon yesterday to avoid touching this sleepfest
reading this review may ruin the reading experience, so鈥poilers!
i think we need to set the record straight about friends to lovers鈥�
childhood friends >>>>>> new friends
new friends is incredibly hard to pull off because it鈥檚 hard to develop that connection between 2 strangers without having some sort of indifference between them. like...they were practically lusting after each other from the get go. this book did new friends particularly bad. lara wonderfully laid it out on her review, but lucas (H) and rosie (h) had way too much trust, way too soon.
for example, how was rosie spilling her biggest secret to lucas on their second meeting ever鈥 secret only 2 people in the entire world knew (i.e. lina and aaron)
plus, it felt like there was zero development???
the fake dating did nothing to progress their relationship, to me anyway. idk why but lucas鈥� flirty behavior during their experimental dates felt actually fake to me. isn鈥檛 the point of a fake dating trope supposed to be when we realize it鈥檚 not fake, but the heroine doesn鈥檛??
鈥淚 feel that. Poor little guy.鈥�
鈥淵ou get sweaty hands, too?鈥�
Lucas made sure he was meeting my gaze when he said, 鈥淚 would if I was trying to work up the courage to kiss a girl like you.鈥�
the conflict at the end + the separation was stupid. it was just lucas being an idiot boy. there was no reason for any of it.
the author really threw every trope imaginable at our faces and expected us to love it馃馃徎鈥嶁檧锔� waiting for the day that romance authors move away from putting together random tropes that last 2 pages just so they can say they had them...*cough* one bed, gray sweatpants, fake dating *cough*
let me list every single trope in this book:
鈫� fake dating
鈫� formed proximity
鈫� friends to lovers
鈫� girl obsessed + crush
鈫� cinnamon roll hero
鈫� slowburn + 鈥渟pice鈥�
鈫� roommates
鈫� quirky heroine
鈫� scarred hero
鈫� best-friend鈥檚 cousin
don鈥檛 even get me started on the amount of secondhand embarrassment i got from lucas & rosie鈥檚 first meeting 馃槚
also, LINA WAS SO FUCKING ANNOYING!!!!!! her whole scolding towards lucas and rosie鈥檚 鈥渞elationship鈥� was so dumb. i love how her excuse for not supporting any sort of relationship between was that lucas has never brought a girl home to meet his family 馃馃
i have to admit that there were a couple cute moments, which is why this book is getting an extra star. the shower scene???? that was actually hot af 馃馃徏 i love when the h walks in on the H while he鈥檚 jacking off.
what wasn鈥檛 cute was them getting steamy in a public. bathroom. absolutely NOT馃あ馃あ
also, i liked the parallel between their first meeting and them reuniting at the end 馃グ
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 wait a second more to start our new life together, Rosie. I鈥檝e waited enough. I鈥檝e waited a lifetime without me knowing. So why don鈥檛 you open this door and let me show you?鈥�
the only thing that could have saved this book is if lucas and rosie got struck by lightning when they were standing on a roof during a storm, having their first kiss. now THAT would have been interesting 馃槷鈥嶐煉�
Want to read
April 4, 2021i'm so excited to see what elena does with rosie's book! and it's friends to lovers, with the forced proximity trope 馃ズ馃ズ
October 20, 2022
she was successful鈥�
successful in making me keel over from cringing 馃槂
successful in making me keel over from cringing 馃槂
September 10, 2022
Unfortunately, I did not love this book. It felt very similar to alot of other books I鈥檝e read in the past - the two most prominent ones being Josh and Hazels Guide to Not Dating mixed with a bit of Beach Read鈥� and I just didn鈥檛 feel like this was anything special or unique.
I didn鈥檛 latch onto either of the characters, I found a lot of moments to be pretty cheesy, and I almost felt like the story was written with the booktok/booksta community in mind鈥� knowing all the tropes and elements that鈥檒l make an average romance reader swoon - and I do not mean that as an insult to any reader who loved this story - if you gave me this book two years ago, I probably would have given it 5 stars鈥� but I鈥檓 much pickier now and this one just didn鈥檛 stand out to me as something different or original. I guess I was expecting more, idk.
I also don鈥檛 think that instant attraction mixes very well with slow burn. If they are both drooling over each other from day one and there鈥檚 no forbidden aspect keeping them apart - then the slow burn just doesn鈥檛 make sense and becomes an unneeded tease. There was also a lot of side plots going on that weren鈥檛 needed or important to the story and every single time a scene wasn鈥檛 about Rosie and Lucas, I got bored.
I also feel like there were a couple of missed opportunities. A big one being with Lucas and his ingury/career issue. I feel like it was there to give us a 鈥榙amaged character鈥� but it didn鈥檛 end up diving deep into it. There was also a wasted opportunity with the one bed situation - plus there was no real groveling at the end (one conversation does not count - especially when you specifically point out the importance of groveling in romance books)
I didn鈥檛 latch onto either of the characters, I found a lot of moments to be pretty cheesy, and I almost felt like the story was written with the booktok/booksta community in mind鈥� knowing all the tropes and elements that鈥檒l make an average romance reader swoon - and I do not mean that as an insult to any reader who loved this story - if you gave me this book two years ago, I probably would have given it 5 stars鈥� but I鈥檓 much pickier now and this one just didn鈥檛 stand out to me as something different or original. I guess I was expecting more, idk.
I also don鈥檛 think that instant attraction mixes very well with slow burn. If they are both drooling over each other from day one and there鈥檚 no forbidden aspect keeping them apart - then the slow burn just doesn鈥檛 make sense and becomes an unneeded tease. There was also a lot of side plots going on that weren鈥檛 needed or important to the story and every single time a scene wasn鈥檛 about Rosie and Lucas, I got bored.
I also feel like there were a couple of missed opportunities. A big one being with Lucas and his ingury/career issue. I feel like it was there to give us a 鈥榙amaged character鈥� but it didn鈥檛 end up diving deep into it. There was also a wasted opportunity with the one bed situation - plus there was no real groveling at the end (one conversation does not count - especially when you specifically point out the importance of groveling in romance books)
November 26, 2023
No nie bawi艂am si臋 dobrze, kochani.
W scenach erotycznych u偶ywanie zdrobnie艅 powinno by膰 zakazane. Naprawd臋 鈥瀖ajteczki鈥� to dobry wyb贸r s艂owa? 馃ぁ
Tak jak element erotyku w 鈥濼he Spanish love deception鈥� mi si臋 podoba艂, tak tutaj stanowi艂 najs艂absz膮 cz臋艣膰 ksi膮偶ki. Trudno mi powiedzie膰 czy to t艂umaczenie, czy g艂upie zachowanie bohater贸w, kt贸rzy nie potrafili ze sob膮 rozmawia膰, sprawi艂o 偶e jestem na nie.
W scenach erotycznych u偶ywanie zdrobnie艅 powinno by膰 zakazane. Naprawd臋 鈥瀖ajteczki鈥� to dobry wyb贸r s艂owa? 馃ぁ
Tak jak element erotyku w 鈥濼he Spanish love deception鈥� mi si臋 podoba艂, tak tutaj stanowi艂 najs艂absz膮 cz臋艣膰 ksi膮偶ki. Trudno mi powiedzie膰 czy to t艂umaczenie, czy g艂upie zachowanie bohater贸w, kt贸rzy nie potrafili ze sob膮 rozmawia膰, sprawi艂o 偶e jestem na nie.
September 7, 2022
it honestly pains me to write this. i had high hopes for this book and i really wanted to like it, but the more i read, the less i enjoyed it. i'm too exhausted to write a proper review but i still want to rant a bit 馃槀
馃椊 if you're gonna make a slowburn THIS SLOW i expect the characters to go from point A to point Z and through all the steps in between. i expect each interaction to add something to their relationship. i'm not the biggest fan of friends to lovers but if you're going down that route, then i expect them to slowly go from two random people, to friends, to good friends, to something more. but imo, there's barely a difference in the way they interact in their second scene together, their tenth one and their 334897th one. they instantly trust and like and are attracted to each other. which is good for them i guess, but not for me.. cause then why are they hooking up so late in the story? the "slowburn" serves no purpose at all when they're just repressing their feelings from the very beginning. say what you want about Catalina's irrational dislike of Aaron in TSLD, but at least she changed her feelings throughout the story. i felt 0 development here.
馃椊 the heroines' sense of humor in this series is definitely not for me 馃槶 and this is coming from someone who gave TSLD a 5 star rating, but there's only so much quirkiness i can take. i liked Rosie but the secondhand embarrassment was REAL. there was no better reminder that Lucas was fictional than whenever he would laugh at her embarrassing remarks, cause any sane person irl would've run out of there so quickly skfkdsk i feel mean but i said what i said.
馃椊 the fact that i saw so many quotes from this book in the past few months honestly did TARE a disservice. most of the "swoon-worthy" moments were spoiled for me and whenever i got to those quotes from Lucas, i was just like "ah.. already saw this on ig 馃し鈥嶁檧锔�".
馃椊 what was the purpose of the dating experiment? i felt NOTHING during those dates. absolutely nothing. i felt more during their little domestic moments. i've seen some reviews already saying this and i agree, there were just too many tropes floating around. i think they could've just been roommates and it would've been enough, no need to add so many things.
馃椊 "croughnut you", Lucas saying Rosie reminds him of a flower (no shit!)... the cringe, oh my god. but the worst part?? him whispering "dulce de leche" in her ear while she looked at him like 馃槏馃サ LMAOOOO it's giving the omelette du fromage scene from dexter's lab. just pretend i'm inserting that gif here cause i'm too lazy to look it up 馃鈥嶁檧锔�
馃椊 Aaron, te amo. that hasn't changed 馃槍 but why was Lina a little more annoying here...? 馃槶
馃椊 i want to end this on a positive note: there were still cute moments. both Lucas and Rosie were likable MCs. i liked how much they were there for each other. that moment when Lucas pretended he needed a hug just so he could give her one 馃ズ it made me so softtt. but i don't know, it really fell short on every other aspect 馃挃
馃椊 if you're gonna make a slowburn THIS SLOW i expect the characters to go from point A to point Z and through all the steps in between. i expect each interaction to add something to their relationship. i'm not the biggest fan of friends to lovers but if you're going down that route, then i expect them to slowly go from two random people, to friends, to good friends, to something more. but imo, there's barely a difference in the way they interact in their second scene together, their tenth one and their 334897th one. they instantly trust and like and are attracted to each other. which is good for them i guess, but not for me.. cause then why are they hooking up so late in the story? the "slowburn" serves no purpose at all when they're just repressing their feelings from the very beginning. say what you want about Catalina's irrational dislike of Aaron in TSLD, but at least she changed her feelings throughout the story. i felt 0 development here.
馃椊 the heroines' sense of humor in this series is definitely not for me 馃槶 and this is coming from someone who gave TSLD a 5 star rating, but there's only so much quirkiness i can take. i liked Rosie but the secondhand embarrassment was REAL. there was no better reminder that Lucas was fictional than whenever he would laugh at her embarrassing remarks, cause any sane person irl would've run out of there so quickly skfkdsk i feel mean but i said what i said.
馃椊 the fact that i saw so many quotes from this book in the past few months honestly did TARE a disservice. most of the "swoon-worthy" moments were spoiled for me and whenever i got to those quotes from Lucas, i was just like "ah.. already saw this on ig 馃し鈥嶁檧锔�".
馃椊 what was the purpose of the dating experiment? i felt NOTHING during those dates. absolutely nothing. i felt more during their little domestic moments. i've seen some reviews already saying this and i agree, there were just too many tropes floating around. i think they could've just been roommates and it would've been enough, no need to add so many things.
馃椊 "croughnut you", Lucas saying Rosie reminds him of a flower (no shit!)... the cringe, oh my god. but the worst part?? him whispering "dulce de leche" in her ear while she looked at him like 馃槏馃サ LMAOOOO it's giving the omelette du fromage scene from dexter's lab. just pretend i'm inserting that gif here cause i'm too lazy to look it up 馃鈥嶁檧锔�
馃椊 Aaron, te amo. that hasn't changed 馃槍 but why was Lina a little more annoying here...? 馃槶
馃椊 i want to end this on a positive note: there were still cute moments. both Lucas and Rosie were likable MCs. i liked how much they were there for each other. that moment when Lucas pretended he needed a hug just so he could give her one 馃ズ it made me so softtt. but i don't know, it really fell short on every other aspect 馃挃
Shelved as 'dnf'
August 27, 2024Soft dnf at 34% (page 148)
Maybe I'm not in the mood for it or this book is just crappy.
***
Wasn't planning to read this but randomly saw it on my shelf and had a gut feeling to pick it up 馃
Maybe I'm not in the mood for it or this book is just crappy.
***
Wasn't planning to read this but randomly saw it on my shelf and had a gut feeling to pick it up 馃
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