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| Photo Credit: Goodreads |
He’s thirty-eight. I’m twenty-three.
He speaks Spanish. I speak English.
He lives in Spain. I live in Canada.
He dresses in thousand-dollar suits. I’m covered in tattoos.
He’s married and has a five-year old daughter.
I’m single and can’t commit to anyone or anything.
Until now. Because when they say you can’t choose who you fall in love with, boy ain’t that the f*#king truth.
***
To a restless dreamer like Vera Miles, it sounded like the experience of a lifetime. Instead of spending her summer interning for her astronomy major, she would fly to Spain where she’d spend a few weeks teaching conversational English to businessmen and women, all while enjoying free room and board at an isolated resort. But while Vera expected to get a tan, meet new people and stuff herself with wine and paella, she never expected to fall in love.
Mateo Casalles is unlike anyone Vera has ever known, let alone anyone she’s usually attracted to. While Vera is a pierced and tatted free spirit with a love for music and freedom, Mateo is a successful businessman from Madrid, all sharp suits and cocky Latino charm. Yet, as the weeks go on, the two grow increasingly close and their relationship changes from purely platonic to something…more.
Something that makes Vera feel alive for the first time.
Something that can never, ever be.
Or so she thinks.
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My thoughts; When this book first released there was so much exposure. It seemed everyone on Facebook was reading it. All the bloggers were talking about it. Rave reviews were being thrown out left and right. I have to admit that I was very curious to see what all the fuss was about. However, I decided to wait until the new release trend was over before I picked it up to read.
Now before I start giving my thoughts on this book, I know you have seen the Star Rating I have attached and assume it wasn't a good book. That is not the case. I am a fan of this author, I have read many of her books and loved them. As a blogger I decided long ago to judge a book based on it's content, not its author. I have found myself, over the past few years, using facebook as a way of finding new books and authors. It is an amazing platform and I have met many fellow readers who share my tastes in storylines and always give me new recs when I am lost in a sea of new releases. I have also found several friends whose tastes vary from mine but they will recommend books that they know may push the boundaries of my comfort zone. Sometimes they get to say, "I told you so". And other times I have to file the book away in my, maybe I will try again another day pile.
I know I am getting off track so let me bring this back to my point. Facebook is an awesome atmosphere to meet fellow readers and to keep up with what is trending in the book world. However, Facebook is also full to the brim with street teams who work night and day promoting their authors. When I decided to start blogging I made the decision that no matter what the general consensus may be that I, myself, would always be open and honest about my feelings on a book. which leads me to my thoughts on, Love, in English.
I felt that this book was very well written. You can tell the author had a clear picture of how she wanted to present the story and I believe she did it well. That being said it was the storyline in and of itself that I had the hardest time with. The understanding that you can't help who you fall in love with is clear, and I believe this is the truth. However, how you chose to handle things at that point are completely and totally within your power.
Vera and Mateo allowed things to cross the line between emotional and physical. This was within their power. I respect the remorse that Vera felt after the fact, knowing that she may have allowed things to go to far.
I had an extremely hard time with the fact that it seemed everyone around her was so blase about Mateo's marriage. Like they seemed to be ushering her into a relationship with someone who is clearly unavailable.
Now, lets talk about Mateo. I did develop a fondness for his character over time but for he most part I disliked him. I found him to be selfish with Vera. He seemed to only consider HIS side of things. Like his sacrifices were more important than hers. He even at one point says this to her, in not so many words.
Even though in the end the story ends on a positive note, I just could not get past all of the negative feelings I had while reading it. It took me some time to finish this book, which is unusual for me, but I refused to give up on it. This is definitely a book that pushed my boundaries. I don't know how I would go about making a rec for this book, what type of person might enjoy it, but the advice I can give is this; If you read the synopsis for this book and aren't immediately intrigued by the concept of an "affair" type relationship, you may want to save it for a rainy day.
~S
~S
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