The Spanish Love Deception

Elena Armas's debut runs on that engine of mutual antagonism slowly, deliciously curdling into something else, playing every enemies-to-lovers and fake-dating beat with unabashed relish across a slow-burn of a novel.

Written in English by a Spanish author and originally self-published, it became a defining BookTok success, the kind of book passed hand to hand until a major publisher came calling. It is long, tropey and steamy, more interested in yearning and banter than in literary polish, and its huge readership clearly would not have it any other way.