Addicted Souls: New Release & Group Review ~ Love, in Spanish by Karina Halle

Title: Love, in Spanish

Author: Karina Halle

Published: November 11, 2014

Source: ARC provided for a honest review

The companion to the highly emotional, scandalous and USA Today Bestselling love story - LOVE, IN ENGLISH - is finally here! Love, in Spanish is a Love, in English follow-up novel told from Mateo Casalles' POV. While Love, in Spanish touches on some events that happened in LIE (you know the ones!) it is a whole new story set a year later that continues with Vera and Mateo's "happily ever after." Note: It should be read after Love, in English and it is mostly new material (aka not just rehash of LIE).

*** Synopsis****

"She sat beside me on the bus – and she changed my whole life.”

Successful, wealthy and absurdly handsome – Spanish ex-football player Mateo Casalles seemed like he had it all. A high-society wife, an adorable little girl, and flashy apartments in Madrid and Barcelona only sweetened the deal. But there was more to Mateo than met the eye – a life of uncertainty and regret that colored his black and white world.

That was until Vera Miles came into his life like a shooting star. Tattooed, wild and young, Vera seemed like Mateo’s polar opposite at first. But you can’t choose who you fall in love with and the two lost souls did everything they could to be together, all while suffering the grave consequences.

Now with Mateo divorced and living in Madrid with Vera, there is a whole new set of challenges and setbacks facing the couple and rocking the foundation of their star-crossed relationship.

Unfortunately for them, the brighter the star, the faster they burn.

***Love, in Spanish contains the first two chapters of Where Sea Meets Sky, a full-length Love, in English spinoff starring Vera's brother, Josh Miles, coming March 2015 from Atria Books***

Add to Goodreads

The Addicted Souls Reviews

I loved getting the opportunity to be in Mateo's head. I really love his character and I was foaming at the mouth for the chance to get to know him better. This book had so much heartache and passion. I found myself consumed from the start of the novel to the last page. It's one of those books that you can tell the author just bled into. It's filled with so much passion and emotion. Like all Halle novels the writing is so good. Halle can always tell a great story but she also has a great technical voice and I always appreciate that.

This is from the start of the novel and it just hit a chord with me. It was so powerful and moving I kept replaying the words in my head. It reminded me of discovering your favourite piece of poetry and the obsessive notion to recite it to yourself from then on.

There is no doubt that Halle can write first-class sex and intimacy scenes. Halle nails it! However, I also love the quieter moments when a paragraph like this will just stop me in my tracks and literally give me goosebumps. Halle's range with storylines and with emotions never ceases to astound me. One of my favourite things about Halle is her understanding and ability to show us that the world is never just black and white, that no person is just one thing. That life is a complicated weave of events and choices that we navigate through. Halle doesn't hid that reality in her writing, her talent comes from shining the light on the dark corners of life. I loved how realistic Love, in Spanish was. I loved that we got to see the good and the bad. The struggles and the victories. That's life and that's love and that's relationships. And like Halle says "Love is always worth it".

Side Note: I totally got butterflies when Josh came on the page!!! JOSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Heart heart heart.

I loved Love, in English with every fiber of my being. I fell so hard for Mateo and Vera that they consumed me for weeks after. So when I heard that Karina was writing a book from Mateo's POV, I was over the moon with happiness.

Now this isn't a retelling of LIE in Mateo's POV, it's a continuing of their love story. BOOM. I feel utter happiness about this. So I opened the first page, my expectations on high and I was ready to devour this story.

I want to be honest with you. I was disappointed at first. Mateo's POV wasn't what I expected. In LIE he was this older man who seemed untouchable and knew what he wanted and went after it. So to be inside his head, to hear his insecurities and to see this side of Mateo, it kind of put me off and I didn't like it. I didn't want to keep reading.

NOW. I KNOW. STOP RIGHT THERE. Don't judge me. We are all allowed to NOT like a book. We all read a different book. I see all the 5 star reviews out there for this book and I can see why they would love this book as much as they did. So keep reading this review before you start bashing me and throwing stones.

I fell deep in love with Vera. To see her how Mateo sees her made her even more real to me. She isn't perfect, but young and wounded. To see the love that Mateo felt for her and what he would do for her, it made me sigh and feel all warm inside. To have that kind of love from a man, it made me have hope for them.

My heart broke and I didn't know if it was going to have a HEA. His POV picked up towards the end and the way he fought, the way he stood up and took blame but didn't back down from THE HATERS, he became my Mateo again and he shined as bright as his Estrella. He was the HERO in his own way. I could see the Mateo I fell in love with in LIE.

I let out a huge sigh of relief when I finished this book. I felt the ending was rushed, I wanted a little more story. But I will say that the moment Josh showed up I swooned and he wasn't even in the book that long. I can not wait for his book. There is something about that boy that steals the scene.

Love, in English is still the best contemporary romance book I have ever read, Love, in Spanish is a story that gave me some closure and a big smile on my face a the end.

Oh Mateo, how I love thee!

“Our journey has never been easy. The only thing easy in all of this is my love for her”

Her being Vera. The self-professed Villain, though she is not really a villain. She is just a young women in love. And to Mateo, she is his world! We learn in Love, In Spanish that he is willing to sacrifice ANYTHING for her…..except his daughter, Chloe Ann.

I LOVE that Karina Halle can get into the mind of a character, a MAN no less, and show us love, passion, insecurity & sensitivity. I really don’t think that is an easy thing. Mateo is not just any man. He is a proud man, a man use to getting what he wants, but when it comes to Vera & his love for her, nothing is easy.

I LOVE that Karina Halle can tell a realistic love story! I mean let’s face it……a 39 year old man falling in love with a young twenty something tattooed free spirit may not be conventional, but their struggles are. People are quick to judge relationships that are out of the norm and Vera & Mateo feel that deeply in this story. They feel the judgment from all sides and that can put a lot of pressure on couples. They have issues with going out and partying, with not being honest with their feelings, with ex-wives threatening visitation and something that the majority of us have no experience with at all…..the PUBLIC. Through it all, Mateo stands up for his love of Vera and vows to her that nothing can tear them apart, even the possibility of Vera being deported back to Canada.

This book gave me some series feels! I may have shed a tear or two. This story is REAL, HONEST, and HEARTFELT. This story is of a man in love a man willing to risk it all to be with the women he loves. This is a story of a proud yet humble man, a man that any women would be lucky to have, but he is taken. He has his ESTRELLA and he is the luckiest man in the world!

If you are looking for a real love story. A story of sacrifice. A story of two souls fighting for their Happily Ever After then I highly recommend Love, In Spanish (after you read Love, In English of course).