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Sunday, March 1, 2015

Double Review ~ Love, in English & Love, in Spanish by Karina Halle ~ JMAC


 
 
 
Love, in English

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.

 

 


Love, in Spanish

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).

***
"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.



JMAC'S Review
 
 

I told myself I would give it a couple of days so I can really digest this story.  I still have no idea how to put into words how much I loved these books. 
So, I’ve had Karina Halle’s books on my kindle for a while now, and the Love, In English books were the first I wanted to start reading of all her books.  I’m actually upset that it took me this long to read these books.  Both of these books were so different than any books I’ve ever read.  People think that when reading a “forbidden romance” involving cheating, the two characters cheat and bam, shit hits the fan.  In most cases it can be true, and with these books it kind of happened, but it was so much more than just “cheating”. 

Lately I have been obsessed with “forbidden romances”, cheating in particular.  I like reading these stories because it just seems like such a real topic, and I feel most people are afraid to touch on it.  Let me tell you, Karina hit it on the head.  This story was more than a forbidden romance.  Honestly, it was a new found romance between the two characters.  A love that was so meant to be; a real love story. 

Mateo and Vera were two souls put on the planet to love each other.  Just the way Mateo says “Vera” was enough to make me fall in love with him… How could Vera not?  There were so many reasons why they shouldn’t, couldn’t be in anything more than friends.  Sometimes you can feel like the whole universe is against you being happy, and either you can give up, or let it give you more strength to do what you have to do to stay happy.  Both Mateo and Vero had everything against them.  They aren’t supposed to be together, let alone stay together or have a happy life together.  I think what I loved most about both of these books, was the love that you can clearly feel coming off the pages as you read.  There were a lot of emotions coming from the books.  Emotions that made me feel so much.  Mateo is way more than your normal sexy book boyfriend.  Mateo is just on a whole other spectrum.  Love, In English was told in Vera’s pov.  It was amazing getting to see the start of everything.  Vera went to Spain to teach English to local Spaniards.  Mateo happening to be one of the Spaniards there.  From the start there was this undeniable attraction, but like I said before it was way more than that.  Of course there was sexual attraction between the two, but both Mateo and Vera connected as people.  They wanted to know more about each other.  Their likes, dislikes, dreams.  EVERYTHING.  Honestly their relationship started as friends, because it couldn’t go any further than that.  Vera lived in Canada, Mateo had a wife and child, but fate always has other plans.  They were destined to be happy together, and even though they had ALL ODDS against them.  They never gave up.  They came very close, but they never did. 

In book 2, Love, in Spanish, Mateo took over.  It starts right where Love, in English finishes.  Reading a book in Mateo’s pov is something everyone should experience.  I’m not sure if I’m the only one, but in my head there was a permanent accent that I imagined him speaking in.  To say it was HOT is putting it extremely lightly.  Mateo has such a way with words. He is just such an emotional guy in every aspect.  I feel like his age has something to do with it.  He knows what he wants, and wasted enough time doing what he didn’t want, being who he didn't want to be with.  He’s finally at a point in his life where he doesn’t want to pretend anymore.  He wants to love, and love hard.  Mateo won’t take no for an answer either.  He’s going after what he wants and not stopping until he gets it.

Karina, you are just brilliant.  The story of Mateo and Vera will stay with me forever.  I love love loved it.  The journey they both took me on was just such a special journey.  I’m seriously so happy I read these books.  You will forever have a fan in me!  I can’t wait to read your other books!

If you are a romance lover, you MUST read both Love, in English, and Love, in Spanish.  It does have a bit of cheating, but in a very understandable way. If you are okay with that, then please do yourself a favor and read these books.  You will love them I promise!!!

<3 JMAC

 

 

Buy Links

Love, in English



 

Love, in Spanish


 
About the Author
Karina Halle is a former travel writer and rock music journalist and the USA TODAY bestselling author of Love, in English, The Artists Trilogy, Experiment in Terror and other wild and romantic reads. She lives in a 1920's farmhouse on a bucolic island off the coast of British Columbia with her husband and her rescue pup, where she drinks a lot of wine, hikes a lot of trails, and devours a lot of books.

 

 

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