The sequel to the highly emotional, scandalous and USA Today bestselling love story – LOVE, IN ENGLISH.
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 chapter of Where Sea Meets Sky, a full-length Love, in English spinoff starring Vera’s brother, Josh Miles, coming March 2015 from Atria Books***
Love, In English was a different sort of love story for me, and I loved it. Originally I think the author meant it to be a stand alone novel, but due to fans begging for a sequel, this new one was written. I thought I was going to let it sit awhile until I could get to other books that I had deadlines for, but I just couldn’t help myself, so I read it a lot faster than I thought I would.
The first novel introduced us to Vera, a young tattooed and pierced, twenty four year old, and Mateo, a thirty nine year old, former soccer star,rich, handsome, and very married, man. They couldn’t help themselves, and fell in love. Their love story was one of those almost miraculous stories where the two people should never have even met, much less fall in love with each other. Vera’s American, and Mateo lives in Spain. They met at a conversational English speaking retreat for Spaniards that want to learn to speak better English. Now they live together in Madrid, and endure the scrutiny of the press that records Mateo’s every move. Since he is a famous soccer star, his divorce, and new relationship give the press a lot to write about. His ex-wife spends her time coming up with ways to hurt Mateo as much as she can, even though she no longer loves him-if she ever did.
I loved reading about how this twosome found each other and fell in love, and even though Mateo is married, the reader can’t help but root for these unlikely lovers. Of course there is going to be conflict. Vera is young, and still wants to party, but, and this is key, wants to always come home to Mateo. He does the party thing sometimes, but has obligations, so he doesn’t go out as much as she does. Problems arise, usually thanks to the press. They can’t seem to get a break in any way.
I enjoyed the characters, the different premise(to me anyway), and the view of life in Madrid. This story has it’s share of angst, as something manages to go wrong many times. However, the crux of the story is the romance. And it’s such a good one. There’s lots of HOT love scenes, but not inserted just to fill pages. They are well written, and really show how much these two love each other. In fact, I found this whole book to be well written, as is all of the books by this author that I have read, and I have read all but one series by her.
If you haven’t read anything by Karina Halle, you really should. Her Experiment in Terror books are one of my favorite paranormal series ever. Most of her books are adult reads, and this one is no exception. I recommend it to adult romance readers, and Karina Halle fans.
The review copy of Love, In Spanish was purchased by the reviewer.